7 short years ago...

this little lady was born!!

Zanna's birthday was on Saturday and we had a whole weekend of celebrations this year! I could tell she felt very excited and special because she has made Dave and I many love notes saying "I LOVE MY FAMILY!" and has said, "You're the best mom!" many times.  I really didn't do a whole lot this year, but it has been really cute to see how the little things make her feel so loved and happy.  

Zanna has always been a mature soul and she is incredibly helpful with Mia and truly my right hand girl.   Sometimes she even gets Mia out of her bed in the morning and changes her diaper and just plays with her while a get a little more sleep.  She loves to teach James new things and has always been a great older sister to him (besides the teasing and bossing at times:)  

Whenever I go to the school the kids in her class ask if they can have a playdate with Suzanna. A friend in her class said that he wished the school year had just started because then he would have more time with Zanna before she moves...and his favorite state is Idaho now because that is where Zanna is  moving--I thought those were two of the cutest things I've ever heard!  

I just love my girl so much and feel very privileged to be her mom and get her hugs and kisses every day!

Friday...

The  hostess cupcakes we made for her class--we put all the kids initials on them and they thought is was so fun to come outside for lunch and see these on the table.

Showing me her new monkey tricks

Saturday morning...

this year she got to open presents right when she woke up. She LOVED her new "mood necklace" from Grma F. and American Girl books and mini doll from Grandma M!

After this, we headed over to the ward Christmas Party...

Zanna's new friends Nate and Ben Asay invited her to the SF Children's Symphony to see Peter and the Wolf.  She wanted Dave to go with her so the Dads and kids went to the city for the afternoon with Joanne, the sweet woman from the ward who got the tickets for this great event!  

Later that night we went out to dinner to and Zanna chose a place where she could make her own ice cream sundae!  We also picked up her cake at Costco for her party and she was SO EXCITED about this cake, it was hilarious.  She didn't stop talking about how beautiful it was and all the little details about it for about 15 minutes straight and wanted to hold it on her lap all the way home.  Her party wasn't until monday and on Sunday she pulled a chair up to the opened fridge so that she could admire her cake.  I loved seeing her so excited and she definitely takes after me with this love for birthday cakes!

Sunday morning photo in her new birthday dress:)

On Monday after school we had a bunch of great kids over to celebrate. We kept it very simple and had a great time climbing trees, playing with toys and chatting.  We sang, ate cake and ice cream and then headed over to the park around the corner where we played, played, played until dark.   

(All I did was hang a birthday sign and have the table set up with the cake and snacks and when Zanna walked in from school her face lit up and she was dancing around with excitement...so cute!) 

the kids

the moms

Probably the only year she'll ever be eating her cake outside in December!

HAppy 7th BiThDay ZANNA!