So we had a couple birthdays. We’re done with birthdays for a while.

But the birthdays were only the beginning of the excitement.

Friday, Xay embarked on an adventure of a lifetime. He went to Kenya as a missionary. After almost two days of flying, he arrived at his destination. His days have been packed with visiting schools, sharing testimonies, inspiring children. Even though he is 7 hours ahead of his, he has figured out a way to video conference with us, spotty wifi and all. He says that Nairobi looks like any American urban area, but in the country, there are random zebras and antelope wandering around. When he calls us, it is pitch black outside (in Kenya), and he says he can hear monkeys in the trees, but can’t see them.

The same day Xay left, Joy, Yanni, and I drove to Columbus, OH for the Michigan/Ohio Perfect State pageant. Joy and I didn’t compete this year. We wanted to get a feel for what to expect. Yanni didn’t compete either. This was the year when she crowned the next winner. Pageants generally center on the former queen, or the reigning queen at the time of the pageant. This was no exception, except that there were multiple title holders present, including two national queens!

Nevertheless, Yanni got her time in the spotlight. She participated in a fashion show to launch a brand new clothing line, Queen Bee Couture,designed by Ginny Meerman, a pageant director, MC, and beauty queen herself. Yanni also got to record her farewell speech and walk the runway one last time as Michigan’s Perfect Teen. She was happy to crown her successor, a fellow nerd and all around interesting person. (Yanni was also happy to keep her own crown, thank you very much). We’ll keep you posted on Yanni’s future pageant news.

Curtis was home with the other children while we three were gone, and I was sent videos of Esteban skateboarding down the hill and Chanya hula hooping for the first time. It really made me appreciate home. I was so glad to get back to my family and to cook and clean again.