Birthday Celebration

This weekend we had Andrew's family over to celebrate Davey's birthday. We had a great time... it is amazing how entertaining four kids can be.

The birthday girl!

The cousin crew.

Malia holding Des...

...I think he actually liked being squeezed - or at least he didn't mind.

Playing with Uncle C.

I think this picture is so sweet.

Opening presents with daddy. New shoes.

Sporting the new shoes.

Loving on her new baby. If you will recall, Malia's baby like this is named Baby Davey. I am determined not to let Davey's baby become Baby Malia!

Malia enjoyed playing Davey's new harmonica. And yes we are potty training which means the potty seat was out and a part of the party!

Davey dove into her first cupcake. There was no hesitation at all.

First Snow

We had our first snow here last week. Malia got really excited to make a snowman. Davey was not so excited about the snow - I think it was because she could not move in her snowsuit!

Puma Girl

I took these last week but our camera was being a little funky so I was just able to upload them. This is Davey sporting her Puma attire. Alli got me the Puma tennis shoes for my birthday when I was pregnant with Malia. I always dreamed of a little track suit to go with them but could not bring myself to spend the money. This summer I found this one at a garage sale for 50 cents though!

Future cheerleader? (I picture cheerleaders sitting like that..)

Happy Birthday Davey!

A year ago we welcomed sweet Davey into our lives. (I still can get giddy thinking about her delivery and what a gift it was.)

She has surprised us in so many ways. With her appearance - never in my life did I imagine having a blue eyed, blond haired child. With her demeanor - she was the easiest, most content infant and she has grown into a feisty, strong willed, and really fun one year old. With her development - she was really delayed in rolling over (because she was so content), but then she rolled over and sat up in the same week and has shown no signs of delay since.

She brings us a lot of joy and we feel really blessed to have her as a part of our family.

I took a few pictures yesterday but hope to take some more 1 year shots in a few days once the gash above her eye heals completely - gotta love new walkers who often stumble and bonk their heads!

Adventures in driving and the holy cow

Driving in India can be a little crazy. Most traffic signs, signals, lanes etc. are really optional. People use their horns all of the time. You have people walking, biking, on motorcycles, and in cars all on one road.

And cows are holy. So they roam wherever they please. Including the roads.

Taken from our van, looking out the windshield at oncoming traffic.

Motorized rickshaw/taxis are everywhere. We took a very short ride in one - picture me, Andrew, another American man and two Indians crammed into one of these - kind of glad it was a short ride.

Occasionally in big intersections they will have a policeman guiding traffic.

It does not look like a fun job!

You get very close with other vehicles. We are going one way, this bus is going the other and yet we can reach out our hand and touch it.

It is common to see multiple people riding a motorcycle. Like this mom and two kids on their way to violin lessons...

... or this family of five...

...and this is how our family might travel if we were all there. I would hold Davey and Malia would be in front of Andrew, with her head down asleep (I know it is hard to see but there seriously is a little child asleep in front of the driver.)

I am pretty sure these boys would still be in booster seats in the U.S.

Notice the man in the back, pushing his cart of produce amidst all of the motorcycles and the oncoming car and bus.

A business on his bike. I think there is food in those pails.

Always room for more on top.

All trucks are decorated like this - with colorful streamers and flowers - not exactly sure why.

Random Sights

The first couple of days we were in India I was a little camera shy. But after I started taking pictures, I just could not stop. There were so many interesting images I wanted to capture and bring home with me.

One thing that I loved seeing was the beautiful vibrant color of a women's sari, fruit, or a water jug in the midst of a background full of brown, dirt, garbage. Hope in the midst of despair. Life in the midst of darkness.

Here are some more pictures along with a few stories.

The water...

... that they are doing laundry in.

This picture shows a bit of the evolution of dress in India.

One of the things that tickled me most while we were there was learning that granite is in such abundance in India that they use it for fences (above) in a lot of places. Even the poorest people can get granite. Amazing that it is such a high priced, luxury material here.

Construction techniques are very different. We saw lots of slim tree trunks that were used for scaffolding (see right side of this building).

Prostitution is a huge problem. Many young women are sold by their families or chose to become prostitutes because they are so poor. Teaching a women a simple skill like tailoring, gives her a way to make an income and therefore decreases her chances of entering prostitution. This women had a sewing machine in the front part of her home in the first slum we went to.

We had to drink and use bottled water for brushing our teeth.

This is the view right outside of our really nice hotel. The writing on the wall behind these men says "Graveyard Wall. Do Not Pass Urine." One shocking thing to me is that it is perfectly acceptable for a man to just stop on the side of the road and pee. Not only is that awkward to but also a little gross in my opinion.

Ghandi.