The wedding day arrived!  Ezri kept mentioning throughout the morning that we were all going to the ‘rehearsal’….Ezri and Justin (the ring bearer and friend of Ezri) looked adorable…but I’m afraid we didn’t get any great shots of the two together…  Ezri was excited….a bit shy with all the new people…but she managed to get started going down the isle…quite slowly, picking up one petal at a time and dropping several before taking her next step.  I was just over to the side and tried urging her to speed up…she did a bit, but then got nervous…and came back to me….after trying to get her to go it  ’solo’, I sort of escorted her down a little ways and then she managed to make it 2/3 up to the front by the wedding party…before running back to mommy!!!  She did great, but I think if we do this a second time, we’ll go for some new strategy in getting down the isle!!!    (Oh, and as an aside,….yes, Just is wearing a Scottish kilt!  Just so you are not confused, assuming that all Chinese weddings have ring-bearers wear kilts,…Justin’s family previously lived in Scotland,…where they acquired the tiny, cute kilt and vest….what a multi-cultural event!)

Enjoy the pics!

M for the Cases

So, in the above shots you will notice me in a very pretty dress.  This is the dress I’ll be wearing this upcoming Saturday, August 1…when I am to make my debut as ‘flower girl’ in my Auntie Gloria and Uncle Stanley’s wedding!!!  I am so excited to “toss the flowers gently” on the floor…as mom has mentioned is my role.  My friend, Justin (who is 3 yrs old) will be the ring-bearer and my partner in this endeavor.  I think we’ll do swell!

Stay posted…next weekend I will try and post some photos from the wedding day!  Hope you are all well and we here in the Case family love you lots!

Ezri

Below are a few shots of the kids one Sunday afternoon before going to church.  They just looked so cute, we had to get some shots.  I was trying for some good ‘together’ shots…but moms and dads out there, you know how that goes!…

Enjoy!

To say the very least, we’ve let our blog updates fall by the wayside!…So sorry for not getting out new photos and updates on our family and goings-on here in HK.  Although, our daily lives are likely not unlike your own…from wherever in the world you may be reading:  we awaken…early with the kiddos……use the toilet…change some diapers…fix myself a cup of tea (which will likely be warmed in the microwave at least 3x before I eventually finish it around lunch time!)…try and have a ‘quiet time’ to just get the day going on the right foot…fix and eat some breakfast…perhaps read a story or two…play with the kids and try to get them sorted playing on their own…devise a plan for the day–must get out of the house with 2 kiddos under 3….(or at least this is the mom’s morning for our fam).

Anyway, our apologies for not cluing  you in on the mundane and not-so-often extraordinary events of our days!  I’m posting a few photos here of the kids.  These were taken over the past couple months–from May to current.  Enjoy, and come again soon, as we’ll try and update more consistently!

M, for the Case family

Here you will see that Ezri loves to paint!  We have been hard-pressed to find fingerpaints in our area, but find that she can do it all with watercolors!  (Actually just went across town, about 1 1/2 hrs trip to a birthday party yesterday and finally found a whole cash of different paints…so that’s nice to try some new things out).  She is into painting herself, as you can see.

Javi is just hiding and playing a little hybrid of “hide-n-seek” meets “peek-a-boo”——so cute, so sweet.  Oh, and then there are the books; he loves books.  He can bend them…tear things out of there, chew on them now and again…and actually, just recently, he will sit on his sister’s bed and actually enjoy flipping through one!!!–isn’t development amazing?!!!

Okay, enjoy the pics….hope to keep posting and more regularly!

