Happy birthday Carlos Israel!

When we first moved to Hope Mountain, we lived in a house that was not connected to any of the boys' dorms. We lived there for a few months, then moved into the house that is connected to the youngest boys' dorm. Shortly after moving in, we decided that we would do what we could to celebrate and make each birthday special. The very first birthday that we celebrated was for Carlos Israel, he was turning 14. We decided to wake all the boys up at midnight, and I will never forget watching their sleepy faces go from grumpy - to confused -to excited, as they figured out we were having a party. 

Last Tuesday, we celebrated Carlos Israel's 15th birthday. Oh, how time flies. 

This year we did not, however, wait until midnight for his party. After dinner, we called all the boys from our house over. We played a 'Minute to Win it' game where they had to keep three balloons in the air for 60 seconds. After the first two boys didn't even make it past 10 seconds, we dropped it down to two balloons. 

When they made it to 60 seconds, they won a little box filled with candy. 

We all had so much fun with this simple game. After it was over, I tried to get them all together to take a group photo...but as you can see, they were not cooperating! 

I finally gave up on wanting a good picture, and we sang happy birthday, prayed for Carlos Israel, and cut the cake! We ate our cake, and then the boys brought their mattresses, pillows and blankets and we all crammed in our living room and watched Rio 2. I wish I would've gotten a picture of how many mattresses we manage to fit in our living room, but its always so crazy, that I forget to snap a picture. Maybe next time. :) 

 Happy Birthday, Carlos! It has truly been our greatest pleasure to be able to celebrate two birthdays with you. 15 years old means you have hit the mark to be considered one of the "older boys" and will soon be leaving our house. I am excited to see you mature, as you are given new responsibilities. The happiest of birthdays to you!