Joseph's birthday is today. Wow! It is hard to believe. Joseph has grown a lot this last year and has grown stronger in all areas of his life. We are extremely blessed.
How do you celebrate a 16th birthday here in Vietnam? Ann made him fudge brownies to begin the celebration. Then tonight we were all invited to a banquet as part of the REI delegation in honor of E Hospital's 40th celebration. It was a feast! Toward the end of the banquet, one of the Vietnamese doctor's was requested to sing some songs, both English and Vietnamese. We let them know it was Joseph's birthday, so the whole table (Vietnamese doctors and nurses, French Doctors, American Doctors, REI staff and of course his family) sung happy birthday to him. It was a nice surprise to the evening.
The rest of the day, in Joseph's words, "a massive amount of school". Part of the reason is he lost a morning of school taking the PSAT and due to taking two online courses, his birthday is no longer the Joseph Fryer Birthday holiday. We will celebrate his birthday more fully tomorrow, taking him to his choice of restaurant (within reason). For this year he has chosen a western restaurant that serves a buffet. Yum! It is not Ryan's (Joseph's favorite place in the States), but it is good and it is a buffet.
It is 10:00pm here and Joseph is trying to finish up a paper for his online English class. He has just been ordered to enjoy a little more of his birthday and watch a little of a movie he chose for him and I to watch together. So bye for now.
