Toby Turns 7!

Toby turned 7 years old on April 25th, and we had a wonderful party for him on the following saturday. I don't mean wonderful as in "oh aren't we so great" but wonderful in that such great kids came and we had such a wonderful time! We had 25 kids, which is a whole lot of kids, but luckily we have a big yard, it didn't rain, and my parents were here to help out a whole lot. We had "team meetings" before the party, to coordinate everything, and it went off without a hitch. My mom commented that if you had that many children at a party in the USA, you'd have some problems with fighting, or children who misbehaved. But all the little friends here are so pleasant and they were a joy to entertain. Here is a photo of some of the friends who came. Toby was in his element, as he loves to have friends around, and actually was very eager to change the date of his party once I told him he could have more friends at it if it was changed. He is no wallflower and is always in the middle of any social interaction.


Here's another photo of Toby. We are so proud of him and his accomplishments this past year. The biggest one is learning to READ! He reads fluidly and joyfully, and we hope that the love of books continues his entire life. He is also doing very well in math at school, which is encouraging to his math-challenged parents. He loves going to school and it is a blessing to have him at a Christian school with children from many countries.



This year, Toby has done all kinds of interesting things, like learning how to snorkel (and doing so with enthusiasm and skill), going horseback riding, climbing a local mountain, going on a safari boat ride and game drive in Malawi, shooting down the (small-homemade) waterslide repeatedly at our annual conference, writing to his pen pal in America, and learning to care for our animals. He's learned lots of verses (thanks to his school) and expressed a desire to be baptized this year! He is often very helpful with Ben and frequently he and I exchange looks of frustration or amusement over Ben's head. He tries to help his little brother in all sorts of ways, and we see him trying to be a good friend to others as well. Toby is a joy to us and we are so thankful that God blessed us with him. - Cami