oops

Being that I am not a "computer" person....or a big blogger....my "idea" of keeping posts in the "draft" slot ready and loaded with pictures (remember, like freezer dinners) was a good idea....but here is the deal....
I just pulled the post of "FIRE" out of the so called post freezer....and popped it onto the blog....worked like a gem...BUT it put it in order by date that I started the post....so it is UNDER the bowling post

So, take a "Scroll" on down and see my newest post.
hey, ya learn new things everyday!
Sorry!

BOWLING

Bowling for our Amazing 13 year old son Tirstan's Birthday! Tris and his buddy looking cool at the bowling alley! We love you big teen age kiddo!

For a while now our family has been playing WII bowling together. John and Victoria are getting the hang of it and we all celebrate when someone gets a strike. (Tristan and Brock are known for getting 5 or 6 in a row....needles to say, I do not win very often) We all went "Bowling" for real....what a HOOT! The kids both said, "here is the place like on the TV game"

Shoes....hummm, since we have been home, shoes always make for interesting conversations. So, you can imagine the questions and fun comments that came when we all got to wear "Bowling shoes"

TANNER...being Tanner....no, he did not get knocked on the head with his ball, but he did have a fun time being silly and trying different ways to see how he could get the ball down the lane. Between his legs, backwards, laying down, closing his eyes...etc!


John...you are my sunshine! He did not stop giggling the whole time we were there. He was the second one to bowl a strike...okay he had bumpers, and it took about 15 LONG seconds for the ball to get down the lane...but when it did, he celebrated with a dance of joy, even it only 2 pins fell!



Victoria....the first time she threw her ball down the lane, she hit a few, turned and looked at me and said "Oh, I am finished, my ball is gone" I walked her to the machine and we stood bent over looking with no words....bumbling up came her ball..."oh Mom, look there it is!!!! How do they manage that?" As we are getting to know her day by day we are seeing how God has wired her. Out of our 6 kids, she is the most competitive. (yes, even more than Brock :O) She bowled her heart out with not one smile until she got a strike.....she was amazed at the whole process, but she had her GAME FACE on for sure. Go Victoria!


Little man! He let the ball go, then would get down to "steer" it with his body, face and words..."go, go, come on, go go....YES!!!" over and over he cheered. the second ball he tossed, his little feet got across the line and he slipped and fell on his back and his little body slid a good three feet into the lane. He looked shocked and all he could say was " Whoa, check it out!"

BOWLING...what a great family outing, celebration! The "new" experiences are treasures of new memories being built into "family" day by day.

Koyotos= FIRE

These photos kind of speak for them selves....so I won't comment on all of them....but I will tell a quick story! (of course:O)
I do not know if you have ever been to a place where they cook your food on a BIG grill at your table? If not, it is FUN!
Anyone who knows Tristan knows that he is a carnivore! From the time he was little his favorite food was "Steak" (thanks Papa for getting him hooked on Prime Rib )
You can guess that Tris picked this steak house for his big 13 B-day.
New things like chop sticks, and one thing being served at a time (soup, then salad, them sushi, then your main dish) the cook juggling the knives, tossing eggs, FIRE...were all things to put into the minds of two very excited and confused kiddos.

We had prepared the kids a bit before we went. Tried to tell them about the cook and what he was going to do. The cook came out to our table, he started taking out his wares. He placed a few bowls etc on the table, (John..."what is that, what is that...on and in it went as the man put things out) then the cook set out 3 eggs. John "Wow!!!! I LOVE EGGS!!!!" he says at the top of his lungs.
CUTE!
Here we thought it would be all this excitement about the "show" and the EGGS got the biggest reaction.

Well, we thought it was the biggest reaction until the FIRE came. At certain parts of the dinner prep / show, the cook does displays of fire, like in an onion volcano etc. He talked his way through it, as he prepared...John says "do the Fire, do the Fire" so the time comes, the vent goes on, the cook dashes the oil and alcohol onto the onion and 3 foot flame goes up and into the vent....at that second...BOTH kids (who were on either side of me) JUMPED onto me then down onto the floor...both saying "Whoa" rather loudly. When the fire stopped only seconds later, both kids had to be put back into their chairs. When John got back in he got up on his knees, pointed at the cook and in his best deep Ghana voice said, "NO MORE FIRE!!!'
We reassured him it was okay....then laughed and tried to put in our minds what it would be like for us to experience something like that, after growing up in Africa.

The highlight for them was a LARGE bowl of FRIED RICE! Something that BOTH of them LOVE!
It was a very fun night full of new memories and family time. Meal times do seem to make for great conversation and memories....either at our table OR a BIG HOT table that you can cook on with FIRE!!

Parade

Everyone loves a parade!
We are no different, but this year instead of attending we decided to be in the Lynden
"Farmers Day Parade"

A few months ago a friend called and asked what I thought about the idea of a float in the parade and the main focus would be to highlight adoptive families!
Super...but it takes alot of time and organization....both of which I am running short on at the moment. She said "No problem, I will work it all out and get back to you." Boy oh boy that is what she did! By the time we had our first meeting 90% was organized and under control. We had soooo much fun getting the wagon, the hay, the decorations on the float the few days before the parade. (great memories for us and the kids playing in some of the big old barns in Lynden....and Victoria having her first 4-wheeler ride up the hill of the manure pond and back down at great speed....lots of YEEEE HAWS!)

