Happy Birthday Lenora!!!

The other HUGE highlight in January was celebrating Lenora's 11th birthday!!! This sweet girl is such a JOY.

Because her birthday fell on a Sunday, we started celebrations the day before with her requested Einstein Bagels.

And she went on her annual birthday date with Gram and Grandpa to the ballet and Joe Veras. She loves this tradition and so do they! 

Her actual birthday started off with presents and birthday pancakes. 

After church she set to work making her own cake. She could not decide on a theme for the cake (even after at least 20 minutes in the cake decoration aisle) so she went with a simple, beautiful design. It turned out perfectly. 

A few weeks after her birthday, Michael and I got to spend an awesome evening with Lenora. We headed to Deseret Book so she could pick out scriptures. We usually wait until our kids' 12th birthday to purchase them a nice set of scriptures. But Lenora really wanted hers early. She misses the cut off for moving up to Young Women's by just12 days, so she insisted she was ready. We had to agree! She picked out the pink scriptures, and they're beautiful! 

Now all the wonderful things Lenora is up to these days and what we adore about her... 

Lenora is still the puzzle queen. She got a "Magic Puzzle" for her birthday and had so much fun putting it together. She wouldn't allow anyone to help her (this picture isn't he magic puzzle. Somehow I missed a picture of her working on it. Maybe it had to do with the fact that she finished the 1000 piece puzzle in just two days).

Puzzles aren't the only thing Lenora is good at building. She has a knack for how things work and fit together. Recently, she wanted to change the innertube on her bike. I couldn't come help at the moment, but I talked her through it verbally (thinking there was no way she's get it on her own). Not only did she figure it out, she had moved on to Conrad's bike by the time I came outside. 

Here's another of her engineering projects...

Lenora is SO MUCH FUN! I sometimes take things too seriously, but she's always there to lighten the mood. Just the other morning, I asked if she could help cook pancakes. She took it upon herself to make the morning more fun by making shape pancakes. But not just any shapes... she and the boys made snakes and bunnies and mice along with BB guns to shoot them with. The boys were in heaven!

A buffalo for Daddy 

Lenora is such a nurturer. She is always willing to help with Walter and any other kids that are around. She's patient and kind and gentle (and fun of course). Walter just adores Lenora and it's no wonder.

Helping Walter clean Lamby after he spilled pancake batter on him

Because Lenora loves to keep life fun and focus on meaningful connections and relationships, she doesn't put much store by chores and organization. Her coat and shoes are usually in the middle of the floor, she's first to volunteer to help with Walter and get out of kitchen jobs, and her hair is often unbrushed and wild. It drives Eliza nuts since they share a room. I'm sure she'll grow to care more as she gets older. For now, just be careful not to trip over her shoes and die.

Lenora loves food and is a great chef! She obviously didn't cook this meal, but she also loves to eat the cooking of others - especially meat! 

Lenora has taken it upon herself to join the Vanguard sewing class with the teens this year. She's doing so well too! She made the cutest baby blanket for Lionel! Now's she's working on a skirt. 

Lenora, thanks for being so much fun! Thanks for reminding us all to slow down, have fun, and savor the people and experiences all around us. We love you! We love your light, your hard work, and the love you share with others. Happy Birthday sweet girl.