the one with all the photos - updated

UPDATE: This post now contains more words, as promised.

At some point I will add the words to go along with these photos from my recent trip to Winnipeg. But I figured this is what people (well, my parents anyway) were really interested in :) As you can see, it was a great time away.

I love this photo of Corrina, partially because you can see how grown-up she's looking and partially because it so clearly shows her cochlear implant equipment and I am a BIG fan of that stuff. The last time I saw Corrina I don't even think she was saying "Hi". Now that's she's had her implants for over a year she's not only speaking all the time, she's starting to string together phrases. Anytime we were upstairs she would open her parent's bedroom door and point out "Mommy Addy's bed". If I asked her where her bed was, she'd run over and show me that too. One morning we talked about the stripes on my pajamas, another morning she went around the kitchen "Mommy [p]ocket, Addy ocket, Orrina no ocket" (hard consonants at the beginning of words are still very hard for her to say, but she'll get there.)

I know that some people look at the equipment she uses and think "oh no what's wrong?" but I look at it and see something wonderfully right. Corrina was completely deaf at birth and without this technology her world would have remained silent. With it, she is learning to hear and learning to speak. She may be able to hear music. It is nothing short of a miracle and if God chose to use magnets and wires do it it is no less miraculous. Just a few years ago it would have been impossible, so I love those things even if they do move barrettes in her hair and grab my ear rings when we cuddle.

This one is from our Thansgiving table and it should be down below with the others but it will take far too long to try and leap frog it down there. Same with the pie. It was great pie though. For the first time ever we started with a big ole' sugar pumpkin and roasted it the day before instead of opening a can. That was a really, really good pie. And Dave, you may not be able to make traditional whipped cream but your version which closely resembled vanilla ice cream in flavor and consistency is alright by me.

This pic great simply because she looks so happy and because she has this grin on her face so much of the time.
Another big change on this trip from the last time I saw Corrina is that she's in a stage now where she wants to be a part of everything the grown-ups are doing and wants to help. This was taken Sunday after church as Janie & I wer getting perogies ready for lunch. Corrina wanted to help so Janie got out Corrina's little cutting board and found something for her to chop. Technically perogies don't call for tomatoes, but as we know, that's hardly the point. I love the concentration in this photo.

More random Thanksgiving shots, apparently there are throughout. I really enjoyed getting to spend a major holiday with family members I don't usually get to spend them with (woah, nice grammar there editor girl, good thing you're off duty). Janie and Dave made me feel so welcome. To add to the list of first attempts, I also tried to recreate my Mom's famous roastie tatos that are actually deep fried. You'll have to trust me on this, they are devine. (As most deep fried things are.) They aren't quite up to Mom's level yet but they'll get there. Delish.

As usually happens on vacations, right towards the end we realized we didn't have any photos of all of us together. This was taken in the evening of Thanksgiving Monday. Corrina had felt rough all day but was perking up by this time. All in the photo is her beloved Pooh Bear. She's had him since day one and while I don't quite get why she loves to smell him, he does bring her much comfort.
These next few shots are Corrina helping Mommy get the pumpkin ready to roast for pie. We ended up with enough pumpkin that there were leftovers. Janie made some of it into pumpkin pancakes the next day (SOOO good) and put some in the freezer for soup later. That's going to be great soup.


Here is Janie & Corrina on the street where they live. It is an amazing street with hundred year old houses in all states of repair. There are beautiful old trees lining the street that meet in the middle like a benediction over the residents. It was October, but it was Winnipeg, so we bundled.
Action! This is me and Corrina and Kristiana, a student of English who is living with Dave & Janie. Corrina LOOOOVES Kristiana and Kristiana's English is coming along very well. Like children the world over, Corrina adores the 1-2-3 swiiiiiiiiiiiiing game. I'm not sure who invented that game or why all children know it, but I'm pretty sure a kid came up with it in the first place. [ok sci-fi geek reference here. . . .but in SG1 they have this idea of genetic memory and while in the show it's an alien thing, and not a human thing, I think a similar thing might apply here with the swinging.]




What can I say? This kid makes my heart happy. And just think, in a few more weeks Mark & Rachel's little guy will make an appearance and I'll get to be an Aunt again! Thanks to Corrina I'm all caught up on Elmo's World so I should be all set. (Did I mention that she's learning her ABCs now? You can hear her going through the house singing "... H I J K Elmo P"