We had a little celebration last Thursday, on her actual birthday!
A gift from Blake and I, and donuts and smoothies for breakfast!
We love a party around here, and we were thrilled to celebrate our newest eight year old on Sunday with one!
Her meal of choice was steak, baked potatoes, bacon wrapped asparagus, and a green apple salad!
Yummy!
We did have to change part of the menu – from steak to pork roasts – but it was still yummy!
We had our favorites over after church and got the festivities under way!
There were gifts, of course!
There were spectators, of course!
Notice Chad and Briar’s matching blue eyes!
I should have taken a series of this photo – because after I took this first one we watched Briar’s head bob and her eye lids get heavier and heavier……she was ready for a nap!
There was dessert, of course!
Eliza is our chocolate and strawberries girl!
So chocolate brownies, ice cream, strawberries, chocolate sauce and toasted coconut it was!
And then there was a lot of play time – all afternoon and evening!
Sundays are the BEST.
Birthdays are a very reflective time for me.
I watched some old videos this week of when Eliza was just home from China.
She was SO little!
So much I never want to forget!
What a JOY it was to watch Eliza enjoy her birthday this year!
She says the most adorable things!!
She is full of life, thriving, learning, and growing – and it is just breath taking to watch.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, for allowing it to be US.
Happy, happy birthday to our Zi!!
WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!
We are always looking for a reason to have some amazing Asian food, and celebrating Grant’s Day is a great reason!
I did not take many photos that day….but these two are my favorite!
There was a fierce game of Catan going on back in the school room!
What a blessed day Sunday was!!
And before 6 a.m. in this photo!
Warm days mean open windows and the basketball pole being set up!
A hint of spring brings some deep cleaning and furniture rearranging too!
We have had such a solid, consistent eight weeks of school in a row.
It is fun to work on memorization with my crew!
I love the little surprises I find on Eliza and Tate’s school pages!
You sure did get adopted, buddy. I am so happy you did!
These two are our school mascots.
We can get rather distracted by the things outside our school windows!
Library day is still loved by us all.
As the days get longer our food choices turn from those comforting winter like foods to those fresh summer like foods.
I took a quick trip to Madison with my guys one day recently.
It is always nice to let this guy hop in my van, push the seat wwaaaaayyyyy back, and drive me around to the places I need to go!
We are still getting outside daily!
We had some sweet friends over for a Sunday lunch – which is something very normal for us to do!
I am happy to report that our hens Genevieve, Penelope and Matilda have not only survived winter in our garage, but have thrived as best they could in that cramped space!
Since the days are getting lighter earlier it seems my crew is getting moving faster!
There is always laundry.
Yesterday I was able to spend a dedicated time praying in the quiet of the afternoon on my knees in front of my favorite chair.
Are you as amazed as I am that we can worship, study God’s Word, and come to Him in prayer any time we please?
Addie made scones and heart shaped bacon, and I added some leftover fruit salad and baked oatmeal!
There were gifts!
What a fun start to the day!
Next up was an afternoon Valentine exchange with our favorites!
Of course there were cookies to eat!
Blake and I got to have a Valentine celebration too!
These traditions are worth keeping, don’t you agree?!