Five

 You all know how much I love celebrating birthdays. 

(If you don't know, I LOVE celebrating birthdays!)

My oldest child had a birthday recently. 

She turned 5. 

FIVE.

(How did she get so old?!)

Her birthday was on Sunday this year, so we planned some special treats before church:

Her requested vanilla cake with chocolate frosting:

 

Cake for breakfast is the BEST.

After church (where the very thrilled birthday girl received many happy birthday wishes), we surprised her with a trip to the zoo.

Our friends joined us, much to Ava's delight.

Included was a trip on the train. Not a huge train, but the first ride ever for the girls, and Ava got to blow the whistle since it was her birthday. That made her day!!!

It was a very special day! 

We finished up at Wendy's (nothing too fancy, but time commitments back in town didn't allow for an extended meal). 

A couple days later, we went to Pizza Ranch with my side of the family and celebrated a few family birthdays that evening.

The following weekend, we were visiting Mr. Wonderful's family, and had another special birthday celebration with them.

Each celebration was special for Ava, and she felt very loved and enjoyed. :) 

................................................................................

Ava is in Kindergarten, and learning reading, writing, math, spelling, science, history, and all about her world. She loves school, and always begs to do her workbooks!

She prays well, and I know she prays with a clear faith-it is remarkable to see her prayers answered so evidently. One example is that on nights she prays for good dreams, she has them. This is a huge answer for a girl who struggles with scary dreams.

As Ava continues her fifth year, our prayer for her is that she continues to grow in the grace and knowledge of her Lord Jesus Christ. She has professed faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and we see her growing in Him. Every day she makes choices to honor God, to respect her parents, to put others first, to be a helper, to use kind words, and to encourage her sisters. This is an enormous blessing and encouragement!

Ava....I love you forever.