Vanessa's Birthday

The night before Vanessa's birthday I picked my parents up from the airport so she woke up to some of her favorite people.  She knew they were coming, so it wasn't a surprise, but she was thrilled to have them.  I had gone all out on making her cake this year.  It was something I have wanted to try for a while and I really enjoyed doing it.  I watched several youtube videos and made the cake and frostings ahead of time.  I went over to a friend's the day before so she could help me a little with the decorating.  I was really happy with how it turned out.  I am pretty sure Vanessa saw it while we were working on it, but she still made a good surprise face for me.  I think she was happy with it.  It tasted good anyway, so that's what counts the most.

I asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday and she chose to go to McDonalds.  So thats what we did.  First, we made a stop at Toys R Us and my parents let her pick out any toy she wanted.  She is in a period of indecisiveness and was a little overwhelmed with the decision.  She finally chose a strawberry shortcake and polly pocket.  After we eat at McDonalds and played for awhile, we went home and opened presents.  Jon didn't have the day off but he was off early enough that he was able to meet us for lunch.  After presents, the kids played with her gifts and we had tomato soup for dinner.  It used to be one of Vanessa's favorites but she decided she doesn't really like it anymore.  Benson loved it though.  So at least he like Vanessa's birthday dinner.  We invited Vanessa's two neighbor friends over to have cake with us, Grant and Sofie.  Sofie couldn't come but Grant did.  Even with the extra help eating the cake, we only ate about 1/3 of it.
The rest of the week was filled with fun adventures and lots of attention from Grandma and Grandpa.  I think Vanessa loved all her gifts.  She got lots of books and two new Barbie movies.  Also Hungry Hungry Hippos, a doll, glow in the dark stars, pjs, and a new outfit.
I can hardly believe this girl is five, and starting kindergarten next year.  Vanessa is an amazing girl.  She has a lot of love for her brothers, for the gospel, and for family.  She loves to be with friends and yet never complains about family day on Sunday.  She barely blinked about missing birthday parties because they were on Sunday.  She loves to read the scriptures (or at least hear summaries of the stories).  She is by nature very obedient and is very embarrassed when she gets in trouble.  She likes to be right and to do it right, the first time.  She is learning to be really helpful with the boys.  I love to see her relationship with them grow.  She likes to play with little toys with Benson and likes to jump and be rough with Brig.  She is so good about getting me for Benson, to let me know he wants to be moved, or jump on the tramp, etc.  I hope she never loses that love or tenderness.  It's one of my favorite things about her.  Happy Birthday Sweet Girl.  We love you!