Celebrating!

I haven't posted in a few weeks, but it's not due to a lack of excitement around here.  We've had lots to celebrate this last week! First of all Happy 2005!  That's right we celebrated the Ethiopian New Year earlier this week.  And no - 2005 is not a typo - the Ethiopian calendar is different from the Gregorian calendar.  The 7 year difference is due to an alternate calculation in the Annunciation of Jesus.  We celebrated the Ethiopian New Year with some of our dear Ethiopian friends who cooked us the traditional New Year goat dishes (sorry can't remember what they are called and Solomon doesn't know how to spell them.)  We are so blessed to have these amazing friends right here in St. Louis!

And this weekend we celebrated Solomon's 9th birthday.  Wow - I can't believe how fast those 9 years have gone.  Haha!  We are not typically the type that has huge kid birthday parties but I just couldn't pass up the groupon for an "In Home Animal Show."  So we gathered up a few friends and this is what happened. . . .





First the big lizard - Joseph thought it was pretty cool.



Oh yes - it got to sit on everyone's head too.

And then came the tarantula.

The hissing cockroaches crawling on my floor were interesting.

The porcupine was a hit!

When he pulled this snake out, I wasn't sure what to think . . .



I freaked out just a little when they pulled this out!!



Can you believe I allowed this in my house?



If I don't get mom of the year for this birthday party then I never will! Seriously, though, the party was awesome and I highly recommend the In-Home Animal Show from the Wyman Center.

Happy Birthday Solomon and Happy 2005!