Hard to believe this boy is 10 now! It has been so fun to see Thomas' personality grow and develop over these last 10 years. He really has an amazingly creative, inventive mind. He has said that he wants to be an engineer since he was about 5 years old, and he still does. So his birthday party consisted of "engineering" things that he wanted to do: taking things apart, building with Legos, and then, just for fun playing games on our Wii that we recently bought off of ebay with money Bri made from the sale of his other bobble head. :)
 |
The very simple, NON-PINTEREST birthday decorations. I really didn't have to point
that out, though, did I? :) |
 |
| When the kids were little, we would put streamers in their doorway for them to see on their birthdays when they woke up. Now it's a yearly request from all of them. Something is missing otherwise. :) |
 |
| Along with a few games (Thomas is always asking to play games), he got a very interesting book that Bri found about the coolest engineering projects from around the world (Thomas was very intrigued). He also got a wooden pencil box with a built-in ruler that Thomas loved, along with two Star Wars Lego sets. They were from a charity thrift store, for free! That's a really cool story that I will have to write about in the near future. And a BYU hat because he misses Utah and loves BYU. |
We have been very blessed since moving here to have made friends with wonderful people, including the kids that came to his party. Thomas had a special request for his "cake." He wanted cupcakes instead of a traditional cake, so his friend Taylor offered to make them for him. Thomas thought it was so cool that his friend was going to make them on his own (with the help of his sister).
 |
| We actually had to re-light the candles to have Thomas blow them out because after singing the Happy Birthday song, an overly excited sister and friend blew them out for him--and he didn't even have a chance to make a wish. Thomas was very good about it, but I saw the shocked, then concerned look on his face when he realized that he didn't get to make a wish or blow the candles out for the wish to come true. So we re-lit them. :) |
 |
| Pizza, chips, donuts, cupcakes...and I had to add in grapes. One healthy food. It's a birthday party right? |
I was so involved in taking care of cut fingers (from taking things apart), playing the Wii with the kids, and trying to monitor things overall that I forgot to get action photos of the kids doing all of the activities. This is what was left of the Lego building and the things they took apart:
 |
| They took apart printers, an old clock radio, and attempted a blender (but we didn't have the right screwdriver to do the job). Again, the story on these things they took apart has to do with the charity thrift store that I'll have to write about later. |
 |
| Thomas and Savvy went back to playing the Wii after everyone left. We just bought it so this was the first time they had played it. Side note: It was a major decision for Briant and I to buy the Wii. We've been putting off buying anything like this before for fear that their brains would turn to mush and they would become useless human beings. It's time to experiment...we'll see what happens. :) |
 |
| Another boy named Thomas that loves playing with Thomas. Thomas is so good playing with younger kids. He's fun and creative, so they love the games he plays and you can tell that they look up to him. |
 |
| Andre and Emill. Friends Thomas first met at the Young Diplomats Seminar. They've continued to play together at the pool and playground. |
 |
| Taylor and Jorden. Great friends that Thomas loves to play with and looks up to. Leaving in a month. We're all sad about that! :( |
Overall, a wonderful birthday party! Thomas couldn't help but think of his friends "back home" and wishing he was celebrating his birthday with them. But he is learning, as we all are, to be flexible and adapt to our new environment and circumstance and to count the tender mercies and blessings along the way. That's part of getting "older and wiser" with each new birthday, right?
0 comments: