Birthday Baby

During our last beach trip with Jeff's family, I celebrated a birthday.  I have learned that there comes an age when you should stop expecting people to make a big deal about your birthday.  And that age is 11.  The one perk of birthdays when you're older is that you can play the birthday card.  (Not a birthday card, the birthday card.)  As in "It's my birthday, so I'm not cleaning anything today."  or "It's my birthday, so I'm eating nothing but chocolate today."  Or "It's my birthday, so will everyone wake up really early, put on some nice clothes, and take family pictures on the beach?  Please?"

The Birthday Card: works every time.  It was cloudy and overcast the entire week, except for the half hour we took family pictures when it was blazingly bright.  So this is our squinty family picture.  My talented sister-in-law, Mani of Emmanuelle's Photography, did a really lovely job, despite the bright light.  If you live in Utah, you should hire her.  Miles got sand in his eyes right after this, so he was done.

Now for the real reason for this post.  Today is our little girl's birthday and since she's eight years old, I'm going to make a big deal about it.

We love this little girl!  Chloe brings a lot of balance to our home.  She's the girliest of girls.  I once asked her if she wanted to sign up to play soccer and she looked at me like something smelled bad and said, "No!"  She prefers dancing and singing and painting her nails and playing with friends and watching movies with her mom. 

She'll laugh at your jokes (even if they aren't funny) and at least five times a night, she'll come out for "one last hug."  She never wants to hurt anyone's feelings, to the point where I have to remind her daily that her feelings matter, too. 

She's up for anything (like wakeboarding and playing American Ninja Warrior with her brothers) if it means she gets to be a part of the fun.  She rarely gets to play what she wants to play, but never complains about it.  When she comes up against obstacles, she usually has a good cry about it, and then pushes through and does what needs to be done.  I want to be more like her.

Chloe is looking forward to this year when she'll be baptized, move to a house where her bedroom isn't connected to the boys' room, and make new friends at a new school.

We can't wait to see what she does next.