He makes me laugh

Ten Ten Ten

Jayden Malia 

gleefully celebrated her 5th birthday on October 10th. 

Marty and I were trekking through India on that day, but she certainly did not suffer due to our absence.  We had recorded a Birthday message for her and given her a very large box to unwrap -- a furnished doll house.

(Thank you Costco!!)

 

She received countless gifts.  Some packages arrived via the UPS man, and others by dear friends.  One came all the way from Clara in Annapolis!

  

 Mima and Papa took her to visit Uncle at the Warehome where she and her brothers were marveled by his aquarium fish.

  The Dewey girls delivered homemade cupcakes and stayed long enough for some hula fun. 

 Aimee dropped by with a balloon, and Unjalee brought trinkets for both Jayden and Zachary.

  Mima and Papa had delightful treasures for her as well, including 3 pairs of princess shoes so she can dress-up with her friends.

Family Campout

}"Here's a preface:

We are dedicated and determined to go against the grain of cultural pressures in our child-rearing and day to day life.
To some we are extreme conservatives, to others we appear quite liberal.
It's all a matter of perspective and we are attempting to set our own against the life of Christ.

Here are a couple of verses that came to mind as Halloween approached and we sought to celebrate Fall in a way that would honor Jesus, inspire joy in our children, and not affront our neighbors in a critical fashion.

Philippians 2:15-15
^"Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,"

Philippians 4:8
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. "

Now on to the blogging...

We thought we had stumbled upon a tradition to replace Trick-or-Treating and avoid all things spooky and evil. But alas, Halloween fell on a Sunday this year and EV Free didn't host the Harvest Festival because they have an evening church service. What to do?
Pray.
I asked God to give us a creative replacement that would be super special and so much fun that bags of candy would not be missed.

On Friday after the jog-a-thon, I was explaining the dilemma to the kids and told them to be praying with me for inspiration. In a voice of elation, Jayden exclaimed that we could have a camp-out in the backyard.
Perfect!
Such a brilliant idea, and one that can be repeated every year with great expectation.

The boys were in charge of Tent set-up. And after a trip to Target for Hot Dogs, S'mores and a lantern we were ready for evening to fall upon us.

Jayden, Zachary and I slept most of the night outside, but around 1:30 the chilly night forced us to our real beds indoors.