Happy 9th Birthday, Olivia!

Sunday, we celebrated Olivia's 9th birthday, beginning with our traditional breakfast in bed.  The birthday girl chose monkey bread, and I added some oranges and some eggs scrambled with spinach.

Olivia is our animal lover, so her gift from us was a fish tank that she will fill when we move to Dallas in a few weeks.



After church, family started to arrive to help us celebrate Olivia.  We filled up the table,



 our little living room,



and soon our little two-bedroom house was overflowing with people on the porch.  I kept pinching myself because it's been so long since we've been able to celebrate our kids' birthday with extended family.  Four of Olivia's grandparents, three great-grandparents, one of her uncles, and my cousin and cousin-in-law joined us for the afternoon!



Sarah made Olivia's "birthday cake", really a four layer delight.  One tinted pink and one tinted orange.  Both were delicious.





So thankful for our spunky Olivia that God gave us in the midst of a crazy seminary schedule nine years ago.  He knew exactly what our family needed!



And what a treat to live in the same town as so many of our family members.



Thanks so much to all of you who called or sent cards.  Sunday truly was a special day for all of us.