Exciting News!

I have been looking for a way to give back to Vietnam for a few years now.  I have been following a Canadian charity called the Vietnamese Education Society for some time now and recently decided to make a major donation to one of their school building projects!  The charity is led by a professor who has been running the organization in her spare time for the past ten years. She also has an adopted daughter from Vietnam.   She typically builds one school per year, generally a kindergarten or primary school in a rural area where the need is greatest.  All donated funds go to the project and she is very good about posting photos to show that the schools actually get built.  She is also soliciting funds for scholarships for girls living in the border regions who are at risk of trafficking.  If you are looking for a worthwhile cause to support, I encourage you to check out the Vietnamese Education Society! Here is another link to a description of the kindergarten I'm helping to build and a description of the scholarship program.  Also, check out this video.

Maya Turns 6!

On April 16, Maya turned six years old.  She has now been in our family for five years.  The time has flown!  We had a birthday dinner for her on her actual birthday and then a gymnastics party with her classmates.  She could hardly wait for her party!

 

 

 

 Here she is with the cupcakes she helped make.  She is dressed in her party dress (aka the princess dress).  I think she looks so cute here!

 She was excited to get a Frozen lego kit.  I later found out she had no trouble putting it together because she had already watched YouTube videos on it!

She got one of her (and our) favourite books... Ivy and Bean!

Thanks for the Clementine books, Julia!  I love to read!

 Maya's big gift was a pink scooter

 Here she is trying it out

 She had a gymnastics birthday party and many of her classmates attended

 Here is Maya, with good friend Gracie and her sister Olivia.  Do you get the feeling they get up to a bit of mischief?

 The gym had a climbing wall that all enjoyed

 Here's Maya near the top

 Cheers!

 Maya in front of her "My Little Pony" cake

 

 

 Maya with all her friends

Aidan Turns 12!

It seems like only yesterday that Aidan turned 11, but six weeks ago he turned 12.  We had a small dinner for him on his actual birthday and then a laser tag party for him and his classmates in April.  Here are a few photos from his festivities:

 

 

 

 

A delicious homemade orange vegan cake with chocolate icing

 

Aidan opening his cards

Thanks for the books, Julia!  You always pick one I like!

 

He got a gigantic water gun (I ordered it on-line and had no idea how huge it was!)

His big gift was a new bike

At laser quest with his friends (I think this will be his last big party, of course we said this two years ago also )

Enjoying pizza with his friends and cousins