Savannah's Day!

by Amy

I can hardly believe my daughter is eight years old!!! I remember exactly where I was when I found out I was pregnant (finally!). I remember how swollen my ankles got as I traveled to Louisville, Nashville, and Texas a month before she was born. I remember being 38 weeks along and going to a youth retreat at the YMCA camp in Estes Park and falling down because I slipped on some loose gravel. We ended up at the hospital just to make sure everything was still OK. Then, I remember holding her for the first time on July 12, 2002 (after working for over 15 hour to get her out!)

Although I could go on and on retracing Savannah's eight years of life, I won't. I'm afraid even her grandparents would get bored! So, we'll move on to this year's festivities! When we were in the States last year, I found a crown cake pan to use on Savannah's eighth birthday! So, that what we used. This year she asked for a yellow cake, not chocolate (crazy, if you ask me!) And, she wanted to help me ice it, until her hands grew tired of squeezing, that is!

I think it turned out OK. I prefer brighter, bolder colors, but this is OK too.

On the morning of her birthday, after eating coffee cake for breakfast, we opened a few gifts. Then, while the kids played, I packed a picnic lunch so we could head to a local swimming pool for the day. This pool is about as good as it gets here. It's outdoor, so the water's not freezing (like most hotel swimming pools here.) But, being outdoors means it's pretty dirty. (One pool was so cloudy that even though it was less than 3 feet deep, we couldn't find the goggles Peter dropped.) But, my kids don't seem to mind the dirt or hazy water! They love it! Savannah's favorite part is the big "speed slide."

They only turn the water on the slides for about 10 minutes every 2 hours, but Savannah was quick to run over there and slide as many times as she could in 10 minutes! Peter and Alex did it a few times too, but they definitely didn't love it as much as Savannah did. They preferred the smaller slides. These slides didn't have water running on them continually either, but when they came on, they usually stayed on for 20-30 minutes.
They enjoyed making a "train" on the way down, but all three kids' favorite way to ride down was....

Yes, my boys are each sitting on Brad's back, riding down the slide. Crazy! What a great daddy! After sliding they had fun trying to catch the ring or ball as Brad threw it and they jumped in.


I think we stayed there for over four hours. Clearly fun was had by all!

When we got home, we showered up and ate nachos for dinner - Savannah's choice. Then, we enjoyed birthday cake and opened a few more gifts. I praise the Lord for my dear Savannah Lea. She's growing into quite a godly young woman!