Joshy's 6th Birthday!

It's kinda sad that Joshy's b-day is a couple days after Christmas. No matter how hard I try to plan for it, it is still not quite the celebration I would like to give him. He's yet to have a friends birthday party. I wanted to get it together this year but strep throat kept it from happening. I guess it's never too late to have a party. I think a half birthday party in June would be a blast. It always seems easier to have such events at a park instead of the house.

Joshua's big day was special. We went to church. We were going to skip it because Mandi and Jeff were a bit tired still from having strep. But, Joshua begged us all to go anyway. I am always so happy my children love church and don't want to play hooky from it. After church we ate out at Izzy's Buffet. This was a huge treat for us. To go to Izzy's as a family is very spendy. I am so excited to tell stories of how God blesses. And the way we got to Izzy's is one of those stories.

Two days before Christmas, Michael and the kids and I went to Bend to finish our shopping. On the way home Jeff asked if we could eat out at Izzy's. We said no, but he persisted in asking along with the rest of the kids. The kids probably hear more than they should that famous phrase, "we can't afford it right now". Both Michael and I hate using that but for a family of 6 we really don't go out to eat much. Jeff, being the sweetheart that he is offered to pay for the meal with his own money. He seriously would have spent the $50.00 to treat us all to dinner. Money isn't something he holds onto or spends. Does that make sense? What I am saying is that he doesn't usually spend it on himself but will easily give it away to others.

We sincerely thanked Jeff for his generosity but suggested that we get Abby's pizza instead which was on sale and go to the market and get some fun ice cream. The kids were a bit disappointed but happy with the alternative. When we got home with our pizza and ice cream I remembered that a friend had dropped off a Christmas card under my mat. As we were eating, I opened the card and low and behold there was a gift card of $50 in it to Izzy's!! We were all pretty shocked and very thankful that we didn't give into our desire to go to Izzy's that night. It would not have been as much fun to get that if we had already gone.

The part that humbles me is that I know this gift was a huge sacrifice for this family.

So back to Joshy's birthday! Izzy's was so much fun and we got stuffed. We practically rolled out of there.

After eating we stopped of at our adoptive grandparents house. They were suppose to join us for Christmas but we had to cancel due to the strep sickness. We spend and hour visiting them before heading to the theatre where each kids chipped in their part for the cost of the movie. We saw "The Princess and the Frog". It was a cute Disney movie but I was rather disappointed with how much evil stuff they put in there. If I was a kids of 6 I am sure I would be scared to death. We had a wonderful discussion on evil afterward. It was a great teaching moment about how God wants us to protect our eyes and ears from evil things and how Satan delights in evil and wants to distract us from it.

After the movie it was back to the house to open presents and eat cupcakes and ice cream. It was a very fun, full day and I think Joshua went to bed a happy 6 year old.

Here are some pics of the new 6 year old on hes birthday and of the rest of the family.