Birthday season has begun at the Parmar household

I love birthdays, they seem to generate so much joy.  As a parent, I think birthdays are particularly special... we set aside a day to celebrate our child.  Our first birthday celebration is Chelsea's, and what a nice day it was.  Chelsea, you are blossoming to be a beautiful young lady, and we continue to pray that God molds you into the woman He has in store for you.  We love you... baby girl.

Oh, and for her birthday this year, I made her another special cake.  Chelsea has a love for art, and we got her an art easel for her birthday, so I decided to make a paint pallet for a cake.  It turned out pretty neat.  I got to play with fondant again, which I do love.  Now I have a whole year to come up with another cool cake idea (and a few more cakes to make in between).

We had a fun small family party for Chelsea.  It doesn't take many to spoil her.  We are so thankful for the people in her life... they love making her feel special.

My beautiful family

This is my beautiful family... and I love 'em! God has truely blessed me!

Wedding!!!

I am a typical western Canadian, with a little bit of Mennonite heritage.  I did not grow up with much tradition aside from regular family gatherings at the various holidays.  Having a multicultural family has really brought new experiences to my world, and traditional Indian weddings is one of them.  We were able to take part in my brother-in-law's wedding two years ago, but there is nothing like an Indian wedding from a female's perspective.  My sister-in-law got married this past weekend, and here is a little snapshot of our experiences (and I truly mean a "little" as there was so much to take in that it'd be hard to share it all).

Let's start with the ENGAGEMENT... These are nothing like are western engagements, where the man proposes on one knee (which Mukesh did do, and with a ring pop none the less - at a much earlier date though).  It is customary to have an arranged marriage, and the men from the girl's side goes to the guy's house with a "dowry".  So, the men who supported Gurpreet took gifts and sweets over to Mukesh's place - this took place on the Saturday.

While this took place, the rest of us ladies did our best to decorate the house for the parties.

On the Sunday, the engagement continued, where the ladies from the guy's side brought gifts and sweets over for Gurpreet.  There is a lot involved in these gifts, including combing the bride-to-be's hair and putting on bracelets and henna... so many customs that I don't fully understand.

And then there was the MEHNDI party (or henna).  This is a ladies party, which involves food, music, and best of all, mehndi.  The lady that did the mehndi was amazingly fast, and did an excellent job.  Gurpreet had her hands and feet done, and it looked great.

Then, there are the Mayan (the "n" is almost silent) events, one on Thursday morning and one on Friday evening.  The Friday is a large party, with lots of food and dancing, including the Juggo dancing (with a type of pot on our heads).  At the Mayan we spread a turmeric colored paste all over the bride, and then wipe it off with a type of flour.  This is to "cleanse" the skin, although it looks like it would actually stain the skin.  The bangles and jewelry are also presented to the bride by her "mamma ji's" (which is mom's brothers).

And then the WEDDING DAY!!!  For us, this started at 7am.  We took family pictures at the house before heading out to the Gurdwara together (all the extended family).  That means we were up super early getting ready; I believe Gurpreet was up at 4:30 am.  At the Gurdwara, the bride's family greets the groom's family and the men exchange flower garlands.  Then is morning tea (with sweets and pastries), before heading up to the ceremony.

The ceremony is all in Punjabi, so I was at a loss for most of what was happening.  They provided a small pamphlet for us "white" folks to try to follow along, which helped, but I still did not understand everything.  It is a bit of a teary celebration, as the bride's family almost mourns the loss of a daughter, which is quite foreign to what I am used to, but in their culture, the bride leaves her family and goes to live with her groom's family.  In India, this can be in a village quite far away.  We are fortunate that Surrey isn't too far from Abbotsford, but Gurpreet has left our home and is now a part of Mukesh's family. 

After the ceremony and a quick family photo, we all head back to my in-law's place, as more tradition abounds.  This is around 1pm.  Once Mukesh and Gurpreet arrive at the house (after their pictures), Gurpreet came in, but Mukesh has to "buy" his way in to get his bride.  The "sisters" from the bride's side try to get as much out of the groom, while the "brothers" of the groom support him and try to "push" their way in with little cost.  We made a compromise and prepared a "deal or no deal" type of game.  Mukesh was lucky, he got away with only paying $200.

After the groom's family left, it was time to get ready for the PARTY.  We got our hair done, outfits on, and off to the reception.  It was a great reception, they did an awesome job.  Mukesh and Gurpreet even did a choreographed number for their first dance, which was so much fun.  They also had a photo booth for the guests.  Most importantly, the bride and groom looked stunning.

And that is not all... on Sunday, after the wedding, the bride's family invites the groom's family over for a meal.  We had the traditional Indian food, as we've had all week, but since it was Thanksgiving, we also made a turkey (compliments of Lois - thankyou). 

Yikes... I think that covers most of it.  Now, let the normal everyday routine begin!!!

Showers and salons

A fun part of weddings are the bridal showers and the pampering that goes on before the wedding.  There were two showers for Gurpreet, a small friends shower, and then a family shower.

We also took an evening away and had our nails done.  It was a nice time away with the ladies.  I do wish I picked a brighter color, as gold is shiny, but doesn't stand out enough.

Special moments in life

The biggest reason why I own a camera is because I love being able to reflect back on special moments in life.  Here are just a couple of precious moments recently.

Natalie playing at the park with Grandpa.

Grandma getting to snuggle Anna.

Nat and her friends having a "sleepover" during a movie.

Nat missed a nap one day and fell asleep in the stroller when we decided to go for a walk, which she never does.

I took this while Nat was painting, cute photo.

Grandma and Grandpa come for a visit

My parents were able to come out from MB this summer, and it was great for them to meet our Anna.  Anna's namesake is my grandma (dad's mom), which was pretty special for my parents.  We had a nice visit, making some traditional mennonite food from scratch, trying some amazing Sockeye salmon, playing cards, swimming... we even tought mom how to use a digital camera.  We didn't venture out too far from home, as the weather wasn't the greatest, but we had a good visit none the less.

We got to celebrate my dad's birthday while they were out here, so we had a picnic in the park for lunch, and went out for dinner in the evening.

My parents don't get to see these grandkids as much, so it was great to have them visit.  Nat took a special liking to grandpa... he's a fun grandpa.  She was especially sad when they had to go.  Can't wait for the next visit, probably in MB.

Anna's baby dedication

We were able to have a baby dedication for Anna at the end of August while my parents were out.  We had our close friends and family come to church that Sunday to be support for us.  We are so thankful to our Lord for how He has provided for our family, especially our three girls.  Our desire is to raise our children in a way honoring to Him, and we dedicate ourselves as parents before the Lord.

Its also a bit of a release of control for us as parents.  It is so easy to try to do it on our own strength and control the on-goings of our children, but to realize that we do not have control and trust our daughters into the Lord's hand is extremely refreshing. 

We chose a scripture passage for Anna.  Philippians 1:9-11 "And this is my prayer: that your love may about more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ - to the glory and praise of God.

We desire that Anna love Jesus and lean on Christ as she grows, and to live a life that is pleasing to God.  We hope to help Anna learn about Jesus and his gift of salvation.  With God's strength we desire to raise our beautiful daughter.