Summer's double digit birthday!

Summer turned 10 last week and had a fun pool party! She decided to have it at a new pool that we just discovered not far from our house. It's that time of year when pools are a great way to survive the heat.

It is a pretty nice pool with a slide, a gradual slope, bridge, and jacuzzi for just  $1.40/kid.  She invited all the girls in both 4th grade classes. 

Aunt Bethany and Uncle Michael sent her a big inflatable pretzel, and I think her mama and friends enjoyed it most.

Here's the gang singing 'Happy Birthday' while waiting for pizza. 

She decided that she wanted a cookie cake this year, so she came over the day before and we made it together.  They don't make them here- so it was a bit unique for Thailand!

I told her that when I was her age, we always made a spanking machine for birthdays and none of them had ever heard of it.  Both Collin and Summer got to experience it!

My favorite part of the party was watching her read the cards from the girls before she opened the gifts.  Ten year old girls can be so fun and she grinned as she read each one.  I can only imagine what they wrote. 

Happy Birthday Summer!  I love you so much! 

Soccer (Grand)Mom

One of the best parts of having some family here in Thailand with us, is that we get to go to the grand-kids school activities.  Collin, Summer, and Hayley all played soccer this year at GIS. I did not make it to very many of their soccer games, but it was fun to go to their final tournaments.

This was Hayley's first time to go out for a sport as a first grader. We weren't sure if she'd like it, but she did so well.

Somehow, she ended up being the team goalie, which seems a bit scary for a 6 year old- but she was tough. 

I know it helped that her parents stayed nearby to encourage her and teach her how to play.

I just 'love the dickens' out of this little girl and am so proud of her. I know that playing her first sport built some confidence in her, too.

It is so fun to watch these little ones do their 'end of game hand shake'!

I love the way Summer perks up when she sees me in the crowd at a game, especially if I have my camera with me.

She has been playing soccer for awhile, so she is a little more confident in what she is doing. 

As a 4th grader this year, the competition and games are getting more serious.

Their final tournament was at the start of hot season, and these girls ran back and forth in the heat, while we spectators looked for some shade, (without much success). 

Summer played great in each game and I am so glad that the kids get these opportunities for sports.

Hot, tired, and determined Summer kept at it all afternoon. 

Collin's tournament was on the same day at the same school, but on different fields.  We went back and forth between the fields as they played the 7 different schools in the CMAC conference. 

Collin loves to play all sports.  In fact, as soon as soccer ended last week, he moved right into the next sport and is playing futsal right now.

This guy also has more non-stop energy than I could ever dream of. 

He is also getting more aggressive in sports as a 5th grader now. 

I'm not sure why he is so high here, but it's kind of cool! 

Go Collin Michael! 

All 7 schools, boys and girls teams stayed for the award  ceremony! 

The Grace International School boys got 2nd place.

Collin receiving his own personal medal. 

The GIS girls also got 2nd place. 

Well deserved, Summer!!!!

Marisa is way too busy these days with four kids and keeping up with them to blog anymore, so for all our family and friends at home, missing the Foltz kids- here's a glimpse of their soccer season this year. Soccer grand-mom's enjoy taking photos, sharing these moments and have more time.

Daddy Daughter Dance

The Chiang Mai Daddy Daughter Dance was a huge success again this year. Jon and Marisa started this fun night three years ago and it just keeps growing.  Their girls enjoyed it so much when they lived in Arkansas, so they wanted to continue on with this annual event here in Thailand. Jon heads it up, but Marisa does the decorating and creating.

At the registration table, each dad was given a flower to give his daughter(s)! 

This year the theme was 'shabby chic' and each table was uniquely done, which I am sure most of the dad's never even noticed! Ha!

There is no question that the little girls did not love the ceiling full of helium balloons. 

They asked me to set up the photo booth this year and I recruited my friend, Emily, to do the photo shooting. 

Both the dad's and the daughters had a lot of fun with all of our silly props.

We suggested they each take a photo without props also to keep as a memory.

There were a lot of fun activities throughout the evening, including "the limbo"!

There were also many styles of dancing interspersed throughout the night. 

A game of musical chairs, with just the dad's, seems to be a highlight of the evening.

They started out with all the dad's but slowly eliminated them one by one. 

Some of the dad's take this game pretty serious and they eventually ended up with one proud daughter ,that her daddy had won! 

Tom, the speaker this year, shared about the importance of the dad's making fun memories with their daughters and finding activities that they have in common to enjoy.

I think a lot of very special memories were made during this evening for the little girls as they danced with their daddy's and spent some time focusing on each other. 

And making multiple trips to the photo booth to capture the evening with silly photos.

Too bad that there were no DDD's while I was growing up because I know that I would have loved an evening like this with my dad. You can be sure that some of these little girls are already looking forward to next years dance. 

Happy Birthday Nathan!

This one is for the aunties and grandparents in the USA who could not be here for Nathan's birthday this year. 

It is moving into that time of year when we can feel the temperatures rising each day, our energy levels are decreasing, and making life simple helps to tolerate the heat. A pool party is a great way to keep cool.

Nathan's 5 year birthday party this year was the day of his birthday and simple with just his family and two buddies, Benson and Obie at their new neighborhood pool.

Nathan asked me to make him a basketball birthday cake this year, and I did the best I could with the runny frosting from the sweltering heat.

His three friends played some basketball games to go with the theme.  Five year old boys are so easy to please and they thought they were pretty cool with their dribbling skills.

Our beautiful Hayley had a great time, too. 

Silly 5 year old boys!

Happy Birthday Nathan!  We love you so much and are so happy to get to help out with your parties and watch you grow up!