six years of May

We celebrated well....  and she is well worth celebrating.
Thanks be to God for the gift of Marian Lynn.  

Marian's plan was for a puppet show.  We pulled out all the puppets and spread out some sheets and spare fabric over some PVC roped up to a bench we use at the piano.   

I flung them at this with more freedom than they knew what to do with... When each kid introducing their puppet took 44 seconds total, we moved on to a puppet lip sync (Toby Mac, I don't want to gain the whole world and loose my soul) and then... 

Part Two of the performance was a surprise for all the girls.  Isaiah spotted these fantastic masks in an art store we checked out for school supplies.  I remember well that this is the stuff of little girl dreams.... and I think they enjoyed it just as much as I hoped they would.  yippee. 

(Silly side note:  When we came to China, the US dollar was worth about 20% more than it is now towards the Chinese RMB and everything seemed pretty cheap to us.   Seven years in, deflation of the dollar and inflation of the yuan, not much feels cheap at all anymore.... except for vegetables and these sweet masks.  They were $1-2 each.  Once again, grateful!)  

I'm not even sure exactly who took these pics... but I'm so grateful! What a special treat for me to get fun shots with my precious girls!

all the lovely ladies in attendance

Part Three of performance time...  a surprise puppet show from Daddy and "Uncle" Jon.   

And then we ate... Delicious Food... that our summer roommate prepared for allll of us.  So grateful for her help today!   Polo and cold veggies.  

Then we played soccer (see that net goal behind the cute green-shirt goalie?).  Who knew that the eldest daughter of The Baseball Coach would love soccer more than anything?  We had no idea.  But this was her choice and she stuck to it... even though she did NOT stick to playing the game herself.  (We'll work on that!  I think we really will have to move towards being a soccer and baseball family....  and I think it makes all of us glad!  Thanks May!)

Precious Marian Lynn, May Love my darling, I love you and I am so happy I get to be your mama.  I have seen the Lord grow you up in Him so beautifully this year... you learning so many ways to bless others in our home.   What a blessing you are to know, to share a home with, to love.  Your daddy and I love every little bit of you.  May the Lord grow you in His grace, wisdom, and faith in this new year all the more....  we are for you, and together with you in pursuit of His heart and His kingdom.  

Mom and Dad.