The Case family

Just reflecting a bit…..and this is what is on my mind (perhaps a bit deep, but worth sharing, I think):

As a mom, I see that I am completely flawed,….yet I strive to do everything for everyone…every bit of the time!  I just can’t do it, you know?…I don’t mean this to sound victim-ish…you’ll see what I mean as I continue, I think.  But there are days that I just continually blow it with my kids…I yell or I just about lose it…I am not as patient or kind as I need to be….I get bent out of shape over silly stuff…I just screw up.  There are those glorious days that I wonder who replaced me and my kids with angels–everything seems smooth, etc. until there comes a random ruffle, and then there we are again–imperfect people trying to live perfectly in our own strength—at least that’s where I find myself.

As I was just mulling the aforementioned bit over in my mind and heart, I realized that that is just how it is this side of heaven.  I was created by a perfect God who in turn demands perfection of his creatures.  But I screw up (nearly) every chance I get!  I am very far from perfect, very far from ‘good’.  And this is a very hopeless state, eh?  How precious the reality that Jesus Christ exists to be my perfection in light of my sin!!!  He covers me with his good, his perfection, with his blood.  (For those who read this and may have no background of Christ or Christianity, it may sound morbid that I speak of ‘Jesus’ blood’; however, imagine that you were completely without hope in this world and someone told you what you could do in order to find true hope……and that hope they said, could be found not in you or in anything you could do….but that someone else had to do something for you.  I’m sure you’d reply, “Well, who is this person?….and where can I find them to ask them to help me find this hope?..”  They’d go on to explain that hope is not free…but had to be purchased at the high cost of someone else’s life.  “Oh, you’d say…..that’s horrible…..many people have to pay such a high price?”  No.  Just one somone had to pay that price: Jesus. So, it is by his very blood that this Jesus buys us back for God.  So, it is indeed precious blood to those who believe. See Ephesians 2).

End of soapbox.  I am just very grateful that : “…at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly (read: all humanity).” (Romans 5:6)

M, for the Case family

Here are some more fun shots of the kids. These are actually of two different tub days, but loads of fun, nonetheless.  Recently, Ezri asks for bubbles every bath!  She enjoys decorating Javi with bubbles as he just stands there and lets out a tiny moan from time to time….mostly, I think they both enjoy it.  He’s cool unless she insists on bubbles on the head.

Hope you enjoy the photos and can see the spirit of the kids in them!

–M, for the Case family

Here are some recent photos of Ezri and Javi.  They are so funny sometimes…..the comic relief  keeps me going some days!  Hope you are all well and would love to see some photos of your little ones!

M, for the Cases

The above shots are just some favorites from our ever-day life here in the Case household.  As a mom, I think we go through so many ups and downs with our kiddos…..we grow in patience, perseverance, compassion, and love….we have difficult moments and moments full of joy.  Oftentimes we find ourselves so busy doing everything for everyone, that at the end of a busy week, we find ourselves quite frazzled and at the end of ourselves.  (Deep breath)…But what priceless moments we do get to have with our kiddos.  They bring such joy into our lives and present us with awesome opportunites to grow and for God to change our hearts to be more like His heart, a servant’s heart.  So, I suppose that with these photos and with this post, I’d like to thank my kids for such a chance!

Melanie

Well, here is a little contribution from me—from Javi, that is.  Mom got some pictures of me being super-cute..as usual, so I thought you’d enjoy them.  The overalls pics, well, I wasn’t the picture of happiness, but mom thought the pic still cute enough to merit a post.

We are doing pretty well here.  Dad has about one more week before his semester gets underway, so we are enjoying him being around….and Ezri and I have found that he is a great indoor alternative to the playground!  You can climb on him…jump on him…and off of him…..he swings you around….and I don’t know…..maybe I could even slide down him–now that’s  one I’ll have to try!

What else?..Oh, yes, I have about 5 new teeth cutting through right now, so we’ll all be glad when those babies are in for good.  It is a bit painful teething, and it sometimes makes me awaken during the night….needless to say, mom and I will both be grateful when I have all of my teeth.

Well, friends and fam, we love you guys….and, on this very first day of the lunar new year (Chinese New Year), we wish you a fabulous year of the Ox!

–Javi