Happy 9th Birthday, Emily!!!

My dear, sweet Emily. She is now NINE years old. I cannot believe how time has FLOWN by. What I love most about her is her sweet spirit. She is so tender hearted and soft-spoken, but then she really knows how to let loose and have fun when she's around those she loves. I love that she still wants to cuddle with me at night, and though sometimes I just want to go hang out with my hubby since he works so much, I try to always remember that, surely, it won't be much longer before she no longer asks me to stay and cuddle.

We trade off years to go "out" to celebrate the girls' birthdays. Last year, we had a party at home scrapbooking with her friends, but this year Emily got to choose a place to go for her birthday. She chose Build-A-Bear. The kiddos get to pick out a bear (or other animal) they want to have stuffed and then dress up. They get a budget and have to make choices in animal and attire in order to stay within that budget. Some chose a really fancy animal and then went with the "less is more" moto in their accessories, while others were all about the accessories and chose a simpler animal. It was fun to see them deliberate on what to do, and how unique each girl's final product was.

Our party guide, Ceddy, was FANTASTIC! He was so much fun and made the girls giggle a lot. Ours was the most reserved group of girls...I think Meg was the most out-going one of the whole bunch. But they really enjoyed watching him act crazy! You'll have to ask Emily and Meg to teach you the silly shark song they learned.

Afterwards, we had Tinkerbell cupcakes at the food court of the mall......it was crazy with all of the holiday shoppers, but God was good and provided a big long table for us at just the right time! : ) (I didn't chose for my child to be born so close to Christmas!)

We all had such a good time celebrating the gift that Emily is to us!

Again...sorry about the vertical ones!