Avery's Five!

Sweet Avery is 5 years old now!

Our simple cake-and-balloons birthday became a nearly-overwhelming event when TWO packages arrived!  One we've been waiting for for about three months and it was such a blessing!  Thank you dear friends!

 Last night our neighbors came over to share cake with us.  Mariam, Abduli and Mariam.  The girls are actually Abduli's nieces who got sent back to Gramma (Mariam) when new babies arrived in their houses.  We don't mind a bit...those girls are PRECIOUS!

 Notice Hunter covering Braelyn's mouth?  It's cause she blew out the candle the first time around!

 The special candle we found on the mainland.

 Five Flower cupcakes topped the grassy green cake.  Hunter and I called it Home Ec for the morning!

 See what I mean about precious?

This one too.  We love you Avery and treasure these first 5 years with you; looking forward to so many  more as we watch you grow in beauty and grace, inside and out!

The rest of the story...

Here's what filled the rest of our time off the little island:

 So much fun at a play park where rides were about 35 cents per kid!

 Braelyn would ask to "wide ho-sey" every time we left the house after this.  And often when we weren't.

 It was fun watching the girls' eyes light up and hear them squeal.

 We got to play with Legos!  That's new for us and they LOVED it.

 These Love Birds provided their day of entertainment, then earned their freedom with their screeching.

 We reconnected with old friends... and new.

 I just loved how excited B would get every time the truck came to her!

 Traveling the pool circuit, this one definitely was near the top.  

 And it was fun to play with our teammates who also came over for a break from little island life.

 We did head to the mainland by ferry, which was a really big deal for me.  I'm normally not a worrier, but with my own 3 babies, and seeing the throng of humanity pressing onto the boat with us, fears definitely got the better of me for a few minutes.  God's peace and protection won out thankfully.

It didn't hurt that THIS is what first class looked like!  Avery did get pretty sick though, so we hopped on a plane when we were done renewing passports.  

So, Passports renewed, computers purchased for the adult education center, 2 weeks of language school completed and we're back home!  Just in time for the end of Ramadan celebrations and Avery's birthday!