Sam is three years old!

Our precious Sam is three years old today. We thank God so much for giving us this talkative, loving boy with a good sense of humor. It's so fun to spend the days with him and watch him grow.

(thanks for the fun costumes, Grandmama and Granddaddy!)

This was Sam's first "American" birthday (other than the day he was born). He celebrated his first birthday in Bangui, and his second in Berbérati, both in CAR. In fact, it feels in some ways like just yesterday that Sam and I were in our Berbérati kitchen mixing up his second birthday cake. How time flies!

Sam has been long awaiting this birthday (often telling random people, "My birthday's coming up soon!") and I think he had a wonderful day. In the morning we went to a favorite park/playground, and as John and Sam collected acorns from underneath oak trees there, I remembered that we had gone picking up acorns at this very same park on John's second birthday, three years ago! What a fun memory.

Early today, our sweet friend Anna brought Sam a surprise--a cinnamon bread monkey just for him. Sam loved it.

In the evening, we got to celebrate with almost the same group we had celebrated John's second birthday with back here in 2010. New memories to add to old ones. What a fun night!

Sam enjoyed his candles and "monkey cake."

Thank you Lord for our precious Samuel and his three years of life!

settling in...and our newest niece

After thousands of miles trekking cross-country (and staying with lots of incredible people), we made it to Dallas! We took a few days to settle in there, and Adam got his new cubicle set up for his Hebrew language studies he'll be doing in coming months. On Wednesday, John and Sam were excited to head to their first day of preschool/child care (they'll get to go to this fun place for one morning each week):

Now I'm in Boston for a few happy days visiting Dan and Becca...and of course, not to be forgotten, the very tubbiest little baby niece Charlotte. Look at this happy girl!