happy birthday, eliana!

Two years ago today, Eliana Joy joined our family. True to her namesake, she has been the reason for so much joy in our lives. People who are just meeting her often ask if she is always this happy. Even on the city bus today she brought delight to a bunch of strangers -- old Asian men with little English but huge smiles, business types who put down their newspapers and iphones to interact with her, even the tough-looking teens with a serious image to uphold were melted down. Then tonight she had us all howling so much during bedtime prayers we could barely get through. Not to mention her own spontaneous prayer: "Sank you for... ice cream aaaand... cake aaaand... Lucas aaaand... trains aaaand... the bus aaaand... fishes aaaand..."

We are so grateful for this gift from God in our lives.

Since we're spending a few days in Vancouver before returning home, we opted to spend Ellie's birthday at the Aquarium -- the perfect place for our little explorer and animal-lover.

88 cm?

Question. If your daughter talks before she walks, what does this mean for your phone bill later on?

Funny -- we JUST got Ellie Bellie trained to answer the question "How old are you?" with her sweet little "I'm one." Today she seemed half excited and half confused that the answer had so radically changed to "I'm TWO." She'll have it down pat just in time for next May, no doubt.

This week we are experiencing yet another round of the beautiful hospitality of our extended family of believers -- this time in Vancouver. Once again, it seems God has deemed it most fitting to provide for us through people who were previously strangers. How does this keep happening to us? You'd think we'd be used to this (the generosity of strangers) by now! But each time it is an exceedingly beautiful thing to experience such true hospitality.

So here we find ourselves staying in the home of friends of friends who have offered us a little suite in their home that is just perfect for our little clan. They even have a little boy who is excited to share his boy toys with our girls who, as it happens, LOVE trains and trucks. Then tonight we had dinner with beautiful new friends in the city who Tim and I met last week at a conference for pastors and spouses (a brilliant three days on an island in BC which I have been affectionately referring to as the cherry on top of our sabbatical sundae!). It felt like Christmas sharing an evening with this extended Asian family, feasting on all kinds of seafood and sharing a myriad of stories and dreams and belly laughs. Tonight the girls' journey with crabs came full circle -- from hunting for tiny crabs under rocks at the beach all month, to observing monstrous ones through a pane of glass today, then tonight being introduced to them on a plate, including a family lesson on how to properly crack 'em open and eat 'em. Fun! Maia wasn't so sure about this new idea but Eliana was all game.

We even ended dinner with green tea ice cream cake. Apparently it's a big thing around here. What a full and memorable day. For the birthday girl and for all of us.