3

Anna turned 3 today. We sang the Happy Birthday song to her first thing this morning but waited until Mikel came home from work to party. At her request, I baked a pink (strawberry) cake and then decorated it similarly to the one I'd made for Alexander. In lieu of those cone party hats, I got Anna a little tiara. It worked with the whole Cinderella party-plates-and-napkins theme. Among Anna's presents were a cradle for her babies and a classic Radio Flyer tricycle. Alexander clearly said over and over today a five-word sentence: "Happy birthday to you, Anna."

I tried to remember where I was or what was going on in my life when she was born half a world away. I must have been preparing to travel to Charolotte, N.C. (or perhaps was already there) to visit my brother, Donny, and his wife, Tiffany, and my new little nephew, Peyton, who is just a month older than Anna. I remember I visited during the Labor Day holiday. At Alexander's birthday I kept thinking back to where I was two years ago when he was born, and it was a similar story, only different state and different sibling. I was down in Lake Charles, LA, visiting my sister, Kim, and preparing for her baby shower, as her twins, Brock and Baylor, were born just six days after Alexander (she gave birth less than a week after the shower).

So much more "news" and photos to update on, and I'll try to get caught up with them soon. ... Much of last week was spent preparing for Saturday's big garage sale. Thanks in part to excellent weather, we enjoyed a great turnout. The best part is we got rid of a bunch of stuff, more than I would have thought. Some items that still hadn't sold after our third garage sale in five years got tossed. It feels good to have our garage back and not so cluttered with junk. Now I can get my 15-year-old car inside the garage just in time for winter.