Look Who's 9!!

On Monday our little girl turned a big 9! She had such a great day - it started with her busting in our room at 7:00am to excitedly announce "I'm 9 now!!" And then she came in about every 5 minutes with a new exciting announcement for the next hour!! yawn... Her party started with her friends meeting us at the swimming pool to swim for an hour. Then we dried off and drove to a picnic table at the harbor and had cake and gifts there. The weather was beautiful and warm and we had an enjoyable time. Nelly thoroughly enjoyed being the Princess for the day and is still on her cloud nine! I wasn't able to take very many pictures since we were in the water, but here are a few.

swimming with her peeps......

nelly and lucy.......
she LOVES wall-e so we had to do a cake for her...her daddy was up
until 4am finishing it on time!!!

we have a soda fountain where we go to get delicious ice cream cones
as a special treat. so her grandma sent her her own ice cream money
that should get her through the summer. she decided today to go for the
sundae and enjoyed it to the end! i wanted to get a picture of her eating
it but I forgot my camera.. oh well.
the party......
the cake was so yummy - we put fresh strawberries and blueberries
between the layers, which made a delicious variation......

It is hard to believe that nine years ago Nikole was just a tiny little squirmer. Today I pulled out of the cedar chest her outfit that was my favorite one - it is so tiny and she was tickled to see how small she used to be. Now she is our big girl that brings us so much joy and who finds a friend where ever she is. She is that ray of sunshine that walks into your day and makes it good. It is crazy to think that we are halfway to her wanting her Independence! We love you Nelly!!!