Happy Birthday, Kameron and Christmas

On Monday, Kameron turned 14 years old. This was his very first time celebrating his birthday. So we definitely wanted to make this one special! The day before, we took him to Wahooz, a family fun place here in Idaho (ie: games, go karts, laser tag). He was so excited to go! Luckily, the weather cleared and the place was empty. The boys got to play laser tag 15 minute games at a time and had the place all to themselves!

Playing games at Wahooz

Go-karts were a huge hit!

Mini-golf was alright. The boys absolute favorite was getting multiple golf balls to throw into the last hole where, if you get it in correctly, a tiki statue blows fire out of its head. They seriously did this well over 30 times! Thank you to the exceptionally patient and tolerant staff at Wahooz who just went with it.

The next day, mom got off work early to come home and make the birthday boy his favorite meal and a special cake. The catch was, his favorite meal, is "hot pot." Some of you may know what that is, but we didn't. The entire time we were in China, he didn't ask for or eat it once. We were in over our heads!

Thankfully, our community absolutely rocks! Friends who knew about hot pot and a friend from China who attends NNU were able to guide us (literally showed me what to buy at the Asian Grocery store) and lend us tools and tips on how to make it. Ya'll, I was assured it would turn out great. I had faith my friends knew their stuff. But I was terrified! I wanted to make our boy something amazing. And I had never eaten hot pot in my life. Let alone really knew what it was!

As I am getting ready to prepare myself to make this meal, our dishwasher suddenly made an odd noise and water started flooding our kitchen floor! Luckily, Jesse saw it right away and grabbed towels while turning it off. 

This is now our forth appliance to break on us since the adoption. The forth! And it was all so ridiculous, that I started laughing. Because it was terrible timing! But what could we do? Momma was making our boy his birthday meal and cake, come hell or high water! 

And despite our lack of hot water (because not only did the dishwasher break, but it took a toll on the o-ring and caused a gyser there.. Because of course it did) and ability to process dishes, we made our boy his favorite meal! Mommy got a big smile, a thumbs up, and a "this is GOOD!" 

That beauty in the bowl-like skillet, is my very first hot pot. Ridiculously easy to make (once you have the right ingredients) and smelled amazing! It tasted, even better! It is served often with noodles. The next time I make it, I will be posting a recipe (and what to buy) tutorial. It was not anywhere near as hard as I thought! But I am told a good hot pot sauce is hard to come by and not immediately available in most of our specialty markets in Idaho.

After dinner, Kameron opened presents. I was so proud of Jesse Jay and Toby! They spent their own money to get him birthday presents, and oh did he LOVE them!

And afterwards, there was cake. Complete with some of Kameron's favorite things... Minions, and stuffed with bananas and pineapple.

After the birthday festivities came to an end, we kept things as simple as possible and tried to keep expectations a bit low and stay home even more. A birthday followed by Christmas a few days later can be a trigger for behaviors for our child with autism/sensory processing disorder, but also the same is true for an adopted child. And holidays, naturally, are a bit overwhelming themselves. And these are all firsts for Kameron.

On Christmas Eve, we and the kiddos got to celebrate Christmas with the Idaho cousins and Grandma Rose (and her birthday!) We limit our outings right now to family and short periods. It has been nice letting them get to know the newest Maddux a little bit more. Kameron loves wrapping presents-- his love language is definitely high in gift giving! He enjoyed helping mom get presents ready for everyone. 

Happy birthday, grandma Rose!!

The grandkids enjoying jello with fruit cocktail for grandma's birthday.

Jesse Jay snuggling grandma.

Kameron loved playing this game with "my daddy." You push down a tooth. But if you pick the wrong one, he bites!

After the festivities and present exchange with the cousins and grandma, we had a HUGE snow fall in Idaho just in time for a white Christmas. Kameron, daddy, and brothers played in it and enjoyed making their first snowmen. Or, rather, giant snowball face....

And after a low key dinner of pizza and peaches (per the boys request), it was showers and fresh Christmas jammies and slippers for the boys:

Jesse is doing a slumber party upstairs with him and the three older boys in their little pop up tents. Surprisingly, they sleep really well that way. Mom got some much needed quiet time. I cannot tell you enough how amazing Jesse is with all our boys. And seeing him with Kameron.. There aren't words adequate to describe it. It is just so beautiful. 

Then, Christmas morning was upon us. I was shocked how well all the boys did. Despite mom and dad letting them eat whatever they wanted all morning (IE: candy, candy, ohhhh.. And more candy!) and encountering new people, new situations, and traditions. 

And of course, their was a certain gift that was definitely a huge hit....

We always swore that we would never ever buy a trampoline. But with 4 energetic boys, this suddenly became a need! Had it not been so cold, they would have stayed out their for hours!

Christmas dinner was a melding of two cuisines: Part American traditional, part Chinese. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans. As well as spicy noodles with shrimp, tofu, and fishballs and spicy cucumbers. With Martinelli's apple cider and Fanta (Fanta and Coke are huge in China. Kameron loves them.)

Tonight, we are exhausted after such a busy and exciting week. Our hearts are full. Kameron is home! And we feel so richly blessed because of it.