2008JeffJourney

A Weekend of Birthdays

October 2&3

For her birthday E wanted to spend time with her two bestest friends, eat orange chicken from Panda Express and receive six pairs of Converse sneakers. Two out of three isn't bad. Her friends got to spend the night and watch To Save a Life with her after a meal of Orange Chicken from Panda Express. J found a creative expression for the chop sticks. All this was just a warm up to celebrate her actual day with a birthday brunch complete with gifts and an afternoon of shopping with Mom.

 

Happy 15th Birthday E! We Love you!

 

 

 

 

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 J enjoys celebrating his birthday with good friends, good food and some solo guitar playing time. So we had a nice paced Sunday celebration mixing Sunday worship with fellowship afterwards over a meatball grinder lunch. The conversation turned to J stories, and his life has offered some good stories to tell.

 

Happy Birthday J! We love you!

 

 

***J's chocolate chip zucchini bread cake had just come out of the oven. The candles melted and made a memorable cake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And thus ends our birthday season - 9 birthdays in 2.5 months!

The Battles Rage On

September 18, 2010

Twenty-five+ boys have joined together for an afternoon of airsoft and celebrating D's 13th birthday.

 

Manning their battle stations in the forts set up throughout our yard, the teams took on many missions with zeal. Each session had a different mission explained well before hand by Commander C.

 

The sweaty soldiers receiving their orders.

L took her missions as serious as the rest.

 

Wearing a winter coat in 90 degree weather seemed logical as M went to the battlefield well protected.

The birthday boy blowing out his sparkler candles.

Happy Birthday D!

Celebrating Turning Four

September 11, 2010

 

***Can a four year old manage so many presents?

Once upon a time God gave a little girl as a gift to a family of 9. Over the years she has been hugged, care for and loved probably more than x9. In return she has brought us laughter and joy everyday.

Here is the day to celebrate her life. She requested mac & cheese for dinner and cake and ice cream for dessert... and of course, presents.

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

  

Serious About the Battle

September 10, 2010

D has asked for another day of airsoft to celebrate his birthday this year. He has added another item to his gear in anticipation of the great battle.

Your Mission Should You Decide to Accept It....

May 22, 2010

L had her heart set on a mystery party since January (her real birth date). Finally the day arrived to invite many of her friends for a bit of a Mystery in the Library....

Among others, Cinderella, Little Red Riding hood, Robin Hood,

 

Captain Hook's loyal first mate, Mr. Smee, Tinkerbell,

 

and Huck Finn

joined Sherlock Holmes in the library to investigate who committed the grim and grave crime. His Majesty Henry VIII, the famous monarch from the English history books, had disappeared. Throughout the afternoon they gathered clues and pondered the evidence in this great who-done-it case.

Just who did it, we won't tell.

But it's no mystery that L enjoyed her day sleuthing with her friends.

L has Entered the Double Digits

January 16, 2010

A breakfast date with her Dad.

An airsoft war, cake and dancing at the party of a friend who is exactly 3 years older.

Home for dinner, friends, presents and ice cream sundaes.

A full day labeled by this 10 year old as, "This was a good birthday."

A New Pasttime Around our Home

October 2009

 

After visiting a friend with this coveted object, D enthusiastically spent his birthday money on four Nerf lazer tag guns. Not quite air soft, but the strategic element of the war intrigues him still the same. The younger siblings have enjoyed being included as well.

J is 16!

October 3, 2009

A non party year, no travel on the calendar and a Saturday birthday gave fuel to the imagination. A whole day to plan for the pleasures in life.  What did he decide on?

***Meatball Grinders, Sprite and BBQ Chips was on the menu.

Sleeping in till 9. Video Games (his brother brought his PS3 in for the day and rented a game). Favorite foods. Setting up his Facebook page. And spending time with family.

Simple. Enjoyable. And pronounced "good" at the end of the day.

E is 14!

October 2, 2009

Orderly. Diligent. Responsible. E's character qualities add a bit of stability in our haphazard household. Over the past year she has waited patiently for her 13th birthday trip to materialize, tackled her Jr. high work, moved onto high school studies and participated in her first mission trip. Plenty of opportunities for growth and she has handled it all with a mature and sweet spirit.

To keep with the one year tradition of coffee cake for breakfast, we awoke early to celebrate with the family early before everyone scattered.  To the surprise and delight of her siblings, she added ice cream to the menu. To her vexation, Mom insisted on keeping with the school schedule for the morning and bored her with Biology. To her relief, Dad soon rescued her and took her out to lunch.

 

***A day ending with Brusters - What could be better?

The day was capped off with dinner, bowling and ice cream with her mom, sister and two of her very best friends.

Happy Birthday E!

D is 12!

September 22, 2009

(Cheese cake request by D. Design by N.)

A simple celebration was in order for D this year. No more taking the day off as in year's past but still plenty of simple pleasures...

Pancakes for breakfast

A day of school with his friends and teachers (he is still thinking this is a pleasure!)

A dinner request of Zaxby's chicken tenderloins.

Gifts from the family. 

An evening of video games with the boys.

***

It has been fun to watch D grow over the past year into a more compassionate and diligent young man. He has taken the challenge of getting caught up in some areas of school that we didn't focus on with a determination that we saw in the gym as he tackled new skills. It is fun to watch him take the challenge and not become discouraged. He also is growing in patience and perseverance as he pleads with God for the finances to come in for him to begin training in the gym again.

***
Happy Birthday D!