FIRST Birthday - WA style

I feel like I'm never going to catch up on all the pictures we've taken.... but here's a go at it. The celebration of Tory's birthday here in WA was calm, yet fun. My aunt Laura had to work during the party, so Tory got to open her and Zack's present before. As you can see, we all had lots of fun. Thank you to all (near and far) who helped make this a special day! :)

Siento como que nunce voy a estar al tanto con todas las fotos que hemos tomado... pero, bueno... lo intentaré. La celebración del cumpleaños de Tory aqui and Washington fué bien calmado, pero divertido. Mi tía Laura no pudo ir a la fiesta por ir a trabajar, así que Tory abrió su regalo antes de la fiesta. Como pueden ver, nos divertimos mucho. Gracias a todos (lejos y cerca -GRACIAS HECTOR!) los que hicieron que este día fuera muy especial.

CAKE

In my head, I had this cake all planned out. It was Tory's actual birthday, and Edwin's was going to be the next day. He really likes chocolate, but rarely gets any, 'cause I'm not such a huge fan; so I decided it would be a chocolate cake (plus, I had all the ingredients and a great recipe... so, why not?). Now, I know and have admitted many times (especially to my students when I taught) that I am NO artist. But I figured, "hey! I can draw like a first grader at least!" So, in my head, my two layered cake would have a tree, an Edwin, and a Tory under the tree, smiling. I would then write: "Happy Birthday Edwin and Tory!" or maybe "Feliz Cumpleaños Edwin y Tory". But anyway... I had not even thought about the background. SO... I go to make the cake. Tory's birthday, remember? I was also planning on making steak and some awesome potatoes, but thankfully, decided to better do that on Edwin's birthday. So, the chocolate cakes (layered, remember) came out beautifully. I placed them on the front burners to cool while I made dinner. Put dinner pans on the back bunner and turn the burners on.... check. Begin to cut broccoli... check. Put broccoli in pan.... WOA!! Where is all this SMOKE coming from?? Yeah... that's me. Turns out I turned on the FRONT burners... not the back ones... and now the cakes are BLACK (not just chocolate brown - NO - BLACK), stuck to the pans, and smell very smoky. VERY BUMMED... but at least I can try again tomorrow, right? (Not so bad having their birthdays next to each other after all. :) SO... go through the whole thing again the next day (this time with the steaks and potatoes to do as well)... but was VERY careful NOT to turn on the wrong burners - didn't even USE the burners today! Oh, no! Nice! Cakes came out well, now for the frosting. WOW!! Now... my very creative sister-in-law (Michele) did this a year ago, right before Tory was born. She made like 48 cupcakes and decorated them all by putting the frosting in a small zip-lock bag, cutting a small hole in the bottom corner and decorating the cupcakes!! How hard can that be??? Beautiful job!! Well... enough talking. Scroll down a bit, and you will see my creation. Where is the tree? Where is Edwin . . . and... JUST STOP!! (Sigh..) Well... at least it was a VERY tasty cake - I even ate some and enjoyed it! :) As you can see in the video... we let Tory have at it. She was very generous and wanted to share it all with Edwin too. :) The next set of pictures was a Grandma G's house where we had another yummy cake for Edwin and Tory. If you look closely at the video... you will see Tory trying to imitate daddy and blow out the candles... :) So cute!!

Perdón que no ponga toda la gran historia en español.... pero la cosa es que yo tenía un pastel bien chivo planeado en mi mente (no con las gran aspiraciones a artista porque ustedes bien saben que yo no puedo dibujar... eso se lo dejo a Edwin). Pero si iba a tratar algo básico... un arbolito, quisas... y a Edwin y Tory abajo del árbol, sonriendo.... eso no sonaba tan dificil... :) Pues, es día que cociné los pasteles.... al salir del horno, los puse en cima de la cocina para enfriar y empecé a cocinar la cena... pero encendí las estufas incorrectas.... y cociné los pasteles otra vez!! Me salieron negras!! Y se pegaron al pairex (no se como se dice la cosa en donde se cocinan los pasteles, pero ahí). Asi que traté otra vez el siguiente día, en el cumpleaños de Edwin. Esta vez si me salieron los pasteles.... pero la decoración!! Ay, ay, ay... pues verán ustedes mismos cómo me salió. Ni me hablen de ese árbol tonto que iba a poner!!! Al menos el sabor estaba buena... como pueden ver en el video... hasta yo me comí el pastel (y eso que no me gusta mucho el chocolate)... :) En las otras fotos estábamos donde mis abuelos... ellos también hicieron pastel para los cumpleañeros... y si miran de cerca en el video, verán que Tory está tratando de copiar a su papito al soplar las velitas... Ahhh.... que linda! :)








