Friday, May 25, 2012

Double Digits

Oh, boy... I have officially been a mama for a decade now!  Where, oh, where does the time go?!  Our oldest child reached the double digits this past week, and it has caused me to do a lot of reminiscing in this mama-heart of mine.

Davey has reached that awkward "in-between" stage of crossing over from childhood to being a teenager.  While we see some of those teenage characteristics creeping up, we sigh a breathe of relief to hear Davey's all-out childish giggles.  Why can't we just freeze these kids in time?
I prayed that God would give us a son as our firstborn.  It just felt so right to me to start our family with a boy to lead the way for his siblings that would someday follow.  And the Lord did not disappoint (and He never does!).  Really, I just love when our plans line up with God's plans.  {And when they don't line up with His plans, we just try to jump on the right track of where WE should be in our thinking, planning, and actions.}
I was really excited to realize that Davey would have the opportunity to turn the big "One-Zero" here in Israel.  As a great friend put it, "Not everyone gets to celebrate a birthday where Jesus celebrated His."  Wow.  I like that thought.

The evening before Davey's actual big day, we invited some other Americans over to our apartment for some partying.  We sat out on our balcony and enjoyed the perfect weather from our eighth floor.  May weather is pretty perfect in any country, wouldn't you agree?

We have Domino's Pizza AND Pizza Hut here in Israel.  Motorcycle deliveries are the thing for pizza delivery here, so our children excitedly listened for and awaited the buzzing sound of the motorcycle from our balcony.  And, our delivery man was kind enough to let Davey try on his helmet AND pose for a picture too.  Yes, we gave him a nice tip.  He deserved it.
I made a Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer cake that did not disappoint.  We couldn't find the mini Reese's  PB cups for decorating the top as was suggested in the recipe (though they DO have the regular-sized Reese's here), but mini Snickers candy bars did the trick.  It was challenging to bake in a kitchen that lacks much of the equipment I needed for baking, but a borrowed mixer and some dollar-store measuring spoons saved the day.
As if Davey did not receive enough birthday love, he was also sent some money which he is saving to buy a Kindle Touch.  This will really come in handy in a place where books in English are not readily available.  But, I am still wondering whatever happened to the days of my little boy dreaming of cars, trucks, and dinosaurs.  I know, I know, you don't have to remind me.  He is outgrowing those things. {sigh}  Our family's gift to Davey was a model of the Garden Tomb (which you can see in the left-hand corner in the picture above.)  He loves having this memory to take home with him of that place that has become so near and dear to our hearts.



On Davey's actual birthday, his Daddy surprised all of us with the news that we were going to a safari zoo in Tel Aviv!  The outer part of the zoo is drive-through only and the inner-part of the zoo was a walk-through area that we mostly enjoyed with a rented golf cart.  Double wow.

We now have a new pressed penny to add to our growing collection and a whole host of memories and pictures of this special time together.  And who knew that this "detour" in our lives could be so fun?!
Trusting the Lord for your future is always a good thing.  And I hope and pray that Davey has learned that by seeing what God has done for him personally through this "detour" to Israel!

20 comments:

  1. Happy belated birthday, Davey! LOVE that last picture! :)

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  2. Awesome!! Belated happy birthday to the double digit guy!

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  3. Your cake looked delicious! :) Hard to believe how quickly they grow up!!

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  4. Awww~ Happy Birthday, Davey! He brought tons of smiles to my face as I scrolled down through his pictures. The cake is adorable! And I loved seeing your smiling face in the pictures as well ~ really captures the moment. :) I know they will appreciate you being in the pictures later too.

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  5. We so enjoyed looking at your wonderful pictures and comments. What a delight it has been to have your family here with us for this very short time. We have grown to love each one of you very, very much. We are thinking of having the borders closed the day you are to leave. Woops, I guess that's our desires coming out. You belong to the Lord and we will be happy for Him to accomplish His perfect will in your lives even if that means saying goodbye for now. '''''''''''''''''''''''''Those are little tears. We love you.

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  6. I loved the pictures of him with his cake...what a personality! :)

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  7. Jolene,
    Thanks ever so much for sending this. Our son Todd attended & graduated from Marantha Baptist Bible College. I have forwarded it to him as well. He will enjoy hearing the news. I enjoy your posts about Israel.
    Mrs. H

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  8. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVEY! THE BIG 1-0.
    Praying for you! What a wonderful way to celebrate! I hope you get that new kindle soon!! Happy birthday praying that you have a great year and that the Lord will continue to work in your life! We love you, Bro. Richard and Mrs. Stephanie Way.

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  9. I truly hope we will be able to see you this fall. That would be so wonderful. Ours doors are ALWAYS open to you as our hearts are.
    Loved the Davey blog. Thanks for sharing the special moments.
    Love you,
    Vicki

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  10. Happy Birthday, Davey!!! I know how you feel Jolene, our oldest turned ten last year. They years slip by so fast! What a special birthday and how exciting to celebrate it in such a special place!

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  11. Thanks for the pictures. So sweet!!! Also, that cake looks DELICIOUS! I absolutely love chocolate and peanut butter. I'll have to try it sometime...

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  12. Happy birthday to your Davey! It sounds like a wonderfully special day for him! And that cake? Yum! Also, I had to laugh at one of the first pictures that had Micah in the background- he looks like he's grabbing all the goodies he can while he can! :-)

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  13. Alisha StensaasMonday, May 28, 2012

    Tell him Happy Birthday from me! Wow, he is growing up fast. Enjoyed the pictures!

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  14. Happy Birthday Davey!!!:) It looks like such a fun happy party. That cake came out beautiful. I enjoyed seeing from your windows how high up you all are but I must be afraid of heights as that just looked SO high. GULP. I LOVE your Israel posts and sharing them with my family. Thank you for sharing.

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  15. Happy Birthday, Davy!! Wow Jo, the kids are really growing!! I love and miss you guys more every day that passes, however, it really helps being able to see your family thrive in your blogs and posts!

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  16. Happy birthday, Davey! Love you!

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  17. I just saw this post after reading your apartment tour post. I am so happy for you and your beautiful little family! What a fun day you had! I know that hitting the double digits is a hard one to swallow and then you are celebrating 13 years before you know it! We LOVE collecting those pennies from all over the world too! :)

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  18. I enjoy reading your blog. We have pizza delivery by motorcycle here in India too! So neat that they have the pressed pennies there in Israel...we collected them in 2010 while on our furlough..a neat little souvenir that doesn't cost "an arm and a leg"! God bless you as you serve Him there!

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  19. Your children are just adorably precious!!

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  20. OMGoodness that is sooo awesome!!! A double-digit-midget!!! ;D hehe I sure do remember when I turned 10 :D Looks like he had an AWESOME bday!!! :D Yummo cakeeee ;D anddd a super duper awesome lunch!!! ;D Love all his pix -- he's a cutie! :D And I think it's cool how the balconies are set up on the side of the apartments!!! Zig-Zag ;D coolio ;))) Anywhoo -- I love all of your pix, Ms. Jolene -- thank you so much for keeping up with this blog of yours!!! :D <3

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Thank you for your encouraging comments! "As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country." Proverbs 25:25