Day 9--Feliz Cumpleanos, Brooklynn!

Asher & his buddy, Koen.

Molly

Jones

Olivia & Brittany

Brooklynn's cousin, Olivia

My buddies from school-Brandi, Hayden, & Jenni

Nate--painting the kids.

The birthday girl.

Mmm, good.

The birthday girl and her special cake.

Brooklynn, her new Dora bike, (of course) and trying out her tiny bikini from Emily.

The birthday girl opening her gifts!

We can hardly believe our little girl has turned three! She is growing up so fast and sometimes it feels like she could be four or five! She is so smart and is already keeping her Dad and I in line. ;) She is such a great big sis and loves her little brother dearly. And she is the greatest thing in his eyes. We are truly blessed to have such sweet kids.

We hadn't planned to throw Brooklynn a party with friends this year until she started telling us about her Dora party. She talked details even down to the Dora napkins. We couldn't imagine breaking her little heart! So we threw a Dora party and it was a hit! We had Dora landscapes covering two of the walls, a short table set up for kids, tons of Dora decoration and even a Dora cake in the style that my Mom used to make for us kids. What is great about the cake is that Nate decorated it! He did an awesome job, and I was glad that he had a pretty big contribution to make to the party, and it turned out great! There was one close call, though. The night before, we put the cake in the oven to hide from Brooklynn. You know that whole catastrope--you turn the oven on and forget the cake? Well it happened! Except the good news was that the preheating of the oven DIDN'T ruin the cake! It came out looking pretty much the same; just a little melting of frosting in the hair area. No big thing. It was a close call! Nate also did face painting on the kiddos and they loved it. Feliz Cumpleanos, Brooklynn!