Happy Day!

Happy Independence Day to Latvia and Happy Birthday to Sian! I just finished watching the 'big' fireworks display on TV (for Latvia not Sian...) I thought about going down to see them as it's close but didn't make a connection with anyone to walk with. It turns out they only lasted about 10 minutes. I could hear them both on TV and for real, but it's cloudy so I couldn't see them out my window. It's nothing like sitting on Claudia Rowland's boat in Lake Michigan on July 3rd! This afternoon was Sian's birthday party. She's 3 and as I have been to her 1st and 2nd birthday parties, I would say this was definitely the liveliest! There were 7 kids with parents and me. Lots of running, jumping and some crying, too. It was fun to be with everyone and especially with kids since I don't get to do that very often here. At one point I did wonder why we would put kids through the torture of watching some one else get all the presents?! I'm sure it teaches something but it's so hard both to be the one not getting to unwrap things and to be the one who gets them all! I'm sure there is a lesson for adults in there somewhere.

Yesterday was such a good day. I slept in and then ran a few errands in the morning. After lunch I made a big pot of tea, lit some candles, put on comfy clothes and sat down to read through all of the cadets' summer assignment homework. Yes, I know summer is long over but it takes a while to get all of that work translated and also, I was a little afraid to tackle it and find out how they really felt about their summer. I had nothing to worry about. Even when things didn't go as planned, they wrote about lessons learned and how they would respond in the future. They all had opportunities to teach, talk with individuals about Jesus and observe corps leadership close up. I was blessed over and over again as I read their reflections about those experiences. They are learning and growing! Later in the evening Chris and I went out towards the airport, with the eventual goal of picking up Goran. She wanted to know the way. On that road there happens to be a great mall, so we stopped there for dinner and planning to do a little shopping. We went to Ganbei, a combination Chinese/Japanese restaurant. It's a chain which we go to once in a while but this one is new to me and very fancy. I was so excited that they had hot and sour soup and when it came it really tasted like hot and sour soup! The service was not fast and we sat and talked for a long time, so that the mall was closed by the time we finished. We had to get our coffee at the airport. It was a nice time to get to know Chris a little better and have a good meal. (Restaurants and coffee shops seem to be a recurring theme lately.)

Just saw an ad for "My little Pony", but not so little and with a bottle included. It looks big and pink and scary to me. Please don't buy that for your children!