Haven's Birthday

 Our Haven is five! We had a super great time celebrating her birthday.

Haven's birthday was on a Saturday. We all still did regular chores, but she got to do them with a personal assistant:

"Certificate: Chad is Haven's genie. Everything she asks, I do. - Daddy" (Google decided to auto-rotate)

 Haven had hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch on her birthday.

yum yum yum yum

She got to open family presents, including one from Grandma Dalley.

Our neighbors Tor and Signe got to come

Haven got a doll with matching clothes.

The girls modeling the clothes:

And one from Grandma B:

Haven also got a "stand up scooter," which we took to the park to watch fireworks that night.

You can see the Macau tower up ahead (across the water)

Each year Macau has an international fireworks competition. It's great!

The next weekend, Haven had a "friend" party at our house. We fished, broke open a pinata, had a "picnic show," and ate this beautiful cake:

Fishing:

The fish helpers:

Pinata!

Picnic show:

Her invitations (sorry that Google's insisting on turning these):

Cards from friends:

Card from Grandma Dalley:

Card from Kindergarten:

Birthday letter:

Happy birthday Haven!

I’m happy to get to write you another birthday letter and record this snapshot of your life. You just turned five my dear!

A big new part of your life is school! Since we’re living in Macau and school deadlines are different, you’ve entered Senior Kindergarten! It’s a full day program, and though I was sad about sending you to school all day already, you’ve loved it so far. You are very good at listening and following directions, you’ve made great friends, and you’re learning and growing. So, it’s good! I’m happy for you. J

Another thing you’re involved in is ballet. Your teacher is Ms. Shafon. You look so beautiful in your flowing skirt and hairbun. J You really seem to enjoy dancing.

I get to see you a lot at church because I get to be the Primary President and music leader. It’s so helpful that you sit quietly and participate in spite of the sometimes chaos that’s happening around you. I appreciate you!

You and Jozie are still playmates and friends. Of course you have plenty to fight about throughout your days, but this is excellent practice ground for other friendships and relationships. Overall I think you’re learning from each other and I hope you will always appreciate and enjoy each other. Claire’s growing up into a kid now and you enjoy her too – from a distance or as a hugging partner, not as someone to put her fingers into your dollhouse setup. J

Some of your favorite foods right now are Ramen noodles, Macaroni and Cheese, cucumber cookies, rice pudding (rice with sugar and milk), cheese moon chips (Cheddar Pringles), and green melon (honeydew).

Other things you’re doing right now? You just got a “stand up scooter” for your birthday and you’re pretty proud of that. We recently got two little hamsters and you like checking them out and setting up their cage. Some of your friends are Eva Campbell, Amy Forsyth, Signe Tralla, and Lily Kloss. It’s been fun to live so close to many friends.

Well, here’s to another year for you Haven! How lucky we are to be in the same family.

Love you!

Mommy