The Big Birthday Celebration

I recently celebrated my 50th birthday, which is a big thing here. I told Dennis and Alyna that I really didn't want the whole Dutch thing, with the dummy in front of the house and signs and banners all across the front. Of course they didn't listen to me and went ahead and planned a nice party. When a person celebrates a 50th birthday here, they say that they have "seen Abraham" or "seen Sarah". Something about being old and wise.The "dummy" that is put in front of the house is suppose to indicate the person's talents or interests. I guess Alyna and Dennis worked on my dummy a week before and did a good job of keeping it hidden until the day of.

I spent the morning at the market in Arnhem while Dennis was at work and Alyna was at youth conference. It is always an interesting adventure to go to the market and so I had fun. The textile stalls are really interesting - lots of different kinds of fabrics and expecially a lot of elaborate silk type fabrics for the plethera of Middle Eastern women in the area. I bought some quilt fabric and batting and a bag to carry it all home in.

That evening we had a bunch of neighbors and ward members come by. We had lots of food and drinks and it was nice to sit and visit with people for a while. I had never met some of the neighbors so it was fun to finally get a name and a face put together. After we cleaned up from the party, Dennis brought the "dummy" in and put her on the couch. We laughed and laughed because she looked so wiped out - much more like me than the version of her sitting out in the chair.