Birthdays Birthdays and more Birthdays!

Mid October starts the birthday marathon for us.  We have 5 immediate family members with birthdays and 2 are on the same day!  Plus 4 are within 4 days so it's just sort of a crazy time around here.  Josh and Cate love birthdays and we try to make them feel loved even more than usual!  Let's face it, we are trying to make up for all the birthdays we missed before they came into our lives. We have so many celebrations!  Not so many big gifts but lots of special moments with family and friends!  You just can't get enough of family and friends!  Check out some of the special moments below.

Our good friends and cousins, Dan and Lynn Knee, took Josh and Cate to the zoo for their birthdays.  Wow, what a blessing this was to us.  It gave Jeff and I a chance to have a Saturday afternoon to ourselves.  We were able to have a conversation or 2 and the kids really loved the zoo.  Thank you Lynn and Dan!

The celebration below is with my side of the family at our favorite Chinese restaurant, Yen Chings. Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Jenni & Uncle Kirk plus Great Uncle Jerry were all there to celebrate with us.

The next celebration was at Salvatori's with Jeff's side of the family.  His mom, Grandma Joan, was also celebrating her 84th birthday.  The older boys arrived with their families so it was super fun.  Plus Aunt Dawn and her friend Lisa came from Michigan.  Yay family!

Next we had a little celebration with a baseball friend (Jonathon Bond) and his mom (Erika).  Their dad is out of town like our dad so we figured we might as well eat together.  Ziano's is another favorite restaurant here.  The kids love their chicken barbecue pizza and they give great (free) birthday desserts!

We had to have a few presents I mean after all what is a birthday without some gifts?!

And Birthday breakfast is always a tradition.  Cate's birthday was on a Tuesday.  

She had candles in her omelet!  

A package arrived in the mail from our good friends, Kim and John Porter.  The kids love getting surprises in the mail.  Nice Job Kim!  The gifts were a big hit.  

 Josh's birthday was on Wednesday and he had candles in his pancake!

We had one more "clothes" present left that they opened on the morning of their birthdays.  

 And the last birthday celebration was a bowling party with their friends.  They each invited 2 friends and we headed to the bowling lanes for a fun morning.

Grandma Carol was my go-to-adult reinforcment person!  She is always so faithful to join us.  We love her!  Wow Josh and Cate are almost as tall as her.  It is getting close!

 Looking for some fun?  Take some kids bowling!  Look at the vertical jump from the short Asian kid on the right!!!  Wow!  And look at the cute purple heart girlie on the left.  Adorable children!  Every one of them!  And no we did not have a pitcher of beer at this place!

Thanks for reading the blog and praying for us.  We appreciate you!  If you are feeling discouraged just look at the above picture.  It makes me smile every time.  Blessings to you my friend.

Following Christ will fill you with a joy that will last forever!  Psalm 16:11
I pray you know Jesus today.

Choosing joy,
Chris & crew