J.Michael's B-Day Part 2

Instead of wraping J.Michael's present we decided to do a treasure hunt. Emily our master riddler got to work on clues from the Star Spangled Banner that lead J.Michael to his gift. It was a fun adventure for all of us. Here is our hunt by video.

J.Michael's 11th Birthday

J.Michael has grown up to be a bright, handsome, brave, strong, witty young man. I am in awe of how my little boy is becoming a man right before my eyes. He has grown what seems a foot in the last year and is quickly approaching my eye level which I am sure will only be fleeting as he surpasses me by his next birthday. J.Michael and I got to spend the afternoon together, just the two of us running errands and completing preparations for his birthday. He requested an ice cream cake from Coldstone (a family favorite I would add). He also got to make the dinner menu which consisted of Fried Crawfish tails, Mom's kefir cornbread and Emily's famous tossed caesar salad.
After our delicious dinner that J.Michael and I cooked together (he is also a great helper in the kitchen-one day his wife will really appreciate that he knows his way around a kitchen) J.Michael opened his presents. He previously opened his gifts from grandparents last weekend since they were in town for Kathlena's birthday. His gift from Dad and Mom came with a twist--instead of unwrapping his gift he had to follow clues for a scavenger hunt that led to his gift. The clues Emily, our riddler, made them up from the lines of the star spangled banner. It was quite clever and fun.
The surprises continued as he opened another surprise which was a borrowed copy of the third installment of The Lord of the Rings movie. J.Michael had been looking for this movie all week and we kept him in suspense thinking we could not find a copy to watch and that we would have to do something else. He was a great sport about it all and many thanks to the Beach family who let us borrow the movie and was in on the surprise!
In the words of J.Michael "It was one of the best birthdays yet!"
J.Michael we love you and will always love you. We pray that the Lord would accomplish much for His kingdom through you in your devotion to Christ.

Kathlena's Birthday Party

We celebrated Kathlena's first birthday party with both sets of grandparents and Uncle Todd at our home. Kathlena being 4 years old seems like such a big jump from 3. I am not sure why that is, but it has seemed an even bigger leap considering Kathlena has gone from looking/talking like an infant to being this vibrant, energetic, confident little girl. She is a rough and tumble and keeps up with her big brothers, but also is very prissy and loves pretty dresses and babies. She is such a little mommy. Having a little brother or sister soon will suit her very well.

Her Uncles keep her outfitted in pink camo and J.Michael topped the day with a pink cap gun that she had to wear right away as you will see in the slide show below.

*be sure to pause the music in the sidebar to hear the video.

DAY 1 - VIDEO

Here's our "Day 1" video showing the drive to the orphanages, and also video of both new kids! We had much more time with Andrew than Kathlena on the 1st day; it's interesting to see in this video his personality gradually revealed--from shy and reserved to talkative and outgoing--right before your eyes. We can also see Kathlena's sweet personality too. She likes to laugh and play.

The video is too large (about 19 minutes) to post directly to the blog, so the link below takes you to Google video. The quality is not the best, but hey, we're 5,231 miles away from home. Praise the Lord we can use this technology.

I hope the link works; I had to run it through a British server, because Google acts goofy in Germany. You will have to copy it and paste into your browser.

David


http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-2382723307102068596&hl=en-GB