2012 Winter Fest in Lavington! Feb 26th

Once again we are off to Lavington for our winter get-together! Can you believe this is our fourth annual Lavington fest? We’ve had such a wonderful time the last two years out at their place that we can’t help but have another good time!

Winter Warm-up!

When: Sunday February 26^th
Doors open at 3pm. Supper at approx. 4:30pm.

Where: Lavington Baptist Church – 9681 School Road, Lavington, BC. MAP.

Who: All family and friends of Okanagan Families With Children from Africa members are invited! The more the merrier!
If you would like to join our group or this activity, please simply email okanaganfca@gmail.com

What to bring: A family-sized potluck dish, as well as skates if you want to go skating.

No need to bring dishes or cutlery – we have access to a full church hall kitchen there including ovens and stoves for warming. Just be prepared to help with clean-up and dishes.

The skating rink is right beside the church and is lots of fun.

See video from our 2011 cultural potluck!

Please email RSVPokanaganfca@gmail.com with your dish so we can balance out the meal.

Looking forward to seeing you all!

 

Happy Hair Hour – Sunday Nov 20

Joanne is hosting our first Happy Hair Hour for 2011! It’s long overdue, and we will have a great time.

What’s Happy Hair Hour? It’s a chance for moms to sit down with a glass of wine and good company, and chat about hair – specifically, our African children’s wonderful curly locks of joy.

Sunday (20th of Nov) at 7:00 pm.

You are welcome to bring an appy!
Beverages will be supplied!
This is a fun sans enfant event!

Please RSVP sooner than later! to Joanne at joanneeppAThotmailDOTcom

 

VIDEO: Fall 2011 Get-together

http://www.onetruemedia.com/share_view_player?p=f8a2ab900b656d73431716

 

PHOTOS: Fall 2011 Cultural Show and Tell Potluck

What a fun fun get-together we had this fall! We met at the Mission Creek Park playground for some good outdoor fun, then went inside the ECO Centre for a cultural show and tell, a delicious potluck supper, and our first ever meeting (in four years!)

We now have families with children from Ethiopia, USA, Liberia, Ghana, Swaziland and Lesotho, as well African-Canadian families and children born in Canada. We make quite the vibrant crowd! Our cultural show and tell was a great success, as the children interacted with the dolls, games, pictures etc. You could tell they were interested and proud of their African heritage and connections. Enjoy the pictures!

 

Fall 2011 Get-together Oct 22

Let’s Celebrate! Cultural Show and Tell Get-together

Did you know we now have kids in our group from Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia, Swaziland, the US… did I miss any?

The idea is that we will all bring cultural items (music, artefacts, clothing, pictures) from our children’s various birth cultures.
We’ll set up a display so the kids and adults can see these cultures proudly displayed. Hopefully it will stimulate discussions about culture, birthplaces, pride, etc. Please dress in any cultural clothing you might have as well.

TO BRING

1. A potluck supper item. Cultural cooking is appreciated, but any item is great. Please let me know what you are bringing by
   replying to this email.
2. $10-15 donation for covering our use of the hall. Any leftovers will be donated to Vulnerable Children Society.
3. Cultural items, music etc. from your children’s culture to display and interact with.

WHEN:

SATURDAY OCTOBER 22, 2011

4pm Arrival – Show and Tell Setup, Potluck Warm-up and Playground Time

5pm Supper – Let’s eat and be merry!

After supper, we will have a brief meeting to organize ourselves for the coming year: gatherings? showers? Happy hair hours? Other ideas like cooking lessons?

WHERE:

EECO Centre, 2363 Springfield Road, Kelowna

There is a big playground for the kids to play in, and some hiking trails for the big kids to explore. It would be helpful if a few non-cooking parents would supervise a few extra kids while the cookers set up.

Our potluck and cultural show and tell will be in the EECO Centre basement. The EECO Centre main-floor display on salmon is also on until 5pm at night – totally worth a look!

WHO:

All friends and family of Okanagan Families with Children From Africa members are welcome.

Please RSVP to okanaganfca@gmail.com  and let us know what you are bringing food-wise.

 

Winter Warm-up: Feb 2011 Get-together

We are super pleased to announce that our friends in Lavington are game for hosting us once again for our winter get-together! We’ve had such a wonderful time the last two years out at their place (2010 Video, + More 2010 Pictures) that we can’t help but have another good time!

Winter Warm-up!

