29Sep
Jane Austen is the given name of the Parents’ English Setter puppy but they really do call her Mr. Darcy (not going to even start to explain any further). We had the privilege to dog-sit Darcy while the Parents were out of town this weekend. Like any good dog-sitters we tried to pack the weekend full of fun events. We took her to see the Vaux’s Swifts spiraling into the chimney at Champman Elementary School in Portland on Friday night. Besides watching these cool birds it is an excellent people watching and community event. One of the most fun things is the hill covered with kids sliding down on pieces of cardboard. Although we joined in the fun for a few slides, we kept Darcy out of the kid-chaos. She did great in what we believe is her first Portland outing.
We enjoyed playing with Darcy in the backyard, trying to teach her new skills, taking her on a walk, and introducing her to a very cool brown Labrador, Jasper. Darcy is full of energy and we loved getting to dog sit–it was hard to give her back at the end of the weekend, but we know we’ll see her again soon.
27Sep
It dawned on us this morning that one year ago today–September 27, 2008–we set out from Portland International Airport for Fiji, the first international destination of our journey and kind of the official start to our travel. Our memories of that day include:
- Family time at the airport with the Macy’s in person and Erin’s parents over the phone
- A lunch of Panda Express Orange Chicken
- Arriving in the wee hours of the morning into the rather small Nadi, Fiji airport
- Airport ATMs that did not want to give us money (a bit stressful)
- John nearly getting smacked by a bus within the first two hours of being in Fiji
- A beautiful ride out to the Yasawa Islands on the bright yellow and purple Yasawa Flyer
- ..and being greeted by singing Fijians as we embarked on Waya Lailai Island
It’s fun to think back to those first few days of travel and consider how much we learned between the time we left PDX in September and when we returned in May. One of the “takeaways” John suggested from our Fiji time was to have a day at least once a year where we turn the heat in the house up to about 85 degrees, laze around in shorts and swim suits (preferably in hammocks), read an entire book in one day, greet each other and everyone we see with a big “BULA!”, summon each other to meals by hitting a drum, have a Farkel tournament, play some rugby, and perhaps give fire dancing a try. Once the winter weather hits this will surely be going on the calendar!
19Sep
No, we did not forget to run the spell-checker. Traffick here refers to the transfer of “goods” across borders. In this case the “goods” we are thinking about are specifically young women and children. This morning we took part in International Justice Mission’s Pacific NW Advocacy weekend and walked away motivated, moved, and impressed by this organization. The objectives of this training day were to receive information on the Child Protection Compact Act Bill (which is making its way through the House), prepare to meet with Representative Wu and Congressman Blumenauer, and learn more about international trafficking and child slavery. IJM was very well organized and we felt like every minute we were there was worthwhile.
The bill itself asks Congress to provide an additional $50 million over three years to be used in focus countries to help them work against trafficking in children. This may seem like a big chunk of money to be going abroad in such economic times, but when you consider that less than 1% of the national budget goes to foreign aid, AND when you consider the incredible and nearly unbelievable crime of selling and purchasing children for slave labor and prostitution, it doesn’t seem like such a sacrifice. If you’re interested in learning more about this bill, HR 2737, or encouraging your Congressperson to take leadership in this bill, get connected with IJM.
Our experience in Cambodia (a country that has a terrible record of child prostitution, but is taking steps slowly to bring justice to the offenders) working with girls who were at risk of being sold by family members into the sex industry clearly impacted us. It’s easy for us to quickly become overwhelmed with the complexity and depth of this problem. We are grateful to have the opportunity to be small voices that will hopefully join with other voices to make a huge impact in the world.
17Sep
This year we planted a garden as usual but a few things grew that were unexpected. We had a lot of fun watching them grow and wondering what they were until one day they took enough form to come to realize what we had… apparently the seeds of “volunteer” sunflowers were deposited by our backyard birds. We’re excited for next year’s planting time when we can actually plant them ourselves!
11Sep
Yes, seriously. This family IS THAT CUTE! Our nieces and nephews (ages 12, 10, 9, 6 & 4), along with their folks, came for a visit from the Denver area this past weekend and we could hardly get enough of them. It’s been a year since we last saw them and man, how kids grow. In the past year they have done a lot of cool things including adding to their family two new kids –Addison and Paul–whose adoption was finalized a little less than two months ago. The Parents gave them the gift of a family photo session which we were so thrilled to do and we had a fantastic two hours of hanging out, laughing, smiling big, and having such a fun time. We also got to spend time at the beach on Monday and we just happened to hit the beach during a gorgeous stretch of blue sky and sun. Can’t wait until the next time we get to hang out.
Showing a little "my soul" muscle
Thanks for this shot, Sherry!
Paul Toshe
Addison Serkalem
06Sep
“Too Big To Miss” is the annual tagline of the Oregon State Fair, but this year it was also a label that could have been applied to the group we faired with–all of us sporting bright golden-yellow t-shirts with our own tagline, “the family that fairs together, stays together.” (As quoted by Molly Filosi; t-shirt design and printing by Rachel Morell.) The fifteen of piled into cars and made our way to the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem for a day packed with thing things you do at a fair: the eating of greasy, overpriced food; the viewing of farm animals; the watching of people; the oohing and aahing over beautiful photography; the bargaining for as-seen-on-TV items in the commercial area (“but wait…”); and the doubled-over laughing at the Travis Fox hypnotist show, among other things.
Going to the fair is a Macy tradition dating back to the time John was about 10 years old. The Williams grandparents took him and his siblings to the fair and the tradition has continued–twenty two years later we are still going! (Too big to miss, I tell you!) Because the annual affair began with the Williams’ we are always pleased when Grandma Edna wants to come along–at 90 years old she still wants to spend an entire day walking around the fair with a bunch of “kids” and we are so glad for it. She was a trooper once again, even providing her famous rice krispy treats with peanut butter and willingly sporting the t-shirt.
If you have never been to a state fair or a fair of any sort, it is surely an experience not too miss–well, it’s at least a once in a lifetime must-do. Garrison Keilor, of A Prairie Home Companion, describes it beautifully in a National Geographic article. Somehow the fair experience is relatively consistent from state to state, perhaps taken more seriously in some places than others, but still with a similar rhythm, similar oddities, and similar food. Maybe we’ll see you next year?
