River Arvin

River Arvin Gombojav was dedicated to the Lord by his parents on Friday, February 3.  His four-month birthday.


As is my custom, I celebrated by giving him a little reception after.  So fun.

An almost finished table:

Taffy bouquet, milk was served in the little milk bottles

with blue-striped paper straw flags with River's name,

cupcake fondue with fun sprinkles and toppings, and a cafe latte punch.

And zigzag streamers.

His mother blogged all about it over at in other words....  Go on over and be blessed by the goodness of God.

Easter 2010......Finally

It comes as no surprise here that I have been totally remiss at journaling my days.  So, without making any promises to myself or you about how I'm going to do such a better job, I am going to try to do better.  How's that for not committing to anything? 

And I figured I'd start with Easter.  Before April ended.

Easter was a wonderful day.  I just love spending time with my family!  But, even though the day was spent having a great time, we did not forget that the whole purpose of the day is celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior.  How amazing are all the ramifications of that simple statement!  Without the resurrection, the birth and death of Jesus would mean nothing.  Our Redeemer lives! 

And, as is our normal tradition, we try to wear something new on Easter Sunday.  Sadly, I can't post pictures of our entire family as the two newest members still haven't had their adoption court dates.  So, just imagine how cute they are!  And they are really, really cute!

Have you noticed how hard it is to buy a dress without black being a predominate color?  I know we don't have an abundance of clothing stores in our little town, but this is the ONLY dress I found that didn't have black in its color scheme!  I'm glad I liked it.

Mr. Good-looking Himself.

The Josh Abdelaziz family all dressed in orange.  I thought they all looked great, but thought it was amazing that they could all coordinate like this as orange didn't seem to be a widespread spring wardrobe color.  I guess I thought wrong.  Several families in church were all dressed in orange!  Who knew?

Shallah with her orange-suited friend, Mardell.

I just love our little church! 

I love it so much that I want it to grow bigger! 

I love every last person in this picture! 

(And the ones who didn't make it into the picture, too.)

Our main table only had six adults.  Odd for us. 

But, Grandpa, Grandma, and Aunt Janice all ate in Grandpa's room to keep him company.

I bought our little chocolate bunnies last year at the after-Easter sales.  They've been chillin' in our freezer for a year.  All wrapped in their atrociously colored foil.  But, disrobed and beribboned, I think they are just darling.

These little fake-moss-covered flying bunnies came from Pier 1.  I think they are just too cute when planted in a little rye grass.  (The basket and grass was a thank-you gift from Sarah-Kate.  I just love decorating with grass!  And she knows it.  I planted some grass in eggshells like Darcy over at fly through our window, but apparently I didn't take any pictures of them.  But, they were sweet.)

Lambchops on the grill.

Food is starting to gather.

Table is getting full.

Two little children's tables and one highchair.

The children thought it was great fun to eat a chocolate bunny with dinner.  Diego decided to roll the bunny in his hands as it started to melt.  Interesting thing to do.

Lots of eggs to hide.  The men in the family did such a good job hiding them, we almost didn't find them all!  Can you see the egg hiding in there?

Shallah "found" an egg, too.  But, she really wasn't interested in it, as you can see.

Besides the chocolate, dessert was Matzo Brittle from Tea Time magazine and Pioneer Woman's carrot cake.  Great ending to a great day.

Shallah's Dedication

Shallah and bow!

My youngest grandchild, Shallah Rianne, was dedicated to the Lord by her parents on Valentine's Day with her Papa officiating. 

Nana loves her Shallah!

Grandpa, Grandma, Grammie, Mommy, Daddy, Nana, Shallah, Papa

Levi, Ezekiel, Abishai,Jael

Godparents, Dan and Erica Hall, were not able to make the trip from Colorado.

He is actually the sweetest little boy, but that look wouldn't let you know!

Josh has written a song for each of his children for their dedication.  Always wonderful, often prophetic.  This time, though, was a bit different.  Intense.  Not necessarily something my Nana's  heart would want to hear.  But, we were here to dedicate her to the Lord, not to ourselves.  She belongs to the Lord; she has only been lent to us to train up for His glory.  Here is her song.  Oh, and you need to know that Shallah Rianne means "River of Grace".

Grace to stand in the midst of the pain;

Grace to walk right through the rain;

Grace to give in spite of the hurt;

Grace to live beside the poor in the dirt.

Grace to hold those that no one will touch;

Grace to love even when it hurts too much;

Grace to stand to make right what is wrong;

Grace to go even though the journey is long.

Grace to count the cost everyday;

Grace to give your life away;

Grace to accept those that all would despise;

Grace to work to make it right in His eyes.

May His river of grace flow through you;

May your hands hold the broken;

May His river of grace flow through you;

May your life touch the nations.

May there be peace and joy through all of your life;

Despite the pain that comes and the tears you cry;

May your life be filled with the presence of God;

May His grace be what keeps you strong.

By Daddy

You can see it impacted Papa.

As is my tradition, I give a reception for each of my grandchildren on the day of their dedication.  We had a lovely lunch after the morning worship service to which the whole church was invited.  I served Italian Drip Beef, Asian Noodle Salad, Vanilla Almond Punch (my new favorite punch and the easiest ever!), and these lovely little desserts.  Unfortunately, those were the only things photographed during the whole reception.  Some of us were too busy to think of a camera.  Some of us were having too good a time, I guess, to remember to take pictures. 

Adapted from here where there are directions on how to make the candy cups and the little hearts.

Aren't they just so cute?
Yeah, but still not as cute as Shallah.

Saraa Turns One!

It doesn't seem like it could be, but little Saraa turned one a few weeks ago! 

We celebrate first birthdays in a big way in this family.  Daja gave her a western themed party that was a heapin' bunch of fun. 

Saraa's name means "moon" in Mongolian, so the themed music was "Buffalo Gals" because of the last line in the chorus:

Buffalo Gals, won't you come out tonight,

Come out tonight, come out tonight.

Buffalo Gals, won't you come out tonight,

And dance by the light of the moon.

Most of us came dressed in at least a bit of western duds. 

Daja served chili, cornbread, cole slaw, and potato salad on the cutest red, white, and blue table.

Sarah-Kate taught the kids a little dance which they had a hilarious time learning and performing.  And the parents thought it was just as funny.  Plus a whole lot of cuteness.

All the children got plenty dirty.  Which equates to a good time, right?

Saraa wondered exactly what was she supposed to do with this pretty rose cake with a horsey on top.

Hmmm........

Ah, she figured it out!

I thought the placement of the gift table just made the prettiest little picture.

We (Papa and Nana) gave her two very special dolls, Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy.  She loved them!

One of the most special parts of the birthday celebration was Saraa being blessed by Jael, her godmother.  Of course, there were tears.  Jael takes the honor of being Saraa's godmother very seriously, as you could hear in the love she put into her blessing.

Every party is eventually over.....