Sunday, May 27, 2012

Happy Birthday Brenna!



This is about a week late, but better late than never.  My little girl turned 7 last Sunday.  I really can't believe that it's been 7 years since she was born.  Time has really flown by.  Where did my little baby girl go?!  She is growing up sooooooo fast.  She is such a sweet girl, but she definitely has her sassy moments.... which are usually days.  She is such a smart girl too.  Her reading has skyrocketed and she is reading books that some her friends in grades ahead of her aren't even reading.  I think she gets that from me....I am a big bookworm (ok....I know I'm a nerd).  The math skills they learned this year amazes me.  She was in first grade and they were teaching them how to read and make graphs, add together double digit numbers (34+56=?), solve story problems, and telling time on clocks with hands.  I know there were more but those are the ones I was surprised they teach 1st graders.  She mastered all of them pretty much the first time the teacher taught them about it.  Her writing is also pretty impressive.  I'm not talking penmanship, that's pretty good too (she writes better than me =)  ) but the quality of her writing and the information, detail, and structure of her papers were the best in her class.  She got an award at the end of the school year for it.  Not only is she smart, but she in one of the most spiritual little kids I know.  She is constantly teaching me things.  She always reminds us to say prayers and asks questions about different topics.  There have been times that she has been sad about something at school and she tells me that she sat down and said a prayer and then her day went better.  I will also hear her saying her prayers at night.  I am the biggest slacker about nighttime prayers (That is on my to do list....).  I will tuck her in bed and as I am walking out of the room she starts saying her prayers without any prompting.  When she finds out one of her school friends doesn't go to church she gets so concerned and worried about them.  I tell her that by being a good friend and a good example she can help them to learn about the church and maybe one day they will want to go.  She has invited some of the girls to church but they haven't wanted to come.  I love that she is already a little missionary.  She is always willing to help out in primary at church.  Every Fast Sunday she wants to get up and bear her testimony.  I sure hope this light stays burning bright in her for the rest of her life.  It makes me so happy to see her make such good choices and be such a great example to those around her. She is turning into such a big helper with me.  Especially since I have been sick a lot lately she has been helping do stuff for her brother and help me things.  I love it that when she is hungry she can make herself a snack and will even get her brother one too.  She doesn't complain as much anymore about her chores of cleaning her room and feeding the dog.  Now all the sweet stuff being said......she has her diva/sassy times.  She can be very stubborn and wants to get her way. She also has a sassy little attitude and loves to argue (no clue where that comes from......).  I have been told on several occasions, as she is stomping down the stairs, "You're ruining my life!"  I thought I had a few more years before she hit this stage.....there are times she acts more like teenager (attitude) than a 7 year old.  Let's just hope she gets it out of her system now and will be an awesome teenager.....cross your fingers and toes for me please!!!  
I love my baby girl!  She lights up my life.  I couldn't imagine how it would be without her.  She brings so much joy to our lives.  I look forward to watching her grow and learn and can't wait to see the person she turns into.  If how she is now is any indication, she will be an amazing young lady.




For her birthday this year we didn't do a big party.  We have decided that every other year will be a family party.  But I told her that she could pick 2 friends and I would take them to go do something.  She chose her friends Maryann and Sammy.  They are in her class at school and in her primary class.  These girls love spending time together.  

I took them bowling at fat cats, then playing in the arcade, and then we ate pizza in the park.  These 3 girls polished off a large pizza by themselves!  They had lots of fun.  It was funny watching their competitive spirits come out when they were bowling.  Brenna and Sammy were neck and neck up until the last frame, but Sammy pulled ahead by 2 points.  I was worried that there would be drama and tears over losing but they were all happy and fine about it.

The next day was Saturday, the day before her birthday.  She got to choose whether we went out to eat or she got to pick any meal for mom to make.  She wanted to go to TGIFriday.  That's her favorite place.  After we were done eating, they brought her out a birthday sundae and then they sang "Happy Birthday" to her.  She loved getting the attention.  

Sunday was her actual birthday.  After church, we had Papa, Makayla, Jaydon, and Aunt Tasha come up for dinner and cake.  Brenna loves Shepherd's pie so I made that.  Then I made her a butterfly cake.

It turned out pretty good for last minute.  I spaced making the cake until the night before but then had to bake everything Sunday morning before church and then decorate it when we got home.  Normally that wouldn't be a big deal but when you have to do 4 little cakes and you only have 1 pan in the shape you need, it takes awhile.  Brenna helped decorate it.  Then it was time to blow out the candles after dinner.  Jason got the trick candles that kept relighting.....it was a hoot watching her try and blow them out each time.  She eventually got them. =)  

After that we did presents.  She got kinda spoiled this year.  She got this huge Littlest Pet Shop tree house, and then about 12 little animals that go in it.
She has been wanting a Bullseye horse (from Toy Story) for awhile.  I had been searching everywhere and couldn't find them anywhere.  Luckily, I had a friend that said she was going to the Disney Store in Salt Lake a few days before her birthday.  I told her to call me if they had any.  They did!  (and surprisingly they were cheaper there than the other stores I had seen them earlier in the year).  Brenna was stoked to get it!

Can you tell she liked her other present?  It's a Wappy Dog.  It's a little dog that you can control and play with with the nintendo ds.  It has a game with it too that you can play games with the dog on.  She has had so much fun playing with it.  she also got a Zoobles ds game too that she loves! (Zoobles are the girls version of the boy toys bakimon or something like that.  They are little balls that spring open when they are on metal.  The boy version have "battles" but the girls just play and have fun with theirs.)


She also got a sprinkler and bubbles from Ian.  The sprinkler is a long tube that lays on the grass and has water shooting out of it in different places.  The kids will have lots of fin playing.  Ian was happy to be able to pick something out for his sister for her "happy birthday."  He even sang to her and gave her a hug and kiss that morning.  It was super cute!

After the fun was over we headed outside and watched the solar eclipse.  Brenna thought it was pretty special that there was an eclipse on her birthday.  Papa brought his welding mask and we were able to look through it to get a good view of it.

Brenna had a very good birthday and we had lots of fun celebrating this sweet girl of ours!



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