The Gowin Family » Us

Maura’s Birthday

Michael — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 03:35:26 +0000

Suzanne wrote a bit about Maura the other day and we also recently celebrated her birthday. She wanted to have an Easter-egg themed party this year so she invited some friends over to have fun decorating eggs.

Eva’s 2nd Birthday

Michael — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 16:15:54 +0000

We celebrated Eva’s second birthday last week. She had a few friends over and some ladybug treats that Suz made. Here are a couple images I made (Suzanne may add some later).

I Put Baby in a Corner

Michael — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:41:09 +0000

Don’t tell Patrick Swayze, but I put baby in a corner. And made her picture.

Best Bowling of 2012

Michael — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 06:03:27 +0000

As I mentioned the other day, we celebrated one year with Aidan and Eva this week. Today we were able to spend some time as a family doing something fun so we went bowling and then out to dinner. Liam’s friend Eli was along for the ride as well. Here’s a little bit of our day.

Eat-iopians

Michael — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:26:26 +0000

Eva has recently learned the word “eat.” When she’s not eating but would like to, she will point to her highchair and say, “Eat!” Aidan has had, since the day we met him, a bottomless stomach: the boy does not know when to stop eating. As a result, I’ve taken to calling them our Eat-iopians.

Happy Birthday Jesus

Michael — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 14:40:21 +0000

We’re celebrating Christmas at home with the kids today, before we begin traveling to and fro throughout the Midwest to see family and friends. This will be our first Christmas in the US with our new, larger family. Last year, we celebrated Christmas in Illinois with Erin, Liam, and Maura followed by Christmas in Ethiopia with Erin, Aidan, and Eva. Today we celebrate with everyone together.

Every year we do Advent readings, although we always get started late. We missed the first two weeks of readings this year but have been mostly consistent this week. We had some friends and their kids over last night (between our two families, I think we had 47 people here; or 13–what’s the difference, really?) for the Advent reading and lighting the Advent candles. Suz had made a Happy Birthday Jesus cake and the kids made a reindeer candy cane craft together.

Once again, we have a red dragon in one of our nativity scenes as well, a not-so-gentle reminder that there is a great price to be paid for peace on earth and good will toward those on whom God’s favor rests.

After our Advent party, we watched “A Charlie Brown Christmas” on Hulu. Ironically, this classic program about the search for the meaning of Christmas was punctuated by commercials from Best Buy featuring a dad running through the house on Christmas morning, past the kids, to find a huge flat-screen TV in the living room and exclaiming, “How’d it get down the chimney?!” Pathetic, Best Buy.

Not sure how much we’ll post in the upcoming days–we posted a grand total of 14 times this past year. Maybe that’s a new year’s resolution for 2012. Either way, blessings to all of you in this season and the year ahead. Peace on earth and goodwill to those on whom God’s favor rests.

Pack and Play = Baby Trap

Michael — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 16:15:34 +0000

Instead of mouse traps, what about baby traps? Not to harm the babies but just to hold them down until they can be removed.

Suzanne Completes her Master’s Degree

Michael — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 15:03:47 +0000

After a long journey, Suzanne wrote her master’s thesis this past year and graduated from the Seminary at Lincoln Christian University a few weeks ago. Two local news outlets, Lincoln Daily News and The Courier, published stories about it. Her degree is in biblical studies and her thesis was entitled “God’s Heart for the Fatherless,” a study of biblical texts on God’s perspective on caring for the orphans and widows. It’s quite good–you should read it. You can email either me or Suz and we’ll send you a PDF copy.

Congratulations to Suz–she’s worked hard to earn this and has done a terrific job.

Erin’s Birthday

Michael — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 14:45:49 +0000

Erin celebrated her 11th birthday with a slumber party and friends old and new this year. No special themes, just a chance to hang out, have fun, and lose some sleep.

Maura’s Birthday

Michael — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 14:36:54 +0000

Getting caught up on posting some photos–here are a few from Maura’s birthday back in April. She had, of course, a princess theme and invited several of her fellow princesses over for some princessy fun.