The Jones Team: Friends Moving Back to the US and Magdalena's Early Birthday

Sadly, our friends Shelley and Breanna will be moving back to the US on Friday (with Shelley's husband Mike, of course). I will be very sad to see them go, as Shelley has become a very dear friend to me here. She is always thinking of others before herself, and I have been the happy recipient of this friendship many times!

Last Wednesday, we held a little birthday party for four kids, including Bre and Magdalena, who all turn one in about a month! Jackson is first on Sept 30, then Bre on Oct 2, then Magdalena on October 11, and finally Juliet on October 16. We had a potluck style birthday celebration at our usual play group, complete with a chipmunk-cheek decorated Mickey Mouse that I bought from a local bakery. It was more like a very spongy and light shortcake with whip cream frosting, but still pretty good. It had nothing on Niamh's chocolate biscuit cake, though, that really stole the show! (Niamh is pronounced Neve - she is Irish :-)

Also, Lucia made out because of this party. When I ordered the cake, our driver mistakenly assumed that I was ordering Lucia's birthday cake. I guess he forgot the several times I told him that both girls birthdays are in October, because when I left the party at Shama that day, he handed me a gift telling me it was for Lucia. I was a bit unclear on the rationale, especially since Lucia was actually at school during this celebration, but figured oh well. It wasn't until I got home and our ayi, Juanzi, also gave me a gift for Lucia that I started to wonder what was going on. I told her that Lucia's birthday was October 7, and she said that the driver told her it was September 7! She said that she thought it was in October too, but he was adamant. So we put the gifts in storage for her real birthday. How funny!

Here are some photos of our friends and the party, starting with the dinner we all went to the Saturday previous.

Here we are at the Nantuo Fishing Port restaurant - Mike & Shelley (their daughter home with their ayi), Alex, Magdalena, and me - Lucia refused to join the group, but you can see her on the side:

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And here is Lucia giving me a classic stare!

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The "high chair" they gave us had very low arm rests, so I used my diaper bag strap to hold Magdalena in. :-)

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We got some sliced cucumber as an appetizer, and Lucia went to town on it!

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Here is the chipmunk-cheeked Mickey Mouse cake - it says "Shengri Kuaile" or some form of Birthday Congratulations in Chinese - and the initials of the four kids we were celebrating:

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Here is a group shot - the four birthday kids and their mommies in front:

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One with all the kids (and one mom)
Back Row: Declan (2.5 yrs), Eric (18 months), Wyatt (23 months), Landon (21 months), Isabel (18 months)
Front row: Bre (11 months), Juliet (11 months), Magdalena (11 months), Jackson (11 months), Abby (9 months)

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Another - same - all kids and one mom! The rest of us were jumping up and down, screaming, whistling, singing, etc to try and keep the kids sitting for a few photos!