birthday party

30 May 2023

Nathanael’s Birthday Party / Goodbye Party

This past Saturday, we joined together with the youth group for a special birthday party and goodbye party for Nathanael! As you may know, he’s planning to work in Canada for a while, so this is one of the last youth events he’ll be at.

Above is the banner we printed, showing the theme. Chess! And making the next move, of course – to Canada. Our theme verses were Joshua 1:8-9.

Of course, one of Mom’s cakes was involved…

Those chess pieces are homemade chocolate, by the way.

There were some games…

And a potluck meal. Yum.

There was also a Bible study time (part of the normal youth group schedule), and a time of sharing and encouragement for Nathanael, and a time of prayer.

There was even some actual chess playing!

We’re so thankful for these wonderful friends – and brothers and sisters in Christ!

21 May 2021

Birthday Party!

Jim Family 0

So this year Hannah designed her own birthday party. And we didn’t get to be there (although we at least spent some time together virtually!). 🙁

However, it sounds like she had a good time! Check out her awesome work on Instagram. 🙂

Happy Birthday, Nathanael! (featuring Sting)

But we were able to celebrate with Nathanael! Although it was a fairly simple party, we did still have a theme – The Lord of the Rings (and The Hobbit)!

Feeling particularly ambitious, Shari created two cakes – a chocolate cake (left) and an orange creamsicle cheesecake (right). Click on the image to see a larger version.

Some friends from church and from the neighbourhood came over for hot dogs and hamburgers (very traditional party food around here!), and cake. And they played some games, such as Flick ’em Up, chess, and crokinole.

Good times! Happy Birthday, Nathanael!

22 May 2020

Retro: Birthdays On The Ice Rink

Jim Family, Food, Just for fun, Retro 0

I’ve been posting these “retro” pictures for a while, and I don’t just want to post birthday pictures every May, even though it is “birthday month” around here.

However, 10 years ago today was kind of a classic joint party, with a joint theme. And strangely enough, the picture I posted last May was about the H1N1 Flu!

So – 10 years ago today was a party “on the ice rink”. Not literally. But it was a joint birthday party – Hannah’s theme being figure skating, and Nathanael’s hockey. It was a big party for the whole neighbourhood, with piÃ±atas and face painting and everything.

These were taken before the party. I really liked these cakes. Simple but elegant.

19 May 2020

Birthday Party – Online

Jim Family 1

Eleven years ago, Hannah and Nathanael’s birthday parties were small family affairs. Everyone was concerned about the swine flu pandemic, and so big parties were out of the question.

In 2020 we found ourselves in the same situation again, but this time with significant advances in technology, and advances especially in people’s comfort with and ability to use that technology. The other difference – Hannah was in Canada, Nathanael in Mexico. So – the party went online!

Often Shari has made a cake with matching cupcakes. This year, Shari and her Mom schemed together – the cupcakes were made in Canada, the cake (cheesecake this time) was made in Mexico. Matching chocolate-peanut-butter flavours, matching colours, and matching themes – unicycles.

It was a family party again, but this time expanded to grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins. Not everyone could make it, but we had a good group, spread out from Alberta to Ontario to Mexico. Everyone was encouraged to bring their own cake – and some indeed did!

This was the first joint party in quite a few years. As was mentioned, unicycles was the theme. Decorations went up. And the party began. GoToMeeting was the app of choice.

We had some activities – a get-to-know-you type game, and then a how-well-do-you-know-Nathanael-and-Hannah type game. And of course some time to chat and hang out.

Of course, not the same as having everyone together. But far, far better than not getting together at all!

In these days of being so disconnected – every once in a while, you get a little bit more connected than you would have otherwise.

Happy birthday Hannah and Nathanael! May this be a year of unexpected God-ordained connections!

23 May 2019

Nathanael’s 15th

Jim Family, Video Blogs 1

This past weekend was Nathanael’s 15th birthday party. No, no fancy clothes and massive parties for the boys, as there are for the girls. However, we did want to do something special.

So – the detective theme was born. As the invitation said, “A criminal genius and an absent master detective . . . Can you solve the mystery and celebrate a birthday at the same time?”

And so, after some hot dogs and burgers, Nathanael and his friends went into the “mystery room” – a kind of home-made escape room (though no one was actually locked in), where the group had to figure out the name of the criminal, where he had hid the bomb, and how to diffuse it. In 60 minutes.

They did quite well, unlocking and unscrewing, reading invisible ink, solving puzzles and even working something called a “cassette player”, to discover the truth. Hannah even got to help with a clue via telephone! Here you can see the first few minutes (in a few seconds!) of their search for clues…

And here they are, with the photo of the criminal genius after solving the mystery:

Of course, after all that hard work, a cake was needed. And thanks to Shari, it did not disappoint…

We also enjoyed the company (and help!) of the group that was visiting from Still Water Community Church, along with Rod (and his BBQ – thanks, Rod!). I admit we were a bit distracted, but it seems like they enjoyed their visit, and we did have a bit of conversation in the midst of the chaos!

As we did with Hannah, we also made Nathanael a “Heritage Book”, with stories and pictures from the men in the family back many generations, and personal letters from many of the men in the family who he has known growing up. Thanks to all those who helped!

And now, the house is more or less back in order, and all the 15th birthday parties are over. The mystery is – where in the world did all those years go?!

22 May 2018

Another Birthday!

Jim Family 1

Yes, birthday season continued this week with a cowboy themed party and a cake that looked like it was covered in a bandana…

A good time was had by all, eating and playing Flick ‘Em up!

And so ended another “birthday season”. Although a late party or two may present itself when we’re visiting Canada. ðŸ¤

1 2 3