Ethan's 1st Birthday

OK, so this is what the family has been waiting for... pictures of Ethan's first birthday party.

It was a blessing to receive this train cake from Kristen. Her mom brought the molds from the States in November and made the cake for Seth's birthday. There was this much left over, so they froze it, and Kristen told me that I could have it for Ethan's birthday. Thank you Kristen and Patty! Kristen even gave me icing and some candy for decorating the cake.

Of course, the party was more for us, but Ethan is an extrovert so loved having people around.

We took the candy and frosting off of the cake and gave some to Ethan. He normally likes to cram food into his mouth, so why do any different with the cake! This is the first time that he has eaten processed sugar (and the last for now).
He had an avocado for ice cream. Someone told us we were cruel for not letting him have ice cream, but, hey, he loves avocados and doesn't know the difference. One day he will!
Well, I don't have any dads in this picture, but here are the moms and kids who came. I was sad that Ethan's 'friend' Zsuzsa could not come. Her grandpa passed away, so her family was out of town. Besides Zsuzsa not being there, we had a fun party and got some good pictures (which is one of the main points in having a party for someone who is clueless about it)!

Visit from a friend

One of my best friends from college who doesn't live too far away came for a visit a few weeks ago. I've been thankful that God has allowed us to see each other as often as we have these past 14 years considering where we thought we would be when we were in college. We weren't able to get out a lot because of the snow, but here is a picture of us with the Danube River and Castle Hill behind us.Stephanie took this picture of Ethan and me after walking back from having house church at a friend's house. It had snowed a lot on Saturday night, and our road wasn't scraped, so we went a block away and gathered with a couple of other families for church.

Birthday

So, once again, I am really behind on the blog. I have been real busy with a lot going on and probably shouldn't be spending time now to work on this. But, I know that family are waiting to see about Ethan's birthday... which I will post soon after this. I do want the posts to be in order. :-)

My birthday was the day after Gary, Ethan, and I all returned from Slovakia. We had so much to do and catch up on that I didn't really feel like doing much. On Monday, a few days later, I was supposed to go over to Kristen's for lunch. Well, it was actually a surprise birthday lunch (and Gary never let on one bit). It was such a shock when I walked around the corner and there were other women standing there.

It seemed like chaos with all of the little kids, but Becky and Vivian, whose children were grown or in school were very sweet to watch the kiddos.

Thanks Michelle, Kristen, Yulia, Becky, and Vivian for the wonderful food and fellowship! I had a great time!