Six Years of Wonderful

It's been nearly two months since we celebrated six years old for this very special boy...two months! Not to be daunted by being so very behind in my chronicles...here's the birthday boy and the story of this milestone in marking his journey.

Cruising on the Chao Phraya River, Bangkok, January 2015

Ju's birthday story began several days before his big day, while the whole family was here and we were still at the beach. We wanted to celebrate him with everyone together, so we asked the lovely French hotel manager what we might do. Her reply? "We will do ze cake...and ze fireshow!" Thus was put into motion a super duper birthday celebration that will not soon be rivaled. Doraemon (Japanese manga robot cat) cake, a special birthday drink...

this was one continuous pour from his shaker...it's a mystery

...and fire twirlers on the beach. At the end of the show they set the words, "Happy Birthday" on fire. I hope six is old enough to remember how spectacular this was!

The real day came a few days later, with much less fanfare. According to tradition, we all went quietly into his room and woke the birthday boy with cake, the best way to wake up!

That evening we went to his favorite noodle shop for some Japanese ramen (he likes it with a jumbo sheet of seaweed...) It was also our last meal with Uncle Tom, whom we then sent to the airport to board a flight to Cambodia.

And then it was just us again for the first time in quite a while! We went home for cake and presents...the highlight of which was a magic set to encourage Ju's most recent career aspiration- a magician. He makes a spiffy one, does he not?

What can I say about this child? Tim and I shake our heads in wonder at how amazing are the children God has given us, and Julian holds his unique place in the family and in all of our hearts. He is kind, silly, tenacious, intelligent, confident, a very good friend to many...just a great deal of fun and sweetness all wrapped up together. He's so affectionate, and I'm still the happy recipient of many kisses. He has friends of all ages, from the Swedish 3 year old next door to the 8th grader down the street to the new kids he meets at the park who don't speak English. I've said already how much I'm enjoying this season of teaching him and having so much time with him...this time is a gift I'm endeavoring to savor with intentionality. I look at Julian now- tall, strong, his eczema at this point in time diminished to minimal proportions; I am so very thankful, thinking of how far we've come and how faithful God has been every step of the way. Happy birthday, sweet Julian- may your life be marked by joy as you glorify God in your journey.