Happy, Happy Birthday, Samantha!

Happy Birthday, to our dear Samantha girl!!

Hard to believe this cutie is already EIGHT YEARS OLD!?! Yay!

Samantha's birthday was this past Saturday, and it was a fun, busy day for her!! We started with a visit from Grandma Karen and Grandpa Dennis. They came Friday afternoon and spent the weekend with us.

We had a special birthday dinner for Samantha Friday night -- chicken enchiladas, cornbread, Spanish rice, and creamed corn, with ice cream for dessert. That was Samantha's choice, and she loved it!! I didn't take a picture of it, but you can imagine the deliciousness, right??

The next morning, our church was having a Christmas Breakfast party. So, we all went to it for a couple of hours. They had breakfast burritos, and then there was a nice program with songs and dances and even a youth orchestra. Samantha sang in a couple of different numbers, with some other little girls her age. She loved it. She's so cute -- from the second she found out they were having the church party on her birthday, she acted like it was just one more special treat for her! It was fun to see all her friends wishing her a happy day.

After the church party, I had told Samantha she could choose three friends to come over and make some Christmas crafts, and eat pizza for lunch. I didn't think I could handle a full-on birthday party that day, but a smallish play date sounded like fun. And it was. They painted some wooden Christmas ornaments, then decorated paper Christmas trees that turned out really cute. (and I didn't take pics, sorry.)

Here's the group gathered for pizza...

And... while we were busy "crafting" at home, Grandma and Grandpa quickly ran to Walmart and surprised her and her friends with birthday cupcakes... fun!

So, we put candles in them and let her make a wish, even though we had a cake for later. I love this pic of her blowing...

After friends left, she got to open and play with presents for a little while, and then it was time to get ready for her big choir performance. This fall, Samantha tried out for a professional choir group. She knew from the start that the final concert would be on her birthday. And again, she was thrilled with that idea. She really likes "events" ... even on birthdays, apparently. Here she is, I think this was after the show...

Her show was actually really good! Yes, they have uniforms, so cute. We teased my mom, because on the way in she she was surprised to learn that it wasn't a free concert, but that we had actually purchased tickets to go see Samantha perform. But then, after it was over my mom agreed it was worth buying tickets for. :)

Brian's parents came too, and afterward we had a special birthday treat of going out to dinner. We were headed to Applebees (Samantha's fave), but the wait was so long we changed our plan and went to Sizzler instead. Samantha was introduced to the all-you-can-eat salad bar, which she decided was pretty great... she filled her plate FIVE times. :) Then home again, home again, to open another present or two, and have cake with the grandmas and grandpas. Chocolate "magic" cake (with choco chips, sour cream, and pudding in the mix, sooo delish!), served with raspberries and real whipping cream...

She had trouble blowing out all those candles... her wish might come true in about eight years. :)

It was a fun day, and we're very excited to now have an eight-year-old girl at our house. Here's one last pic with Grandma, taken on Sunday afternoon in her new birthday dress from Grandma and Grandpa.

We love our Samantha girl!! Happy birthday wishes to her!