When: Sunday February 27^th
Doors open at 3pm. Supper at approx. 4:30pm.

Where: Lavington Baptist Church – 9681 School Road, Lavington, BC. MAP.

Who: All family and friends of Okanagan Families With Children from Africa members are invited! The more the merrier!

What to bring: A family-sized potluck dish, as well as skates if you want to go skating.
No need to bring dishes or cutlery – we have access to a full church hall kitchen there including ovens and stoves for warming. The skating rink is right beside the church and is lots of fun.

Please email RSVP okanaganfca (at) gmail.com with your dish.

Looking forward to seeing you all!

 

Photos: Nov 2010 Playdate

We had a great get-together back in November. The weather was sunny (the only afternoon within about a week!) and many families from across the Okanagan and Shuswap turned out for the fun.

Our next gettogether will be in January/February, up in Lavington again.

     

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November 2010 FALL PLAYDATE

Let’s all meet for a giant fall wild neighbours playdate!

Okanagan Families With Children From Africa
Sunday November 14^th 2-4pm
At the EECO (environmental education) Centre and Mission Park Greenway playground
Kelowna

There is a big playground! And trails to run and play on.
The environmental education centre EECO right beside has a FREE exhibit on urban wildlife which is sure to delight the little ones, (as well as bathrooms).
The EECO folks have also kindly volunteered to put on a nature interpretation program for us, which is awesome! In the basement of the EECO Centre we will hot chocolate and cookies. So we’ll have outside and inside room. Probably the “program” will be around 3pm.

Please bring

• a chair or blanket for the adults to sit on outside (we’ll run out of park benches in short order,)
• WARM clothes for everyone to play outside,
• your own travel mugs for the hot chocolate, and
• $5-10 per family to help cover the cost of the EECO centre donation, hot chocolate and goodies.

As usual, all friends and family of OKFCA members are welcome.

Please RSVP to okanaganfca@gmail.com so we can plan for snacks and for the nature program by Nov 6.

The EECO is located in Mission Creek Regional Park at 2363 A Springfield Road (intersection of Springfield and Durnin Roads) in Kelowna. MAP

About the current EECO exhibit:

“Our wild neighbours periodically leave evidence behind of their presence and activities in and around our homes and properties. Sometimes they help themselves by feeding on plants, shrubs and our gardens. Or you may simply find their tracks in the soil or snow.

You can explore more about some of these local animals that make their homes in and around ours by visiting the new exhibit at the EECO, ‘Meet Your Wild Neighbours’.

The exhibit features animals such as the beaver, bobcat, loon, marmot and cougar, all species that call the Central Okanagan home. There are hands-on learning activities to involve children along with information for children of all ages! It’s a great opportunity for you to get a safe, up-close look at some of the animals that may be in your backyard, or at least close by.”

 

Vernon Beach Get-together: Sun June 20, 2010

Join us for a family beach afternoon in Vernon for next Sunday, Father’s Day! So if you were wondering what you were going to do on that special day – here’s your answer!

2pm at Kin Beach in Vernon, Sun. June 20

Bring a snack to share and your own drinks.

We will bring will bring cups, paper plates, garbage bags, cutlery etc.

Please RSVP : okanaganfca@gmail.com  

See you there!!!

 

Happy Hair Hour April 12

April 12, 2010
Happy Hair Hour

Moms, please join us for drinks, snacks, and hair/body care talk.
Products Show and Tell: Please bring your favourite hair and body care products to show to other moms, and $5 to throw into the kitty for our group’s new hair mannequin. We’ll relax and talk about products that work for our kids, where to find them and/or how to make them.
Favourite Quick Styles: Then all moms are invited to show our favorite “quick” style(s) – under 10 minutes qualifies! Please bring your ideas to share… we may have the mannequin there – if not, we can show the ideas on each other ~ That’ll be a hoot.
Wine, non-alcoholic beverages and some wee snacks provided.
Please leave your kidlets at home.
Please RSVP to okanaganfca(at)gmail.com so we can plan for snacks!

 

Feb 2010 Potluck Pictures

Thanks to C&M for the pics!

 

Feb 2010 Potluck Video

Please feel free to send in pictures to add to the video!!
okanaganfca (at) gmail.com

 

2010 OKFCA Family Potluck

February 20, 2010 – Lavington
OKFCA Family Potluck

Join us for our third annual winter get-together… the second hosted by our friends in Lavington. We had a great time last year (click to see pictures, more pictures, and video of the 2009 event!) and are looking forward to another great gathering as our group grows and includes even more families.

