A Real Surprise Party

     About a month before her birthday, Anneka strongly hinted at wanting a surprise party.  Of course, this is a little hard to pull of if the person is expecting it.  But, amazingly, we truly did surprise her!  We had a party at the banya (bath house).

     This suprise worked so well because Anneka already had this party planned for Monday, her actual birthday.  She had planned the guests and the food, how long we would rent the room, and how many balloons there would be (amazingly, these fit perfectly into what we'd already planned!).  The only thing we needed to do (supposedly) was rent the banya room.  So, on Saturday, Leif and the kids and guests all arrived a few minutes before us at the banya.  Anneka thought that she and I were going to check out the place and reserve a room.  When we walked into the main building, I realized I didn't know what to say to the lady at the desk.  I tried to send her all sorts of non-verbal cues and asked her to show us what kind of rooms they had.  Thankfully Leif had told her we were having a surprise party, and she escorted us in and closed the door behind us. When everyone jumped out with noise makers and exclamations of "Surprise!",  Anneka was so startled she jumped!

...but her shock soon turned to joy!

... and it turned out to be her favorite birthday party ever!

There's a small (very cold!) pool in the room.

.... and a sauna to warm up after the pool.

There are also nice places to sit and a big table where you can eat.

It was fun for everyone

     I made and brought some pizzas  and fruits and veggies and Leif made strawberry rhubarb pies (Anneka's request).

We also ordered ice cream as a special treat.

     Anneka had made little gifts for each guest and delighted in passing them out.  Each friend got a new pencil, a balloon, and a pack of TicTacs.

     But the partying wasn't done after that!  We also had a party at home for her Russian speaking friends that evening.  This party was pre-planned and not a surprise.  =)  At first I thought it was maybe too much to have 2 parties, but Leif convinced me that it's good to encourage these friendships and to bring in people that are outside of our team and church circles.  I was soooo thankful for Leif this evening!  Anneka and I had decided on some games, and Leif was so good to lead them all!  Musical chairs was one of the games.  

     We had chocolate mint brownies (per Anneka's request) and chocolate cake and a bunch of other simple kid-friendly foods. Something else we talked through was that it seems people here often either have a HUGE party or nothing at all.  We decided that it was okay to set an example of a simple party.

Everyone loved the food!  It was a treat to have Inka with us for the evening, too.

In this game, each kid got a cup and a straw.  They sucked on the straw to pick up Skittles.

The person with the  most Skittles was the winner.

We had a girls' round and boys' round of Twister.

So fun to watch!

    We took the local girls home when the party was over.  Everyone got along well, even though they didn't all know each other before the party.

     Ike was thrilled to have his buddy, Bogdan, spend the night (as Bogdan's sister was also spending the night).  The kids all got to sleep around midnight.

     Then on Anneka's actual birthday, we awoke to a snowy, sunny, beautiful day!  I heard each of our kids say, "Thank you Lord for the snow" when they looked out the window.  We had a family breakfast and time to open presents and skype with grandparents before school.  After school some new friends in the neighborhood called and asked if our kids could play outside with her daughter.  The kids were all delighted that it was packing snow and made a snow bear.  We knew this snow was a birthday gift from God!

     On the evening of her birthday we went to our small group out in the village.  We brought a cake for Anneka and sang to her.  She enjoyed being there and holding the pregnant cat most of the evening. 

     What a full and wonderful 9 years we have had with this delightful, creative, lively daughter!  Each day together is a gift, and we celebrate you, Anneka!