It's Great to be Eight!

Our sweet little Lauren turned eight on June 2. She had a great day. We started out the morning with presents and strawberry crepes. In the afternoon, Cade treated her to a trip over to Show Low. They had ice cream and watched the movie "UP". Later, we invited my parents over for her very favorite meal of chicken corn chowder. It was a great day. We rented the pool for a "friends" party today, and she will be baptised on Saturday.

Here are Eight GREAT things about Lauren:

1. When she was born, the first thing the nurse said was "Wow! Look at those big dimples."

2. When I was pregnant with her, we chose not to find out the gender of the baby. As we were deciding on names, I had a dream that I was in the most beautiful, elegant store. It had dark wood floors and rich emerald furnishings. I looked up at the name of the store and it was "Lauren's". When I woke up, I knew that was her name. We never could come up with a boy name...

3. For better or worse, she is doted on by our family. We tried to have a baby for 5 years before she was born, so when she arrived, every moment was celebrated. Cade is 9 years older than her and Syd is 6 years older, so not only is she the baby, she is almost an "only" child.
4. When she was a baby, she loved to be held. If she got fussy, I could calm her down by rubbing lotion on her feet. To this day, she begs to have her feet or back rubbed.

5. I always wanted a kid with pretty blue eyes like Ryan's. Lauren is that kid.

6. Like all of my kids, she has a competitive streak. During Christmas break, she decided to create her own "Ashton Book of World Records". She had me time her doing various things, like running around the house, drinking a glass of water, etc. Then she would challenge Cade to do those same things. (Why? I don't know.) Needless to say, she spent a lot of time being frustrated that he could beat her. That is, until she came up with the standing on your head challenge. She whipped him, and now holds that title all by herself.

7. She really is a sweet kid. She worries about peoples feelings. She likes making things for other people and helping out with chores. She especially likes to do the dishes.

8. She loves to read. Right now she is working her way through the Magic Tree House series. I am almost willing to buy one for every long trip we take. She sits in the back and reads without saying a word.

Which reminds me--the girl can talk. And talk and talk. She loves to visit (with anyone) and talk and talk and talk.

And finally, we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her.

*Thanks to Lori for the great picture*