Aviva's 4th Birthday and Our Farewell Party

After a week of glorious sunshine, the day of Aviva's fourth birthday party / our farewell party dawned, foggy and soggy and gray.  Fortunately for us, the birthday girl was not to be deterred.  

 In the morning, we decorated two cakes.  Aviva etched her name into the cake with a toothpick, and I helped her pipe the icing onto the lines.

 Our close friends, Erik, Nicole, and Lily, very generously hosted the party, to which dozens of our friends showed up, despite the rain and mist.    

The weather didn't stop Franklin, either.  You can see rain on his face, but he was happy to play outside.

Everyone (including baby Jamison) had a good time. 

We had to say good-bye to some very dear friends, including Aviva and Franklin's buddies Jemima and Bunty, the whole Kickert clan, and too many others to list here.

For the full set of photos, click here.

We miss our Swaziland friends desperately and look forward to seeing them again soon.

Note to readers

Hello all,

It's been a long time.  Our family has gone through some big transitions, and I just haven't taken the time to chronicle them.  Now, I'm going back several months to add some posts.  For you.  Or for posterity.  It's early February 2015 as I write this, but I'm backdating these posts so that they roughly match the events they describe.

Enjoy.
CC