Five and Oh-So-Alive!

Those are great words to describe our firstborn: "five" and "oh-so-alive." She really is alive with joy, laughter and a zest for life!

Today, we celebrated Verity's 5th birthday and we can't tell you how grateful we are that God has given us this wonderful girl to love and raise! We started her birthday off with singing & presents and then hopped in the car to go swimming with another family.


Verity was so grateful that one of her favorite playmates in this city, Lydia, was able to join her for a fun day of swimming. Lydia's father is from the States and her mother is from the Ukraine and they consider Minnesota their home base. Verity & Lydia attended the same preschool and have become great friends (shown above sporting the new, fun sunglasses Lydia bought for each of our girls!)


What a sport. For some reason, Annalise was afraid of sitting on top of the inner tube but we asked her to smile for a quick photo before we took her out. This is so classic Annalise ... honest and tough at the same time. "Should I cry or should I smile?" Annalise ended up having a great time at the pool!


Moriah (19 mos) also had a great time swimming with her sisters. She finally worked up the courage to walk around the kiddie pool alone (the water was only knee-deep for adults). As we all celebrated Verity's 5th birthday, I was also celebrating 5 years of parenting. It's hard to believe that just 5 years ago, we welcomed baby Verity into our family and added two more wonderful sisters since then! We feel so blessed!


The birthday girl was all smiles as she switched back and forth between the kiddie pool and the "big people" pool. We had a great day of celebration with our family and with Lydia's family but she has another birthday party on the way. Since a lot of our friends are back in the States this summer, we have postponed her "real" party until the end of August.

We ended her birthday with a "love-bombing" during dinner. This is a time when each family member is in the "hot seat" and the rest of the family shares something we love and appreciate about them. We would love to teach our children to use their tongues to build others up rather than to tear someone down. Moriah just giggled when it was her turn to share (of course), Annalise (being 3) said, "I love (insert family member's name) soooo much!" for each person but it was interesting to hear Verity, the new 5-year old, affirm each member with heartfelt sentiments. She would say things like, "Moriah, I appreciate how joyful you are" or "Annalise, you are a wonderful sister." Verity, your two baby sisters love you, too, as do your grateful parents. We love you and wish you a very happy 5th birthday! You can click here for more photos from her birthday.

Now on to the adventure of kindergarten! (She keeps asking "how many sleeps" there are until school starts again!)