Joost Jonathan is 4!

On July 16th, a highly anticipated, long awaited event took place--Joost had his birthday. He has been asking since Christmas how much longer the wait was until he turned 4. So, you can only imagine the relief that we all felt when the day finally arrived! He woke up a little earlier than usual and was given his gifts first thing before Jeff left for work. Since it fell on a Monday, most of the day's celebration took place with just Grace and I. The three of us had a great day. We took a drive out to Lake Tobias Wildlife Park and had such a fun time visiting with the animals. You can see that even the tiger was anxious to wish Joost a happy birthday.



The petting area was fun for the kids, too. Grace was, at times, unsure if she wanted to touch the very friendly African pigmy goats, the spotted sheep and long necked llamas; but Joost was thrilled to make friends with every animal in the yard.















All four of us finished the day with Joost's special birthday dinner (pancakes and scrambled eggs--his choice) and birthday cake that he helped to make earlier in the afternoon.

The following Saturday, we had all the family over for a birthday party. It was a pirate party. During the week before the party, I was inspired to build Joost a pirate ship. After calling every large appliance store in the Susquehanna Valley, I found a store that could give me two refrigerator boxes. And so I crafted The Dolly Dodger where the Dread Pirate Joost and his crew could play.



The day was perfect for an outdoor party and the kids all had the chance to walk the plank and search for treasure by following a trail of clues around the yard and house.
After a Caribbean meal, the opening of gifts and blowing out the candles, we all had cake.






We pray, in the year to come, for God's continued blessing on Joost's life and that he will grow in the grace of our Lord.