Brookie's Berry Happy 3rd Birthday

Wow! Can it really be? Our baby girl is 3! It's hard to believe this little one came to South Asia when she was only 8 months old. We have had sooo much fun watching her grow! "Brooke" literally means, "Refreshing Spirit," and boy, has she ever been that! She is such a precious blessing! She is so funny that she continually keeps us laughing!

Because we were going to be heading to the girls' home on her actual birthday, we decided to celebrate a couple of days early. Here's our fun... Brooke's cake is ready!

Time for the party! Our first guests...Preseph* and Sandamali*!

We had so much fun with musical chairs at Erin's party, we decided to play again!

Remember the Twister game from Daniel's 6th bday?

We pulled it back out and the kids had a blast...

The little ones...

and the big ones! And the daddies!

And would you believe even Auntie????

It's gift time! I think Brooke is a little excited!

Family picture time after the gift-giving!!

Let's get on with the cake, how 'bout it?

Brookie with her buddies!

"Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday, dear Brookie!

Happy Birthday to you!

May the dear Lord bless you!

May the dear Lord bless you!

May the dear Lord bless Brookie!

May the dear Lord bless you!

We lo-o-ove you!

We lo-o-ove you!

We lo-o-ove Brookie!

We lo-o-ove you!

Can I eat this one?

Lots of noise!

Lots of silliness!

What a sweetie!

Auntie decided she wanted to REALLY be part of the party!

Twister just wasn't enough! Great party, Brookie! It sure was lots of fun!

Being a little exhausted, we headed out for supper.

After we returned, we just HAD to play one of the games we didn't get to at the party--

Pin-the-friend-near-Strawberry-Shortcake...all of us!

Two days later was Brooke's REAL birthday!

And for her special day...her requested breakfast...CEREAL!

"Happy Birthday to you..."

(one more time that is!)

And her 3rd b-day gift...

"Yeah! Is 'dis my bike?"

Brookie, WE LOVE YOU!!!

You are one cool 3 yr old...a priceless treasure, and we thank God for you!

Dee Dawg turns 7!

What a blessing to have Daniel in our family! Recently, you read about his spiritual birthday--when he asked Jesus Christ to be his Savior and Lord. Last weekend we got to celebrate his physical birth that took place seven years ago. How good God is!

How fun it is to be a parent in the Critter Crew!!!

A smiley-faced blueberry pancake for a little boy who brings so many smiles to our family...

On to the fun! After watching several seasons of the Duke's of Hazzard, guess what Dee wanted for his birthday? A General Lee cake...I thought I'd figured out how to make a car look like it was jumping over a pond (!), but finding an orange car...well, that was another chore. Instead, after some persuasion, we decided on his next favorite car--Lightning McQueen. So, on with the

"Cars" theme...

I have to say, this one was much easier than our princess' castle!!

While we were waiting on everybody to arrive, we began a game of "musical derby"...yeah, it may have been a suped up version of musical chairs, but it sure was fun!

Again, we chucked the pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey and went with

Pin-the-race-car-on-the-race-track!
I think Allie spun some a little too much!

Erin made it!

Way to go, Brookie!

Need some help, Cabo?

Where's the speedway?

Another one in total confusion!!

Onto the cake and icecream, how 'bout it!

Justin*, Dee, and Asher*

Or we could just make some noise!!!

Daniel's buddies...

Somitri*, Heshni*, Preseph* and Prader*...along with Cabo and TaTa (daddy!)

Archer*, Nimesh*, Ramesh*, and Rathniyake*

Sabrina* and Allie...

Our sweet neighbors...and Veejuh*

And then there's Auntie...We introduced you to Auntie in our last update...she was a homeless lady who has since become part of our family (that's a whole 'nother post!). She continues to tell people, "This is my home," so I'm thinking this look is, "Why are all these people coming to my house?" Yes, Auntie was invited in but she continues to prefer her chair under the carport.

Eva* and Mavery*, our newest buddies on this side!

Dee's gift table...

Daniel got some really cool gifts!

Did we tell you Daniel and Caleb have been taking tennis lessons??

A DS???

Hugs for everybody...

He's such a sweetie pie!

And then it's time to say bye for now...

Ain't she precious???

Seems like just days ago our little Dee was about that size...

And now, seven years later, we're seeing our baby boy grow into someone who loves the Lord, has a desire to read His Word, and a heart to see the lost know Him.

So, when the Lord brings Dee to your mind--as well as any other of our precious kiddos--pray that daily they will seek after Him...the only One worth living for!

Valentine's Day, 2008

What a great day for LOVE! What an awesome God we serve that we can actually say, "We love because He first loved us," (1 John 4:19)! And that's exactly why we're here on the other side of the world--'cause we want everyone to have the opportunity to hear that message!

Thanks to shop owners wanting to get the most out of the holiday season and having Valentine goodies out right after Christmas, we were able to obain a few treats before leaving America...special "I love you" books and heart-shaped SweetTarts!

So after a breakfast of muffins (of course also heart-shaped), apples and SweetTarts we headed to the Montessori to spread some love!

Erin and Brooke's Montessori is owned by a wonderful Christian friend, who thankfully allows us to come and share anytime we want. (I forgot to add that trip in on the Christmas blog--you're probably saying, "whew!"...that would have really been long!)

We were able to read a story about the meaning of Valentine's Day (Voice of the Martyrs has recently published a great read, The Story of St. Valentine: More than Cards and Candied Hearts) and share the gospel with 47 children and 8 workers--most of whom are Buddhist.

The children and teachers also honored Erin with a birthday song and 5 claps...

And what's Valentine's without some treats...so on to the sugar!

Yum! Cupcakes!!

Thanks for hanging with us at Montessori!