The Friday market is something that is not to be missed if you visit Kuwait. Our visit there was great fun. We went there to look at birds. Kelly had visited the day before and shared with me he had found a pet for me, a hawk. In Kuwait people enjoy the sport of Falconry or Hawking.
This is fascinating to me because I am in awe of birds of prey. I can be commonly spotted looking up the skies at hawks, eagles and falcons. I had thought falconry would be a neat skill to learn.

The Bunch really enjoyed the Friday market. There are all sorts of pets and animals there. They were able to pet and touch many different things. The favorite was the chicks that were dyed pretty Easter colors. Poor little chicks were not the same after we stopped by to greet them. I think Hope thought they were Marshmallow Peeps. We had to explain to her, "you can't eat them or smash them with your fist."

I did get to hold a hooded Hawk. The shop keeper wanted to remove the hood for me. I couldn't do it, not yet. This bird is very powerful and I have never had a bird of prey look directly into my eyes. He is a killing machine, his talons alone could rip apart my flesh. I decided let's keep the hood on until we get to know each other. I would love to train one of these beautiful creatures, but we opted for the parakeets for now. My dream now is to become an accomplished Falconer and get a job with Medieval Times when we return to the States. I think for now though I will start smaller. I am still trying to get the parakeet trained to sit on my finger and not run away as he attempts to land on my head.


In these photos is our new housekeeper/nanny, Miss Arcanja. She is from India and she is a gem!!!


Have a good weekend~

Today we found my new favorite place. The closest nature center. I have missed "Green Space", which is apparently what it is referred to here in the big city. Back in Michigan "Green Space" was our yard.

I rarely lose track of time. I am a descendant of many Germans. I am always on time. Today, though I think I slipped from our space-time continuum into heaven. I was able to photograph my beautiful children, spy some birds, listen to the water rushing over the rocks and enjoy the amazing fall foliage. It was perfect for a time. The kids were all happy running, laughing, and watching leaves float down the stream. Had I stepped off into another world? Where was the traffic, the loud sirens of the millions of firetrucks constantly going here or there? The towering buildings were replaced by the towering trees. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. Is that Hope crying because Timmy had the audacity to breathe? Snap, just like that and I am back to life, back to reality!

Hello All! We are so glad that the weather has changed here in Michigan. Recently we had to end of the year programs at the Lutheran school where Grace, Faith and Luke attend. Luke had a wonderful pre school program with singing and receiving a special photo memory book from his awesome teacher, Mrs. J. We love you so much Robin, Thanks for loving our Luke!!!!! Luke is pictured below with Mrs. J on the night of the program.

Faith had her kindergarten graduation as well, she did great!! She and her class sang, read scripture and acted out skits. I am amazed that our second daughter is getting so old, here comes first grade!!! Faith's teacher Mrs. S is also a gift from God, we love you Jean and we thank God for you and your strong Christian witness to our children!! Faith is pictured reciting her scripture and holding her flower after the performance.

Lastly, are things I have spotted up in our trees of late. "The Big Three" loved climbing this tree tonight out in our woods behind our home. They were having a great time in it. They pretended it was a fort, "tree-school" and a ship of some sort. They kept saying "don't you just love nature, Mom?!!" Tomorrow is all planned out already, they will come home from school and head back out to "tree-school" to play. What a blessing warm weather is!!!!

We also have a Cardinal's nest in a large shrub/tree on the side of our house. I was thrilled that Kelly found it!!!! Most of you already know I a huge bird lover and any chance to peek into their world just delights me. This is a picture from the nest this evening. Praise God for his creation, new life springs forth in his time.

Lastly, I have a SECRET : ) It will be revealed in about a month or so until than stick with me, it will be worth the wait!! Just to stop this rumor immediately, no I am NOT pregnant and we are not currently adopting again. Blessings to you all~

Hello All! I took these photos today. I love Chickadees, they are my favorite bird. They are getting used to me standing in the backyard close to their bird feeder. I stand as still as I can and snap away. What a gorgeous fall day!!! God Bless~ Crystal

Hello All! These are some photos of our backyard after we did a weekend landscaping project. This was a much needed item on our "to-do" list. We have enjoyed our warmer weather and now with the landscaping we are loving sitting outside and watching the kids play, birds come to our feeders and the flowers growing. Enjoy the rest of your summer : ) Blessings~Crystal

