Olivia and the BIG 12! November 20, 2012

Back in November Olivia turned 12.  We love her so much and her sweet personality.  She is so loving and giving.  When things don't go her way she is so quick to just shrug it off and act like it's no big deal.  Being the second child AND having the it's no big deal kind of attitude it's easy to set her feelings aside to care for those that express their wants and desires a little more.  We decide we wanted to make this birthday special and planned a surprise party.  We invited the girls from her class at church.  She was so surprised.

This girl is NOT a chocolate cake lover but wanted Strawberry Shortcake - so yes, Strawberry Shortcake in November it is!

 

The party girls:

Kaitlyn, Aubrey, Natalie, Mikayla, Courtney and Olivia

 

I love killing 2 birds with one stone (just metaphorically, I really don't think I could really do that, I mean, really how is that even possible?) 

I found a great little game to play at the party while getting rid of all the rest of the halloween candy.  We took the candy and rolled it up into packaging tape.  Every few inches we'd stick a piece on the tape and then roll it up until it was a giant ball.  Then the girls sat in a circle and took turns rolling the dice.  Once someone rolled doubles, they grabbed the ball of candy and tried to get the candy out of the tape.  They had as much time as it took for the next person to roll doubles and then that person grabbed the ball and tried to get the candy.  A super fun yet noisy game.

 

After the party, the daddy got home and made the birthday dinner.  What did this girl pick?  Stuffed pork chops of course.  Yummy!

 

 Every night before Liv's birthday, some of the girls and leaders from the Young Women's program at church brought her a gift.  Each value in the program has a color coordinated with it.  Every night her gifts would match the color of the value for that night.  She looked forward to that doorbell every night.

For her birthday, Liv wanted her room redone.  She was through with the butterflies and seriously, what 12 year old girl wants one ugly brown wall.  Here are some before pictures and one after shot.

BEFORE:

 

 

AFTER

She LOVES her new room.  And we LOVE this girl dearly!

I couldn't imagine life without her.