Mary’s 8th birthday

Mary turned 8 today!! She is such a sweet, kind, caring, loving child. Abe captured this sweet moment of Nana wishing her a happy birthday. They have such a sweet relationship, and we credit Nana for so much of Mary’s sweetness. They spent a lot of time together before my mom’s move, and we are all certain Nana’s sweet, calm disposition rubbed off on Mary, who is similarly dispositioned.

This was a pretty low key birthday. We celebrated Mary by telling her her birth story, sharing our favorite memories with her, and just telling her all day how much she means to all of us. She started the day by opening her presents and spent the rest of the day playing with them. She got Legos, a new pair of unicorn pajamas, a bathrobe, a paint kit, face paints, a new piggy bank, and a beautiful picture drawn by Ammon especially for Mary.

More of Lydia’s handiwork.
Mary’s handiwork.

She walked around all day with a happy smile and nothing makes us happier than seeing our kids feel affirmed. It was a beautiful day for everyone.

After Clarissa went to bed these four played Otrio for hours. Holly was in town so some of our Thrive friends rented a house two minutes from mine and were all together, so I snuck out to see them. It was hard to tear away but I finally did at almost midnight, which is when Abe and the kids finished playing Otrio! I guess staying up late playing games was also one of Mary’s presents, and it looked like a fun one.