The day comes, and it is a bit drizzly, but that did not stop the families from coming out to ride on the big hay wagon pulled behind the big old flat bed farm truck!
*to protect the kids...I have not posted any pics of them....but boy were there quite of few sitting, blowing bubbles, tossing candy and waving like crazy)


To walk side by side with other adoptive families through the streets of Lynden was such an amazing moment. The faces of each child, each family member, the sacrifices, joys, heartache, journeys.....all unique, all different....but all unified because of Christ living in us!

In the end it was a labor of love, a chance to show the GLORY of God to all who sat and enjoyed the parade. Loving children God's way, one home at a time.
THANK YOU to all the families who worked, rode, supported, and helped make the day a great day for all involved.
Just a fun thing: The His Kids Float got 1st place.....we all know it was the BEAUTIFUL display of kids and families sitting on the wagon! YEAH!

Christmas time!

Or should I say it is "ROMANA Time"
For the past 3 weeks our sweet daughter has been counting the days and crossing them off until the "Day Romana Comes"

*** Romana: aka...Ghana Beacon House Director...the woman who God called to do a very specific job for God in Ghana for the orphan, who obeyed the call and is making a HUGE difference in the lives of MANY!....including our precious kids and our family!
Yes....she is in the the States!

Last night we went to bed at 10:30.....showered, clothes neatly laid out for the next day, prayers for "help Romana to sleep well" and off to sleep we all go.

At 5:30 a.m., what is the noise I hear down the hall? It is our EXCITED daughter AWAKE with her "Bed dressed" and ready to GO!
Me: " Sweets, it is 5:30, everyone is still sleeping, please get a book and read in your bed"
Victoria: "Okay Mom"

5:45....
Me: "Dave what is that noise?"
Dave: Snore

Me: "Victoria....what are you doing?"
Victoria: "Mom, I am getting my necklace on to get ready"
(what she has forgotten is that the necklace is inside the jewelery box that has a spinning bear that chimes the music rather loudly:O)

Me: "Honey, lets go down stairs"
Victoria: "Okay Mom, what is the time? What time will Romana be awake?"
Me: "It is five minutes to six, Romana is still sleeping, but we will see her in 2 1/2 hours"
Victoria: "okay mom"

As I popped into the shower, thoughts of my childhood flashed into my head of waking up on Christmas morning at 5:00, hearing my Mom say...."go back to bed until at least 7:00" Laying in bed and watching my digital FLIP clock, flip one min at a time.

How can we even comprehend the excitment that Victoria feels this morning towards the idea of seeing the wonderful woman who showed up at her village nearly 2 years ago and rescued her!
It is not even like the memories I have of Christmas mornings.....but the anticipation is there for sure!

The gift that holds so much value for Victoria comes out in her dialog with us these last few weeks months.
V: " Mom, do you know that I am thankful for Romana taking good care of me?"
M: "yes"
V: "Mom, she helped me find a family that takes care of me well...can I call her"
M: I am sooooo thankful she helped us find you, yes you can call her.

Pictures: We have a large ART gallery of pictures that are hanging all over our house of Romana, for Romana and about Romana.
Victoria: "Mom, some day will Romana get to come and see our home?"
M: "I hope so, but honey it is a FAR far place to travel from Ghana to Lynden"

BUT here we are this EARLY morning...sitting in the wee hours of the DAY that ROMANA gets to:
see the art work,
see the bed where she sleeps
meet her new brothers and see Ashlie again
see her church and school
see her playing with her friends
and see the heart of a child she has helped find a FOREVER FAMILY!
I guess it really is Christmas in June!

Who would of thought that over two years ago when Romana drove 15 hours through Ghana to a very remote village, and rescued this AMAZING little girl, that we would have the gift of seeing HER in our home.....

A gift of value that comes with to high a price tag to count!

Acres of Fun

Mowing the lawn!
In the Spring time in Whatcom County it takes alot of time to MOW the Blaske property!
You can hear the grass growing :O)
This year with the kids, a new excitement has arisen.....Each big boy has taken their turn in "riding" with John and Victoria to mow the 2 acres each week. Squeals of delight have been heard over the whir of the mower!
This week, I decided to give the boys a break and take my turn in mowing!

Victoria and mom on the mower....hummm...it was hard to decide who was doing the driving. She is very "driven" to learn more and more when ever she can. She did most of the steering, but does not understand quite yet the reason why we have to stay in line with the last row we just mowed. We could have a very interesting design in our lawn if we just let her " GO"

"B"

"B" is for....
BASEBALL.....BIRTHDAYS......BOWLING....and BUSY BLASKE'S!


Tristan is one AMAZING catcher! We have spent a very wet and cold Spring baseball season watching him play...But, we sure have had FUN!
John and Victoria made fast friends with all the baseball families. As you can see, the coloring books and papers are the main focus at the fields. These kiddos can color staight through an entire coloring book in one sitting if we would let them.

So, the posts have been few and far between....but I figured out a way to get some highlights onto the blog for all of you to see! I dumped my memory card onto my computer and now have over 1,000 picutres to choose from ...each one tells a story (do not worry, I will not tell 1,000 stories) BUT what I did figure out is that I can upload the pics on to the blog in the "draft" position. Kinda like having a dinner in the freezer ready when I need it.
This way I will have the pictures uploaded and waiting and when I get a moment I can add the text!
Ahhhh haaaa!
i know it may be a "Carrie" thing, but hey it works for me.
Enjoy the "B" posts up coming....
We have been very busy!