So Tuesday, March 2 will be a day that we will not soon forget. We thought it would be marked for a celebration day of Jaja’s 17th birthday. But this day had more in store than we had planned.

I (griff) was going to the dentist in the morning for a couple of fillings. It had only been 10+ years since a dental visit! My checkup the week before I was told I was lucky and had been blessed with good teeth genes. In my life, I have never had a cavity or braces, only had my wisdom teeth removed. Until, March 2, 2010. While working on one of my feelings, my tooth basically caved in. They said it was hard on the outside, and soft on the inside. So a root canal was needed. Not even knowing what that was, we had to move on with it because of the exposed area of  my tooth. So what started out as an hour process beginning at 9am actually ended at 3pm!

After school and dental work we headed home to get ready for the celebration night. We all were putting on our shirts that Jaja’s mom had sent from Thailand for Christmas. On the top it says “Mom”, “Dad” or “Daughter” in English and below it the same thing in Thai. We were heading out for seafood and Jaja had requested for her birthday meal. Just before leaving, Raigan said she felt sick, and she was. So with Mom and Raigan out of the picture this changed our situation. Kerrigan really wanted to eat at Thai restaurant, Jaidan did not want to she wanted Pei Wei only, and Jaja kept saying she didn’t care.  So we headed out to find a restaurant. I really did not feel like taking the two little girls to a traditional Thai restaurant so we were pushing for the Pei Wei. In the Eldorado area of McKinney there is a new Thai food place called “Thai Noodle Wave”. Thinking this was a probably not as fancy as the other Thai restaurant we headed there. It wasn’t what we expected from the outside! It was an eclectic not traditional with “fresh thai cooking”.

So as Jaja and I were trying to find something for everyone at the table, Jaidan started screaming! She was choking on a peppermint. A peppermint that she had grabbed from the front of the restaurant. I knew that you did not do the Heimlich on children but could not remember what to do. So I screamed across the restaurant asking for help for a choking child. A man and his wife came to help from the opposite side of the restaurant. He was very calm and said if she can cry she was getting air. That helped calm the situation. But Jaidan pointed that the peppermint was in her throat, so the women said for her to take a drink. And about two seconds later up came flying a peppermint! The man and women who came to my aid, were with a party of about 25 people. There were others closer who only looked at our situation, but did not react. These two guardian angels, were the heads of this very large Muslim family, as the women were in full Hijab. Later after finishing our meal, Jaidan and I went again to express their thanks to this very caring family. I am very thankful to this family as they responded quickly to our distress.

After that things calmed down, and we did end up having a wonderful meal. Jaja picked out some things that we all shared. This restaurant was wonderful!!!!!!!!!!! Very trendy, food with flair and presentation, and very moderately priced. I especially enjoyed the Kaow Soy soup (pictured here). Jaja said this was one of her Mom’s favorite foods and now it is one of her Dad’s too! Jaidan and Kailan got to play with the little umbrellas that came with the free ice cream you get after choking. We also had Pad See Lew and they all liked the Thai Herbal Chicken pictured below. So all were very happy!

We headed home after this long and exhausting day. After arriving home, and replaying the event of this adventure to Kristi I mentioned that I was starting to feel the effects of the root canal. She was surprised and said, “I thought you were scheduling a root canal, not have had one!”

I am not sure this was the birthday Jaja would have planned, however it would be one that she will not forget! Happy 17th Birthday!

There were five categories for creating a valentines box in the 3rd grade. Kerrigan had an idea first, then searched for a theme that would fit. She made a garden out of her box and entered it in the “movie” category, with the title “The Secret Garden”.  She won her category and received a sweetheart shake from Sonic during lunch.

Thanks to “Ma” (Joyce Godwin) for being our school project helper!

So with the blizzard that hit NTexas on Thursday/Friday, we were not too prepared for Valentines. So after Kerrigan’s bball tournament, Kristi told me to run and get some valentines for the girls. So Kerrigan and I,  headed to McKinney. I have been trained over the course of our marriage that Kristi believes flowers are now a waste of money. Since we are married and share the money, it is a waste because basically she is spending money on herself. Also, several of our girls do not like chocolate. So we set out to buy some small gifts for each girl, several hours later, Kristi called wondering where we were. She thought, that I would just run and get flowers and candy for the girls!

Kerrigan and I spent the day, on a quest. We enjoyed the time to be alone.  She loved getting her sister and mom gifts, that she did not even get anything for herself! I asked at every location, is this something you would like? She could only focus on everyone else. Upon arrival she could not wait to handout the gifts.

On Sunday, the two big girls helped me prepare the valentines dinner. Raigan and Jaja, helped shop and set the mood. Raigan did the table decor and individual nameplates, and flower petals. We had steak! Which we have not had in months. Baked potatoes, grilled: mushrooms, asparagus, squash and zucchini and salad bar.

We sat around the table and Daddy shared stories of the beginning stages of love between Griff and Kristi. We all laughed at our differing viewpoints of the early relationship. Jaja and the girls, laughed so much at the stories!

I am a blessed man to have so many girls to love, and who love me!

