Happy 12th Birthday, Matthew!

Matthew had a great 1st American Birthday!  The weekend before his birthday he had one of his friends, JT, spend the night.  They swam, played dodge ball together, hit baseballs at the park, rode bikes, played the Wii and had a great time just doing guy stuff.  It was good for Matthew to spend time with another 12-year-old boy!  He enjoyed it very much and it meant a lot that his friend could come to his house.

On his actual birthday, June 10th, we took him to his favorite restaurant for some "Shushleeks" or Steak Kabobs.  He loves those along with mashed potatoes.  We got him a soccer ball M&M Blizzard ice cream cake.  It was funny because it had "Happy Birthday Matthew" written in blue, but the lid of the cake smeared the words, so I had to carefully take a knife and discretely scrape off the blob of blue everywhere.  He had no idea it was supposed to be any different.  He loved his cake.

Speaking of his cake, this guy is getting too smart for his own good.  The day before his birthday, I called up Dairy Queen to order his cake.  When I hung up the phone he was laughing hysterically.  I asked, "What's so funny?"  He said, "I understand, you telephone.  My birthday cake, soccer ball, blue, ice cream and M&M's."  (Laughter).  I guess he's understanding more English than I give him credit for!  I'll have to be more careful talking around him now.  :-)

 My parents, sister & kids came over that evening for cake and gifts.  He was so thankful for all that he received and loved his iPod, bike, water guns, and money that everyone sent to him.

It was so much fun to see his excitement and to be able to celebrate his birth for the first year with him.  What a great kid, I'm so glad we have the opportunity of parenting!