Melissa's Big Day!

Yesterday was June 2 and thus, Melissa's birthday. At church she was surprised with a birthday cake from some of the boys in the youth group she co-leads once a month. (The cake was delicious and reminded me of the cakes my French friends would bring for parties at school growing up. I'm not a big fan of cake...except for this specific kind of French cake.) 

After church, Melissa celebrated by having friends over and cooking our favorite meal: rice and peanut-butter sauce with aloco (fried plantain; so good!) prepared by Steph, a friend from Cameroon. We were a little nervous that there wouldn't be enough food since the recipe for the sauce was for 8 people and there were 15 of us! But miraculously, the sauce multiplied and we even had some leftover!

The night before we made chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate covered strawberries. 

 We wanted to be artsy in our decorations, but I think we both need a little bit more practice!

I was rather impressed with how many people were able to fit around the table.

The adults ate inside while the kids ate outside on the balcony.

Actually, these keums were just taking a momentary respite from the inside crowd.

Melissa did a good job and blew out ALL of her candles! 

Everyone left around 5:00 except for Halle. She stayed to hang out and join us in our post-party festivities, which included skyping with family, opening more presents, taking pictures, and watching a movie.

Halle was privileged to capture all 27 of our good sides on camera!

The night ended with a nice walk and then I worked on expanding my French vocabulary by playing a game of French poker with some friends. I think Melissa and I need to work on our poker face because neither one of us ended up winning. Next time. 

It was fun to spend the day celebrating Melissa. You can tell she is greatly loved and appreciated over here. How special to bear witness to the powerful impact she's having on the people's lives over here in Rennes! It's been a long time since I've been with my older sister on her birthday. Was the last time in 2006...or before? Regardless, I felt privileged to share the day with her. What a great friend and role model she is to me! 

Love you, Ita.