She turns ten!

Where has the time gone that we now no longer have a single-digit child in our household!?!?! It just seems like yesterday I held this beautiful 8 lb, 5 ounce darling in my arms and now she has turned 10.
She has always been our little star - loving to perform and be dramatic! Emma has the sweetest smile and had the cutest chubby checks as a baby girl. She has always been a major snuggler which blesses those around her - always touching and sitting close - we love it!!
One of the things I so love about her is her love for all things "girl" while still loving to be on a horse, or get dirty and have fun!!
Emma has been dancing since she was born and this picture is so the essence of how she is - being carefree and dancing around in the sun!
This wild, crazy and dramatic child is so different than me - always needing structure and control - I love how God made her this way! Emma doesn't mind being silly and loves to have a good time! We pray that this passion for life will always continue.

She is also extremely responsible (which I am sure must have come from me!?!?) She recently started 4-H and did a great job "herding" the dogs on the bench at the fair. Emma loves all things with four feet - especially horses and dogs! We are so very proud of her dedication and hard work at whatever she does! My prayer is that this will be a trademark of who she is for the rest of her life.

We celebrated her 10th birthday this weekend by getting some much needed time of rest at our friend's cabin. We headed out for a hike on Saturday morning and this is what we were met with by our sweet & loving pre-tween....(hopefully, we will not be seeing this too often)...

But after hiking for an hour or so uphill, she returned to her normal self - smiling but still begging to turn back! She did hike for two hours up the mountain with a cold and it was her birthday after all - we can be so mean sometimes. The view and the scenery was worth it though!

Emma is very excited to be 10 - she is now two full hands!!!

Today we had our "friends" party at a friends house that has a beautiful pool. She and 5 of her fabulous friends had a great, great time swimming and playing in the pool. What is so fun for me is to see how many of her friends she has had for years. She loves her friends and God has blessed her with great ones! We pray He will continue to provide these great friendships as we travel through the coming years.

Okay this picture scares me just a bit. I am not sure which of the girls had this idea, but they wanted me to get a picture of them with all lined up on the chairs with their "drinks with little umbrellas". This is such a fun age - still little girls at heart but wanting soooo badly to be so grown up. I love my precious, fun, wild, free-spirited, smart, strong-willed, sometimes stubborn, affectionate, passionate and loyal 10 year old very much!!!!

I am so glad God chose you Emma to be our gift from heaven - we cannot imagine our life without you and all that you are. You are an amazing treasure and gift to those around you! We pray for many rich blessings for you this coming year!!