Strider is 12

After the big trip this past weekend, Strider's actual birthday today was rather anti-climatic.  We had two events planned for the day-- a baseball camp and a school play we were going to watch.... but unfortunately neither happened due to poor weather and poor reading of the email (I had the wrong date down for the play - -it's tomorrow).   Strider still had some fun, though -- the highlights being getting to talk to numerous family members on the phone!

The other kids all helped make this paper garland over the weekend....  when you don't have streamers to hang, you have to get creative!

For the birthday cake, we decided to go with a traditional Moldovan celebratory dessert:  "caciula lui Guguta" which translates as "Guguta's hat."  I think Guguta was a shepherd boy in a famous story,  and the dessert is supposed to portray his lamb's wool hat!

Creating it entails making many, many "blini" (like crepes), and then filling them with cherries.  Then you stack them in rows like a pyramid (I put 6 on the bottom, then 5 on the next row, 4 on top of that, etc.) and covering them all with a white creamy icing and chocolate shavings.

I'm not sure mine ended up looking exactly like the hat....

 .... but everyone thought it was foarte gustos (very tasty) anyway~!

It is amazing to us that our first-born is now 12!  We love watching him grow into the man God has designed him to be.

One of his new interests over the last several weeks has been learning to play the classical guitar.  Here he is playing some of the songs he's learned in the past month, accompanied by his teacher, Victor.  (His favorite one is the last tune.)

Play on, Strides!  We love you.