Well the big day came and went (although her birthday is tomorrow). We celebrated Noe's 1st Birthday surrounded with lots (lots!) of family and friends. Not everyone could make it and we completely understand being that it was Labor Day weekend and all.
Kemem's are celebrated in the Marshall Island's to wish a child a long and healthy life. The belief is that if an infant makes it to its 1st birthday, they will live a long life. I think this is due to the very high infant mortality rate (close to 30/1000, compared to 7/1000 in the US).
Since we are a tri-cultural family we decided to have 3 food stations (my dad's a chef so it was semi-affordable!) We had a Marshallese station with a Roast Pig, noodle salad and a lo mein type dish, a Mexican station with rice and beans and a pulled pork dish and an American station with baked beans, potato salad and hot dogs =9 Yummy. Here are a few pics from the party. My BIL took some great pictures for us and as soon as those are ready i'll put them up.
