Climbing together

 Mariana promised to take Anastasia climbing long ago when a new place opened up in town. They finally made it today and had a great time together.

4 H Stuff

 These two really enjoy the Clover Kids meetings before the regular ones. This time they made bird feeders by coating ice cream cones in peanut butter and rolling them in bird seed.

Anastasia attended a photography workshop today. She had a lot of fun taking photos since their photo walk included a dog park, and she learned a lot too.

Foosball fun

 These girls are in their RE while I teach the preschool class. This is where I always find them when I am finished cleaning up and ready to head home. They have some intensely fun competitions!

Happy 15th Birthday, Gloria!

 In true form (as Gloria has always been eager to catch up to her big sisters, from talking and potty training early until now...) she has been trying to learn to drive for years. Pawpaw has accommodated her a couple of times in a private parking lot, but finally the real day has come. She wanted a DPS appointment today (and spent the week finishing the coursework required), so we made it happen. After breakfast and gifts, she and I headed off. Much to our relief, we had all the paperwork and left with her permit a mere hour or so later. We are excited for her to start learning. Allia treated her to a lunch date, but we had a low key dinner since she was still full from lunch.

We are so thankful for our smart, conscientious, driven girl (no pun intended). We hope it's a great year of learning and growing!

Anastasia's Birthday Party

She opted for a pajama party this year (which sadly meant no boy friends, but 'tis the age). So we had a sweet group of girls over for dinner, cupcake decorating and a movie. They had such a fun time and decorated some pretty cupcakes. It was so great to celebrate our Anastasia!

Happy 11th Birthday, Anastasia!

 We opened family gifts early, then she got Chick fil A breakfast. Allia took her to lunch, and we had pasta alfredo (one of her favorite's) for dinner. She generously let her younger siblings help build her legos and enjoy her other gifts. What a girl!

She and Gloria also opened their gifts from Lito and Lita...fancy nail kits.

We are very thankful for our helpful, adventurous, amazing Anastasia!

Happy 65th Birthday, Lita!

 After some low key New Year's Eve activities, we headed to Lita's again New Year's morning to celebrate Lita's birthday with family and friends. There was a band with dancing on the back porch, yummy food, and balloons galore.