Tol Party!

Here are the pictures from Zoey's Tol Party, finally! We had about 45 guests show up, including two that we met in person for the first time after connecting through the Holt Forum! It was an honor to have them there and we pray that their babies are home as quickly as possible!

My brother and I made all the food and it really did turn out quite well! At least, there were no real leftovers to show for it!

We had family and friends attend that were meeting Zoey for the first time since arriving home three months ago! We are thrilled that they could be part of her special day!

Zoey chose the pencil first and the money second for her toljabee, so we will have a scholar with wealth! She had a hanbok change half way through the party and didn't mind it at all! She seems to love playing dress up! A Korean friend of ours ordered two traditional rice cakes for display on the Tol table and they were yummy!

She was definetly overwhelmed with the party and all the people and just stayed on either mine or her daddy's hip the entire time, but definetly let loose once all the guests were gone and she was out of her hot hanbok. She was swimming in new toys and clothes and just loved it! We are happy she did so well even without her afternoon nap! She loved her little chocolate cake which read Happy Birthday in Korean on it. I even showed her a mirror so she could see what a mess she had made of her face! She had to take a quick bath before returning to the big celebration.

It was a bit of a difficult day on Friday, her actual birthday, as I thought of her birthmother at this special time. Our family will continue to keep her in our thoughts and prayers and hope that she is doing okay. In honor of her at the party, we made a special cake with Zoey's Korean name and date of birth, with "pyong hwa" written at the bottom, which in Korean, means peace. We lit a candle and Zoey and I blew it out, wishing that she is at peace.

The party was quite a success, and one that we will remember forever! Big brother had such a good time, we barely saw him throughout the day as he was with his cousins, aka his "friends" the entire time and refused to wear the hanbok we had for him or pose in many pictures! But he had lots of fun and especially enjoyed "helping" Zoey open all her presents!

Thank you so much to all who contributed and were part of this special day!