Leah's 6th birthday

I cannot believe my Leah Sue is 6!  Where has the time gone?  It seems like just yesterday the doctor told me "she's gonna be a good size" and then just days later she was born....weighing in at 10 pounds!! She wasn't kidding!!  I still remember the wonderful nurses singing my plump piglet "Happy Birthday" as they cleaned her up.  She was so chubby, so pink and had a head full of dark hair.  Chad, my mom, my sister and my dad were all in the room.  It was awesome! 

One of the greatest blessings about Leah is that she is an "against the grain" kinda gal.  I love her quirks, her silly faces, crazy imagination and sense of adventure.  She is always willing to try new things, go new places, eat new foods and meet new people.  She is so unique and I love her to pieces.  I asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday (desperately hoping she wouldn't say "Disneyland!") and she said she just wanted to spend time as a family.  LOVE this kid!! So we went to the San Diego Zoo and then to Balboa Park.  We had such a great day together.  Then on her actual birthday we went to Chuck E Cheese's.  Oh what fun :)  The following day we had a birthday dinner at Mimi's with the cousins and Auntie.  It was so much fun celebrating our Toochie.  Here are a few pics of our celebration:

Leah is ready for the sun!

We had just gotten into the zoo and thier feet were already tired!

God has an awesome sense of humor

The girls on a large bird sculpture...this one is for Harmony :)

This is just wrong.

Olivia hates her picture to be taken but often poses when I least expect it

Olivia and her Churro....examining all of the sugar on her hand

And then of course licking it off

Gabe has so much fun too just taking it all in

One of those silly faces I mentioned above

Chad is not much of a "crowd" kinda guy....he doesn't like places like this but he was a trooper

Did God change his mind here?  LOL

A special treat....$11 ice cream bars!

Pretty Puds....ate all the chocolate coating off of her ice cream and then threw it away.  So for her it was a $5.50 piece of chocolate.

Bubs loved sitting in the back seat

And riding with Daddy

Olivia waiting for our turn on the carosel at Balboa Park

Olivia clapped for the carosel operator?

Leah chose to ride a weird orange cat

Olivia rode a pig...how appropriate

the panda rode the train too

and so did the monkey

Our family birthday tradition.  The birthday person gets to use these dishes all day.  They are only used on birthdays.  The girls love it when it's their turn to use them!

Another tradition.  The birthday person's seat at the table is decorated with presents and balloons when they wake up in the morning.  This is not the most conveneint tradition as one of us has to go to the store late at night but it's worth it to see the looks on their faces.

Chuck E Cheese's

She loves frosting

They both had blue teeth after eating this icing

Yummy dinner at Mimi's

Mimi set out her baby pics at her place setting

Homemade cake that she requested

We had a great couple of days celebrating Leah and thanking God for such an amazing gift.  She adds so much life to our family and she has a heart of gold.  Thank you Lord for trusting us with this precious gift.  We love you Toochie Sue, Rooch Rooch, Roochie Sue, my sweet Leah.