Steve and Casey Cretsinger » birthdays

Micah hits the double digits

Steve and Casey Cretsinger — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 19:14:25 +0000

You can tell he wasn't quite feeling himself even though he's smiling

I know it’s been over a month since Micah’s birthday, but what kind of mother would I be if I didn’t post a few pictures of his big day. It’s a pretty big milestone to reach the double digits. There’s a rule here on the center that you have to be 10 years old to open the sports equipment shed at the playground…believe me, my boys eagerly anticipate turning 10. It’s quite the rite of passage over here.

The day before Micah’s birthday he woke up with a high fever and complained of a terrible headache. He spent the day laying around and sleeping. We hoped he would feel better after a good nights sleep, but he still woke up with the high fever, stomachache and headache. We started him on a malaria treatment just to be safe. Not the greatest way to spend your birthday, but he had a good attitude about it.

We made the next day the one to be celebrated. We spent the day with friends and our usual trip to the pool. (I know it may seem like we are there a lot, but it is seriously the ONLY place we have to go every few weeks) I was so glad he made such a quick recovery and could enjoy the milestone of turning 10.

Singing Happy Birthday at the pool

Opening the presents from us, Gramma and Grampa that had been sent long ago and hidden away

Happy Birthday

Steve and Casey Cretsinger — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 17:52:13 +0000

Happy 9th Birthday

He’s been 9 for two weeks now and he loves the fact that he’s the same as Micah for a month. He had been looking forward to his birthday for the longest time and asked several times if we would be sure to make him a cake and give him presents. Does he think we would forget?

We spent the day at the pool with a few extra friends to help make the day special. We decorated the house and to his joy there were indeed a few presents. He’s our creative and full of imagination kind of boy, so he was thrilled with a microscope, a new pocket knife and art supplies sent from Gramma and Grampa. He was even more excited when a friend gave him a baby python snake…yes, a baby python snake. I have given up trying to keep Malachi away from danger!

I’m thankful that even here in Guinea we can celebrate the milestones in the boys lives and I’m thankful for a Gramma in the States who keeps those packages coming!

Soccer uniforms are the clothing of choice over here

Celebrating with friends

A python snake makes a great present

Celebrating birthdays!

Steve and Casey Cretsinger — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 13:13:50 +0000

Micah getting thrown off the diving board by Uncle Matt - Uncle Matt spent quite a bit doing this that day!

We were able to have a great time celebrating Micah’s birthday! Hard to believe that I am the mother of a nine year old!

Awesome friends, the Latka’s, hosted a party for Micah’s birthday and it was the perfect day for a pool party. We had to drag them out of the water at the end of the day. Friends and family joined us for a day filled with swimming, great food and fellowship. The boys absolutely loved every minute of it. Micah and Malachi have been asking for skateboards since we got home and so they were thrilled to both get a skateboard – with lots of pads and helmets thanks to a very nervous Gramma! They were spoiled with lots of other fun gifts too. It was just a really great day!

Yeah for a skateboard!

Happy Birthday Micah!

Birthday celebrations

Steve and Casey Cretsinger — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0000

We wanted to celebrate the boys birthday with a pool party before we leave for Africa. Even Ephraim who doesn’t have a birthday until November got in on the fun.
Micah’s birthday will be just a week after we get to Guinea and I think that we’ll just be in survival mode at that point and won’t be thinking about anything else. So, we decided to just go ahead and have one big party for all three of them together. They each invited a couple of friends from school and some from church. Everyone met at the house and we all drove over to the pool together. I’ll admit that it was a little stressful for me trying to make sure that I kept track everyone and no one was going to far into the deep end. I was glad for the other parents who came along to give us a hand – it was definitely a necessity! Steve, Gramma and I would have had a really hard time on our own.
Everyone seemed to really have a good time swimming and having fun together. We had the party room there at the pool and we had pizza and cake with everyone. It was a little chilly and I was so afraid that it was going to start raining before we ready to leave, but the kids didn’t seem to notice – even though there were a few with quivering lips!
One of Malachi’s friends wasn’t able to come to the pool, so we had him come over later when my mom and I took the boys to see the movie Kung Fu Panda. They loved it and have been acting it out ever since. Just what they needed – more kung fu moves to do in the living room!
We even had a little party with my brothers and my mom on Malachi’s actual birthday. We are all getting a little sick of birthday cake!