☆ Happy 8th birthday, to our Emma! ☆

Is it true Emma is really 8 years old?  When did that happen?  Life really goes by in a flash!   We had a great time celebrating, Emma style!  On Friday, mom, Lucy and Cov suprised Emma at school by bringing happy meals and eating with her at lunch in the cafeteria.  Aafter lunch we took some donuts to her class that she picked out the night before.  The class was really excited and very nice to Em and her teacher Mrs. Erickson joked with her that she was turning 88 instead of 8.  She giggled about that.  They sang "Happy Birthday" to her.  It seems Emma is enjoying her new teacher and class this year and making some good friends.  Everyone gushed over how cute Lucy and Cov were.  And then her teacher told me to check her out early because they finished most of their work already.  A teacher encouraging sluffing school?!  Em that was pretty cool!  So we went to the playground and played to wait for Callahan to get out.

Saturday we went to Casper to celebrate a day early since Emma's birthday fell on Sunday and there wasn't much we could do.  I surprised her with a shirt with a girl and kitty on it and a matching hat.  She loved it!  We went shopping at the mall per Emma's request.  we went to Target, Ross and Claire's, played at the indoor playground,  the kids got to pick out some gum balls and mostly just window shopped.  Emma loved the purse she got in the dollar clearance section Claire's and looks so grown up carrying it around the clutch.  Then we went to eat at a tasty steak house.  It was delicious and really beautiful inside and out, just like our girl.  Emma loves meat and mashed potatoes and this was what she wanted.  We had peach cobbler with ice cream for dessert and everyone devoured that.  We also went to run some errands at Sam's Club and Walmart to get some stuff on our list and the things we needed for family visiting us from Utah for Emma's baptism the following week.  On the way home we spotted a rainbow which Em thought was very cool and took a picture of.  We've been singing "When I am baptized" which talks about rainbows and we've been singing it alot lately.  It was so fun to see that and Emma is very excited to get baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, less than a week after her birthday.

Sunday, the 31st, she woke up and had her favorite Reese's puffs for breakfast then we were off to church.  They sang to Emma in primary and I got to be there that day.  It was so fun, she gets a little rosy in the cheeks and kind of embarrassed when she is the center of attention but she really loves it.  That afternoon, we looked at her baby book, played some games, the family ate some dinner daddy grilled and she got to decorate her own cake, which she thought was great!  Budding cake decorator here.  She made it blue (her favorite color) and purple, a two-tiered cake.  It was fun to watch her do it.  We sang to her and ate cake and ice cream.  We Skyped with family and she talked to some on the phone.   Then she opened presents.  She got some Legos, a kandama, and a new triple quad setof Scriptures and case.  I was surprised of all of her presents, she was most excited about those, and has been reading them a lot!  They are nice, and I have to admit I'm a little jealous.  It's been so neat seeing her get so fired up about reading the word of God.  It was a great few days celebrating this special girl.  We love you, Em!

Emma at 8

Such a sweet helper at home and school.  Who doesn't love Emma!?

Loves riding her bike, playing games on my phone, rough housing and reading late into the night.

Doesn't enjoy pracricing the piano but is very good at it.

Is getting so tall!  She is often mistaken for a 10 or 11 year old.  I give her a few years and think she will be taller than me.

Likes experimenting with makeup and taking long showers.

She is getting more freckles, and that and her little grin are so cute.

She can be very defiant sometimes and likes debating with us sometimes when we ask her to do or not do something.

Picks up on things and understands very quickly and well.

Favorites:

Color - turquoise, mint

TV Show - Jessie

Food - Milkshakes and steak

School subject - Science, reading

Song - "The Family is of God", "Christophori's Dream"

Best Friends - Erika, Zoey, Christine, her cousins

Books - Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park and the Rainbow Fairies books

Animal - cats (shes our mini crazy cat lady and has so many stuffed litties on her bed I cantfind her most mornings.  She has names for them all and knows when even one is missing.)

Movies - Frozen, the Hobbit,  Epic