Happy 12th Birthday Destiny!

Destiny turned 12 on Friday, She is "almost a teenager" as she likes to say. It is hard to believe that four years have passed since she came to our family. Some days I don't think she has grown at all but when I look at pictures of her back then it is easy to see how much she has grown.

She invited three friends over to go to dinner and spend the night. We took all six girls out to a Japanese Steakhouse (a family favorite) where they enjoyed the chef cooking on the grill in front of them. The meal ended with a sumo wrestler headpiece on her head and a rousing version of Happy Birthday. We came home and the girls painted picture frames before heading to bed about 11:00. I count myself fortunate because all the girls were asleep before midnight (although they were up before 6 am the next morning). We had homemade waffles for breakfast and then they played for several hours before all were safely delivered back to their parents. All in all a rousing success!! Favorite gifts included a new cross, clothing, gift cards, a knot quilt and a messenger bag. Her big present was the 4th and 5th grade retreat for our church in January.

We have struggled the past four years as we went from a family of four to a family of five but Destiny has truly been a blessing to us and we are so thankful that she is ours.

The whole group at dinner

Destiny in her Sumo hat

"Fire"

Destiny, Abby and Savanna

The girls

Friends

Being silly

Opening gifts

Destiny and her sisters