Hello All! Well I am so glad to hear our year long friends the Black Capped Chickadee is singing his spring time song. I love the Chickadee, in fact it is my favorite bird. It stays with us year round here in Michigan. That alone is impressive. They are all getting ready to breed and they literally sing a song that sounds like "Spring Time". The kids tell me all the time now when we are outside "Mommy, I hear spring time!" I decided to change my profile to include an image of my fine feathered friend, instead of yours truly. To be honest I got sick of seeing my face every time I posted on a blog : ) I like to see every one's face who is posting out there in bloggerland, just not mine. I see it enough. I want to see something else God created. So next time you are outside listen for the "Spring Time" song. Blessings!!!

Hello All! Today was an excellent birding day for me. But I will share all that once I address my first blog contest winner. I received two correct answers one from My sister, Heather and second from my Aunt Barb. The mystery man is my Dad's older brother, my uncle John. It was so neat to see his photo up as we were driving into Holland. Kelly and I were just saying we need to get my Uncle and Aunt's phone number for our next impromptu trip to their beautiful town. Next thing we knew, WHAM, there was my uncle's face up in lights : ) So I will give the winning identification to my Aunt Barb, his wife. If anyone can identify him it better be her, right? So thanks for participating in my first ever blog contest. More to come I am sure.

Birding was easy today as it was not planned. I just kept my eyes open today and I saw three special birds. First, this morning while making breakfast Kelly said " Hey, is that an Oriole at the hummingbird feeder?" I stopped buttering the English muffins I was preparing and peeked out the window. I will admit, I thought "No, he probably isn't seeing an oriole." Upon spying the hummingbird feeder I was so happy and shocked to see it was in fact a Baltimore Oriole. The best part is when I still lived at home with my parents I used to see them at my hummingbird feeder I hung outside my bedroom window all the time. So the other day I filled the hummingbird feeder with Oriole nectar to see if I could attract any this year. I tried hard last spring with no success, orange slices littered our backyard. I know Orioles love eating oranges, but it mostly attracted big fat squirrels. I have not seen an Oriole in probably 13 years back in Freeland, MI. So this was a huge victory for me!!!!! I will be up watching to see if my friend returns tomorrow.

After dropping Grace off at preschool I met a friend at a park. this particular park is right on lake Michigan. The kids played on all the playground equipment and we hiked down to the water to watch many boats and much activity on the lake. As we returned to the play area to have a snack, I saw a red bird fly up to a large tree in front of me. I could view it quite well as the sun was shining on it. It was a Scarlet Tanager!!! That is a life bird for me, I think. I may have spied one with my mom in high school, but that doesn't count as I wasn't keeping a life list of all my birds seen than. I could see his black wings clearly as he sat perched high in the tree. This is the second tanager on my list as I have seen a Summer Tanager in Missouri while we lived there. So it was great to finally see this guy : )

Lastly, the day ended with one of my favorite migrants returning to us for the summer. The Ruby Throated Hummingbird has made it's way north to us, YAHOO! I spied one today checking out me New Guinea impatiens plant. I love hummingbirds. They signify summer to me. If they have returned, it means summer is not far off. The male hummer usually comes to check for food sources before settling and breeding. So I hope they like my home and yard. Thanks for humoring me and reading about one of my passions, birds!! God Bless and have a great weekend!!! Love, Crystal

Hello All! Well today was a good day, but a weird day all the same. First, we went in for fingerprinting appointment courtesy of USCIS (the kinder, gentler version of INS). This is the last step as far as our pre-approval for the babies Visa. Now they will send us a form I-171H. That form shows the Consulate in Monrovia, Liberia we are pursuing an adoption and we have jumped through the correct hoops stateside to add another child to our family. So this is now the second time the Feds have fingerprinted me. It went well, we got there before our appointed time. We had just finished the paperwork they had given us to fill out and our number was called. We are glad to have that done though, I will let you know when we have our I-171H.

When we arrived home this afternoon we had fun painting Easter eggs. Luke was napping, so he didn't participate this year. The girls loved it. It was quite surreal painting eggs for Easter with three inches of snow outside. It has been snowing and blowing since yesterday. We keep teasing the kids by saying "Merry Christmas" or " Are we celebrating Christmas this weekend?" It has been on the weather locally that we will be colder and have more snow than we received on this past Christmas. That is pretty interesting : ) I have talked to my friend HollyAnn in West Texas and they are even cold and snow covered. Glad to know some others share in the frosty Easter. Easter Egg hunts and many spring sports practices were all canceled. I am sure glad the girls have warm sweaters to wear over their cute little Easter dresses tomorrow!

