Happy Birthday Zoe!!!

My gosh, Zoe turns 5 years old tomorrow and she is so excited. Her Mom bought a birthday cake today and she is ready to rip right into it. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a few little finger marks running through the icing as she has gone over to look at the cake at least 20 times in the hour it has been home. Tomorrow is her birthday so we thought we would celebrate early as a family and then host a birthday party with all her friends later. Tonight we went to 'Sinful Burger" for a birthday dinner. Zoe decided to stick about a 1/4th of the burger in her mouth and was laughing.  She almost gagged!

Can't believe I ate the whole thing!

 

Next week, on May 30th we celebrate our first "Gotcha" day.  That is the day last year when we first got Zoe in China.  I remember how cute she was with her little camouflage backpack. She was dressed up and was just a tad shy. She warmed up quickly to her mom.

We will always have a special connection with Phil, Tara and Ada (Vong's) who were our travel mates when we went to China. They made our trip that more special  What a great couple...I wish them a happy "Gotcha" day. Thinking about them this coming week. Maybe we all can go back when Zoe and Ada are older...(hint, hint).  Would be fun!

Today we went to watch Zoe in a special gymnastics open house.  She got the chance to show us what she does on all the gymnastics apparatus. It is amazing how she has progressed. She is getting close to doing a cart wheel, can do a strong arching back bend and is working on a walk over. She is also practicing on the balance beam, uneven bars and parallel bars.  She is getting pretty good! You might notice a band aid on her finger in some of the pictures. Yes...she burned one of her fingers and we cannot figure out what she did.  We have asked her a few times and she continues to change her story from the hair curler, iron and enclosed fireplace. Anyhow she got a nice sized blister that has popped and now is slowly healing.

Zoe on the balance beam

Zoe on the uneven bars

Where's Mom and dad?

Zoe following her coach...can you see her bandaged finger?

Eye of the Tiger routine

Floor exercise

Zoe on the pommel horse

Zoe just looking cute! Wouldn't you agree!

So we are putting my folks house up for sale later this week. It has been so much work (both physically and emotionally).  This past week we spent time painting the inside of garage and pulling the remaining items out of the house. It is in Fontenelle Hills forest and it is the perfect time to list a house with everything in full bloom and the pool in the back yard. Hopefully we will get some interested buyers going through the house soon.

Nathaniel finishes his 9th grade year this week.  As finals approach, he is working hard to get straight A's. He has one grade that is a B+ (English) we are hoping for him that he is able to pull it up. He has worked so hard in that class. Either way, both his mom and dad are very proud of him. Nathaniel has try-outs for American legion baseball and he made the Junior Varsity team. Only a few freshman were moved up to JV so it was a big honor for him.

All is well otherwise...hope everyone has a nice Memorial day weekend this coming weekend! Talk to you soon.