Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to the most amazing 8 year old I know!

And now to brag a bit about my amazing daughter......

She's definitely the peacemaker in our home and wise for her age. I suspect that just because of her personality she will have endless opportunities at her fingertips throughout her life. She will also be an excellent mother, because she is already a better mother than I am. She is a genius at school. Literally. She's in a 2/3 combo class and when the kids scores on various things are graphed, she's not only the top of the class, she's leaps and bounds above the entire class. She has a deep understanding of the gospel for an 8 year old and takes it all very seriously. She is always trying to better herself (case in point her new years resolutions). She takes time to memorize scriptures and seeks out deeper meaning from scripture stories. Sometimes I watch her in amazement. I'm honored to be her mother.

We celebrated the beginning of her 8th year of life with some pretty cool things. She lucked out and got the day off of school for teacher in-service. So she got to sleep in and the we headed off to Claire's as soon as they opened so she could get her ears pierced. Ains was possibly the toughest ear pierce-ee ever. She barely flinched. She had been looking forward to it for years. And she spent the rest of the day running in the bathroom to look at her ears.
We spent the afternoon at home and she got to help make her birthday cake. When I asked her what kind of cake she wanted this year she was a little stumped. I think this is because she doesn't really like cake. So I pointed out that she could maybe choose an ice cream cake. Because she loves ice cream. We found a recipe for a banana split cake, adjusted it to our liking, and made the most awesome and yummy cake. (If you like ice cream.)

We spent the evening at Red Robin with Kortney and her girls. Ains chose Red Robin because they sing to you and you get ice cream. She looked thrilled when there was suddenly a crowd surrounding our table singing for her. And she ate the entire ice cream sundae all by herself. Then we came back to our house for presents, cake, and a movie.
Her gifts were very much centered on her up-coming baptism. Scriptures, baptism dress, and such. She just seems so old. We had a late night party watching Dolphin Tail and I'm pretty sure she went to be happy last night. After she looked at her earrings one last time.

We love you Ainsley!