HAPPY BIRTHDAY Annie! & Hiking on the AT or What we did on Annie's birthday

So today was Annie's  birthday.  She noted that she was a quarter of a century, which made me feel particularly ancient, since I will be exactly twice her age on my next birthday.  We just finished a skype call with her where we watched her open the presents we'd sent down with a short term missions team from our church.  How good is our God that he allowed us to know people going to the same place on our daughter's special day?  It sounded like she was happy and had a nice day.  Here is a picture from our call:

She was holding up one of the t-shirts we'd sent.

While Annie was celebrating in Costa Rica some of us were sick on the couch:

We assume the boys have 5th disease, judging from the nasty, itchy, rash.  They don't feel too bad, just itchy.  So it earned them much more computer time than usual.

In these pictures they were  saying, "Hi Annie, HAPPY BIRTHDAY."

And here are Rebecca and Sarah-Grace celebrating Annie's birthday:

After church Dana and I took Sarah-Grace and the dogs to hike a bit on the Appalachian Trail.  Sarah-Grace was a bit hesitant at first, as on our last hike Daniel had gotten multiple bee stings.  But after a while she was enjoying climbing on the big rocks and finding dinosaurs:

Of Clothespins and Rock Band

Sarah-Grace marched up to Dad the other day and proclaimed: "I'm a woman!" Apparently, earrings made of clothespins and sunglasses is all it takes to transform a little girl to a woman. They grow up so quickly...

(Sarah-Grace, our little woman)

Little boys, unsurprisingly, are less interested in becoming men then they are in becoming monsters. It comes so naturally, even without the clothespins to help the fantasy along.

(Daniel, as a monster. You should see his Gollum imitation.)

The easiest way to make this gang of hooligans happy might be letting them play Rock Band with Tim. Saying yes to their pleas results in crazy dancing around the kitchen table and squeals of joy in Chinese, English, and some language known only to those under 18.

Rock Band takes some serious concentration, man.

Happy 12th Birthday Kai-Wei!

Kai is twelve today! 

Celebrations and excitement ensued:

The bike from Mom and Dad earned four exclamations of "Awesome!"

He had a birthday phone call from Annie, who is far away in Costa Rica...

yet still managed to make sure Kai had a present from her.

(Including a gift card to the dollar tree, which earned a "Cool!...She should have made it 100!")

This picture was posed especially for Annie:

He opened birthday presents and cards...

And had birthday kisses....

And hugs...

And, of course, birthday cake!

 Actually, Kai wanted cherry pie for his birthday, so mom made him two with fresh cherries.

Happy Birthday, Kai-Wei Michael Dragon-Breath!! 

We love you!

Drama Queen

Sarah-Grace is sobbing herself to sleep. Cold hearted big sister that I am, I feel no sympathy. Her teary-eyed mantra? "Me too, facebook. Me too." 

Yes, my nine year old sister is in tears because I informed her that she was too young for facebook. What next - texting? Twitter?

It all started when Sarah-Grace looked over my shoulder at photos of my friends' children. She wanted to know why I didn't have a baby. I explained that I wasn't married. Which of course begged the question of why I don't have a husband. Which somehow dissolved into a tickle fight and me being called 'ugly face.' 

And then we had to look at the picture Annie has of she and Sarah-Grace on facebook. And then we had to post on Annie's wall. And then came the inevitable: "Me too, Facebook."

Brushing teeth and going to bed is apparently not a good substitute.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!

Kai likes to call the fourth of July "America's Birthday." He had

been looking forward to the celebration:

Together no more :-(

I couldn't resist that title, even though it is so negative, because it goes so well with our header and the way we feel.

HOWEVER, the good news is that Annie is off fulfilling a dream and we believe fulfilling a call God has placed on her.  So what more could we want?  We will choose to rejoice and be glad even though it hurts a bit.

We just returned home from the airport.  Only Dana and I went, as getting the troops up at 3:30 AM did not sound like a good option.  Plus it made the leave taking less emotional for all involved.

I did not cry :-)  Yesterday God gave me the GRACE to wake up feeling excited for Annie.  I have been excited about this all along, until we got home from Taiwan and I realized she only had 6 more weeks at home!

But now we will keep in touch via email and skype and blogs and I will be SO thankful for modern technology.

And for those who read this blog you will probably find fewer posts (although I do want to try) and fewer pictures (I meant to take one "leaving" picture at the airport this morning!).   I wonder how long it will take me to realize I am back to being the designated "family picture taker?"

Thanks Annie!  We love you!

Costa Rica here I come!

I leave home tomorrow at 4 am to catch my 7:25 flight to Costa Rica!  I'll be gone until Dec. 1st.  Saying goodbye to the kids tonight was hard, especially Sarah-Grace.  But, I know once I'm in Costa Rica I'll have an incredible time, and there's always skype.  :)  Sarah-Grace wrote a note for me and left it under my pillow and told me to read it in the morning.  She's so sweet.  

If your curious what I'm up to, hop on over to my blog.  (The link to my blog is also on the sidebar. . .)

Guess what we got?

Oreo and Orangybeau joined the family yesterday.  Are they not the cutest things ever?

Pictures from vacation!

We had a wonderful time on Assateague Island over the weekend. It was Kai and Sarah-Grace's first time at the beach, and they both loved it.  Sarah-Grace was afraid at first, clinging to me and refusing to even get her toes wet, but it just took a few minutes before she was playing in the waves with the rest of the kids.  Kai was a little bit nervous when he first saw the waves and kept asking if it was scary, but once he got in the water, it was nearly impossible to get him back out again. :)

(The pictures are in reverse chronological order, in case anyone cares. . .)

crabbing  

the touch tank in the visitor center was pretty cool.

Too bad this one came out blurry. I love the joy both Daniel and Sarah-Grace are showing though.

Sunset over the dunes.

The kids LOVED the boogie boards.