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Cluster

Every Wednesday night, Edwin meets with a group of highschoolers to mentor them. :) They pray together, keep accountable, study the Bible, and encourage each other. I cook dinner and eat with them, then have to go hide out in my room! :) But, it is fun to see this group of guys come together. They goof off, eat a TON, and share their lives with each other, anticipating the Holy Spirit's work in their lives. :)

Cada miercoles en la noche, Edwin se reune con un grupo de bachilleres como su mentor. :) Ellos oran juntos, estudian la Biblia y se animan unos a otros. Yo cocino, como con ellos y luego me voy a esconder a mi cuarto! :) Es divertido ver este grupo de cheros juntos. Ellos se divierten, comen un MONTON y comparten sus vidas uno con otro, anticipando el trabajo del Espiritu Santo en ellos. :)

Family Fun . . .

Here Tory and I are enjoying wonderful times with Family in El Salvador. Tory loved getting in the pool, playing with any and all animals (dogs, birds, fish . . .) climbing up and down stairs, walking around and eating popsicles, and she absolutely LOVED getting to know her aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents all over again!

Aqui Tory y yo estamos disfrutando un tiempo maravilloso con familia en El Salvador. A Tory le encantaba meterse en la piscina, jugar con cualquier animal (perros, pajaros, peces . . .), subir y bajar gradas, caminar y comer paletas y le fascino volver a conocer a todos sus tias, tios, primos, primas y abuelitos otra vez!



































We were also privledged to celebrate Tory's first birthday with all our family! :) With fun music, funny clowns, lots of kids, delicious cake . . . even our own popsicle cart! . . . Tory dropped like a rock at the end of the day! :)

Tambien tuvimos el privilegio de celebrar el primer cumpleaños de Tory con nuestra familia. :) Con musica divertida, payasos divertidos, muchos niños, pastel delicioso . . . hasta nuestro propio carreton de paletas! . . . Tory durmio super bien esa noche! :)
























We were also able to run away to Guatemala to our traditional vacation spot . . . a place that started out as a special "hide-away" for missionaries owned by a mission agency where there are cabins you can rent out very reasonably and it is right on the edge of a lake that has three volcanoes around it. Here Tory had a blast trying out a paddle boat (yeah! since she didn't have to paddle! - it looks like I didn't either, but I actually took a turn at it!), and she had so much fun with her cousins! It was a great gift to visit everybody!! Thank you for housing and loving on us!! We miss you all tons!!

Tambien pudimos escaparnos a Guatemala a nuestro lugar de vacacion tradicional . . . donde se puede alquilar una cabaña a la orilla de un lago con tres volcanes alrededor. Los dueños es una mision y la idea del lugar empezo como un lugar donde misioneros podian ir a descansar asi que no es muy caro alli. Tory se divirtio en la bicicleta en agua (A si! porque no tuvo que pedalear!! - parece que yo tampoco tuve que, pero a mi tambien me toco hacerle) y se divirtio tanto con sus primos. Fue un gran regalo visitar a todos!! Gracias por alojarnos y amarnos! :) Los extrañamos mucho a todos!!

Monkey Face and Hairballs

Tory suddenly started making this funny face . . . and for some reason, it made me think of a monkey face... :) hee, hee And one day we went out and I scratched our cat, Zidane . . .Boy, did she shed that winter fur!! And still is, I'm sure.

Tory de pronto empezo a hacer esta cara chistosa . . . y por alguna razon, me recordo a un monito . . . :) ji, ji. Y un dia salimos afuera y rascamos a nuestra gata, Zidane . . . Como se le cayo ese pelo que acumulo un el invierno!! Y aun lo sigue haciendo, estoy segura.