Imanuel had a small birthday party with his little friends in Ann Arbor before we drove up back home. Israel was in Lansing for a New in Ministry meeting, but he and Uncle David drove over for the evening. It was quite last-minute, but we decided it would be nice for Imanuel to spend SOME time with his buddies since any chance he gets to play with kids his age is rare. (We also wanted to see his buddies’ parents too!) We had the get-together at the Mendezes’ house. Grandma and Grandpa Namm sponsored this get-together by helping prepare the food and buying everything needed for the party. Thank you! The theme was Korean-Mexican with Qdoba burritos, chips & salsa, kim-bop, mandoo, fresh fruit, and cake! It was yummy…
Imanuel’s Grandpa made the sign with his name! It’s so special that we’re planning on using it for his birthdays to come. 
the birthday boy ready to eat!
— his friends from birth–
Juan, 20 months
Judy, 4 years
Justine, 15 months
AND, “Israelita” (as Israel likes to call her), -7 months…she’s still baking in Kerri’s oven.
Uncle Justin agreed to help with security and decorations. He got Uncle John to help him after bribbing him with the free food. Thank you for coming guys! We’re glad you didn’t have to break up any fights.
His birthday “cake”! vegan strawberry cupcakes
Uncle Daniel practicing for the near future…
Kleinsters, us, and Juan (our host)
a head elder and two pastors 
Juan “laying hands” on Imanuel. They’re playing church.
— at home (in Novi) —
Snoop,
my parents’ cat (that used to be my sister’s cat). He ate one of
Imanuel’s friends (a bunny rabbit) while we were at home. That just
happens to be Imanuel’s favorite song too -“…Hop, Hop, Hop, Goes the
Bunny Rabbit…”. He loves dancing to it.
My parents bought Imanuel a fancy little potty seat for his birthday. My dad made the potty seat so fun that Imanuel actually loves sitting on it!
He claps and laughs every time he sits on it. (He still does now!) They also took hours to design and sew a potty seat cover so it wouldn’t be so hard when Imanuel sits on it bare-bottom. Imanuel says, “Thank you! I can’t wait to be potty-trained!” (Okay, maybe we put those words in his mouth…)
This vacation Imanuel got to spend so much time with both sets of grandparents. What a blessing!
she’s pregnant?!
sounds like fun! Sorry I couldn’t make it. =( It’s amazing to me still how Mandoo and Juan still look like they are the same age. Looks like you guys had fun. Me, I’m just trying not to get sick before I see my own sister’s baking oven.
Yeah…Kerri’s pregnant?!Didn’t know that. I’m so sad I couldn’t go. :(But it looks like you all had fun without me (not sure how).;)
my goodness, he’s getting cuter by the day!great pics!hope y’all are doing well!peace
Imanuel’s facial expressions are soo hillarious…they change every time a picture is taken!! =P I wouldn’t be surprised if he could say “oooooohhhhh sooo cutteee!” pretty soon, since he must hear it lotttsss of times
Glad to see you all are having fun =D
Wow… he’s soooo big. Looks like fun.
I’ll be going out of state, but I’ll be in touch. I’m free again first week of April… well, relatively free… Hope you guys are well… miss you all… and the pets… Praying for you… and that direct flight from South Bend… 😉 I know you love this picture…
sooo cute, esp. the red jammies.
judy, your parents are looking younger every time i see them, amazing. of course ya’ll are looking good too, and boy is that imanuel ever daper. ~jlee
Imanuel is HUGE! It looks like he is bigger than his 20mon. buddy! What are you feeding that kid? Is he walking yet?
Great post! I had to laugh at the negative 7 months for “Israelita.” 🙂 I never thought of her (his?)age before. I’m glad “she” is already counted among Imanuel’s buddies! 🙂 After reading the comments I looked back at the pictures and IA DOES look bigger than Juan in almost all of them. Maybe next time we get together he’ll already pass him by. We had a GREAT time with you guys this weekend/week. Thanks for your hospitality. We hope we can do it again soon. Juan is missing all of you as well as Bently and the cats. (Mauuuuuuuu!) We’re missing you guys too. Lots of love to all of you…
wow, so cute! He’s gropwing fast. It’s nice you had a little party for him with yummy food…