Happy Birthday to Mark!

Today's is Mark's birthday! And it is a beautiful sunny day! Yeah!

Last night, we had Hannah, Cooper & Connor over night. The boys set up the tent in the backyard. I think they left the tent flap open too much before they went to bed, because they looked like the mosquitoes got them pretty good! They didn't seem too bothered by it this morning though. They got out the slip n slide and had great fun with that!

Hannah and Rachel stayed up late watching Much Ado About Nothing, a Shakespeare play that the girls love. The girls were quoting some scenes and I was amazed at how much they have memorized, but Mark said he wasn't surprised, because they've watched it at least 4386 times.

So today when we took their friends home, the kids and I stopped to surprise Mark at the office. He usually comes home for lunch, but we drove him home and then I took him back for the afternoon.

To catch up a little on what has been going on around here... We went to OH the first weekend of June for Yikealo's first American birthday. He is now four and a precious little guy he is. You should have seen his eyes while we were singing happy birthday to him. David and Larisa brought him home last July, so it has been a whole year of seeing other people have birthdays and get sung to. It reminds me of Frances, "That is how it is, Albert, your birthday is always the one that is not now." (A Birthday for Frances, children's book) Anyway, it was FINALLY his birthday! It was fun to celebrate with him and we are so glad he is a part of the family.

It was also a pre-OINC party. Ocean Isle, NC, that is. We have two new additions to the family to introduce to OINC this year. Yikealo and Jarin, Julie's husband. (We are looking forward to having newlyweds with us as well!) :)

After we got back home from OH, Miranda went to Junior High Girl's Camp in IL. Her friend Monica went with her, and Rachel stayed with Monica's sister, Rachel in OH. Luke had stayed at Clint's when we came home so he was still in OH too. So that meant from Thursday to Sunday night, Reed was an only child! We had a great time, playing Uno and Sorry, and Daddy read to him each night.

Miranda and Monica arrived home on Sunday night and then Monday, we met Becki at a park halfway to exchange the girls back. She also brought Luke back, so by Monday evening, we had four children and a full house again.

Monday evening, the girls had a Pride and Prejudice Slumber Party at Raquel's. We had told Jenny that we wanted to have one, but didn't have enough room, and she offered to host it. I'll have to see if I can post the Smile Box from that evening. They had some great fun dressing up and doing skits and then watched the five hour long Pride and Prejudice until the wee hours.

Next week is VBS. It is the first time we've done a week long VBS and we are looking forward to it. Lorelei asked me to teach with her and we have 20 students in 5th-6th grade, Luke's class.

Well, that's about it! Tomorrow night, Mark and I are going to try a new restaurant for his birthday. I was able to get a $25 gift certificate from restaurants.com for $2. You have to spend at least $35, so we should be able to have a nice meal for about $12!