Can't believe it's been 14 years! There were somedays I thought you would never grow up (you were a pretty intense toddler), and now here we are, on the doorstep of high school, and only a few years from adulthood. Where did the time go?
And for your birthday, here are 14 things I love about you . . .
1) You make really good desserts - add homemade chocolate cake, and decorating the cake - to the list now. You are comfortable experimenting in the kitchen, and have come up with some really good dishes.
2) You are so graceful when you hula! It's no secret that you mesmerize people when you dance, and I'm no exception. You are in your element and seem so relaxed when you hula; I love to see you at peace like that.
3) You are willing to try new things - sometimes with success - sometimes without the results you want, and even amid the disappointment or teasing, you still try new things ALL the time.
4) How beautiful you are! Full curly hair or straight . . . you're beautiful both ways.
5) The way you laugh. You have a nice, careless abandon kind of laugh, and that is refreshing around here. Your laugh is in top form when a spatula is involved! I enjoy the way that we can banter back and forth. You make the house fun.
6) What a good listener you are for your friends, and the way that you "mother" them, even if that includes lecturing.
7) Your motivation in reading your scriptures and working on your Personal Progress. You don't need prompting from us. I'm hoping that getting up in time for seminary next year is the same.
8) Your love of reading. When you were little, you would carry the biggest books you could find around the house with you (even though you couldn't read yet). That love of books has not diminished in the slightest.
9) The way you take care of your brothers when they need you. You are a good big sister, and are often looked to as the next in line when I'm not available.
10) Listening to you play the piano. Your music fills our home, and I think your talent to play by ear is amazing. You play such beautiful music - I hope you always do!
11) Your creative side - you know, the one that explodes ideas and materials everywhere. There is always something "brewin'" away inside your head - lots of ideas - all the time.
12) Your energy. Shazam!
13) Your time. I love when you choose to spend time with me (and the family). I will always remember fondly the time we've spent together, working in the yard, reading Harry Potter, cooking, chasing eachother with spatulas or icecubes, talking and laughing. Though we don't always get along (we are mother and daughter after all), I appreciate the comfortable relationship we have together. There is no pretense between the two of us - we say what we're thinking, and have no problem switching shoes with eachother in the middle of church.
14) You. I love you! I love who you are, the total package, even when you do things that irriate me. You are a great friend, a great daughter, a great person to know. You bring energy and life to our home. It has been an amazing trip watching you transform from baby to toddler, to school girl, to tweenie-bopper, to young woman. How glad I am to be your Mom. How thankful I am to your birth mother for the special gift she gave to us, so many years ago . . . You! Wonderful You!
Happy Birthday, Christine!
P.S. You did an amazing job on the baking and decorating of your own cake this year! Hope you had a good birthday!
2 comments:
Wow, can it really have been 14 years. Christine, your cake is beautiful; wish I could have had a slice.
yay! Happy birthday and great job on the cake!
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