Patrick's Birthday!

It's our friend Patrick's birthday.

It was fun to celebrate with friends and help Patrick eat cake and chips & pop!

 Cool cake, go for it, Patrick!

 He blew the candles out about 6 times and they kept relighting themselves!  It was so funny!

 ...they're out...

 ...no...they're back on fire!

 Tradition continues, each must feed cake to the other!

 President Michael and his family supported Patrick at this party.

 Vaibhav, Elder Kullai, Elder Sodadasi, Elder Wigg, Sister Wigg

 I guess confetti-like sprinkles or sparkles are popular for the guest of honor.

 Yup, that was fun.  I'm glad I'm not cleaning those up!

This is Kannagi, a Convent Road Branch member who cleans for us 2 mornings a week.

She is also a very good cook!

Only Birthday in India

Elder Wigg had a birthday and it's the only birthday he'll have in India.

We figured we would celebrate in the traditional Indian way and bring lunch into the office.

 But first, early in the morning, after our exercise, he opened a couple small gifts.

 It was fun to see him so excited and happy over the small and simple things in life.

 He loves body powder or talc and they have it here in Bangalore.

 Happy Birthday Elder Wigg.  These look like smarties on top, but here they are called gems.

 He had to blow out one candle, representing '1 couples mission'!

 We all cheered him on and he was successful.  This wasn't the relighting kind of candle.

 We had Chicken and Mutton Biryani, a local favorite, and Gobi plus Chicken Kebobs and Raita with Salad, as well.  It was all tasty and we had some leftover to take home afterwards.

 Everyone seemed to enjoy the food.

 This is the whole group.

l to r: Pres. William, Pres. Funk, Elder Vinck, Sister Funk, Sunil, Pres. Mudumala, Vivian, Prem, Jonas, Elder Wigg, Shankar, Rebecca, Satish, Judy, Sundar, Sam, Elder Sharma.

 President William took this photo so that I can be in the picture.

 Elder Wigg cut the cake.

 I fed the birthday boy. I know, it's a big bite!

 Then he fed me some cake.  It tastes good.

 I dished up cake and ice cream for everyone.

 I made the cake.  It was a chocolate cake layer with a white cake layer on top and icing between.  Then there was chocolate icing on top with 'gems' for decoration. Everyone said it tasted good so I'm glad.  It's always a wonder when baking turns out as the ovens aren't constant or reliable.

 I love the lines and angles in this shot.  These stairs are always interesting to go up and down.

 Elder Sharma had a fun time with my camera using the Birthday Boy as a subject.

 One of Elder Wigg's jobs is packing up the mail to go to the Elders. He takes his work seriously.

I seem to have a moments repose.

Sunday Supper

On Sunday we had the Elders in this District over for supper.

It was super fun, as always.  They are a great group of guys!

 They are helping me to prepare the camera for the group shot.  You know, setting the iso and focusing for distance.

 Back row, l to r: Elder Watts, Elder Pothula, Elder Henrie, Elder P. Kumar, Elder Katuka, Brother Zach, Elder Ramaraj.

Front row, Elder Sharma, Sister Wigg, Elder Wigg, Elder Vinck.

 Elder Henrie is making his burger as he likes it.

 We had hamburgers, potato salad, baked beans (spicy), fruit, fried onions and sauteed mushrooms.

 Elder Watts is building his burger.

 The birthday boy gets cake from Elder Wigg.

Elder Wigg gets fed birthday cake by Elder Sharma.

Dinner was enjoyed by all, even one that had never had beef before.  And we were happy to send them quickly out the door to do their finding and teaching.  Elder Sharma & Elder Vinck did the dishes.  Thank you so much, Elders!!

Beauty at Hebbal Lake

We saw some great things at Hebbal Lake when we visited there for a couple hours on Saturday.

 The first place we stopped was called Lumbini Gardens.

 It was a small amusement park with rides, a wave pool and boating.

 There were some beautiful statues along the walkway.

 Baskar is back driving his auto so he took us around for the full day on Saturday.

 Beautiful stonework at the entrance.

 Then we went to the other side of Hebbal Lake and saw more Nature there.

 These are giant flies, mating, it seems.

 Little Egret has black legs and yellow feet.  Cool.

 You can tell I loved the red Dragonflies.  They were amazing.  I don't know their names.

Spot-billed Pelicans, I love the eyes on these guys.

Brahminy Kite, hunting for food.

 Gorgeous colors in the flowering trees.

 Red-wattled Lapwing

 White-browed Wagtail

 Beautiful butterfly.

 Cute little bird.  It's a Pale-billed Flower Pecker.  It's a new bird to me!

 Beautiful shades of green.

I love the lines of these Giant Palms all in a row.