We will eat at 5pm but feel free to come earlier to help set up or for your kids to play.
There is a nearby outdoor skating rink if you or your kids would like to go skating. Inside, there are games and toys for all ages.
There will be one or two photo presentations on families’ travels to Africa over the last year.

As usual, all family and friends of OKFCA members are welcome.
Lavington Baptist Church – 9681 School Road, Lavington, BC – map
Please RSVP with what you are bringing by Sunday Feb 14 to okananganfca@gmail.com
.

 

Happy Hair Hour Dec 2

Happy Hair Hour

Okanagan Families With Children from Africa

Wednesday December 2, 7-9pm, Kelowna

Moms, please join us for drinks, snacks,  and hair/body care talk.

Our first Happy Hair Hour will be a Products Show and Tell. 
Please bring your favourite hair and body care products to show to other moms, and $5 to throw into the kitty for our group’s new hair mannequin. We’ll relax and talk about products that work for our kids, where to find them and/or how to make them.

Want to come? Email okanaganfca@gmail.com
Please RSVP by Sun Nov. 29. 
Wine, non-alcoholic beverages and some wee snacks provided.

Please leave your kidlets at home.

Next time… a braiding workshop with the new mannequin.

 

Fall 2009 Picnic in Westbank Nut Orchard

Let’s Go Nuts!
Okanagan Families With Children From Africa
Fall Picnic in a Nut Orchard

Saturday, October 3rd, 11-2pm
Gellatly Nut Farm, Westbank

Bring your own picnic, reusable dishes, blanket, chairs and outdoor games/toys, and nut-picking bowls/bags.
We will supply hot drinks.
There will be old-fashioned picnic games like three-legged and potato-sack races.
There is 500 ft of pebble beach to throw rocks and run around, as well as a few picnic tables.
And of course, you can go into the nut orchard and pick nuts, which is pretty fun. To take them home, you pay $2-3 a pound.

Please dress warm! For the brisk autumn weather.
There is no shelter at the Nut Farm, so if it looks to be pouring rain, I’ll send out an emergency location via email the day before.

As usual, family and friends of group members are very welcome.

Not a member but want to come?  Email okanaganfca@gmail.com .

To get there: from Hwy 97 in Westbank turn down Gellatly Road towards the lake. When you hit a T intersection, turn right on Gellatly (left is Boucherie) and follow the road as it curves past a resort. Shortly after you will see Whitworth Road and the Gellatly Nut Farm is just a short way in on the left. Note that much further down the road is the Gellatly Heritage Park – but that’s not where we are going.

More about the nut farm: Regional District Site and some pictures.

 

PICTURES: May 2009 Potluck

Our May 2009 Potluck was held at one of our member family’s home.  We were treated to some amazing Ethiopian food, cooked by our hosts, as well as the usual eceltic assortment of potluck dishes.

The kids had a great time jumping on the trampoline, and the adults did what we do best – chat and watch the kids!  Several new families joined us for this event… we had just over 50 people in attendance!  Wow!

Enjoy the pictures below.

 

May Potluck Supper in Rutland

OKFCA POTLUCK SUPPER
Saturday May 9, 2009 – starting at 5pm
Kelowna (in South Rutland – please email okanaganfca@gmail.com for the address)

Our Canadian Ethiopian  hosts will make some Ethiopian dishes and injera. The rest of us will bring drinks, desserts, salads, etc.

Everyone is responsible for bringing their own non-breakable dishes, cutlery, glasses – and lawnchairs! for their family.

Please RSVP to okanaganfca@gmail.com by the end of the month with how many of your family members are coming, and what you are planning to bring.

As usual, friends and family of our group are very welcome!

 

MORE Potluck Pictures January 2009

Thanks to one of our members for some more great pictures!

 

Potluck Video January 2009

 

Potluck Pictures January 2009

Everyone had a great time out in Lavingotn.  We were happy to welcome a bunch of new members – people planning on adopting, another Ethiopian family, and even a veteran adoptive parent who adopted from Ethiopia a decade ago.  Our group just continues to grow and thrive!

Thanks so much to our Lavington members for hosting us – it was the perfect facility with a kitchen and lots of playing room and games.  Thanks to the couple who presented pictures of their recent trip to pick up their daughter.  And thanks to everyone for coming out!

