Daily Archives: July 25, 2024

Happy 1st Birthday, Maria Grace

This week Maria celebrated her 1st birthday! Our sweet little girl has made amazing progress with her walking in the past two weeks and is now on the go. We’re all so delighted with our little girl, and all her siblings love her. She’s a spunky little girl who loves to talk with expression and hand motions. (The dress is the one Yayyi gave Anna for her 1st birthday.)

Maria had two birthday parties – one at Canaan Land with her cousin Levi who turned one the day before. Emily made smash cakes for the birthday babies, and Maria loved hers.

Maria’s second party was with the extended Jensen family. We spent Saturday evening until Tuesday morning with Josh’s family. We all enjoyed a relaxing time being together!

My birthday is two days before Maria’s, and I also had two parties – one with the Rodriguez family and one with the Jensen extended family. Dad J and I share a birthday! It was special to celebrate with friends and family.

Traveling to Canaan Land

July 10th we started our last weeks of traveling before we settle in PA to start packing to return home to Cambodia (we’ll get back to my parents on the 29th). On the 10th (Wednesday) we drove to VA and stayed with the Gustafsons’ again. We were able to return the stroller they kindly lent us during our travels and enjoy being with them again. Thursday we spent six hours revisiting The National Museum of the United States Army. First we went through the special D-Day exhibit. Then, once again, the older kids went through the exhibits, while the youngers enjoyed the area designated for younger kids. It was a very rewarding day for me as I watched our kids live out our educational goal for them: Learn to Learn and Love to Learn.

Friday we drove to Charlotte, NC and enjoyed visiting with the Cole family. We spent evening Friday and Saturday morning together. It’s been over 10 years since we’ve seen the Coles, and it was a delight to catch up with them. Becca especially enjoyed their girls and spending time talking about literature. The boys had lots of nerf wars. The little boys enjoyed grinding coffee beans with Michael.

Saturday afternoon we drove to the Lake Toxaway area and started the Sutter Family Reunion. (I don’t have the pictures from this but will post what I have.) Besides my older brother’s family who was in the process of moving to Florida, everyone was able to attend. The 16 cousins had a great time hiking, playing games, biking, and running around the campus together. Ezra learned how to ride a bike without training wheels (we started by pushing him down a grassy hill to help him get his bearings). Thankful for the time everyone had to get to know one another and play together.