Happy Birthday!!

I had a great birthday! I woke up to get the kids off to school like usual, and when I was getting things out of the refridgerator for breakfast I found some bottles filled with different flavored syrups. When I asked what it was, Alan walked outside and came back in with my present.

 I am so excited. I have wanted one of these ever since we got here. They make "snow cones" on the side of the road. They call them Golas. When they get done shaving the ice, they pack it into a cup and stick a stick in it. The people eat it like a popcycle. Now we don't have to mooch off the Adairs in the summer. :)

Baby gave me these beautiful flower vases, and she and Vijay both got me flowers.

In the afternoon Vijay and Lakshmi invited me and Alan to lunch at their house. He kept on telling me that it was going to be veg only. I think he knows we usually eat meat at every meal, and was worried that I would be disappointed. When we got there he served us on the banana leaves and then brought out the food. It was different food than when my parents and Jake came to visit, but it was good. He also had meat for me. He told me that Lakshmi insisted that she make beef for us. When we were there with my parents I told them how good the beef was.

Lakshmi performed some Hindu ritual that Vijay says they do for women on their birthdays. She also pinned some Jasmine flowers in my hair. I felt very spoiled when she brought out a gift for me.

Every time Vijay gets paid he says he give Lakshmi 100 rupees. He says she is the saver of the family and always takes her money and puts it in her jar. He says that she is free to spend that money on anything that she wants for herself, but she never buys anything. He says that sometimes when they run out of money for the month she will "loan" him some of her saved money that he has to pay back with interest. :) She also never goes anywhere because she can't speak the local language. She has a hard time trying to communicate witht he people. Well, she took her savings and bought me a beautiful green sari on her own. It brings tears to my eyes just typing this because I know that she made a huge sacrifice to get me this.

That night we went to the go-karts and out to Chili's for dinner with the MacDonald family. In the picture it looks like we are all headed in for surgery or something. Nope we just don't want any friends to come home with us after sharing the used helmets.  At Chili's we had the kids sit at one table and the adults sat at another one. When the waiter came to take our order, I started to order for the kids, and he told me that they had already ordered. It was then that I realized my kids are growing up. I have been treating them like they couldn't do it for themselves. WOW!!

Ellie was really excited that she had ordered a surprise for me without me knowing.  All of the waiters came and sang to me and brought me a cake. It was a fun night.