Abi's 11th Birthday!

Abi turned 11 on Friday! It's so hard to believe that our baby original (stole that from a friend!) is 11! She had a friend spend the night this year. We alternate years on parties to make them a bit more special when you do have them. Plus, the party is part of their gift so they get a nicer gift every other year. ;-) Abi has such a hard time deciding which friend to invite. She has an incredible group of girl friends and is equally close with all of them. The decision process starts in early December for her and after many tears and "I'm going to hurt someone's feelings!", she makes a decision about 2 weeks before. For some moms, this would be horrible. I think it's an incredible blessing. That means she has a great group of friends who are all very important to her.

 The morning started with a new tradition: homemade donuts! I must say, they were very good and very easy to make!

 Here she is with the traditional food number. The 11 was pretty easy!

Abi had her first baby-sitting job (that was not family) job on her birthday! Actually, she is more of a mother's helper. She loves to work and was so excited to do this! Thanks again Kara! After that was book club with her friends and she took a popcorn mix for snack. And her sweet friend gifted her with a Webkinz. Abi has been wanting a Webkinz forever she was thrilled!

Anna Jo spent the night and they mainly stayed in Abi's room for the evening playing American Dolls. I adore the fact that my 11 yr. old still plays dolls! She enjoys fixing her hair and keeping up with the latest fashion but she is also still a little girl, which is how it should be! They came out and did have dinner with us. ;-) Abi chose to have Chinese meatballs with sugar snap peas and red bell peppers and the Raffray's blessed her by bringing a Chinese chicken soup. It was all very good!

 For her cake, she chose a cookie monster. Our family loves the cookie monster! This was Peter's first time to have one. We didn't remember to remind him the pan was still hot. Oops. :-/

 Peter bought her this hat. He came out on his own singing Happy Birthday to her!

 

After that, we finally opened gifts! The boys each chose a Lego friend set to give her. She loves those!

 I think we really surprised her with our gift...

 Tickets to see "Wicked" in April! She asked for it but she had no idea we would really get them. She loves all things Broadway so this is right up her ally!

The next morning, the girls hung out and then we did a bit of shopping.

 

  We rushed home to celebrate Abi's birthday with our family. She loved all her gifts and enjoyed some red velvet brownies. She loves all things red velvet!

Happy 11th Birthday Abi Cakes! You have certainly grown from the little bit that you were 11 years ago! We are so proud of the young woman you are becoming. We love the fact that you are such a prissy tomboy! But most of all, we love the fact that you love Jesus! Keep Him close, Abs, because He is the most important gift you will ever receive!