The Beckman Blog

So, I was going to label this post as July 2014 and indicate it was the second half.  But then I realized the “second half” was basically all about Emma anyway.

Emma turned 8.  Wow.  She is growing and maturing so quickly!

As always, Abby also wanted in the picture. Emma was more than willing to accommodate, taking her under her arm. :)

She was so excited to turn 8!  These were taken the Sunday prior – she’d chosen this outfit because it reminded her of baptism.  :)

The 8th birthday is a “big party” birthday in our family.  We don’t do big parties every year – we’ll allow a couple of friends, but not a lot, but the 8th (and 12th and 16th) can be bigger parties.

Only Emma didn’t want a big party.  She did request a playdate with one friend who lives farther away, but that would have to wait until later in the month.  So for her actual birthday, she wanted a quiet family party.

She chose one of her favorite outfits and wanted pictures with me.

I obviously am not very good at selfies.  She looks cute though.  :)

Bryan stepped in to help out.

Much better.  :)   

Then she helped me make her cake.  A simple vanilla cake, what she wanted.  :)  And she arranged the candles.

A heart. :)

And for the cake “ceremony”:

Singing

Note Abby’s face as Emma takes a breath.  I didn’t at the time…

Yep, Abby’s ready to help.

This was about the point where I realized what Abby was doing.

We had to remind Abby that it was *Emma’s* birthday, not hers.  :)

Yep, Abby loved that.

Emma even handled the candle interference with a gentle patience.

I don’t know that I’ve seen a child have such a sweet, peaceful birthday.  She really carried about a light with her that day.  Such a beautiful girl, inside and out!

Zoo day

And the most anticipated part of her birthday – the play date with her friend a week later.  :)  We got the two families together at the zoo.  It was nice to get some time with *my* friend as the children got some time with theirs.  :)

I didn’t get many pictures.  We were too busy talking and making sure all 9 children stuck together.  :)  But I got a few at the end.First, the quintessential crazy pictures:

And then the two nicer ones:

Emma and Kathryn trying to feed the well-fed birds. :)  The sticks had some seeds on the end of them.

All lined up, admiring the African animals. Well, except for Emma.  I think she was attending to Aaron here.  :)

It was a bit of a long day for a few of the children, but so fun to catch up with our friends again!  :)