Welcome to 20

The years between 18 and 21 are such a grey area.  A boy is still a boy in some regards and yet a man in others.  While not a full fledged adult at 20, I'd say that it's the official age of manhood (at lease by number if not in conduct) since there is no longer a "teen" in the age label.  Jozsef recently reached that numerical bar (and I'd argue that his character has been manly for much longer), 

As Covid still largely rules the day, the outing that Jozsef had hoped for (a retry at tubing the river or an afternoon at a retro arcade) were out of reach and kept on the wish list for another time.  Instead, he reported to work as usual to make some money.  However, his birthday was not forgotten there either and his coworkers gave him wonderful birthday wishes and even had a cake and a song for him as they helped him celebrate his day.  It was an unexpected and much appreciated gesture by his company--one that I every day count as a huge blessing in his life.  And as a celebratory side note, Jozsef received a much deserved promotion just days before his birthday.  He was celebrating a couple of milestones this week.  :-)

After a hot day at work,  the  boys returned home to clean up and then we headed out to dinner.  It was a huge treat for us.  We went to a Japanese Steak House--the kind where they cook on the hot hibachi table right in front of you. 

Most of the kids had never seen such a thing and the staff was wonderful as was the food.  We had such a great experience and the food was delicious!  Jozsef was very happy with his evening. 

Though it was late by the time we returned home, we still had cake and gifts before we just sat for a while relaxing before bed.  Thankfully the boys did not have work the next morning.  We all closed out the night with another great memory for us to store. 

Jozsef is twenty.  Part of me can't believe that he's so grown.  The other part of me is so happy to see him developing into a wonderful man and to think of what is still ahead of him.  We have been so greatly blessed by having Jozsef in our lives and we are thankful for him.  Happy Birthday Jozsef!  And welcome to 20!

Butterflies and Birthdays

With Covid still shadowing our lives, we step slowly forward making adjustments as we go while we are eager to open the gates and run into the wonderful weather of spring,  Birthdays are still a challenge to mark well as much of what we'd like to do in celebration is compromised with social restrictions.  Hannah had ideas of lunch date, bowling parties, and soaking up the sun by the pool, but we settled for something much more simplistic--a girls' day. 

The afternoon was simply beautiful in both appearance and feel as it was sunny with a pleasant breeze and not yet hot and humid. 

Being the youngest, Hannah had been out of the house the least during this whole lock down, so for our girls' day, I set out to tour the town with her.  She was thrilled that her favorite birthday lunch location was actually open for service so we started there and had a wonderful buffalo wing lunch.

After eating, we set out to do a bit of shopping at locations of Hannah's choice.  She found a few things that caught her attention like beautifully crafted doll houses and Cabbage Patch babies which she apparently cannot get enough of. 

She was hoping she would get a boy and she did!

She said this house was the best because it was a farmhouse with a porch swing.  Ah yes--the good life! 

Dinner was had at home followed by cake and gifts.  Hannah had asked me to make her a cake with lots of colors and butterflies she could eat.  Thankfully I found pretty little edible butterflies on Amazon and our birthday girl was thrilled with the results. 

The report at the end of the day was that she had a wonderful birthday--that's what I wanted to hear.  :-)  It's hard to be so limited and to still find ways to help them feel celebrated.  Happy Birthday Hannah!  We've loved our with years with you and we look forward to many more!<3 p="">