Happy Thanksgiving!

Playing in the water - Kaitlyn, Emma, Brock, Hannah and Corinne

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2007!

We just enjoyed a beautiful, warm, sunny morning at the Oceanfront in Virginia Beach. The water was cold but it was still fun. Kids came back to the house wet and sandy!

We hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving remembering all the blessings God gives us each and every day!

It's time to cook dinner now...

Hannah's 7th Birthday Party

"The Airplane" - first class seating of course!

First stop - NORWAY - playing "Hawk and Pigeon" (thanks Aunt Anne Grethe for all the Norwegian candy and telling us about the game)

Then - EGYPT - finding "buried treasures" (birthday presents) and "coins" (bag of candy wrapped in gold and silver paper)

Next stop - ITALY - pizza!

On to - CHINA - using chopsticks to put gummy bears in the carryout containers (most girls ended up "sticking" the bears)

One more continent - AUSTRALIA - the "kangaroo hop" with helium filled balloons between their legs

Last stop - USA - birthday cake

Happy birthday, Hannah!

Hannah wanted to go "Around the World" for her 7th birthday. What a fun trip it was! She and I made passports for each girl. (Notice them on the table in a few of the photos.) They had to have it with them to enter and leave each country. At each stop I had a return address label with the name and flag of each country. They had their passports "stamped" with these labels. They also had a "suitcase" by their seat on the airplane to place all their "goods" after each country. I also told the girls on their invitations to dress up like someone from another country. We had China, Puerto Rico, Great Britain (lady ready for tea with her hat), Sweden (Kirsten the American Girl), Israel (as in Moses' time:), Sicily, Spain (Brock's soccer uniform) and the USA represented. They were very creative with their outfits.

We started with a fun game Anne Grethe told me they play in Norway. (When she called me the week of the party, I thought she said "hog and pigeon". Later, she corrected me. It's "hawk and pigeon". Makes more sense!:) We play a game like it in the US but call it something different. I just can't remember what we call it right now. (It's past my bedtime!) Anne Grethe also sent a bag full of candy for the kids to enjoy so they received Norwegian candy.

We've been studying Ancient Egypt, so that was a place Hannah wanted to visit. I briefly told the girls about the pharoahs and pyramids. We went looking for "treasures" where Hannah was able to open her gifts. I also had Kisses (silver) and Rolos (gold) for them to have as "coins".

After Egypt it was dinnertime so we headed to Italy for pizza. Chesse pizza made all the kids happy.

After dinner we flew overnight (pretended to sleep) to China in honor of Hannah's cousin, Jessica. We're also studying Ancient China so it was a fitting place to visit. I had gummy bears for the girls to try to pick up with chopsticks. They had 60 seconds (or a little more:) to put as many as they could into a carryout box. They were funny...by the end most of them were sticking the bears in the tummy with the ends of the chopsticks. They were excited to keep the chopsticks and "take out".

We headed to Australia for one last game. They put a helium filled balloon between their legs and did a "kangaroo hop" across the room and back. Fun, fun! Brock was quite a trooper being the only boy at the party.

We ended our journey around the world back home in the good ol' USA for some birthday cake. Hannah helped me make her cake. If you know which continents are on her cake, you'll make my day! :) I'm not a professional cake decorator! If you leave a comment about it, make sure you're nice to me!!

We had a fun time celebrating Hannah's 7th birthday. Tomorrow is her "real" birthday so we'll do something fun. I'm sure there will be more photos to share...

Brock's Birthday

Brock's pancake "breakfast" on Saturday evening (see the "5" pancake?)

Brock's soccer cupcake after lunch on Sunday. Count the candles...5!!

Brock's "baseball" cake for his party. (Made by Mom, Brock and Hannah:)

Brock hitting the ball for our indoor baseball game. (It rained!)

Brock and his friends showing their muscles. Everyone had a good time!

Okay, Aunt Heather, here are some birthday photos. Brock's birthday celebration turned into a week long event. It started on Saturday evening and ended the following Thursday for his party. Six of his friends, Miss Laura (and Genevieve), and his family were there to celebrate. They had fun playing Hullabaloo and indoor baseball (tee-ball). He received some fun gifts and then we had birthday cake. Yum, yum!!

Now our Brock is 5 years old. My, how time flies!! We're so proud of him. Thank you, God, for giving us Brock 5 years ago!!