birthday...or birthmonth...

This whole month has practically been an ongoing celebration of my birthday. And I'm not complaining! First, mom came and we celebrated. Then, Elvis took me to the reggae concert the week before my bday. Then, he made me feel really special the actual day of my bday with signs around the house (because he was already at work when I woke up that day...), took me out to eat, and surprised me with my favorite perfume. Perfume was one of those things that got left behind in El Salvador, so it's special to have some again, especially since it's something I would never buy for myself.

Then, last night, we had my official bday party- a picnic at one of the free concerts in the park that Pasadena offers. The music was great (Brazilian), the company was great, and the food was outstanding! Elvis cooked "panes con pollo" (basically the most delicious chicken you'll ever taste, stuffed inside a fresh roll and smothered in homemade sauce and coleslaw. He spent all weekend cooking and everybody loved the food! Suzy had a great time playing with everyone there, which was a mix of church friends, school friends, and Salvadoran friends. When I asked Suzy what we should do at my party, she said "Play ring around the rosies."  And she made it happen! She's definitely the life of any party (or "par-tay" as she has started calling it), being sure to get those that are sitting off to the side involved and feeling included. 

not sure why we were laughing...suzy was most definitely doing something ridiculously cute

Ludwig...our friend from our church in San Salvador, now living in LA!

Ludwig's son is Suzy's current crush....you can see why....

bday girl and the handsome chef

In other news, Elvis got a call last week that he would be switched to 2nd shift now...meaning that he works from 2pm-10:30 instead of 5am-2:30. The good news is that he no longer has to wake up early and now we can go to church together on Sundays!! THis is a huge answer to prayer because we wanted to go to church together, but still have Thursdays free so i can do my world vision internship stuff. With his new schedule, it works! It will definitely take some adjusting (like getting together with people in the morning, not in the evening), but i think we could like it.