Happy 12th Birthday Emily!

Emily turned 12 today!!! We have celebrated with her all weekend.

Yesterday, she wanted to go to Cheesecake Factory for lunch with the family.  We had twelve people go to lunch with us. She got a lot of fun presents. You can tell in the picture below that she was pretty excited. 

After we ate our lunch, the waiters brought out an ice cream sundae and sang Happy Birthday to her. 

The bakery ladies decorated her cheesecake with chocolate sauce and sprinkles. She got the salted caramel cheesecake. She said it was really good. 

Noah and I shared the Oreo Dream Extreme Cheesecake. We both liked it, but it was pretty sweet for me. 

Today, Emily invited a few friends over for an ice cream sundae party, but only her friend Haylee could come. They still had fun though. It's just really hard to get people together for summer birthdays. Everybody is always on the go. 

We had chocolate cupcakes and neapolitan ice cream with all the toppings. We had caramel sauce, hot fudge, marshmallow sauce, chocolate chips, mint chocolates, cookie crumbles, pretzels, mini M&M's, and even gummy bears. And of course we had whipped cream and cherries. Is it a sundae if you don't have whipped cream and cherries?

I got these cute little ice cream cone bowls on Amazon.com. Aren't they cute? They come with little spoons, too.

After the girls ate, they went out to bust the pinata. Actually, it was a pull-string pinata. Emily went first and picked the right string on the first try. Since there were only two girls, they both got A LOT of candy. They also did some Perler bead crafts and painted nails outside on the back porch.

And after the party was over, little brother came home and got to have an ice cream sundae too. He was more than a little upset that he didn't to attend the all-girls party, but maybe someday he'll understand. 

Emily,

You are growing into such a smart and beautiful young woman. I'm so proud of you and I can't wait to see what the next twelve years brings for you. Enjoy every minute!

Love,
Mom