Posts Tagged ‘Ethiopia’

Happy times and high stakes

Warm flannel pajamas and cozy slippers on a brisk December afternoon. Pizza and pretzels, cookies and lemonade. Face painters, costumed characters, crafts. The giddy abandon of parading around a place more typically associated with culture and refinement while blowing on kazoos. A play based on a favorite childhood book. A cast of characters clearly devoted to [...]

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Now we are 2

A Sesame Street-theme cake for Tesfanesh and Solomon, now 2. Tesfanesh and Solomon deGuzman — the children I first met as babies in Ethiopia — are 2 years old. They shared a birthday party Saturday with their older brother Musse (who turns 4 this week) at McCormick Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale. Big sister Jesmina [...]

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Adventures with the older deGuzman kids

I knew I’d finally won him over when we were singing “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” in the car. We were taking turns filling in the blanks: And on that farm he had a…. We’d run through the standard cow, horse, pig, chicken, duck, dog, cat. It was Musse’s turn to pick. And on that [...]

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An update on the deGuzman kids, as their mom prepares to return to Ethiopia

Keri deGuzman will board a plane tomorrow morning bound for Washington, D.C. On Thursday, she will check in at the Ethiopian Airlines counter at Dulles International Airport. On Friday morning, she will arrive in Addis Ababa — her fourth trip to the capital of a resource-rich but infrastructure-poor country where more than four million children [...]

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Father's Day and finding my way

My husband was suffering from allergies (or a cold, we weren’t sure which) yesterday, so his Father’s Day was spent quietly. We opted out of our Sunday routine — which typically involves a hike or long bike ride — in favor of lazily lounging around. Dan’s only goal for the day was to make some [...]

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The gifts of writing

It has been a lot of years — more than 30 — since I have submitted a freelance article to an editor. The last time I did, as a senior year college student at the University of Guam, my approach was very different. I typed my story, which was about an education program on the [...]

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An Ethiopian adoption story – a chance to hear it told

I’ve heard her tell it dozens of times but I never tire of the story. When Keri deGuzman tells people about the remarkable journey she and her husband, cardiothoracic surgeon Brian deGuzman, M.D., took to adopt their four Ethiopia-born children, she is transformed. Any pre-event jitters evaporate as soon as she begins to talk. There is [...]

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Reading tea leaves

Like many fans of Greg Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace One School at a Time, I was glued to the TV Sunday night watching the “60 Minutes” broadcast reporting allegations that parts of Mortensen’s original memoir never happened. Like many fans who have followed Mortenson’s story, I didn’t want [...]

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Ethiopia – The adoptions are final

As The Honorable Bernard C. Owens took the bench in his courtroom at Maricopa County Juvenile Court in Mesa, Brian and Keri deGuzman were trying to settle two energetic toddlers. Keri looked up at the judge uncertainly. “Can he have a cracker?” she asked, referring to her son Solomon, who was squirming on her lap. [...]

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Memories of Japan

I have a standing appointment each Tuesday morning at 9. Afterward, I typically stop by a nearby coffee shop to get a coffee and a bottle of water. Then I pull out my laptop and get to work. Though the location offers free wi-fi, I try to avoid using it. Internet connectivity breeds distractions. This [...]

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RAK Giveaways

A summer birthday party at Kiwanis Wave Pool

Make your next birthday party a real splash by holding it at Kiwanis Recreation Center’s indoor wave pool and water slide! What could be better than three-foot waves and a double-spiral water slide? We’re giving away a Splash Bash Birthday Party valued at $175. It includes: 16 people, birthday child is free two-hour hosted public [...]
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Tickets to “Despicable Me 2″ sneak preview

This summer, those lovable yellow minions assemble and return to theaters when “Despicable Me 2″ opens July 3. We are sending five families (four tickets each) to a special, reserved-seating advance screening at 7pm on Thursday, June 27 at the AMC Deer Valley 30. The screening will be in Real D 3D. The film features [...]
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