Miriam's 8th Birthday!

I can hardly believe it, but Miriam is eight! Emily planned and flawlessly executed two fabulous birthday parties earlier this month, but on THE DAY (Dec 28) our celebration was more subdued and practical - largely a function of the fact that it was a school night and Emily is in the U.S. for her dear friend's wedding.

We opened a couple small presents at breakfast and went out for dinner to our family's favorite North Eastern Chinese restaurant. After completing her post-dinner homework Miriam, Asa and I sang happy birthday, ate mini-cakes and opened the rest of her presents. As you can see from the picture they were happy, but maybe that was just because they were getting chocolate at nearly 9 pm on a schoo night! Joab

Worth a Thousand Words...

Well, I tried. I tried to get them out of their PJ's this morning and to sit by the tree for the "Christmas picture". But it kind of backfired on me.

Asa- he came around the corner with Q-tips in between each finger. When I asked why, he winked and said he was Wolverine. Of course I thought. And how in the world does he know about Wolverine's claws? And how does he think of these things? But I had no time to discuss I just told him to sit down.

Miriam- she was not wanting ANY picture fun. And if you know her at all she can not for the life of her fake anything (smiles being a big one). I knew it was not going to be good. Also she was not thinking Wolverine's claws were cute at all. She was quite annoyed.

Salome- poor thing has been fighting roto virus all week (think BAD stomach flu). She has been miserable. But I thought giving her the remote control (which is usually out of her reach) would help. It did not.

Wolverine making his move on the girls.

So from our Wolverine house to yours -Merry Christmas! We love and miss you all.

A sick girl

Our dear Salome is down with a horrible virus. The poor thing has never been sick or really had a fever. But something got her (and no one else) this week. We finally went to the Doctor and after blood work said it is indeed a very bad virus. Please pray that she will get feeling better and would eat! Right now she only wants to nurse (which is making me exhausted) and won't even drink water. Thanks friends

Birthday Fun

Miriam is turning eight! To celebrate we invited most of her class over for some Birthday fun! Above is the whole gang.

Opening presents- mob style

I have been totally in L O V E with these identical twins since I first saw them! I was so glad they both came.

Peanuts and green raisins on cookies? They ate it up!

Top Five I Learned about having 11 Chinese kids in my Apartment for a Birthday Party

5. You need a lot of help. We have five adults! Including our good friend Trey who was visiting from Hawaii (he also took all the pictures). Also had people who came over turning the week to help bake

4. Lots of games. LOTS. They love any activity you put in front of them

3. Gingerbread cookies a hit while the sugar a miss. They said too sweet.

2. Opening presents is not an orderly time. Not sure if this is "normal" but it was crazy.

1. Miriam was an amazing translator! She did a great job helping out (as well as Asa). I am so thankful for a little girl who is able to love many different kids of people. Thank you God for my little Miriam. Thank you that she is more a gift to me than the day she was born.

And the winner is.....Harms Family!

The winner of our "who are you" blog post is Kim Harms! (cue- loud cheering!)

Now, a word about Kim Harms. I have know her for about sixteen years- ever since college. Her sweet presence on the dorm floor was always a welcome joy. She also has three kids (all boys) and we are able to stay in touch via our blogs. I am thankful for you servant heart to both her family and the nations! She recently rounded up many people in her community to sew dresses for little girls affected by the Haitian earthquake.

We also have in common that we both married men from Fremont, Nebraska. These are special men! Love you Kim Harms and Harms boys! You stuff will be in the mail soon!

Our Meal

Salome's first Thanksgiving. She sat in her highchair all day eating! Chinese people love feeding babies (well who doesn't right?) so she was very well taken care of!

Once a year my dear Joab wears an apron- to carve the Turkey! And he did a great job!

We had a wonderful meal with many of our Chinese friends. For many of them it was their first Thanksgiving meal ever. We are so thankful for friends to celebrate with when we missed so many of our family in the States.

Thankful

She is cute. She is a lot of work. She gets into everything. She is my baby. She is eleven months old today!

A year ago I did not know that I would have a Salome in our lives. I did not know how much our family would need a red haired spunky little girl. For Salome and a million other reasons I give thanks for our blessings.