HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SAMI!

HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY, SAMI!!!

Sami turned twelve last Thursday, August 30th.  It was SO SPECIAL to have Uncle Duke and his girlfriend, Ali with us to celebrate!

Sami got to pick our meals for the week of his birthday.  He chose Pizza for Monday night, Hamburgers for Tuesday night and Pork and Rice for Wednesday night.  Thursday was birthday dinner at restaurant of his choice, and Friday night was his Birthday party with his friends!

Sami awoke on his birthday to some decorations around the house, and he opened his skateboard helmet from mom and dad in the morning.  Then it was off to school.  After a sweet hike with my brother Duke, Ali and Kaleab at Bogus Basin {poor Jeff got called into work literally as we were heading out of town up the mountain!}, we all went to pick up Sami from school.  He was all smiles as he came walking out, and excitedly shared with me that the class sang Happy Birthday to him!

This precious boy was LOVING being celebrated!  He had never before had his birthday celebrated!  And this mama was soaking in every minute of watching him feel so loved and special on his special day!

Sami's school strongly discourages sending treats to school on your child's birthday {are you kidding me!?!?.......I thought at first}, but as I continued to read the handbook, I learned that they do encourage families to dedicate a book to the library in honor of your child's birthday.  

Okay, I thought that was a pretty good idea, so after talking it over with Sami, we decided to dedicate a book I gave Sami when he came home, "E is for Ethiopia."  It is a great book that has a lot of information about Ethiopia!  It provides Sami a wonderful way to show his friends things about where he was born; and librarian was excited because it will provide students an opportunity to learn about Ethiopia when they do their international unit!  Win-win!

Sami enjoyed the fanfare on Wednesday, during his class library time.  Allison, the librarian did a fun presentation of how this book was dedicated in honor of Sami and his birthday.  It was sweet.

After school, we all went for ice cream.  We then headed home, and once Dad came home from a busy day of work, Sami opened his presents.  At first I was astonished how WELL Sami awaited Dad's arrival......until I realized that he wasn't really sure of what awaited him!  It was such a JOY to watch him open his presents!  He isn't always the most emotionally expressive child, but the excitement and joy overflowed from our sweet boy as he opened his gifts.

I won't post him opening all of his presents, but these pics are too priceless to pass up......

 STOKED to get his awesome ball and glove!

THANKS Gpa and Gma Doreen!

 Aha!  He ran to get his new Swiss Army knife to open this package!

THANKS for the knife, Sattie and Dub!

 Oh, how he LOVES Rooney on 

Manchester United soccer team!

 Lovin' his football from Uncle Duke and Ali!

 Learning how much Uncle Duke LOVES 

The Chicago Bears!  :)

 His face says it all!

 He was giddy excited about the DSi we gave him...

 ....and the Super Mario game Aunt Molly gave him!

 My heart melted as he pointed out 

Bible Stories he knows in his new book we gave him.

 We hid his scooter from Gma Faithie in Kaleab's room!

 Baby Kaleab had to have his turn on it too!

Sami did a GREAT job reading his cards aloud to us!

He opened his elbow, knee and wrist pads from Auntie Dawn and Cousin Jake, but I failed to get a good pic of it.  Sorry, sis!  Let the fact that he wanted to go right out and wear them while skateboarding be your assurance that they were LOVED!  He even put them on Kaleab when putting Kaleab on the scooter and board the next day!  Sometimes he even walks around the house wearing them!  Too cute.

After gifts from family, we all headed to Tucanos, one of Sami's favorite restaurants!  It is a Brazilian restaurant and they bring you amazing amounts and varieties of meats, while also offering a salad bar of over 80 items!  Mom was NOT disappointed when this was Sami's choice for Birthday dinner!  {big grin with the memory of my full and happy tummy!}

Ahhhhhh....Sami didn't want to go to bed that night.  I think he was afraid to have the celebration end.  I assured him we would continue to celebrate the awesome boy he is tomorrow, as his birthday party was the very next day.  More on that next post.

THANK YOU, LORD, for the precious gift of our son, Sami.  He blesses us, melts our hearts and fills them to overflowing.  We continue to be amazed at how you chose SUCH an AMAZING boy for us!  We celebrate who he is every.single.day.  But it was especially fun to give him his first birthday celebration!

We love you more than words can say, dear Sami.  More than words can ever express.