suzy is 5!!

So, I guess this is what my life has come to... only blogging twice a year for my kids' birthdays?! I'm ok with that if you are.

 

Anyway, can you believe that this precious thing is five years old????

And how perfect that this year her b'day fell on thanksgiving day. So fitting!

The week's celebrations started with cupcakes at school on Monday.

 then nana and granddaddy arrived Wednesday night, just in time for her big day on Thursday! Since Suzy is our little vegetarian, I didn't waste the time and energy to cook a turkey. I did throw a pork roast in the crock pot and have her favorite thanksgiving sides- sweet potatoes, apple cranberry casserole, and her absolute favorite: okra! And pumpkin cheesecake for her b'day cake.

trying out her new scooter with nana on the bike path near our house

 

 lots of snuggles and giggling went on this week!

 making dirt cake with nana for her garden themed b'day party!

                                                                the finished result!

 

 my little gardener of course wanted a garden party for her b'day. She has been planning it for months... she is certainly my little planner! Spending hours making special details for her guests. We had a nature scavenger hunt, did garden themed crafts like potato stamps and bell pepper stamps, each child planted some seeds and we had a smorgasbord of garden treats including the big hit, the dirt cake (with worms, of course!). And we introduced southern Californians and Salvadorans to NC style homemade pimento cheese ! Aka "minner cheese" . Quite the sociology experiment! Oh, and we had a piñata, duh. Suzy decorated each treat bag for the piñata with a mosaic picture... different for each child, of course! Emory had a blast as well:

 

elvis's aunt and cousin were visiting from el Salvador and came to the party!

The airlines gave her a surprise too... nana and granddaddy's flight was overbooked so they got to stay an extra day and get two free tickets for another trip! This Saturday we will be taking suz to a local performance of the Nutcracker for our present.

We love you, sweet Suzy, and your creative, compassionate, love-filled spirit!

 

first cupcake!

Emory had hand, foot, and mouth on his birthday (fun fun!) but we did have two families over the next weekend for a cookout and so E could try his first cupcake. It was love at first bite.

Feliz cumpleaños Emory Cruz!!

Happy 1st birthday buddy! Your life has radiated joy and peace to all that have met you. We love you!

Mi casa es su casa

As promised, here are some pictures of our new little house! We love the neighborhood...it feels very much like Latin America and everyone spends lots of time outside, walking or hanging out in their front yards. We can walk to Suzy's school, the grocery store, library, and a plethora of Mexican, Salvadoran, Indian, and Thai restaurants, tiendas, etc. 

Since our last place was fully furnished (down to the silverware, sheets, and toilet paper! ) we had to start over from scratch. Thankfully, all of our furniture was either given to us or found in thrift stores, ikea clearance, etc. 

the living room 

kitchen...a little tight but does the job! thankfully there is a laundry room off of the kitchen that comes with washer and dryer already in it...in LA it is rare to rent a house that has a fridge, washer, or dryer but thankfully this had them all! 

the kids room...they are finally sharing a room!

our room

the bathroom...the blue tile might be my favorite part of the whole house! 

living room from the other side of the room...the dining room area is just to the left of the desk

dining room...the living room/desk/dining room area is all one big open space. We really wanted benches for the dining room table b/c my grandma used to say that there is always room for one more when you have a bench! Luckily, we found these at Ikea for $9! 

without a doubt, Suzy's favorite part of the house is the garden

she spends hours out in the garden every day...Digging, planting, picking tomatoes and basil

we also spend a lot of time in the swing (E has one for him too). even though there is no grass, we have fun playing in the dirt (well they do...it still kinda stresses me out) . This tree offers amazing shade for the whole house...something we treasure so much because we now live in the hottest part of LA

we inaugurated the yard yesterday with an outdoor dinner party. it was partly a 4th of July party, and partly to say goodbye to our friend Sarah who is moving back to Guatemala where she is a missionary. The man on the right is a Guatemalan friend that Sarah brought to our Bible study a year or two ago, and he has been faithful coming by metro every week even though it was over 2 hours each way to get to Pasadena. He doesn't speak much Spanish, so Sarah would translate the study to him into his Mayan language, which she also speaks because she lives in his hometown in Guatemala. Turns out now we live on the same street as he does!! God answered his prayer to bring people closer so he wouldnt have to travel so far. 

happy 4th! 

catching up a bit...

So you may have noticed that I have taken a little break from the blog...trying to decide whether to bring it back to life or not. Any thoughts?

Here are a few milestones that have happened recently (and all in the same week....)

I graduated from Fuller! Just have 2 summer online courses left. 

Intercultural Studies graduation banquet

Father's day

Father's Day dinner 

last day of school!

nana and grandaddy's visit

this lil man turned 11 months!

E's baby dedication at New City Church

While they were here, Nana and Granddaddy also helped us move to our new house/new community on the other side of LA! Pictures to come soon!