Happy 8th birthday to a beautiful girl

 It's hard to believe that this sweet, adorable and precious baby is 8! It seems not so long ago her and I were spending our days in the rocking chair in that tiny little apartment in Pullman.  Damon was in his first year of grad school, and his hours were pretty intense. Motherhood was new to me, and so was not working.  I loved that little girl, my whole life revolved around her and making her happy.  I still love her, and my whole world revolves around her and her sister and brothers now as well. The saying of "days go by slow, but the years go by fast" are so true.   I am amazed when I see what a wonderful little person she is growing into.   She is beautiful on the inside and out.  

With turning 8 a big milestone has arrived.  She will be baptized on Nov 26th, just after Thanksgiving. She is a blessed little girl to have so many of her family members willing to sacrifice their time and money to come and share her special day.   We are looking forward to it, with excitement, and a bit of emotion.  Recently, she came home from girl scouts and shared this story with her Daddy, who in turn told it to me.   Her girl scout leader had prepared some tea as part of a lesson and learning object. In our religion, we have been taught to abstain from tea and coffee and other substances. We have taught our children about the word of wisdom and explained why we feel and believe in this way. We have also explained that not everyone believes as we do, so therefore it is not appropriate to make others feel as they should believe as we do, or try to make them feel bad or make them feel like we think they are bad people.  Because of course we do not feel that way!!  It is just our belief.  Returning to my story, her troop leader had prepared the tea and asked the girls to drink it.   Maddie said " I knew it was the wrong choice, so I did not drink the tea"  I didn't say anything to Miss Julene, I just left the tea on the table and did not drink it, but was still a part of the group".  When I heard this, it really brought me to tears to know that she was strong enough to hold to her beliefs, but handled it in such a mature way. It must of been hard for her to be in that situation, with her peers and leaders, and to still chose what she believed was right. She is really growing and learning, and its so nice to know that I can trust her to make good decisions when I am not around. I am really proud of her.

For her birthday this year, she wanted to go out to dinner to Nagoya, a hibachi grill place here in town.  She loves it there.  Afterwards, we went out and bought her some new roller blades. I had found her a crummy pair about a year ago at a yard sale, and she has worn them until they are pretty much toast.  We did not mind spending the money for a new, nicer pair for her. She states every day, several times a day, how much she LOVES her new roller blades.   I am so glad.   

 For her cake she asked for a cookie cake, and she wanted to decorate it herself. 

 That weekend, she had her friend party. She told me she wanted a more grown up party this year. So we had a Friday evening party and invited about 10 kids over.   9 girls and 1 boy.  Parker Hansen is the Bishops son, and they might have a small romance going on.  When he left the party, he gave her this piece of paper with a note.  I soon found out the note said " I love you".  Later when I asked her about it and how she felt about the note, she responded with "  I don't care, I like him too!"  Da who was sitting right there about died!!  I was a little speechless myself.  :) 

For the party we had the kids make pizza boats and decorate their own cookies.  We also played minute to win it games.  After the party Da and I were exhausted.   I looked at him and said, " I can see why parents drop a hundred bucks at the jump zone"  He agreed.  However, the kids had such fun!  So in that case, it was all worth it!

Happy birthday Maddie Sue!  You are so loved and we are so proud of you!