8 is Great!

We can't believe that Ava turned 8 last week! We didn't make too many constructive plans for her birthday except our traditional "Birthday person chooses where to go out for dinner." The Saturday before we had a quick party by taking Ava & a few friends to the movies. We got lucky that the movie (Cloudy w/ a Chance of Meatballs 2) was in 3D & even luckier that they still excepted our passes that we had previously purchased!

On birthday morning Ava received her traditional gift card taped to the bedroom door (this year was WalMart since Mom kind of forgot until the day before!) Since we rushed off to the movie & didn't have time for cake with friends, Ava blew out a candle in her oatmeal before heading off to school!

At the end of the day we took cans of pop to Ava's class for her birthday treat. She & her teacher led "Happy Birthday" & Ava received her 8 birthday spankings with the big hand fly swatter! We finished off the day with dinner @ Ava's restaurant choice - Red Robin & were even able to have Grandpa Shirey join us. The waitressing crew sang to her & both girls got a free ice cream sundae to celebrate!

We are so happy to have Ava in our family. She is an excellent student & has a great love for school & learning. So much, that it's nearly devastating to miss a day! Not only is she learning a lot in school, but she is learning a lot in church & about the gospel as well. She may not know it, but she is developing a great testimony. She has chosen great friends & does a good job at making friends & being kind to others. Ava is a super big sister too! She is developing her talents by participating in dance class & with the ward choir, which she has become very good at. She loves to make & wear jewelry & also loves to read, write stories & draw. We love Ava & all of the wonderful additions she brings to our family.