Miriam turned twelve in Bangkok.
The night before her birthday we went shopping at the Bangkok night market. She got a fancy clip for her hair. Afterwards, we shared a fondue platter at Haagen Daz. Yummm. The night of her birthday we boarded an overnight train heading for Chiang Mai. When Miriam got on the train and saw the bunk beds and realized that we were going to be having a huge family "sleep over", her face just beamed. This train ride seemed to be the perfect way to celebrate her birthday.
From a child's point of view, I guess the train was like a glorified campout adventure. My point of view? The train was a bit shabby. The first-class cabins had all sold out and that meant that we would be sharing a toilet and sink with thirty other people. Some of these people just happened to be a group of young adults that had alcohol and cigarettes and decided midnight was a good time to get the party going. A bit more spice for our adventure. :)
Some things about Miri:
Her favorite book is
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech.
Her favorite food is Chicken Cordon Bleu.
Her favorite pastimes are sewing, walking our dog, reading, and playing piano.
Her favorite color is purple.
Her favorite movie is
Remember the Titans.
Her favorite song is
If I Die Young by Band Perry.
Miriam is enthusiastic. She loves to be involved. She has been begging me to come to the birth of our baby. What do I say to that?
She loves to share her opinion. She loves people and is concerned about them. She is goal oriented. She can accomplish much quickly. She is determined. She is a bit firey
and spunky--this can make you laugh or make you cry. She has good fashion sense.
She is helpful and thoughtful and has good desires.
She is independent but loves to be with the family.
Miriam can do just about anything she sets her mind to. She loves a challenge and she often makes it look easy.
Miriam is full of surprises and loves to be an entertainer. The other day, Miri's young women leaders were visiting her. They started to discuss whether or not the branch dance should be a line dance or a regular dance. This was an important topic to Miri because if the decision was to go with a line dance then she could attend, otherwise the youth invited would be only those fourteen years old and up. During the discussion, Miri suddenly stood up and started to act like she was very stiffly slow dancing with an imaginary person, while she sang, "Forever young, I want to be forever young...." Then out of nowhere she says, "I like your sleeves". I couldn't help but laugh out loud.
There were a few times on our vacation that I worried about my parents being able to "handle" the terrain or the schedule or toilets or whatever. One of these times was when we were exploring the Chiang Dao Cave. We had to climb over rocks and through mud and up along the cave walls (it was the rainy season and much of the cave had been flooded). Well, my parents suprised me. They were up for just about anything and kept up with everyone much better than I did!
