Sunday, January 15, 2012

Celebrating Miles Away

Last night we had a lovely birthday celebration for Levi with our family. We headed out to Jin Ju, a delicious and trendy Korean restaurant in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood. Dave and I have been wanting to go there since before Gabe came home. It was a great choice since it had all the traditional fare, but presented in a more contemporary fashion.
It was a bittersweet night, but we brought Levi along in pictures and Dave gave a heartfelt toast that we'll save for his memory box. We drank sojutinis, we ate, some tried new tastes, we laughed, we talked about Levi and enjoyed our dinner as a family. Next year, we hope that Levi will be with us to celebrate and he can feel the abundance of love that will surround him.

The restaurant:


The attendees:

Dave toasting our sweet boy:

Gabe goofing with his grandparents:


Our attempt at a family picture:

12 comments:

Beth said...

What a sweet idea. Cheers to Levi, many miles away. My friends had a shower for me at Jin Ju before Sam came home. It is yummy!

sue said...

i <3 this so much. it looks like such a wonderful time. i'm so happy that you'll have such beautiful memories on a bittersweet day :).

ps. i think that's the same spot we sat in with the hammers when we celebrated our finalizations! we need to make it back there!

Michelle said...

What a lovely celebration. That place looks awesome.

Kelly said...

What a great, lovely way to celebrate Levi's birthday. Even though you could not be physically together, you were together in your hearts.

IP Journey said...

Sounds wonderful! I was so surprised to see that restaurant name...we literally lived 2 blocks down from that restaurant for 2 years about 10 years back...I remember when they first opened the restaurant! we LOVED that neighborhood! happy Birthday Levi!

Rach@In His Hands said...

What a perfect way to celebrate sweet Levi!! He is so loved and I know he'll cherish these photos some day.

LOVE you, Joanna! Cannot wait to have your boy home with you.

Christine said...

What a special way to celebrate your Levi! It looks wonderful, and one day Levi will see how much he was loved before he even came home.

They have sojutinis??? I must go there. :)

Christine @ 12,450miles said...

What a beautiful celebration!! And it looks yummy too! While I wish he could have been with you, he'll never doubt that he was always on your minds and in your hearts.

HJ said...

Love that Dave gave a little toast for Levi :) Hope that Levi will be here ASAP to celebrate with you all!

kelly said...

What a lovely way to celebrate. I can't wait until you can bring Levi to this restaurant some day and tell him all about how his family celebrated him that day.

Janet said...

I'm glad you found a speacial way to celebrate Levi's special day...even from afar. That looks like a wonderful restaurant. Sojutinis?? That sounds devine!

Krista said...

What a wonderful way to celebrate Levi's birthday!