TWELVE!

 March 14 is a special day for this girl! 

It's her birthday! 

She really wanted to open all of her presents first thing in the morning, but she still had sleeping sisters and they would have been mad if they missed out..

So, I let her open one before she headed out to school.

A cute homemade owl pillow- 

When she got home from school, she said she had had a good day and a few friends had even decorated  her locker! 

We surprised  her with something not from her list...

a rip stick.

She is always going two doors down to borrow from a neighbor boy- to ride his... he is always willing to let her borrow... now she has one of her own...

 She's a pro!

 After dinner we let her open a few more gifts...

new earphones for her mp3, a bath robe, and word search book, and a communication note book-(so that when she is in one of her moods and doesn't want to talk about it- she can write me note, and I can write back.... so far, this has been an amazing thing)

 No cake for this girl..... Oreo dessert!

 These two love each other so much... and they are so much alike... sometimes too alike... which means they are both hard headed and sometimes fight...

We are all working on helping them build a good strong relationship, especially as we go into the emotional teenage years....

 We planned to take Kara to lunch and a movie on Saturday, and take  few friends along...

Little did she know that that wasn't going to happen.

I had invitations out to several of her friends to help us do a surprise party for her Friday.

She ran with Drew to get pizza for dinner, thinking our good friends the Matthews were coming for dinner.... 

So when she walked into the house to find differently, she was a little shocked!

 Luckily she didn't drop the pizza!

Her friends were really cute in surprising her, and talked about how hard it was to keep the secret for a week.

 The weather was nice so the girls ate pizza out side...

 Dad decided to open the pool to help get them excited for all the pool parties we will be having....

It was a little cold on their toes.... 38 degrees

We really hope for a warm spring to warm up the water so we can start swimming when school lets out.

 After pizza, and  a little hanging out, I sent the girls in 2 groups around the neighborhood doing a picture scavenger hunt.  They had a great time trying to find all the items on the list...

Here are a few pictures of each group...

After we all met back for a human pyramid...

The girls then spent time eating, playing just dance and playing volleyball in the back yard until dark-

It was a lot of fun surprising Kara, and seeing her with so many wonderful friends. I am so thankful for the good friends that she has and that they are all striving to do what is right and that they are a good support for each other.

Happy Birthday Kara!

We are so excited for you as you embrace your new adventure of being in the Young Women's program..

 but always remember how special it was that your mom got to be your Primary president, and how much she will miss seeing you in primary each week !

You are a beautiful daughter!

Love you!