Dad and Jillian at Bread of Life for Birthday Breakfast
"It's a blender!"
A jacket for a young lady.
Jillian is delighted with Chau's gift: a Dove chocolate bar!
Hello, all-
I wanted to record some details of Jillian's 11th birthday, which was
yesterday, December 9. Eleven! I can hardly believe it! She is quite a
young lady now. Part child, part pre-teen, part Yoda; part little girl,
part pop star, part Einstein. I am in awe to be her mother. Thank you,
Lord.
About the gifts. Tony and I gave her a certificate to attend a cooking
class in the ancient city of Hoi An with me. It is a 5-hour experience
with a boat ride, visit to the local market, and two hours of cooking,
culminating with lunch.
From Grandmom, a lovely brown jacket and scarf. It looks great on her!
From Faith and Joy: A small "brief case" that she admired at a local
bookstore. I had to talk them into it, and as a compromise, I let them
each choose a smaller gift. Joy got a little plastic music box with
flowers that spin as a song plays. It lights up. Joy thinks it is so
beautiful. Faith had her heart set on getting Jillian a teddy bear. We
found a small one with pants and a shirt on. Faith likes it so much she
has requested one for her birthday (which is this coming Wednesday, Dec.
16).
From Anna Mei and Elizabeth: A blender. It may sound odd, but Jillian
has wanted one forever. They had to pool their money to do it. I am so
proud of them. They talked for quite awhile about what to get their older
sister, but they were so excited when they came upon the blender idea.
Needless to say, several milkshakes have been enjoyed by all.
Breakfast with Dad: Like last year, Tony is treating the girls to a
birthday breakfast at a western restaurant called Bread Of Life. It is
owned by our pastor and his wife. Bread Of Life employs deaf Vietnamese
teenagers and young adults. It is a great place with great food.
Cooking with Bee: Jillian's party was a family/staff affair at lunch. The
menu was all Vietnamese, except for the cake I made with the girls. For
dinner, Jillian had requested hamburgers and french fries. Bee had never
made hamburgers, so we cooked them together. As we started to make the
patties, she coated her hands with cooking oil. I followed suit, but I
was glad to use just a small bit...not long before, Bee had used that oil
to make the french fries. It was still quite hot! One funny thing: I
had asked Bee to pick up some ketchup at the store. When we were setting
the table, I could not find it. Bee looked perplexed and then pointed to
a bottle of red sauce..."Chili sauce." I showed her the picture of
tomatoes on the nearly empty ketchup bottle we had, then the picture of
the small red chilies on the new bottle. Bee's mouth dropped open.
Apparently, she shops only by color. The name of the sauce was in
English, both sauces are red and she didn't pay attention to the pictures.
Interestingly, I had also wanted onions for the burgers. Bee came home
without them...Big C (one of the biggest grocery stores in Danang) had
none.
A few other gifts: Jillian received clothes from Duc and Linh; some small
electric lanterns for her room from Enoch and Mariss; a beautiful handmade
card from Quyen; a genuine Dove chocolate bar from Chau; and from Bee,
underclothes. True to her practical joking nature, Bee had wrapped the
underwear in a box that once contained a clock. My unsuspecting,
mortified 11 year-old almost showed the unmentionables at the table in
mixed company. Bee, of course, was chuckling the whole time.
What a privilege to see this little girl grow into a loving young lady. I
could not be more proud of her. We are blessed too know that so many of
you join us in praying for her!
Grace and peace!
