Happy Valentine's Day dear family & friends!

I Corinthians 13

Valentine's Day is a day of love,
For showing that we care,
And if we read the Bible,
God describes love there: If we speak like celestial angels
From heaven up above,
All our words mean nothing
If we don’t have Christian love. Love is patient, love is kind;
It doesn’t brag or boast;
Love conquers pride and envy;
It is never self-engrossed. Love is not rude or angry;
Forgiveness counters wrong;
Love stays away from evil;
It sings a truthful song. Love is full of trust and hope;
It always perseveres;
Love never fails; It’s faithful;
To the Bible it adheres. And if you give this kind of love
To your special Valentine,
You’ll be loving right in harmony
With God’s own sweet design. By Joanna Fuchs

A grown up girl gets a haircut

It'd been a long time since Bri's last haircut and her hair had a few split ends. And since Mommy was getting her own haircut, Bri tagged along and got one too. And it really did come handy. After our great library experience, Bri had frosting all over her hair. She first had her hair washed and then styled. She did SO WELL!!!! What a little lady!

She sat in her chair quietly the whole time

The final product! Isn't she just beautiful!?

Happy Valentine's Day!

This week we celebrated Valentine's Day at the library with many of Bri's friends. We all had a blast singing songs, listening to stories, making crafts, sharing valentines and eating cupcakes. Yes, it was Bri's first cupcake in her life! She loved the frosting and left the rest ... so unsurprising =)

Ella loved her red cupcake. She's got that deer-in-the-headlights look. So cute!

Brianna with her craft and all the valentines she collected inside

Bri sharing her princess' cards with other little girls. She loved the "gift exchange"

Children's Hospital in Fresno

Yesterday we went to the Central Valley Children's Hospital in Fresno to donate Brianna's birthday gifts to the kids in the Oncology Wing.

Unfortunately, the whole hospital was under RSV lock down for anyone under 13 years of age so we couldn't personally deliver the gifts. However, we met the Volunteer Services Coordinator, Juanita, and she was happy to be in charge of delivering the gifts.

Here is Brianna posing with Juanita and getting kudos from her. We prepped Brianna for a while, telling her all about the "Owie kids" at the Hospital and how much they would appreciate her gifts. Bri was excited about giving away her gifts and still talks about it today. About a year and a half ago Brianna also came to the hospital to visit Mary-Belle Anaya and played with her for a little while. Since then, Mary-Belle has passed away but her memory lives on.

We are trying to instill in Brianna that it is indeed better to give than to receive. May she, even from this tender age, learn to give what is most precious to her to those in need. "Another person might say, "You have faith, but I do good things." Show me your faith apart from the good things you do. I will show you my faith by the good things I do." (James 2:18)

Birthday picnic

Yeah! Bri officially turned 3 today! We celebrated by going to the park on a beautiful day and having a picnic with friends

Her birthday peanut butter and jelly sandwich "cake"

Happy girl!

A very HAPY birthday!

Today Brianna took some of her ice-cream birthday cake to all her "tias" (aunties) at Hapy Bear Dentistry. They adore each other and were happy to take a break to celebrate Bri's #3.

They all sang "happy birthday" to Bri and enjoyed a piece of cake but refused to have a group picture taken.

A beautiful day in the valley. You can see the snow-capped mountains in the background

The story of today

Brianna got up earlier than usual today, excited out of her mind to have her party. She asked to eat cake and fruit first and asked when she'd be meeting all her friends. Right before 11 am we were at "The Little Gym" ready to welcome people. As families trickled in, Brianna made sure she greeted each child and was smiling from ear to ear as more kids showed up.

During playtime with "Tia Bridgett" Brianna sang her own happy birthday song, participated in all the games and run around with this huge smile. She just loved every minute of her party! (And yes, kept asking for cake). She prayed a beautiful prayer to bless the food and when the time for singing happy birthday came about, she lead everyone in singing and was very impatient to blow the candles from both cakes. She also had a lot of fun opening presents, though in a couple of weeks we'll be taking most of them to the Children's Hospital in Fresno. She'll be "helping ouie kids" by visiting them and bringing them a new toy.

The most beautiful flower in our family garden!!! We're so proud of Bri! She's growing and maturing every day into a beautiful child of God.

What a happy, happy, day!

Ampee & Amee gave Bri a Drum set for her to practice her rhythm. Yesterday she had to be forcefully separated from her drum to take her nap. She is having so much fun marching around drumming.

Two cuties!

As we stated in Bri's invitation, we preferred to donate all gifts to the Fresno Children's Hospital Cancer Ward. We're striving to instill in Brianna a desire to give back on her birthday and also to honor Mary Belle's memory. Some parents, however, requested very specifically that their gifts be given to Brianna. Case in point, our closest friends, Victor and Suzana, gave our musical princess a beautiful piano she absolutely loves already!

Happy 3rd birthday, Brianna!!!

Today we had a great time at Bri's birthday party at "The Little Gym"
Here's the setup ready for cake and strawberries after playtime!

Brianna jumping on the air mattress. All the kids loved it!

Finally, time for cake and fruit! Most kids ate all their strawberries first and then their slice of ice-cream cake. They took a balloon and a water bottle home as favors. After all that running around and playing, many were sweaty, hungry and ready for a nap (= happy parents!)

Mommy and Daddy made a vegan ice-cream cake (think wheat-free, dairy-free, no sugar) and we also brought a TCBY Ice-cream cake for those who preferred dairy.

Our awesome pastor's ordination

Pr. Chad and wife Christina Stuart were ordained today, Sabbath. It was a wonderful celebration for our entire church. Pr. Dwight Nelson flew over from Michigan for this very special occasion and we really enjoyed his messages as well. Precious baby Dayton was also dedicated on Sabbath afternoon. A spiritual feast for us all!