Birthday Girl

Dear Olivia,

Earlier this month you turned nine! It is so hard for me to believe how grown up you are. I feel so blessed to be your mom and I'm so proud of the wonderful girl you are. You are kind and thoughtful and generous. You go out of your way to help others and make other people feel included. You have a strong testimony of the gospel and a deep desire to do what is right. You are a great older sister to Coleman and Sophia, and they both love you so much and look up to you. When dad blessed you as a baby, he blessed you to have patience with your parents, and boy, have you needed it! We are learning about parenting and we make mistakes, but you are forgiving and loving. I am especially grateful that you are patient with me.

It seemed so grown up to me that for your birthday this year you wanted a watch and clothes--I'm glad you threw a pogo stick on your list so you got at least one toy! You are always so gracious when other people give you things and you love to write notes to say "thanks" which I think is great.

For your cake you really wanted the same cake we got last year for your baptism that had a big mum made of marshmallow cream frosting, but we couldn't find any bakery that could make it for you, so I found a recipe and did a little experimenting... it didn't turn out so well, but you were very gracious about it anyway! They did taste pretty good, but they sure didn't hold their shape and by the end of the night most of the frosting had drooped off. Oh well!

We celebrated your special day with a few close friends at a "late night" and you all laughed and laughed as you made pizzas, painted pillowcases, and watched a movie together. We tried out "Heavy, Heavy Hangover" as you opened your gifts which got pretty silly! I love that you are a good friend to so many people.

I hope you know how much I love you and respect you. Happy birthday, sweet Liv!

Love,
Mom