Grace turns FIVE!!!

My baby is five! November 22nd, Grace had her fifth birthday. She continues to amaze us with how "old" she is for her age. Her vocabulary remains enormous ("oh my, your hair smells delicious!", "Mommy, is this store available for going into?", "Sister, you are frustrating me to pieces!") She is already writing well ahead of the curve, reading several words, and adding more every day. She is taller than a lot of kids two or three years older than her (she has to have jeans size 7/8 for the length). She LOVES to sing and dance and twirl to any kind of music, and plays a mean air-guitar too. Grace's new-found main passion right now, though, is gymnastics. Once a week we pack off to the gym, where she is learning tumbling, beam, and is even starting on bars now.


Way more important, however, is her sweet heart and the spirit God is fostering within her. Grace truly seems to attune to others easily and goes out of her way to make people laugh or smile. She is an excellent big sister 99% of the time and teaches Lily so many things. She is already becoming our little prayer warrior, sometimes even praying for issues of people that we aren't even yet aware of. Grace routinely floors me with her complex questions about God and spirituality, and Lee and I can both see God at work in our oldest. Talk about amazing!

Here are some highlights for the big girl's birthday:

On Grace's actual birthday (not the day of her party), we took her to eat at our favorite spot here in Graham. When Vetoni's found out that it was her birthday, they brought her a huge piece of cheesecake (that she refused to share AT ALL) and sang to her. She loved it, and blushed like a pro!




The asked-for purple/pink/princess/castle/sparkly cake.


Grace's reaction to the cake. This is a true representation of her most-excited smile




She is the only small child I know that cares about cards. She carefully read through each one and stacked them to peruse later!



Happy Birthday Sweet Girl! We are proud to be your parents!