Half Way to Sweet Sixteen

Today my sweet firstborn daughter "#1" (sometimes for fun we like to refer to them as their number of birth order - ha ha) is officially 8 years old. She wanted to bring donuts to school this morning for her birthday celebration at school. So we went down to the store at 6:50am this morning picking out donuts. I grabbed orange juice to go with it, because there had to be something healthy about the treat!

Tonight we celebrate with her birthday dinner. Her menu choice:

• Gyozas
• Sticky Rice
• Summer Rolls
• Yellow Curry
• Egg Rolls

Yep, she went with an Asian theme - she LOVES these...so, I think we will be having quite the feast tonight.

Now, what is a birthday without celebrating more than just a day...we like to extend birthdays (especially when the actual birthday does not fall on a weekend).
Sophia celebrated with friends on Saturday - a Crafty Corner birthday party! I will share more about this scrumptious party later. But, it was full of crafts, glue, paint, messes, and kids! AND, a rainbow cake - so sweet for my sweet colorful girl!

Sunday was added another glorious day for my baby! She was baptized. How sweet to be able to celebrate her birthday, but to also celebrate outwardly her new birth in Christ too. She was ready to publicly display her relationship to Christ with her friends and family.
She said, "I was so nervous, but I felt so HAPPY when I came out of the water! It felt really good mom!" - I cried watching her go under the water with her Papa and the Pastor. I think this has got to be one of the most wonderful experiences for me as a mom to watch. It truly blesses my heart to hear/watch my daughter desiring to follow Christ and give her life completely to HIM. I love knowing that I will be rejoicing and singing with her in heaven someday.

Later she had asked me if we can only be baptized once. Ha ha, I said, "Yes, you only need to be baptized once" - she loved the experience of being baptized that she wanted to do it again and again because it was so special to her. That just tickled my spirit! How beautiful to be reminded of the childlike excitment of sharing your life as a child of God.

And, the celebrating has continued....donuts this morning, asian inspired birthday dinner tonight, and special birthday date with her Papa. (He takes them out to do special time together - the girls love to have dates with their Papa).

Now... I need to share just this little snippet of the beauty of childlike faith. Sophia has no fear in sharing what happened to her this weekend. (I want to get teary eyed again) - Sophia shared with the check-out clerk at Safeway this morning that she had been baptized yesterday.
Her words: "Guess what? Today is my birthday and I chose the chocolate donut with sprinkles. But, you know what I was baptized yesterday!! I was really nervous at first, but I was so happy when I came out of the water. I was at the lake when I got baptized and loved it!"
The clerk responded with such enthusiasm, "Wow, that is really neat!"

Yes, it was. It was super weekend and memorable one at that!
Happy Birthday to my sweet #1
Sophia - I love you!