Matthew Turns 5!

Today was Matthew's Fifth Birthday. Serendipitously, his birthday was Memorial Day, so we celebrated with a barbeque with friends and family.

Matthew's theme was Star Wars (the current obsession in our household), and our little stormtrooper had a fabulous time.

Matthew holding a flower he picked for his Mommy. What a sweetheart!

Daddy and Mommy are so proud of their big boy.

Partying with cousin Orion and his bro and sis.

Lil' Sis is a party animal!

Jeff and Ree enjoy some time with Hudson

Hudson's future friends, Benjamin and Jacob

Dear friends, Anastasia and Micha

Jeff, Greg and Mike do their grill thing.

Jeff supervises over a mound of chicken wings.

Michelle with her lovely girls, Kendall and Madison

Our niece, Angelina and her mom, Thuy

Kevin seems to like the chicken wings.

Theresia and Jack have a cuddle with Hudson.

Jay and Long eat all the chicken wings. I only think about 10 of them ended up inside where the rest of us were.

Matthew's Party, Part 2

Aunt Katie

Grandma Linda and Grandpa Marty

Carly and her little Joy

The kids line up for "The Last Jedi"

And Chloe was our winner!

And now the line up for "Pin the Light Saber on Darth Vader"

And Angelina was our winner!

And now, "Open the Creepy Darth Vader Head Hanging from the Ceiling", or a.k.a. Pinata Time

Caleb wasn't feeling well, and actually got sick. He ended up going upstairs and falling asleep. He must have been sick to miss his brother's party.

The cake. The cake I almost forgot to pick up at Costco, and only remembered with a few minutes to spare. Phew!

Happy Birthday, Matthew! We love you so much!

p.s. And a special thank you to Theresa for taking such great photos!

Why I Blog

I just spend the evening showing Caleb and Matthew the blog from 2007 when we got Matt in Vietnam to help him understand what his Gotcha Day (4 years ago today) was all about... So glad I have these memories to share...

Toronto

Last summer, my dear friend, Crystal, moved to Toronto for a year while her husband was given a temporary assignment. I also have another dear friend, and might I add, the biggest fan of this blog (Hi, Lan!) just nearby (well, not that nearby) in Montreal. And also my best friend from 7th grade, Julie...who also recently moved to Toronto.

This trifecta of girlfriend nirvana was too irresistible to pass up. And Mike agreed to let me keep the three older kids at home, and I took Hudson on his second big trip in as many months...this time headed east.

Hudson burns off some energy at the Seattle airport. We took a red-eye to New York which left around 10 or so. You can imagine how well that went.

Well, actually we arrived in Buffalo, so we got to see Niagara Falls with Crystal's three boys. And what do boys want to see in Niagara? Brick City.

Among their many displays was this awesome Niagara Falls...of legos.

Loved to see the falls with Micah and Ethan.

So I didn't bring our camera, so my photos are limited. But I had a great time there. Micah, their 8 year old, is an uber-smart tour guide. He knew just volumes about Toronto and was a walking encyclopedia. We had a rocking awesome dinner at China town when Lan came (Soooo glad you came, girl!) eating yummy dumplings. I also had a wonderful time catching up with my friend, Julie.

Unfortunately, Hudson came down with what we later realized was roseola. He had a nasty fever most of the trip. Honestly, it was a blessing in disguise. Without three other kids clamoring for juice, crackers, breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc., it was nice to just be able to cuddle and focus on him. And I feel that we bonded in a way that I just never have before with him. I loved it!

Uncle Jeff Gets Married

Mike's older brother, Jeff, finally got married today! In a small ceremony at the Justice of the Peace, he and his bride, Ree exchanged vows and began their life together.

Our family gathers around before Jeff arrives.

Jeff & Ree

More pictures at Newcastle Country Club