Saturday, February 25 was set as the party date and invitations were sent out. This party was somewhat special because Panjee became a teenager . . . and because of two special presents. Several of Panjee's friends attended and the aunts and uncles came . . . Richard and Cookie, Malu and Philip as well as Marco and Baby Buddy.

Larry

This was taken just before the guests started arriving. The girls had some of the food out on the kitchen table. In addition to two types of pizza, rolls, the kids had chicken, cheese and sausage, veggies, chips and dip, grapes and strawberries and a few other dishes. Most of the food was American rather than Filipino.

Here is a closer view of Panjee's birthday cake. The photo on the cake shows a picture of Panjee and dawg. At the upper left are the Happy Birthday candles that Nancy found.
The kids are used to parties at our house and soon asked for the karaoke. This made it sound like a Filipino party. Here the kids are taking turns singing songs.
This photo shows Panjee blowing out the candles on her birthday cake shortly after we all sang Happy Birthday to her. Notice that little Tricia manages to get into the act.
After singing and games, the kids sat down to eat. Notice the Happy Birthday Panjee banner in the background which came from the Philippines.
Here the kids moved back into the family room and began dancing to a song called Chacha Slide.
Most of the food is now out on the table. Here is a photo of some of our helpers . . . Nancy, Philip, Malu and Menchu.
Panjee really had fun opening presents. Most of the kids know her well and several of them gave her books that she will enjoy reading. Panjee gets bored very easily without books to read.
Notice the smile on Panjee's face. We saved the two best presents for last. Here, she opened the present to find a new Apple iPod; which was exactly what she wanted. We even managed to get her name engraved on it.
This turned out to be a surprise birthday present for Panjee. Panjee legally qualified for United States Citizenship by virtue of being adopted by a U.S. Citizen and holding permanent residency status. Hence, Larry filed the necessary papers and documents to get Panjee a U.S. Passport to prove her U.S. Citizenship status. Here her new U.S. Passport arrived just in time to be another birthday present. I think this means that Panjee is the first of the Pascua family to become a U.S. Citizen. She actually holds dual citizenship in the Philippines and the U.S. since she still has her legal Philippine passport.
We took a moment for a family photo immediately after the party. Panjee was obviously pleased with her birthday party. I think that Tricia enjoyed it as much as Panjee.
The camera found Cookie and Richard in the kitchen. It was nice of them to come and join in Panjee's party.
Malu and Baby Buddy were also in the kitchen. Buddy is sure growing fast and seems about ready to learn to walk. He has always been very alert and good natured.
Here, Cookie, Menchu, Richard and Deuce the dog relax in the living room following the party. Richard was starting to take video clips to show at the wedding of Jing and Peter. Richard and Philip helped us move in Nancy's new red couches which seem to go well in the front room.