Happy 9th Birthday Natalee!

     I can hardly believe it's been 9 years since Natalee came to our family.  I remember so well how impatient we were to get her here and how those last two weeks felt like they dragged on forever.  We tried every suggestion people gave us to promote labor.  Well, not the castor oil one. Blech!  Finally she came two days after her due date: August 9, 2001; 6 lbs. 11 oz., 19.5 inches long.  Natalee has grown into such a beautiful, smart, talented girl.  She still LOVES horses.  I really enjoy attending activity days with her as part of my primary president responsibilities.  She has a very sensitive spirit and is developing her own testimony of the gospel.  We are so proud of her!

     For Natalee's birthday we did a family breakfast instead of dinner.  My mom and dad were taking Amy and Tim to Mike and Cindy's that afternoon since their flight to Virginia was very early the next mroning.  Natalee wanted scones for breakfast and boy were they yummy!  Good choice Natalee!  Age 9 is not a birthday party year for us, but Natalee wanted to do something fun so she chose swimming at Pinney Pool.  We let her invite her two best friends along but only Katie Cannon was able to make it.  We all had a great time swimming (except me, I sat with Nathan).  Natalee, Haylee, and Katie all passed the diving board test (swimming from one side of the pool to the other side) and so they were allowed to jump off the diving board, which they did many times.  The water there was 10 feet deep but they were brave and they did a great job swimming.

     After we finished at the pool, we went home for Natalee's birthday dinner.  Even though my mom had just made it for dinner the night before, Natalee wanted orange chicken for her birthday dinner.  It's her favorite.  Her cake was a little crazy.  I just do not have cake decorating skills but I can't bring myself to pay what it costs to buy a cutely decorated cake.  The girls seem to like animal cookies on their cakes and have picked that several times the last couple of years.  Throw in the blue frosting (blue is her favorite color) and some pink sprinkles, and she thought it was so beautiful.  I was just glad that she was happy.

     This reminds me of a funny thing Haylee said the night before Natalee's birthday.  Haylee has been very against orange chicken since the time we went to Knott's Berry Farm during Christmas break in 2008.  After we left we stopped at Panda Express for dinner.  Then on the way home, Haylee barfed.  So now she refuses to eat orange chicken even though the thing she ate that night was sweet and sour chicken.  She associates chinese food in general with throwing up.

     At my mom's house the night before Natalee's dinner, she was sulking because my mom made orange chicken and she knew that Natalee had chosen it for her birthday dinner the next night as well.  Also my mom had made a fruit salad with chopped apples, bananas, and oranges.  Haylee at the apples and bananas but was refusing to finish the oranges.  So I told her she had to sit there until the oranges were finished.  While she was sitting there picking at her food, Tim came over and talked to her.  He told me that Haylee said to him while she picked at her oranges, "If Natalee picks anything orange flavored for her birthday next year, I'm going to give her vomit for her birthday present."  It's really not a great attitude to have but it was pretty funny that she thought of it.  And she did manage to choke down her oranges and leave the table. :)

Playing some Guitar Hero.  She's getting very good.

Buttermilk scones with buttermilk honey butter for breakfast.  Yum!

Amy and Tim gave her a cute backpack and some money.  Natalee likes money!

Gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Moffitt

Animal Ark book-Pony on the Porch

DS accesories that came with the DS when we ordered it.  She also got the game 'Style Savvy'

My parents were getting rid of this raquetball raquet.  It even came with a case.  I decided to regift it to Natalee since we didn't have much for her since her birthday budget was spent on the DS.  She likes going to play raquetball with Daren at the Kerr McGee Center.  We also gave her another Animal Ark book and a blue watch and she got $5 from Grandma Poetschlag.  While they were visiting, Grandma Bobbi took her to Wal-Mart and let her pick out a gift.  She picked a DVD of Hannah Montana episodes.

Kelsey and Mackenzie all ready to go to the pool

All the girls and Katie in the wading pool during adult swim

Natalee and Katie

Happy Birthday Natalee!

     Natalee really wanted Guitar Hero for her Nintendo DS for her birthday.  But since we spent her whole birthday budget getting her the DS (she also had to chip in $100 of her own money that she had saved), that wasn't going to happen.  She was starting to save her money for it.  It was $25 at Wal-Mart.  Sister Dutcher recently asked her to take care of her dog Raggles while she was gone and she stopped by the evening before she left, which happened to be Natalee's birthday.  She asked Natalee if she would like to be paid that day or when she got back.  Of course Natalee said that day.  Sister Dutcher paid her well-$35!  Natalee paid her tithing and asked to be taken to Wal-Mart immediately.  We went and she bought Guitar Hero for her DS with her own money.  The sweetest thing though, was that Thomas, Ronelle's brother, had heard her say earlier that day when they picked up Katie that her birthday was good but she was disappointed that she didn't get Guitar Hero for her DS.  So he ordered it for her online!  Now, Thomas is a 19 year old boy.  How many 19 year old boys even think of getting a birthday gift for a 9 year old kid.  He was disappointed when he heard she had bought if for herself and told her that it was already in the mail.  But it turned out that it was a different version of Guitar Hero so it worked out after all.  Ever since he brought it by after it came in the mail, it's the only one I've seen her play.  It has some really good songs on it.  Anyway, I was just really touched by Thomas' kindness to her and had to share that.