Happy Birthday Abigail!!!

Birthdays are fun, especially when the party planning starts months ahead of time. The excitement and anticipation grows as the birthday chain gets shorter and shorter each day.

Abby had a hard time going to sleep the night before her birthday, the excitement was killing her! She wrote out a cute list of things she expected on her special day--party with friends, family party in the morning, German pancakes for breakfast, lunch with dad at school, ice cream sandwiches for school class treats, no jobs for a whole day. . . the list went on and on.

So, naturally John and I felt the pressure to live up to her expectations and make her day the best ever.

I think we succeeded. At the end of the day as we were getting ready for bed, she mentioned that "this was the best day ever".

John and I enjoyed lunch with her at school. After school she spent a lot of time riding her new bike (and loved the freedom of having NO jobs or homework after school-what a life!). Then that evening three friends came over for a small party. They made their own pizzas, played a few games, decorated personalized mugs, and had strawberry cupcakes. It made for a fun and easy party.

I'll never forget the first impressions I had of Abby when she was born. Her birth was by far the easiest and shortest of all our children. As I held her in my arms for the first time, I felt like we knew each other well and had been best friends somewhere else, before this life.

As she has grown up, I have always enjoyed her company. When she was three years old, I remember feeling like she was one of my good friends, not just a child that I mothered. She was John's "sweet girl" from day one and holds a dear spot in his heart. We couldn't imagine our lives without her!