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A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

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This week, I asked Ethan for a couple of pictures of himself.  He doesn't regularly send any photos to us, and yet I know he's taking them.  He happily agreed, and one of the photos (shown below) says so much about him and encompasses so much of his life:


I love, Love, LOVE this picture!  Like, I want to look at it everyday because it makes me soooo happy!  This photo was taken at the Poland/Germany border.  Ethan lives just 30 minutes from the border, and he says it's taken some adjustment to hearing all the German spoken around him (yay!)

Anyway, looking at the photo, here's what I can see that makes me unbelievably happy:
  1. He looks happy.  There's a reason his Uncle Mike gave him the nickname of "Cheeser" so many years ago--that cheesy grin shines through.
  2. He's standing on the Polish border.  Poland has been his home now for over a year.
  3. Behind him, I can only assume, is Germany.  Germany was his home for most of his childhood.  Six formative years spent there, and he speaks German like a native.
  4. He's wearing a Michigan shirt sent to him by his loving mother, inspired by his now Wolverine brother.
  5. He's wearing a Michigan FOOTBALL shirt.  The University of Michigan football team is our favorite, and he's showing our family's true colors.
  6. He has his missionary badge on!  Yes, look closely, and you will see that even on P-Day, Ethan doesn't stop being a missionary.
  7. He has red hair.  I don't know what this means, or why he did it, but being Irish, he certainly doesn't look bad with the red hair.
  8. He looks skinny.  Okay, this doesn't make me happy.  I told him a couple of months ago that he looks like he's losing weight, and he told me that he's dropped about 20 pounds.  Don't they have any food in Poland? Or maybe it's all a consequence of walking so much....
I love this photo, more so, I must admit, than the pictures of him at his most recent baptism.  It reminds me that my boy is still out there, and I can't wait for him to come home!

Comments

  1. John KennedyOctober 19, 2011 at 3:13 PM

    He looks good on his mission and sporting his teams colors. We love the cheese!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousOctober 19, 2011 at 6:07 PM

    Me too, me too!! I absolutely LOVE everything about this photo! I cannot wait until the day he'll be home again!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sarah MoranOctober 20, 2011 at 1:40 AM

    I love this pictures for all the reasons you listed above and because he's being obedient and staying in Poland even though he might wish he could go to Germany. Ethan is always so good and such a great example!

    ReplyDelete
  4. LarisaOctober 20, 2011 at 11:50 AM

    Oh my goodness, you are so RIGHT, Sarah! I completely skipped the "obedience" reason for loving that photo. Thank you for reminding me!

    ReplyDelete

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