Feliz Aniversario, Fernanda!

Our first day in Brazil, we were invited to a birthday party! In the Amazon culture, the first birthday of a child is quite the ordeal. Parents will save for months to throw a big birthday bash to celebrate.

Fernanda was turning one! And we were invited to attend her Strawberry Shortcake themed party. Fernanda was dressed for the part.

It was decorated adorably - I found it interesting that they will not serve the decorated cake to the guests. Instead, the family will enjoy that during the next week. During the party, the pretty cake is merely for display.

Sarah told me that at Evelyn's first birthday party, everyone couldn't believe she was serving the pretty cake.


Favors are also a big deal! We were given this cute little strawberry-shaped container full of treats and candy.

They sang Birthday songs. My favorite part of the video is the Evelyn must have thought I was taking a picture, because she keeps turning around and "cheesing" at me.

 And the father gave a speech, thanking everyone for attending.

Our plate of goodies was delicious.

I was a little curious about the eyeball shaped cookie. One missionary said she had heard them called "the Mother-in-law's eye." I didn't try that snack.

All the guests then lined up and put their presents into a large barrel. Fernanda took a picture with each guest.

It was so fun to get to see another culture's way of celebrating, and we were honored to be envited to Fernanda's big event.

Be sure to check out our other posts about Brazil (here, here, and here).