Out the turquoise doors we passed, our daughter leaving one home to join another. Walk through these doors in the other direction and you enter Baby Bird’s first world, a children’s home, where she lived for the first year of her life, surrounded by the voices of nannies and other children just like her, children […]
Armenia
Our 3rd Family Day!
On March 19,we stood before a judge in Gyumri to ask if one 11-month-old baby girl could join our family. The selfie we took in our hotel room, all gussied up right before court, gives you a good idea of how we were feeling. We look a tad anxious don’t we? If you’ve never been […]
Three years ago: Gyumri, Armenia
Three years ago on March 16, we flew from London to Yerevan, Armenia. We arrived at midnight. Snow was falling. The roads were icy and hazardous. I should also mention our driver, who did not speak any English, was a former professional wrestler. One glance at him told us all we needed to know. He […]
Mushurba – The golden cup of Gyumri
When I saw this photo of a giant mushurba statue in Gyumri, I was dismayed. Despite all the photos I took to remember the city, how did I miss this? I felt a better when I read it hadn’t been installed until 2013. We visited in 2011 and 2012. Arman Musikyan, Wikimedia. A mushurba is […]
Winter in Armenia
Seasonally, Armenia excels in extremes. In the winter it is cold. Very, very cold. And in the summer it is hot. Very, very hot. When Seattle gets chilly, we always say, “Well, if we were in Armenia, it would be 20 degrees colder.” Even in Spring (our last trip was late March), temperatures can easily […]
Armenian brandy
In my opinion, unless you’re a teetotaler, you can’t visit Armenia without bringing home a bottle of brandy. I’ve written posts about using our ArArAt brandy to make Brandied Cherries, and commented that it was our beverage of choice when we’ve celebrated adoption milestones (before we adopted and since). On our last trip in 2012, I […]
Celebrate Christmas and New Year the Armenian way
Just about the time when most of us are taking down our Christmas trees and packing up our ornaments for next year, Armenia is ramping up for week of holiday festivities. In Armenia, Christmas falls on January 6th and Christmas Eve is celebrated the night before, January 5. This is because Armenians–for centuries–followed the Julian […]
Gifts from Armenia
“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” ~Mary Anne Radmacher Last week a very special package arrived at our house. Inside were gifts from Armenia: a few items for our dining room, hand-made wooden earrings, a lovely jewelry box and an amazing traditional Armenian costume, […]
Photos from Gyumri
Photos from Gyumri, Armenia show her old world beauty. Not beautiful in the way one might describe Paris or Prague, but with her breathtaking metal downspouts, luminous tuff buildings, and plentiful sculptures, Gyumri has a beauty all her own. Even with the destruction wrought by the earthquake that devastated the region in 1988, fragments tell […]
A girl from Gyumri
Three years ago we met a tiny girl from Gyumri… The girl The girl and her Dada The girl and her Mama The three of us …and a kitten Take the road less traveled, Beth