I wanted to include these pictures of Luke my little birdwatcher. He is looking out his binoculars through our sliding glass door into our backyard. He does this commonly and says "Birdie Mommy". It is precious because I don't really think he even can see through the eye pieces. He just holds them up to his eyes. He must think, "How does mommy see through these things." Enjoy! Have a very Happy Easter! He is Risen----He is Risen Indeed!!!!!!!!!! Love, Crystal

Hello All! I love spring for many reasons. The weather is warming up. The flowers are peaking through the cold rain soaked ground. Most importantly birds migrate through my backyard. I love birds and birdwatching. I am not the type to have a bird in a cage in my home. Watching wild birds in God's big, bright, beautiful world is a thrill for me. Today I had two fun sightings. The Brown Creeper is the first picture I posted. I can see this bird better after a rain. They are hard to spot as the "creep" up a tree gleaning for insects to eat. They are so well camouflaged in our backyard trees. But, when it rains colors change ever so slightly. The Brown Creeper does not blend as well into my rain soaked forest in the backyard. So I was able to watch my friend the creeper creep for 15 minutes as I prepared breakfast. He would go about half way up each tree than fly to the bottom of a neighboring tree and start his ascent anew. It is amazing to me how God has designed and protected him so well.

The next bird I have enjoyed watching of late is the Song Sparrow. I have one who has been visiting my birdbath and the ground around my bird feeders for about three days. My mother taught me how to identify this bird by it's song. So it is fun to listen for it. I hope he or she will breed in my yard : ) So as you can tell I love this time of year. I wake up each day with my binoculars in hand, make the coffee and watch for a new feathered friend. God Bless you all- Crystal

Hello All! I know after reading this afternoon's post you are all waiting anxiously for me to share with you my first Robin sighting. Tonight after driving home from shopping. I was excited to see about forty American Robins on the front lawn of a home I drove past. I slowed to count and watch them pick at the ground. Don't worry, no cars were driving behind me. So it looks like the Red Winged Blackbird and the American Robin were racing. It's almost to close to call. I say the Blackbird won by a beak, Ha! Ha! Ha! My father in law will love that joke : ) Love, Crystal

Hello All! I don't have time for a long post today as I am so busy. With that said, I wanted to share some birding news. I love birds!! I have since I was a little girl watching them from my dining room window. Now that I have become an avid birder (Ha! Ha!) It is so fun to watch the migratory patterns of our local birds in Michigan. Yesterday I was driving home from town on a road that winds around the side of our rather large local inland lake. The sun hit the bird just right as he sat there calling from the cattails just light the bird in this picture. I saw clearly that is was a red winged blackbird! Yahoo! Most people who are not avid birders (Ha! Ha!) like myself think the robin ushers in spring. But we birders know it is the Red winged blackbird that shakes us out of the winter "blahs" and points to warm sunny days. The males arrive first and establish their territories. The females will arrive in a week or so. I love tracking the different birds as they arrive in this area to summer with us. It helps me again to feel in touch with something so much bigger than me. I am in awe of a God who can create birds to migrate thousands of miles. How awesome is that!! I am often even more in awe when I think, I am familiar only with birds. What interesting details about other animals am I unaware of ? I wonder what things we have yet to discover about God's creation. God is so good even to the birds. Birds don't migrate because they can't tough out the winter in the north. They migrate because food sources become so limited or even non-existent. The red winged blackbird is back in this beautiful swamp we call Michigan. The ice is melting and he now has a perfect view from the cattails of his food for the next 7 months. The kids and I are commonly pulling the car over to get a better vantage point of a bird spotted by mommy. Today we saw a big bird on the ice on the lake. He appeared to be eating something he caught. I did not have my "binocs" (binoculars) in the car, so it was hard to make him out. Grace, kept squirming and peeking from her booster seat in the mini van. "Mommy," she said "Don't drive away before I see him." My little birders! My hope is they will also see the beauty in God's creation. We welcome you back Mr. Blackbird, please enjoy your stay with us : ) Love, Crystal