Sunday, April 6, 2008

Party Time!

Here it is as promised - the exciting story of my very first birthday party, right here in Mozambique. It started out with the delivery of 35 live chickens for a BBQ here at Daddy's shop in Machava.


I am going to break all blogging rules and post LOTS of photos, though we've made them small so hopefully they will load okay on your computer. I left out the chicken guts ones in case I have any sensitive viewers . . .


Guests
Including Ouma and Oupa and my cousins and the expat Maranatha team, all the Maranatha shop workers were there, so there were about 80 people total. Here I am making the rounds.


Here I am visiting with Jorge (the shop supervisor) and some of the other shop workers.




I am with Ms. Cathrine, talking on her phone. I like to play with her.

This is Uncle David.


And my cousin Marquelle.


And my Auntie Susan.


Food
There was lots of food, from BBQ chicken to veggie crumbed schnitzels, mixed vegetables, a rice dish, mealie pap, fresh bread, cabbage salad, and sodas. And there was lots of peach cake - Mommy baked for two days straight - with custard for dessert, but I didn't get to try any of that.


I decided to help the cooks dish out the food.


I ate some of the veggie crumbed schnitzels.


Here are some of the workers eating.


This is me with Daddy getting into my cupcake and candle. I couldn't blow out the candle because it was too windy to light it.


Entertainment
For entertainment, we brought out my skateboard. Some of the guys decided to try it out. Some of them did okay.


Some of them didn't do so well.


Then I got on and whizzed by everybody. I am a pro, you know.


I am starting down the ramp in front of the shop.



Going faster. And faster. And faster. This is starting to get scary!


I didn't fall though. Daddy got me at the bottom. I did it three times. I am good!


Then I did my stand-up routine for everybody.


Then everyone else got to play tug-o-war. I wanted to play, but Daddy thought I might get stepped on so moved me out of the way . . .



By this time I was really tired, so we went home.

Birthday Cake
After I had a long nap, my cousins came over for supper. Here I am getting ready to blow out my candle on my carrot cake. There was no wind to help me this time, though, so Daddy helped out.


I DID get to eat some of the carrot cake. It had raisins, too, so it was VERY healthy . . .


Here are my cousins and me behind the cake. Don't I look much older than before?


Presents
Mommy says birthdays aren't about getting presents, but presents sure are a lot of fun. After supper, I opened my presents. I wanted to play with each one and had to be coaxed to open the next one. Stacker cups are cool!


Here I am showing my cousin Janelle my garden counting book. This came from several people - Auntie Barbara gave Mommy the material, Mommy cut and basted it together, and Ouma sewed it up.


This is a pretty doll blanket Marquelle knit for my doll.



There's got to be some way to put this swimming suit on! I tried over the head and over the feet, and it doesn't seem to work any way I try!


And this pretty dress just doesn't seem to fit right. Maybe I need to lose some weight or get my head tucked.

Now shoes I can handle, though.

Videos
Wow, what a fun day I had! Mommy took lots of video, so she will have to get some software to edit it one of these days and make a cool memory video for me. In the meantime, we are posting two videos for good measure.
The first is of the shop guys singing Happy Birthday to me. The second is of me skateboarding down the shop ramp.




2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your birthday party looks supercool, Esme. What a fun, tiring day! Carrot cake is my favorite, too, and Taelyn's. Hope you have a wonderful year being one. All too soon it'll be time to learn how to hold up two fingers when asked how old you are.
May Jesus always be near you, as you grow into a beautiful little girl.
Love Auntie Leri, Taelyn and Uncle Jim

Mary@notbefore7 said...

WOW! What a fun way to blog - through your daughter's "voice". So cool. What a great day - I can't believe she balances on that skateboard.