Celebrating: 2 years, 9 years, 12 years...

On August 2, 2010, we arrived in Indonesia for the very first time! Somehow, two years doesn't seem right - that's not long enough to hold all the living and learning it feels like we've done since arriving here. Here is my first post from Indonesia (wow, I've learned so much since then) and here's my one-year anniversary post (wow, I've learned so much since then...again). God has been so good to us in our first two years in Southeast Asia and we really, truly love it here - not because it is easy but because we have this incredible sense of peace that we are where we should be and God is with us every step of the difficult and amazing way.



On August 5, Sean and I celebrated 12 (TWELVE!) years of wedded bliss. I can't believe we've been together so long...closer to 15 years if you count our dating years. (That's - ahem - half of my life!) Turns out this marriage gig has suited us both quite well, no regrets from these high school sweethearts for marrying young! In fact, I am more in love with Sean everyday, if that's possible - he's my best friend. And, gosh, he has taken me places, hasn't he?! I could do this for the rest of my life and fully intend to.



But the main person we celebrated this past weekend was our Brooklyn! She turned 9 years old on the 6th and we wanted to make the day extra-special. Sean took a day off from flying and we went to the newest, fanciest local hotel for one night. It was a huge surprise to Brooklyn, who was so bummed thinking that Daddy would be gone on her big day. She wanted so badly to go swimming for her birthday. This hotel is barely opened and it is gorgeous. It was obviously built for the really rich of Indonesia - mostly business people and government people visiting from the capital city. This place is not something that fits in with our normal routine here in Palagkaraya, for sure! They have a beautiful swimming pool and excellent food and for now at least, everything is nice and clean and pretty. What a treat for ALL of us to relax there for about 20 hours.

We swam and swam and swam - well, the girls and I did. Sean (believe it or not) was content to simply nap, read, and watch the Olympics. He needed this day off just as much as we girls needed this day out!

The girls all got new swimsuits and Brooklyn got to open her presents at the hotel (all secretly wrapped and stored in trash bags along with our overnight bag in the car so as not to ruin the surprise!)

Brooklyn even got your card on time, Grandma Jean! Thank you!

 

Our time at the hotel was just the kind of memory that we love to give our kids - sometimes experiences are the best gifts you can give! It was a great time - excepting the 40 minutes or so that Paige was locked in the bathroom and the major crash I had with the carpet in the hallway. (more on both of those later, because, really, what would a weekend with the Cannons be without some major comedic material? and what sort of person would I be to keep these things from you?)

We went home and I made some strawberry cupcakes for the girls to decorate (using all sorts of fun frostings, edible stickers, and sprinkles sent by Grandma Bunny - thanks, Mom!) and we also made some pizzas for dinner at Brooklyn's request. Oh, and we all took our bi-annual worm medicine. Yep, as much as that hotel may have almost fooled us, we are still living in a third-world country! *ahem*

It was a great weekend - we've really set the bar high for Madison and Paige's birthdays. I'm so glad we were able to bless Brooklyn in this way because she is such a blessing to us and I can't wait to start planning ways to bless my other two little girls on their big days! We have such fun together as a family and I treasure every moment with these too-fast-growing-up girls.

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