Birthday Bash!

It was Natalee birthday and we needed to celebrate. Her favorite thing in the world to do is go swimming, so two nights before her birthday we surprised her and went to stay overnight in a hotel.

Then we went swimming, and did a little swimming and then swam some more. It was very fun.
We had dinner at Sweet Tomatoes and then crashed. I like to take pictures of Natalee when she's asleep. Maybe I'm a weird mom, but I have so many of them.

The next morning, after a wonderful breakfast and more swimming, we went to a late lunch at Buca de Beppo because she wanted Italian food.

This was really quite tasty and they had meatballs the size of tennis balls. Yum!

After lunch we went to the NICU at Intermountain Medial Center. In the weeks leading up to her birthday, Natalee and I made some fleece blankets to give to some little babies. We were able to give them to one of our nurses and our favorite Respiratory Therapist. We all cried a little bit. It's always emotional to take Natalee back to the NICU. I think there's a part of all of us that can't believe how big she is and how blessed we are to have her.
On the birthday morning, Natalee had breakfast in bed. She wanted Ramen and since it was her birthday, I decided that was OK.
We went to church and came home to prep for her party. She wanted a dog party, so we made a little Hot Dog restaurant and had lots of choices for our guests. Natalee even played waitress and it was pretty cute.

Here's Natalee with all her guests. We were so happy that so many of our family members were able to come and celebrate!

We had a fun dinner and a great time. She got a few more dogs to add to her growing collection. She also got a cook book and made us dinner one night this week. It's so fun to have a helpful and happy 9 year old at our house!