Happy 5th Birthday!

Happy birthday Bethany!

Five years ago, unbeknownst to me, our little girl was born in a hospital over five thousand miles away. Although we were apart for the first ten months of her life, it feels as if she has always been a part of me. Today, as we celebrate her fifth birthday, we thank God for creating her, and for making sure she was loved and cared for until she was able to join our family.

We love you so much!

Happy 4th Birthday! Part 2

A few weeks after Bethany's birthday, we had a very special joint celebration for Bethany and her good friend Hudson. This was our second year joining forces with their family, and once again, it was a wonderful time. (go here to see their first party together)

Coming up with a theme wasn't too difficult since both Bethany and Hudson are fans of the Power Rangers.

  

Bethany had a great time (i'm pretty sure Hudson did too), and I was especially relieved that Bethany was ready and willing to participate in all the activities. I'm sure it helped that the My Gym staff did an exceptional job, and that she's been going to My Gym classes for the past month and a half. In fact, My Gym has hands down become one of Bethany's favorite places.

I was a little unsure if the older kids would have as much fun, but as you can see by this big kid, the party was fun for kids of all ages. :)

A big thank you to each of these kids, and their moms and dads for coming out to celebrate with us. It wouldn't have been the same without you!

I am so thankful for these two amazing kids, and for the friendship our families share. 

Happy birthday Hudson and Bethany!

 

Happy 4th Birthday! Part 1

Our little girl turned four today.

It feels like we just celebrated Bethany's third birthday not too long ago, but now here we are celebrating her fourth. We passed out small treats to her sunday school class, and didn't get back home from church until the afternoon. Since we'll be having a party for her later on in the month, we opted to have a small family celebration with Korean food and cake to commemorate Bethany's special day. What about our traditional myuk gook you ask? Grandma already came by a few days ago to make myuk gook, and Bethany devoured it like a good Korean. :)

Happy birthday to my little girl who is a daily reminder to me that

our God is faithful,

hope does not disappoint,

every child deserves a family,

love can cross over continents,

 and blood lines do not a family make.

I often think about and pray for Bethany's birth parents, but particularly on this special day. I will always be grateful to her birth mother for having the courage to see her pregnancy through to the end, and for leaving Bethany in the care of those who would eventually find her a family. Our family.

Bethany's birth mother chose life, and today we thank God for that precious life.

Happy birthday Bethany!

We love you so much.

 

After waiting patiently all day, she was so happy to finally have some cake.

Happy Birthday to Me

I was battling the stomach flu on my birthday, and I was feeling quite miserable when I woke up. 

All that changed when I found an unexpected surprise waiting for me downstairs.

Thank you Austin for your thoughtfulness and creativity, and for making me feel a hundred times better!

 

Happy 10th Birthday Austin!

We started the day off with myuk gook, a Korean soup traditionally served on birthdays (made with love by grandma who came over just to make it), and even let him watch a little television.

Then we headed off to a middle school tour (yet another reminder that my baby is growing up much too fast). After the tour, I dropped him off at school with cupcakes for his class, but not before I showed him the surprise waiting for him on his school marquee.

In keeping with family tradition, I packed his favorite lunch with a birthday note, surprised him with balloons after school, prepared one of his favorite meal for dinner, and ended the day with ice cream cake.

It's crazy to think how quickly time has flown by, and that the little baby we brought home from the hospital is now ten years old. What a tremendous blessing it has been to watch him grow and mature into who he is today!

Thank you Austin for your tender heart, sense of humor, integrity, and passion for life. Your constant joy and ability to see the good in everything and everyone is such an example to me. Thank you for bringing me so much joy as a mother. I thank God every day for the privilege of being your mom.

Happy birthday Austin!
I love you.

Happy Birthday Best Friend!

Happy 3rd Birthday!

*warning - pic heavy post*

On Saturday, our sweet girl turned three. We celebrated the day with lots of hugs and kisses, and ended the evening eating a delicious meal with dear friends.

On Wednesday, we had a party with a handful of very special friends ages three and under. As you can imagine, for the next several hours, our home was filled with lots of laughter, and it brought me so much joy to see Bethany have so much fun with her friends.

Despite her traumatic encounter with Hello Kitty a year ago, I went ahead with a Hello Kitty themed party. Being the good mom that I am, I of course made sure there were no life size versions of Hello Kitty around. ;)

Welcome!

 

I had two "stations" set up for the girls.

The first one was for Hello Kitty tattoos.

 

And the second was a Hello Kitty cookie decorating station with iced cookies, edible markers and baggies to take the cookies home in.

 

Soon it was time to fill our tummies with some party food. Party food is what these little girls wanted, and since it was a special day, I was more than happy to oblige.

After their tummies were quite full, they worked it off with some more running, jumping, squealing and playing. Then it was finally time for what they had really been waiting for.... dessert!

 

After getting their sugar high, the little girls were ready for some more fun in their new found play area.

 We managed to wrangle them in for a few minutes to take a group picture, and after many attempts, this was the best we could get.

Thank you dear friends for celebrating Bethany's 3rd birthday with us. We thank God for each and every one of you!

*a special thanks to my friend judy for taking most of these pictures!*