A VERY Belated Birthday...

You would think that I could have gotten around to this post sooner, since Van's birthday was nearly a week and a half ago! But, alas, this is what you get - at least I am posting!

Van celebrated her first birthday on the 13th. She's not one year old, but they don't celebrate birthdays in Vietnam, so it WAS her first birthday! Holly and I sent her balloons at school and so did a group of her friends. They made her cupcakes (which they ate in physics class) and gave her a few gifts, too. She was so amazed and kept saying she had "a lot, a lot of balloons!" She brought them home and decorated her room with them.
But she and Holly had to play with them for a little while first. The cat had fun chasing the ends of the balloons, too.

We got together with my family on the Friday after her birthday and had dinner at a Thai restaurant in Spokane. It was sooo yummy! Here's a picture of the whole family, excluding me (taking the picture!) and Mike, who must have been in the restroom or something.

My sister-in-law brought Holly a little crown and earring set from the dollar store, and here is Holly sporting her new look while eating a spring roll.

It was hard to decide what to eat because everything on the menu sounded so good! We all ended up with something we were happy with, and my aunt ordered this amazing looking meal that was served in a half of a pineapple! It must have been good because there wasn't any left at the end of the meal!

Van wore Holly's crown after she was done with it, which seemed appropriate, since she was the birthday girl!

Since the whole birthday thing is new, so was opening presents. She learns quickly, though! Here she is reading a card from Nana & Pop Pop.

And opening some warm, fuzzy socks. This was especially funny to me, since Van is always saying how cold it is, yet she walks around in her sandels all the time! Maybe she can put the socks on with her sandals...

She also got a stawberry & kiwi scented candle that she loved.

The best part of the night was when Van was talking about how tall my brother is. Yes, I did try to warn her, but you know how that goes if you know him at all. Van wanted a few pictures of the two of them. This one cracks me up! If you look closely, you will see that Van is on her tiptoes on the chair, and is STILL shorter than my brother!

The whole birthday celebration was a wonderful time, both for Van and our family. She's looking forward to seeing everyone again this week for Thanksgiving, and the day(s) rated as "really, really good" and "awesome," both of which are high praise! I think her birthday was one of her top 2-3 days being here so far. Hopefully, it will become one of MANY memorable days with our family!