Spring Has Sprung!

Note: I'm at work on the next post in the series about Josh and Zhenya as promised. However, life never stands still in our house, and I don't want to miss recording the very special day we had yesterday. One of the primary reasons I blog is to create a written and pictorial record of life in our family. About once a year we turn turn this blog into a good old-fashion hard-cover book. Those 21st-century scrapbooks get a lot of reading and rereading, and I'm hoping someday even our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will have them as a source of family history. God has been so good to us; we want to spread the word from one generation to the next!

We live in the upper Midwest, and warmth is just now reaching our area. Yesterday was glorious so we took advantage of the beauty of the afternoon and went for a walk around the lake at our favorite park.

One of the primary things Mr. R and I have tried to teach our children is to serve others. Thus, we were tickled to see evidence of a servant's heart when Christina turned around and came back to help Eliana tie double knots in her shoelaces.

The trail was dotted with delicate signs of spring.

Matt and I were on the watch for wild flowers. Here he's holding one of our favorite finds.

Matt and I also delighted in the blossoms that look like small butterflies.

The best discovery of the day went to the kid's dad. He spotted this family of turtles sunning themselves.

A tree with three trunks growing out of its base made a perfect perch for Hope to rest along the way.

As we walked, the group spread out. This allowed Matt to have some one-on-one time with his dad. As parents of an extra large family, we relish these special opportunities.

Hope (13), Eliana (almost 11) and Faith (15)

  

Some railroad ties holding back a step hill made a perfect place to get a photo of kids. As soon as the photo was taken, the trio of boys entertained us with athletic antics.

After some happy laughter at the boys' bravado, we finished our walk. What joy the Lord had supplied on this beautiful spring day!

Zoo Trip on Sarah's 20th Birthday

Today we had a great reason to celebrate coupled with the most unbelievably beautifully weather. Sarah turned 20 today, and we had the opportunity to visit the renowned Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha on one of the coolest days in July in years.

We allowed the birthday girl to pick the first exhibit we'd see and she choose the cat house. The first tiger we saw wanted to play peek-a-boo.

The second tiger was quite photogenic, lying regally upon the straw. The sign said she has given birth to two litters of cubs, a remarkable feat considering her left front leg is missing at the shoulder.

Next we moved on to the lion's home.

What majesty!

Zhenya's all-time favorite animal is the snow leopard.

I don't know whether these two are twins, but I couldn't help but think of our twins, Alison and John.

After we left the Cat House, we went to a nearby statuary area that's perfect for a photo opp. Our group seemed so small today since only eight of our children made the trip to the zoo. John is currently in Boston on business. Kirsten is in northwest Nebraska doing an internship on a ranch. Anna and Alison are both living with their husbands in faraway cities.

On our next stop, our attention was then arrested by some playful orangutans. The monkey had a burlap bag clinched in one foot. We watched as she shimmied up a tree just outside the window where we stood watching, swung upside down from one drain pipe to another at the roof line and slid down another tree. All the while she was switching his grasp on the burlap bag from foot to hand and back again.

As we stood watching, she found a wide spot in the sun where some massive tree branches came together, plopped herself down, and pulled the burlap bag over her head. She was ready for a warm and "private" morning nap!

We rested for a bit on our climb up to the desert habitat. One of the things that makes the Henry Doorley Zoo so beautiful also makes it a tiring experience ~ the many steep hills in the zoo's layout.

After seeing "Kingdoms of the Night", an exhibit of nocturnal animals and the desert habitat, we had lunch and then went on to visit the zoo's wonderful tropical jungle exhibit.

We were fascinated to watch a variety of monkeys, as well as otters, tapirs, hippos, macaws, snakes, bats and numerous species of birds.

We also realized as we made our way through the crowded exhibit that we were tired and ready to make the two-hour journey back home.

Before leaving I took one more photo of our beloved daughter who entered her twenties today. 

Throughout our wanderings in the zoo today, we paid special attention to the sign near each animal to learn about its native habitat. The reason we were so interested is that many of the animals we saw today make their homes in Africa. In less that four months, Sarah will be moving to Zambia to teach preschool and kindergarten at an orphanage for a few months. (I'll share more about Sarah's plans in a post within the next week.)

After seeing so many exotic animals today whose natural habitats include Zambia, we all wonder what amazing tales Sarah will have to share with us regarding her African adventure! We're so delighted and thankful to see the little orphan girl we added to our family just after she turned seven grow up with such a big heart for serving the least of these! God abounds in lovingkindness!

More Europe: Our First Day in London

As Mr. Reynolds checked us into our hotel, I was fascinated by the chandeliers hanging in the lobby. It's hard to tell by this picture, but each one is dangling at a a different angel.

As soon as we dropped our luggage in our rooms, we went on a hunt for food. On the way, this contrast of the old ~ London's traditional double-decker buses ~ with the recent development of rental bikes intrigued my photographer's eye.

We walked around the Australian Embassy in Trafalgar Square, only to discover our favorite restaurant in the area had closed in the last time we were here in 2008. You might suspect that this eatery served some very European delights. But no. The restaurant had been called "The Texas Embassy" and served wonderful Tex-Mex. When we lived in England in the late 1990s, Tex-Mex was very difficult to find. Thus when we'd make a day trip into London to sight see, we'd finish the fun with a bit of "home." Today, the restaurant wasn't nearly so welcoming!

We again rounded the center island of Trafalgar Square and walked past the National Gallary of art. We were eager to get in a couple hours of perusing art, but we were far too hungry to ohhhh and ahhhh over famous paintings until our stomachs were filled.

Happily, just around the corner past the massive museum was one of our favorite pizza restaurants: Pizza Express. Every since living in the U.K., we've loved this chain that stretches across Great Britain serves delicious paper-thin-crusted pizza, and every restaurant is decorated differently. Here we were greeted by a giant prayer extolling the importance of making the best pizza possible.

We were surprised to discover that the other giant wall hanging pictured hay fields that looked just like home in Iowa!

Our jet-lagged crew slowly made their choices.

We were a subdued crew until we finally got fed. This was Nathaniel, Kirsten and Eliana's first European foray.

After getting refreshed, we retraced our steps and walked by St. Martin's in the Field, the church in the background. If you're a classical music fan, you may notice that some of your recordings have taking place in this ancient building with remarkable acoustics.

We continued on toward the front door of the National Gallery. We were surprised to see a statue of George Washington on the lawn that hadn't been there when we last visited.

Apparently the piece of artwork was a gift from the state of Virginia.

Surprisingly, I don't having any pictures of the art work inside the Gallery since photography was allowed in most location in the building. On this Sunday crowds filled the building which made getting tourist-free photo difficult.

On our way back to the hotel, I was enchanted by this building flying so many British flags. Such majesty!

This elegant sculpture hanging on the curved corner of the South African Embassy also caught my attention.

Here's another view of the building flying five Union Jacks from closer to our hotel.

By this time, this mother of 12 was a victim of jet lag and desperately wanted my bed! So we marched by the pretty flowers...

...and into our hotel. I went to sleep about four and slept 'til morning, while the rest of the crew went out to do some more early evening sightseeing new Big Ben.

More to come...