Picasa slideshow embedded, but if you cant see pics, here is the link

So I knew we were having a slumber party for Kerrigan’s birthday, but I did not know the “rest of the story”. The party was going to be just a Sunday after church event. We had two basketball games scheduled and mom had a tournament all day. Raigan thought that Kerrigan should have a slumber party attached, enough that she volunteered to make it happen. Here is what she has done for her sister:

• Spent Friday night baking a cake and cupcakes. (with her mixer that she got for Christmas)
• Making sure the house was cleaned to have everyone over. (getting onto dad several times today when I sat down)
• Leading Dad through wal-mart getting supplies for the party.
• Volunteering to do manicures and pedicures for the group. (six girls in her room)
• Setting up a dance mix playlist on her ipod.
• Having a plan for the entire event.

Being the clueless Dad, I had no idea that she was doing all of this for her sister. I am humbled by her selfless actions. At times I have been concerned that in the future my girls would not get along. We see that the girls closest in age struggle to get along. I am filled with hope that my girls will be sisters for life. Yep, my eyes are teary.

I had the opportunity to visit Kerrigan’s class and help with art. Each week one student completes the “Star of the Week” poster to hang in the classroom. I clicked a couple of pictures of showing her responses.

The two youngest hit the stage at the Wee School Christmas Concert. It was Kailan’s first time on stage! It was a packed house and all of the family were in the balcony. You can see her when she finally finds her family, the expression and the wave made the night.

It is the time of year to sing out and there has been a lot of singing lately in our family. Kerrigan’s class concert is the featured group….enjoy.

video available at www.griff.ws

You have seen the pics, now experience the parade from the Servati seating section. Watch along with the girls as they parade passes and hear their excitement! Also at the end is the girls “in” the Van Alstyne Parade.

Youtube video available on www.griff.ws

Looks like the Servati family is done with Day-Time diapers! Kailan loves being a big girl. What is the Servati secret? Candy. Kailan would do very well using the potty at school but when she would get home, she would use her diaper. So at after Halloween she was always getting into the candy, so Kristi said that each time she used the potty, she could get candy. Problem solved, we are not spending money on diapers but on candy.

Raigan: "anyone want to come help me make these cookies"

Jaidan "Me!"

Raigan: "Anyone but Jaidan want to come help me make these cookies"

We do have a little home maker, Raigan loves to cook and sew! Not sure where she got that from?

Thanksgiving is spent in Marietta especially at Nana’s house. We had a great time together with our thanksgiving meal. The girls moved outside to rake the leaves in Nana’s yard and to have a little fun along the way. In Thailand the leaves do not “fall” off of the trees so this was  a new experience for Jaja. I think she learned real quick on how to use the leaves!

See more Thanksgiving pictures in my Picture album.

Raigan and Kerrigan did some videoing during the day. Some funny moments but a little shaky moments can be found in the video below.

Raigan had another singing event, this time with the 6th Grade choir. She is in the top row on the left corner, in green. FYI- green is her favorite color especially lime green.

Jaja had a group project for her speech class, to create a music video. So I was glad to help the group with the project. This was a lot of fun to do and watch!

From Christmas Singing 09

There is a Servati in each choir! The girls did a great job in singing out about the wonderful birth of our Savior. See the video below, Raigan has a solo part. She said, “I was really nervous looking out at all of those people. When we sing on Sunday night it is not a big deal because it is just parents, but on Sunday morning there are a lot of people!”

Preschool first (Jaidan in Red dress with sleeves, 4th from right) ,

1st-3rd Grade starting at the 1:40 mark (Kerrigan in back row second from left) ,

4th-6th Grade choir starting at 5:30 mark, (Raigan in back row in green dress)

Solo Raigan and Lauren at the 8min mark

The first weekend of December means the Dallas Children’s Parade. This year it also meant the first weekend of pee wee basketball. So Mom and Raigan went to her bball game, and Kerrigan chose the parade. Jaja had a great time at the parade, as most parades are for adults in Thailand, so seeing a parade totally focused on kids was fun. There are also pics at the end of the album of the girls in the VA parade later that same day. Raigan’s choir marched and sang, Jaidan rode on her wee school float, and Kerrigan’s soccer team had a float.

From Christmas Parades

Slideshow available on www.griff.ws

Our Student Ministry had a fall retreat that the little girls got to go with them. We had a great time outdoors during our free time recreation, doing things the Servati family does not do much: fish, shoot, canoe!

Slideshow available on www.griff.ws

From 3rd grade field trip

Daddy and Kerrigan went to the Dallas Heritage Village. This is an amazing history center just south of downtown Dallas. They have a whole neighborhood of old homes, school, downtown stores. A tidbit of information is that the church at this site was moved from Pilot Grove, which is a community about 10 miles east of Van Alstyne.

See all pictures in slideshow on griff.ws, press pause and click through on your own speed. Some great pictures of Kerrigan are in this album!

From Halloween 09 Family

Our girls…..and friends enjoying a time to dressup!

Halloween slideshow

So I have been sharing the majority of my our pics and videos on Facebook and neglecting www.griff.ws, so get ready for a flood of posts!

Today as was Thanksgiving Feast at Wee School. What a great lunch I had with two little ‘Indian’ girls!Video available at www.fbcva.com