 

PHOTOS: Fall Picnic 2008

It was so nice to see our regular members joined by new members!  Congratulations to the folks who have just started their process, and our newest arrivals (and their families) from Ethiopia and Swaziland. 

To see the photos below, simply click on the photo itself.  It will forward to a larger picture.  Enjoy!

 

Fall 2008 Family BBQ

We’re holding a Autumn BBQ for OK FCA members, our families and friends…

Beasley Park in Winfield (Lake Country)

Saturday September 27, 11-2pm

Please bring

• a communal dish (salad or dessert) with serving utensil
• meat to bbq for your own family
• lawn chairs, blank
• reuseable plates, glasses and cutlery for your family
  (let’s be green, peeps!) 

RSVP to Nathalie please

… telephone 250-448-6902 email: flo-cars (at) hotmail.com

 

Spring Family Potluck in Westbank

Sunday, May 18th – Westbank
Okanagan Families With Children From Africa FAMILY POTLUCK

 

We’ll BBQ at Laura and Brent’s house and there is a lot of room for the kids to play inside and in the backyard. If you have outdoor games (soccer, football, etc…) age-appropriate for your kids, please bring them.  3344 McIver Rd, Westbank (250) 768-4348

 

**Please bring your own meat, plus a communal side dish or dessert of your choosing.

As usual, friends and family are welcome.

Please RSVP to okfca@hotmail.com to let us know you are coming! (Thanks for hosting, Laura!!)

 

Directions: (Google Maps has it wrong!) Drive south through Westbank.  Once you have left the “downtown”, you will see a huge exit sign for Glenrosa.  Turn right on Glenrosa.  Turn RIGHT on McIver, and their house is down a ways on the left.

 

MORE PHOTOS: Celebration Jan 26, 2008

    

    

  

Thanks for the photos Nathalie!

 

VIDEO: Celebration Jan 26, 2008

 

PHOTOS: Celebration Jan 26, 2008

We had a super fun time at our celebration… here are some photos but I’m sure we’ll have some better ones from other members!

The food…

 

Families enjoying the Ethiopian feast!

 

 

 

Spending some time chatting and hanging out…

   

Some sweet faces…

 

Welcoming our two newest arrivals!

 

 A special thanks to all our group members who cooked, set up, washed dishes, baked a cake, brought music, etc!

 

Okanagan Timkat Celebration Jan 26 2008

Saturday, January 26, 2008 – Kelowna
Timkat Celebration
5pm-8pm, Reid Hall, Benvoulin Heritage Park, 2279 Benvoulin Road, Kelowna
.
This gathering of the Okanagan Families With Children From Africa will celebrate the biggest festival of the Ethiopian calendar.  We’ll include all the secular parts of the Orthodox celebration, including eating great Ethiopian food and listening to Ethio music. Dancing and frolicking is encouraged! Parents should bring a *small* gift of a new article of clothing for their children, as is the tradition.
.
Want to come? 
$15 adults / $7 kids / $0 babies
5pm-8pm / Reid Hall, 2279 Benvoulin Road, Benvoulin Heritage Park, Kelowna
We could use some help cooking, if you are game!
Also looking for families that have been to Ethiopia already to share their photos and/or do a short presentation.
.
Please RSVP to okfca@hotmail.com

Learn a little more about Timkat/Timket here and here.
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PHOTOS: October Picnic in Osprey Park

             

What a great time it was on a frosty fall afternoon in Osprey Park.  We got to know each other with a little Bingo icebreaker, dined on kebabs, salad and brownies, swung on the swings, tossed the football around, and chatted away about adoption.  There were parents, expecting parents, siblings and even expecting grandparents in attendance.

Thanks to all the families for coming – we’ll see you next time!

 

 

Potluck BBQ Date Change to Sat Oct 27

Note that our get-together was postponed until a week later, when more families can attend.

Please RSVP to okfca@hotmail.com to organize what you can bring…

 

Our first get-together Sat Oct 27

Our first get-together!  How exciting!

 Saturday, October 27th, noon – Kelowna
OKFCA Family Potluck BBQ in Osprey Park
Bring your outside toys -there is a playground and ball dimond with lots of room for games at Osprey Park on the corner of Osprey and Richter (enter off Pandosy Street) in south Kelowna.

We’ll go rain or shine – there is a picnic shelter as well as a OKFCA member’s house just down the block if we need to warm up or move inside. Please email okfca@hotmail.com to sign up for the potluck lunch.