Happy Birthday KALI!!

Two wonderful things happened today: Kali has been waiting for this day since after Christmas -- her 7th birthday! and Cole army-crawled around the rug in our living room. We had a surprise birthday party for Kali at a spray park in our subdivision last week. She loved it! On her special day (today) she had, per her request, pancakes for breakfast. For dinner she wanted ham, rotini noodles, and mixed veggies. During dinner, Kali said the best present she ever received was having her family celebrating this day with her.

She had a friend over earlier and they had a pinata (pronounced: pin-YAH-tuh) party. They invited a couple of kids, who just moved in two houses down from us, to their fiesta. That was a fun way to get to know our new neighbors.
She is very sweet, spiritual, compassionate, and silly (with her brothers). She visits a widow in our neighborhood often. They sit and talk for hours or walk to the mailbox together. She is a constant reminder to us that we need to serve others. Kali asked for a father/daughter date with one of her favorite parents. I think the last time they went out together she was in a pink princess dress and Jared was dressed in a suit/tie. Tonight he asked her where she would like to go and her response was "Justice for Girls!" (it's a clothing store for little girls that also sells novelty items like "Bella Sara" trading cards). She wanted to spend her birthday money. She is holding her pink purse that Nana gave her.

My friend Nora made this BEAUTIFUL cake for Kali. She did a wonderful job drawing "The Littlest Pet Shop" butterfly. We also got her a butterfly pinata. We had a lot of fun at the park. It was the first time ever that Jared was able to spend all day with the family, other than Sundays.

Here is a picture of Cole enjoying the exersaucer. He is 6 months old and army-crawling.

Galveston

The kids and I headed down to Galveston for some sand, wave, and fun. Jared had some patients to see that morning. He was bummed about it. To be brutally honest, Galveston is not a beautiful beach--at all. We go there because the kids enjoys it and it wears them out.

Kali tried body boarding and didn't like it. I was very surprised that she even tried it. I'm pretty sure she'll try it again next time that we're there.

Kade contemplating whether to go out any further.

He changed his mind quickly when the waves knocked him down. Mr. No Fear stayed on the beach and close to me. Then he gained his confidence when we were leaving. He did great his first time at the beach.

Cole was stuck on land. He liked the waves when I took him out to the water. As you can see in the background all the seaweeds, besides the brown, yucky water that makes Galveston not a beautiful beach.

Enoch had a blast playing tag with the waves. He is a natural in the water.

The kids built sandcastles with their friends.

I was taking pictures of the kids when a lady and her daughter approached me. She asked about my nationality (I get this all the time and most of the time people think I'm Filippina). I always laugh when this happens. I told her that I'm Laotian, then she surprised me by speaking Thai to me. She had adopted a Thai girl and actually lived in Thailand for years. Her husband works for a company that has an office there. She and her children learned how to read, write, and speak Thai. How neat was that! I enjoyed talking with her and her family. I hardly speak Lao anymore, except when I speak with my parents and stake president ( he served a Lao speaking mission in Fresno 1992-1994).

What Time Is It!?

Yahoooooo! Last day of school! So, this morning Kali woke me up singing "What Time Is It?'', a song from High School Musical 2. She is not a die hard fan of HSM, she only like the songs and choreography. It was funny to me because Kali is never this cheerful in the morning. This is the girl who wanted to write to President Bush to have him change their eight o'clock school time to ten o'clock. Oh, how she wishes.

It was fun going to Enoch's pre-K class party. I can't believe he will be a Kindergartener in the fall. I'm sad because I'm used to having him home with me, but also very excited for All day kindergarten. Enoch was given an award for being the "Computer Wizard" in his class, but he would rather be known as the "Game Wizard." His teacher said that while she and the TA are helping the other kids get their computer started, Enoch already has his turned on and work done. It's from all the gaming that he does, instead of playing outside.


Kali had a wonderful year as a first grader. She has accomplished and grown up so much. She received many awards, but the one that she was most proud of was "All Excellence in Conduct." Her class wrote short stories and combined it to make this wonderful book called The Adventures of A Bug. Her drawing was chosen to put on the cover of the book. The other first grade teachers saw it and wanted to use it for their book cover as well. I didn't order a copy because I thought it was going to be a cheap ring bound type book, but it turned out to be hardbound and very professional-and cute. Kali's teacher was disappointed that I didn't buy one, so she gave a copy to Kali.