This month we celebrated Anna’s 12th birthday! We started out the celebrating with her countdown calendar (which overlapped with Passion Week and Josh’s birthday). Anna chose to delay her birthday movie (Caddie Woodlawn) until the week after her birthday, since things were so full, and that worked well with Josh being away at Bible school too.

We celebrated Anna’s birthday a day early, since we have a ministry commitment Saturday nights. Then on Anna’s birthday she went to an all-day KEC regional youth event, so that was special for her. Anna chose to have a different cake this year than her normal panda. She made a beautiful hibiscus flower (peppermint frosting with homemade dark chocolate accents). She did a great job decorating it. Anna’s three siblings made her birthday chalkboards (Becca, Micah, and Maria).

Anna’s birthday meal was tacos. It’s avocado season, so we could have fresh guacamole! We also had a bag for corn tortilla chips from our time in Siem Reap. Everyone ate so much at dinner that people only had a little bit of room for the cake, and we ended up only eating 1/4 of the cake (which is unusual for 9 people!).

Anna is a very sweet girl. She is helpful, and I often find her with one of her younger siblings doing an activity or something else they needed assistance with. She’s creative with crafts and art projects. She’s a diligent piano and flute student. She is also very diligent in accomplishing her daily school tasks. Anna is our “sleep-in girl.” We found out that if Anna sleeps past 8, she avoids getting daily headaches. Anna is doing really well with her Jarai language learning and is bold to speak to others and practice her language skills. WE love our girl and the gift she is to our family.