Celebration

A decade of life cannot go by without lots and lots of celebration. So Celebrate we did. The celebration started in her usual dramatic way with an announcement to the whole school that it was her birthday on the morning news show. A special visitor, aka daddy, stopped by for lunch. And after school...well we did homework. This was the week of the infamous egg project and so Bella, the egg, has a journal that needs to be written in and since she has no arms...it was up to Tori. So since Tori was celebrating a birthday, Bella had to celebrate too. (And no my kid did not read Twilight, she just likes the name!).

Then it was off to celebrate with family. Uncle Jonathan stopped by (Aunt Taylor was missed but had to work!) and Papaw and Lolly and our little family went to Tori's favorite restaurant: Outback. She likes the "brown bread".

She was excited to receive the Nancy Drew DS game she wanted, her first "credit card" (aka Visa gift card), and a designers sketch pad.

With the Little 'Kinz he picked her out Tristan gave her this sweet note...almost made me cry and it did make me laugh!
Translation: Dear Tori, Hope you have the best birthday ever. Your the only sister that is actually nice to their brother I have ever heard of. That is why I have you and no one else and you are the best girl dancer I have ever seen. I never want to replace you with someone else. You're the best. - Tristan
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Friday night we celebrated with her friends...a sleepover party that did not go quite as planned but Tori had fun and that's what counts. So after gathering sleeping bags, pillows, presents and overnight bags my packed out minivan headed home. They painted nails, colored with sidewalk chalk, played a game of Sharks and Minnows, as well as Clue.

Next stop: Kobe - Japanese Steak House. Here's what happened in my head - the kids were thrilled by this experience of delicious food and cool entertainment, our chef was funny and good with kids and a couple hours of the evening was spent not wrecking my home and filling stomachs with delicious but not totally unhealthy food. Outside my head here is what really happened - the kids were well behaved but the chef was dull, we had two very picky eaters, one who brought her own sandwich and one who said he would eat chicken but well...not so much, unless one bite counts. And since the chef was dull and did few tricks and clearly wanted to be at a table with less children the meal last a grand total of one hour - start to finish. At least the food was still delicious. And they did manage to collect a bunch of those little drink umbrellas and that, for lord only knows what reason, was thrilling.

The night ended fairly peaceful as they hunkered down to watch The Tooth Fairy. Of course the girls whispered crazy loudly late into the night but eventually they too fell silent!
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Taking a minute to appreciate one of Tori's friends. Tori has a friend named Rebecca, she moved here from the other coast in the middle of 2nd grade and the girls became fast friends. They seem to have little in common. Rebecca is athletic where Tori is studious. Rebecca could skip the makeup and nails while Tori loves those special girly treats! But yet they don't fight, they don't argue about what to play next and Rebecca is a delight to have at our house. I could not be more thankful for Tori having a friend like that, the kind you know has always got your back and as a mother the kind whose family I trust with my daughter - anytime, anywhere. Forever friends...those are the best kind.

(At Rebecca's party at the ice rink later the same day, birthdays are only 3 days apart!)
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Celebration comes in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes those celebrations are of the measurement of a life. Sometimes they are a celebration of a life itself. And while this weekend we celebrated Tori it took a sad turn that reminded us to celebrate life period.

Yesterday, on May 15th, God brought an amazing woman home. She radiated joy and she shared that joy with anyone that came near. She changed the lives of hundreds of kids and touched their parents hearts in turn. She leaves behind a husband and two gorgeous teenagers who are as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside. As Pastor of Children's ministries at our church she leaves behind a hole that will be hard to fill. But today we celebrate - the life she had, the pain she is no longer in, and the impression she has left on each of us.

I don't like it, I don't understand it. But I truly believe that God has a plan. And for Lisa, while much missed here, I believe it is a good day.

At Tori's baptism a couple of years ago, Lisa dedicated both of our kids and baptized Tori.