Playing Catch-up

August - October

So, where were we? Last time in October writing, but pictures from July! Please forgive! We will now fly through three months in this entry! Fasten your seatbelts!

Raja, ever becoming more and more playful, daily surprising us with his antics, will show you now himself!

He's loves when mommy plays the piano and she leaves it open so his little fingers can reach the keyboard during the day - ah, to be serenaded!

We took our new (used) van on a roadtrip to Atlanta and our friends Praveen and Preethi accompanied us. We all stayed at Andre's beautiful apartment and enjoyed some natural wonders around Atlanta. One little trip was to some mountains and waterfalls (some long Indian name I can't pronounce let alone spell!). So, see............!!!!!!!!!

Aren't they beautiful? Then Andre took pictures of baby Raja, then the rest of us, shoes off, jeans rolled up, wading in a stream...

Another treat, while in Atlanta, was spending the night and attending church with some friends from Bangalore. I met Subu at our friends, Vikram and Misty's wedding in Oct. '05. The boys all played well together. Here we are..

Back home, mommy had fun making floral projects for us and friends and neighbors, here's a sampling...

And to finish off our Indian summer (no pun intended), here's the first fruit of our okra harvest (boy, we sure planted a huge variety of vegetables, well, no...)

Until can find a couple of pictures, Raja had a wonderful 1st birthday here in the USA. The theme was "Lion King" (his name, David Raja "king"!). Our church let us use their youth center, which was perfect for our 50-70 guests (can't remember exact figures). One room has pool tables, etc... so the older kids (and some adults!) enjoyed that. We had a catered Indian lunch plus Derick's famous tandoori chicken (even Grandma commented, "I'd rather have another drumstick than a piece of cake!"). Streamers, balloons, goody bags for the kids, face-painting "lions" on the kids and a lion puppet craft made for a fun, memorable time for all. Raja had started walking a week before, so he was sprinting around on his new-found legs. Thanks, again, one and all who came and/or helped. We love you!

So, look forward to a blog near you, filled with scenes and stories from Raja's 1st trip to India. Otherwise, who knows, maybe a comment or two thrown in by mommy or dada Leonard.