Happy Birthday Bro, Dad, Nevaeh, Baby Gaby and Jason

August is a big birthday month for my family. My youngest brother Nathaniel and my Dad went skydiving to celebrate their birthdays. (Nathaniel turned 18 and Dad turns 50 today). At the end of the month Nathaniel will be shipped out for Basic training for the marines which makes it that I will have 2 brothers in the marines (Josiah is currently serving in Iraq and he is 20). With each birthday that passes it is good to stop and look back on the past year with all its highs+lows, failures+accomplishments, times of tears+times of laughter, growth, friendships, hellos+goodbyes. With each moment I can see God's hand in the situations that I definitely could not at that time. Each day that goes by can often feel like they are running into together. I usually don't know what day of the week that it it is let alone what day of the month. I remember in the States that seasons blend in slowly so you don't always notice the drastic change in nature and temperature. In the fall the leaves have a totally different color from the summer whereas in the winter there is no leaves at all. I even am thinking about the different food choices we ate during the seasons, soups and hot heavy dishes when its cold outside, whereas all sorts of salads and sandwiches during the summer. Lastly I am remembering all the different aticles of clothing that is worn in regards to the changing temperatures outside. With all this I can relate it with the seasons of life. In the middle of the season you can't always notice the difference from the last but their is. In my own life I have seasons where I am hungry to read a lot of books and be up to date with the latest news and want to increase my knowledge. I have seasons when I am more observant of the people I am around, picking up when someone is going through a crisis and wanting to help them through it. Other seasons I am in the midst of a personal journey and closed into myslef. Some seasons I am not proud of and look at them as extemly challenging and hard but would I change it if I could No way. There are times when the snow on the ground makes me sick because it seems it will never go away. If I wait just a little longer the snow melts and green begins to appear. It is needed to have the hard times to be able to see the beauty in life.
All these pictures of from Nevaeh birthday party we had last weekend. We had 6 different nationalities present at her party. Somalis, Boranas, Arabs, Kenyans, South Africans, and of course Americans. I planned a ornament hunt, (similar to easter egg hunt but you gotta use whatcha got) A pinyata I made from a box, and coloring contests. I asked Jason to tape up newspaper all long our living room floor so the kids could color on it and eat cake on it and we didn't have to worry about spills and mess. It worked out lovely. Jason was making fun of me that I planned all these activites that Nevaeh could not even participate in and it was her special day. She really enjoyed watching all the other 12 children having fun.