It happened. Eden had a birthday. We now have a one year old in our family. Crazy! Thanks to a kind family in our branch, we had a delightful celebration and one that I was not expecting. Austin had his first final to kick off the day. He performed with excellence as usual, and came home in time to party! The Kims invited us over to their place for a big birthday lunch. This is the family who lives at the Marriott. The father is now our branch president, they have a 14 year old son, 12 year old daughter, and soon to be 10 year daughter, and they are Korean. I have talked about them many times before- now you know them better! We are so well taken care of and loved by this family. It's been a great blessing to know and be friends with them. Their daughters absolutely love Eden and the mom, Yahn (aka. Sis Kim) is what I call the "branch grandma." She is not nearly old enough to be a grandma herself, but she LOVES babies and has taken a fondness to us because of having Eden. I can't say enough about how selfless and kind this family is. We just love them!
You also need to know that Sis. Kim is a fabulous cook! She bakes wonderful bread- often with surprises in the dough, like hot dogs or cream cheese- and always has a unique dish of something to share with us. You should see her rice cooker. It's worth 500 US Dollars and is practically a robot. It's a digital touchscreen and talks to you. It's an insane piece of cookware! And it keeps your rice good for a week- hot and ready! For Eden's birthday, she made bacon-wrapped shrimp, Korean flavored Ribs, salad, rice, this noodley-Korean dish with spinach and eggs- (which is apparently the Korean party dish, especially for first birthdays because the long noodles are said to represent a long life), and cream-cheese rolls. Oh, and homemade lemonade and orange/strawberry juice. Talk about a feast, eh? To top it off, she had a cute little cupcake with a candle for Eden to blow out. (Well, I blew out her candle for her, but she thought all the attention was pretty awesome.)
We had a breakthrough at their house: Eden voluntarily left the room and played with the girls without Austin or I being with her. She had to be at least 20 feet away and out of sight. I don't think that has ever happened on the island. Our good friend, Genevieve, and her baby Jack joined us for the festivities. That was fun for Eden too. She's loving other kids right now. It's fun to watch her interact with other kids, smile, talk, and laugh hysterically at them.
After lunch, Yahn had planned for Eden to take part in a Korean tradition. They set out a bunch of items, all corresponding to a different attribute. They set out all these different items and let Eden choose one. Because she chose the ball, it was said that she would grow up to be sporty and athletic. Her other options were to choose money and be rich (sorry dad, I guess she'll have to marry rich instead), string for a long life, a book for smart and well learned, a doctor tag, or a pencil for artistic. We think she can be all these things, but only time will tell!
So... as of Eden's first birthday, she has 3 teeth. Maybe 4 will be showing by the time come home in the next few days. We can't wait to show her off. We made it to the beach another two times this week. We took Yaba with us the first time. The ocean is good therapy for his leg and shoulder (which are debilitated from a car/pedestrian accident). The second time, we went to the Marriott beach, which has harsher water, but better sand. It's fine for us because we only stay on shore. Eden loved it! There is always something to point at, show off, and eat (but not really): sea shells, sea weed, waves, and sand. What a fun life!
This post was all about Eden, but it was her big week, afterall. Austin has three more finals to go before he is done with his second semester of medical school! Time is flying by! I feel like we have adjusted and made it our home here. I never thought the day would come. Life and attitude is all about perspective and being grateful. Oh how we are blessed. We have great neighbors, a wonderful branch, (I love my calling,) a nice place to live, Austin is doing well at school, and we are all healthy.
AND we are coming home soon! How could I forget? Next week, my update will be in person!!
No comments:
Post a Comment