Zufan’s Third Birthday
March 8, 2010 | Filed Under Celebratin', Family | Leave a Comment
Rebecca made a strawberry cake with vanilla butter cream frosting for our baby’s birthday. We realized after that we didn’t have properly-sized candles, but we made due. She’s different, but she’s still the same little girl whose first birthday we celebrated after she and her brother became ours in 2008.
Zemam’s
March 8, 2010 | Filed Under Celebratin', Eats, Family | Leave a Comment
For Zufaney’s birthday dinner we went to Zemam’s Ethiopian Restaurant. We first went in anticipation of traveling to Ethiopia and meeting and bringing home our boy and girl. We fell in love with the food which Debabu and Zufan, as little as they were, ate in the orphanage and grew strong while they waited for us. Served on the spongy, thin injera, which is used as a utensil of sorts, is shiro (spicy, pureed chickpeas), kik wat (spit pea stew), spinach wat, and cubed, stewed beef and minced, simmered beef, and some small samples of a couple of other dishes. Dig this review of Zemam’s from the Weekly. Fantastic!
Renaissance Festival
March 7, 2010 | Filed Under Celebratin', Family, Recreatin' | Leave a Comment
As we’ve successfully made a November visit to the Pima Air and Space Museum Debabu’s birthday tradition, so we tried to make a visit to Old Tucson Zufaney’s last year. It was fun, but we decided to do the Arizona Renaissance Festival again this year for our baby’s birthday. Debabu, Zufan, and their friend Lariella met a fairy when we arrived.
The Elusive Rob
March 6, 2010 | Filed Under Me | Leave a Comment
I conspicuously avoid having my photo taken or using pictures of me across the Rob Girard Network, preferring to highlight my family and travels (though a few can be found). Here’s a recent shot, though, taken by one of my former students who was sent to snap me for the school yearbook. You can see why I generally stay out of the way of the lens.
Seoul Kitchen
February 27, 2010 | Filed Under Eats | Leave a Comment
I spied a new restaurant while we ran errands the other day, the Seoul Kitchen, on Grant between Rosemont and Swan just near the Crossroads Festival. We like patronize local industry when we can, and so we did. I enjoyed bulgogi and daeji bulgogi (barbecued beef and pork) with plenty of bancahn. Here’s a recent local review. Masegaemugusuyo, baby!
At the Park
February 26, 2010 | Filed Under Family, Friends | Leave a Comment
Over the last few or so months, we’ve met and discovered several other adoptive American-Ethiopian families in Tucson, and today we picnicked and played at the park. It’s nice to know our family situation isn’t unique in the Old Pueblo, and I hope Debabu and Zufan will be able to connect well with their new friends through their common heritage.
More Braids
February 26, 2010 | Filed Under Family | Leave a Comment
After pizza and cheese sticks from Papa John’s (Randy was voted off the Villains tribe), we were settling in for episode 3 of Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains and Rebecca decided to braid Zufaney’s hair. She’d done it many times since the first, but she decided to quadruple down and go for sixteen braids. Zufaney got excited when she saw herself in the mirror; Mommy did a great job again.
49 Chicken McNuggets
February 13, 2010 | Filed Under Eats | Leave a Comment
Last Sunday was the Super Bowl, and that was all the excuse I needed to try a delicious experiment. My students had informed me of McDonald’s $10 50 Chicken McNuggets deal, and I convinced Rebecca that it’d be ridiculous not to take advantage of the special for dinner. We added two large soft drinks and two large fries for $5 more for what was to be the greatest Super Bowl ever! I ate twenty-seven McNuggets (one of those on the way home with our treasure). Dee-lish!
First Day of Pre-school
January 30, 2010 | Filed Under Family | Leave a Comment
This week our boy started pre-school, two years and a week after the first day we met him and his sister in Addis Ababa. Debabu was already two and a couple of months then, now he’s four. Time is flying.
Zufan’s Tooth
December 29, 2009 | Filed Under Family | Leave a Comment
Two days after Christmas, Zufan took a spill in the kitchen and chipped one of her left incisors. Thankfully our new dentist was able to attend her that Sunday. Rebecca took Zufan back to Dr. Lafleur Monday and she fixed her smile to make it look as good as new.
