Four Year Gotcha Day Reunion and Celebration

Yesterday was a fun day at our house.  The reason being was that four years prior, we got to meet our first child, Silas Abrham Lucht for the first time. I will never forget walking through those gates at Hannah’s Hope and seeing our beautiful baby boy for the first time.  It was so surreal and emotionally overwhelming to say the least.  Needless, to say, we were thrilled to finally see him in person, and everything it took to get to this point was absolutely worth it!

Silas is 4 1/2 now, and he is really starting to grasp what his ‘Gotcha Day’ is all about.  He knows it’s definitely something special, and he had been looking forward to celebrating his special day at Lucy Lane’s house.  Lucy Lane and Silas’ other friend, Will, all live within three hours of each other, and all three came home at the same time.  I was so excited when Will’s family said they would be able to make it to the celebration.  We were privileged to have an amazing photographer(and good friend to Lucy Lane’s mom), Karen Halbert, present to capture amazing shots throughout the night.

 

Lucy Lane’s house is definitely the ‘fun’ house.  Above is a water slide that Lucy’s dad created and it was a hit among the kids!

This boy sure does love his cake! I can’t believe how grown up he is!

The three Hannah’s Hope buddies, Silas, Lucy, and Will.  This is the first year we got full compliance with getting pictures taken.  I guess it’s another sign they are growing up! The other neat thing is that all three of them have a birthday within a month of each other.

This picture really describes Saylor’s personality lately…sassy!  She enjoyed herself too because there was lots of commotion which is right up her alley!

Movie time! Silas was sad because he didn’t get to stay until the end, but he did love the outdoor movie screen.  They also had a fire with s’mores, but unfortunately, we had to get home because we had two kids on the verge of meltdowns!

These were all the amazing mamas I got to visit with throughout the night.  They inspire me, and I am so thankful God brought us together!

All in all, we had an amazing time celebrating Silas’ Gotcha Day. The other fun thing that happened yesterday was that Silas learned how to ride his bike without training wheels.  I had worked with him for a couple of afternoons back in May, but I still thought he was going to need a bit more practice before being independent.  SO..Troy and I were both shocked and surprised when he just took off for about 25 feet before falling over on one of his first attempts yesterday.  Of course, we were so proud and both had a few tears in our eyes.  He continued to practice, and we both agreed we needed to video it:)  I am so happy that he can do this now, and I can’t wait to see how he progresses.  I love that it happened on his Gotcha Day too.  You will get to witness a little bit of how silly he can be at times in the video.  Also, he does usually wear a helmet, but we got so caught up in how good he was doing that we forgot to have him put it on:)

There you have it! We love you Silas, and we can’t wait to see what God has in store for your future. We tell you this all the time, but we are so glad God chose us to be your parents!

Birthday Fun to Celebrate Turning One!

Guess who turned 1 on June 6, 2013?  I can’t believe how quickly she is growing up, but we are having so much fun as her personality continues to develop!  We just did a small celebration on her actual birthday because Troy and I both had to work; however, we had her official party two days later at my sister and brother-in-law’s farm in Indiana.  We decided to keep it simple by just doing a party with family this year.  After getting a few ideas from Pinterest, I thought a watermelon theme would be perfect since it is summer AND she is super sweet:) It was a great day with good weather.  Saylor’s Great Mammaw and Pappaw Harold even made an appearance.  We love our families, and we were so glad they could join us to celebrate her first year of life!

I found this sweet little banner on Etsy and Mammaw made the hat!

Aunt Amy made the adorable watermelon sugar cookies to go with the cupcakes and smash cake I ordered.

Once again, Mammaw made sure Saylor was well dressed for the occasion!

Saylor’s smash cake

The sweet birthday girl

She was happy about what was coming!

I think she enjoyed it;)

We sure do love this group of people!

These individuals hold a special place in our hearts as well.

Silas loves any kind of party that involves yummy food and cake!

Silas is thanking Great Mammaw for bringing him a gift too.

Saylor with her cousin, Jake.  I love this picture because it is a reminder of God’s goodness.  Jake was in a very serious car accident and his life was literally hanging in the balance during the time we took our first trip to meet Saylor in Ethiopia.  Obviously, God spared his life and we are so very grateful.  I am confident that God has big plans for these two!

Four generations are represented in this picture.

This was the best family picture we could come up with from the entire night.  Our cup continues to overflow with blessings!

I will leave you with this one.  Those eyes always have so much to say! Saylor, you bring so much joy, laughter, and entertainment to our home.  God knew that you were the perfect match for our family, and we are eternally grateful for His perfect ways.  It’s hard to believe you are one year old, but we look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with you in the years to come.  Our prayer is that God will continue to grant His favor and wisdom upon you all the days of your life, and that your life would always shine for His glory!