Leah is 12!

Finally!  After waiting all year long (much longer than everyone else has to wait for their birthdays, she is sure!), Leah's birthday finally arrived!

With a birthday on Sunday, we spent the entire weekend celebrating this cute girl!  Starting with a confusing card from Grandma and a shopping trip for the girls!  

 Our goal was to find some cute new dresses and shoes for Leah, who is so excited to be joining the Young Women at church.  Of course, Emma wanted aaaallll the glitter!

Success!   

 Leah went back and forth on what kind of birthday celebration she would like to have, and finally settled on an IHOP at home un-slumber party.  

Emma and Noah volunteered to be the servers, and Adam volunteered to disappear into his room all night.  Smart boy. 

Daddy and I were the cooks behind the curtain, and Adam did come down for some pancakes!

It was fun to see Leah with some of her favorite friends, 

chatting and giggling about all things middle school.  Like who has occasionally annoying siblings- 

and who she has known the longest here in Iowa. 

There was Just Dance and treats and a movie and it was a perfect low-key way to celebrate.  But that fun night was just a piece of Leah's birthday celebration.  

There was more shopping, 

 and birthday morning surprises and breakfast in bed

 None of those presents was a phone, much to Emma's dismay.  We have made it clear that phones are not arriving in our children's hands anytime soon, so for now that's not even a question. 

All ready for her first day in Young Women! 

 We invited one of our favorite families over for cupcakes and games that night, and Leah decorated the cupcakes herself!

Look at this cute birthday girl! 

And look at all those candles!  How is she already 12?! 

Of course, the very best part of Leah's 12th birthday was taking her to the temple for the first time.  She was so so SO excited for our trip to Omaha- just the three of us! 

 It was a long drive but we enjoyed a beautiful sunset, tasty food, great Piano Guys music, and sweet conversation with our big girl who is growing up to be such a lovely young lady.

And once we got there, the temple was beautiful!

She was ready to go!

And the experience was wonderful.  We were greeted by familiar and friendly faces from Des Moines (unplanned), had a great time doing work for some of our ancestors, and loved seeing her joyful smile through the whole night.  We are excited to go back again soon!

So happy birthday to Leah!  Leah is such a joy to our family!  She has an infectious and beautiful smile, is incredibly patient with her little sisters and brothers (most of the time), and works hard at school.  She is friendly to everyone and I have heard so many times over the years how much people like being around her because she is no-drama and so fun.  Just the way it should be!  

She doesn't appreciate people that don't follow the rules, make unnecessarily loud noises, or can't stop talking.  Which is basically middle school in a nutshell, but she is doing her best and we've had lots of conversations about the stories she'll have to tell her kids about her mean PE teacher, her boring science teacher and the times that she felt invisible in middle school.  It's all character building, and she's doing a wonderful job of navigating what is bound to be some tough years (because that's the way it is for everyone). 

Leah just loves reading- give her a captivating new book and she will dive right into it and won't come out again until it's done.  She loves to play the violin (performing more than practicing, of course), likes to play the clarinet, and still wanders over to the piano often to make music.  

When the weather allows it, she's outside on her roller blades or scooter or bike, otherwise she's inside leading the kids in a crazy game of Piggie Patrol in the basement or crafting up something beautiful.  

She loves to help in the kitchen and is thrilled that she has the chance to complete the church Personal Progress program before they roll out a new one next year.  She's focused on improving her baking and cooking skills, memorizing meaningful hymns and learning to conduct them, interviewing her mom and practicing skills of motherhood, and sewing a modest item of clothing right now.  I just love the good things that the church youth program offers.  

Leah is kind to everyone.  She doesn't have one best friend, but she has a lot of friends that she loves spending time with.  She's bravely made new friends in middle school this year while maintaining friendships with her elementary school friends.  If she could pick, of course, she would just like to spend all of her time with her family- she hates that her cousins are just so far away!

Leah is my guinea pig baby!  She understands that I'm learning about motherhood as she grows up, and I'm so grateful that she makes it easy for me.  She's one of my very best friends, and it's so fun to watch her as she just keeps growing up.  We're happily in the sharing shoes and clothes stage right now, and I have a feeling that it's not going to be much longer before she's looking down at me all of the time.  

But she'll always be our little girl.  We're so proud of who you're becoming every day- we love you!  Happy birthday Leah!!