Z's Big Day

Friday, September 28th was Zachary's 26th birthday! Man, are we getting old or what?! ;P

We've had a fantabulous weekend celebrating his birth.

Can I just say, I am so happy this man was born 26 years ago!?

God knew what He was doing when He brought this sweet, ball of sunshine into the world.

I mean, look at that smile. He's so full of joy & brings joy to so many people's lives. 

I am blessed to be his wife and too call him mine. 

Okay, on to his birthday!

Zachary's daddio.

Thursday night, we stayed up way past our bedtime to get our house ready for Ben, a friend we met in Korea. Ben made Zachary's birthday and flew to China to stay with us for the weekend and see Beijing.

 Late Thursday night, we skyped Zachary's parents so he could open his birthday package!

Remember how I talked about how we are like kids at Christmas with care packages? 

This package was yet another example. Zachary went to the front office at school multiple times a day for over a week checking to see if this package was there! 

Finally it came and so the opening began! Zachary's parents watched  him open their gifts on skype.

A new watch.

Zachary's mom peeking in.

A new sweatshirt! Perfect for running in China's long winters.

A new running outfit from his sister.

Zachary broke his mom's rule about reading the cards first!

A card from his mom and dad.

A card from his sis.

It's so true! They have the most fun together.

She sent him a 'My Little Pony' pop up sticker, that he, naturally, put on his head.

Hey, Mr. Blue Eyes.

Opening more presents.

Showing mom and dad.

Reading out of his new Hebrew/Greek bible, to prove to his parents he can read it!

A new guitar tuner.

Singing a song for his family.

Chara enjoyed tearing apart the tissue and wrapping paper.

This is why we often call her Chara the Destroyer.

Though it wasn't my birthday, I got some gifts, too! Whoop!

A white roxy bikini! I think we must take a trip to Thailand this winter vacay now, right?! 

I have been dying for a white bathing suit the last like 20 summers. Thanks Britt!

Suuuuweet! I'm all about iced coffee and I am in love with these reusable iced coffee cups! And it has my name on it! Awesome!

Best sister-in-law ever!

Love her!

He does, too!

So cute. His mom and dad took time to cut homemade confetti for the inside of the box.

They also sent us this new bible study they highly recommend! Can't wait to get started on it.

Friday, my kiddos went hiking the whole day so I was class-free, so as a little birthday present to Zachary,  I taught his classes (high school kids! I was nervous!) so he could pick Ben up from the airpot and have the day off for his Bday.

They went and ate  Hot Pot and then went and saw the Qingdao TV Tower.

Ben, throwing the deuce. 

Views from the top.

After work, and payday, I rushed around to get Zachary's birthday presents and met Zachary and Ben at home! We opened presents first thing! 

Lots and Lots of chocolates. Zachary's a chocolate lover. Worse than any girl I've seen.

Coffee. He's excited I got him some regular coffee, since all we have been drinking is decaf, thanks to my anxiety.

Reading my card. No tears. Must not have been that good. ;P

"What did you do!?" He was super surprised!

A new ipod. The square one that is super convenient for runners!

It didn't take Chara long to warm up to Ben. Does it take Chara long to warm up to anyone?

After presents, we went to Sitting Bull, you know the awesome ribs place, for dinner.

You guys, doesn't Ben slightly resemble Michael Phelps? I'm convinced of it.

Yes, this is two grown men wrestling. They were both out of breath by the end and smiling ear to ear. 

It was hilarious to watch. Boys will be boys, no matter how old.

I could tell there was years of pint up wrestling energy and aggression. 

Wrestling IS fun, isn't it?