Friday, August 12, 2016

Birthday Happies and Such

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to this great Daddy!  

The Big Celebration
We're still unsure what (if any) birthday recognition Stella received on her special days in the orphanage.  No doubt the birthdays in China couldn't even compare  to the celebration with dear friends here at home.  One thing we are pretty certain of (based on the sweltering heat from our trip in August) is that the "warmth" of the special day was somewhat familiar.  Whew!  What's funny to me is that our two tropical Huizhou babies are so quick to insist that they are in fact melting in complete misery in the Texas summer "warmth".  Whatever.

Birthday cookie cake

Daddy lighting (and relighting) the birthday 
candles in the summer wind gusts

Big Brother

Little Brother

And then the actual birthday...now, that was even more special.  Gifts, cake, and a fever.  Wait.  What?  A fever?  Somehow the gifts made it all better!

Family Celebration

Symphony and Star Wars
Why would we take our 3 littles to hear the symphony?  Because they were playing Star Wars and other fun songs...and the atmosphere didn't require that we threaten our children to remain silent.  And we had a picnic.  Oh, and there were Cheetos involved.  Everyone was happy!  Oh, and we got to ride a bus to the Botanic Gardens.  Also, there were peanuts and glow sticks present. Did I mention that everyone was happy?  It was a great night.  For me, the magic of the evening was watching our children watch the fireworks.  They were starring in awe, jaws dropped, and lots of Wow and Whoa! There's just something special about those sparkling light displays in the sky!

Samuel always has a smile ready to share

Sister sure enjoyed herself too

This guy was the most amused with the fireworks

My Love

Let Freedom Ring
Happy Birthday to our Great Land

VBS 2016 is in the Books
Submerged.  The kiddos (and a pretty awesome buddy of Joey's) enjoyed a week at VBS learning more about Jesus as they were "submerged" in His word.  Apparently Samuel had forgotten last year and Stella was newly baffled as to why we would be going to church again and again.  Even though her "AGAIN?" rang out loudly in confused protest, I'm certain they all learned and laughed their way through the week.  I caught a glimpse of the littles from time to time as I was teaching other children in the area.  Each time they happily waved and seemed to be content with their own group.  All 4 kiddos agreed that water day was the highlight of the week!  And we're so very grateful to their teachers for pouring more of God into their lives this week!





Coming Upon a Year
Happy 11 months home, Stella!  

** Disclaimer: I may have forgotten to actually post this, but at least it was written.  That has to count for something!

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