Rachel is 10 Years Old!

I say it all the time...but I really can't  believe that my firstborn is TEN years old! Ten years ago today, I became a Mommy. It was one of the hardest days of my life and probably the closest to death I've come. But everything was worth it to have my precious Rachel in my life. I cannot imagine my life without her in it. 

She celebrated with ten good friends this past Saturday at a local cake shop. The girls all got to decorate cupcakes. It was so much fun and they all had a great time. Rachel has been blessed with such sweet friends in her life.

Today we celebrated with family. The grandparents and us all ate spaghetti and brownies - Rachel's requests. She had to be very patient today, because she couldn't open her presents until after Jon Paul got home from work. It was hard, but she persevered.

She was so excited about all her stuff. But her main surprise was her gift from us. She opened a box with three things in it: a tripod, a video camera and an envelope. Inside the envelope was this:

We bought her a domain name and created her a website/blog. She was thrilled. She loves to read, write and has taken an interest in videoing, so we told her she could do it all on her very own website: www.RachelsChatterbox.com! And she has already made her first post, so go check it out and leave her a comment, she would LOVE it!

So, my darling daughter, I hope your birthday was all you dreamed it to be. We are so very proud of you and we love you to the moon and back, again and again. To close, I'm going to list my top ten things I love about you. This might be the last year for these lists. I have some other ideas in my mind for the next birthdays. There are many, many things I love about you and I could go on and on, but here is my ten.

1. I love your heart for being the hands and feet of Jesus. I was sad we couldn't go on the family mission trip this year, and it meant a lot to me to know you were as deeply saddened because you wanted so badly to serve again. I promise you, we will do another mission trip soon!

2. I love your leadership skills. You are growing up to be a wonderful leader. I was so proud to hear that you were voted President of K-Kids this past year. That was quite an honor and great experience for you.

3. I love your creativity. You have some of the best ideas floating around in that head of yours. The workers at CAPAA have been impressed with your ideas, especially your Marlin costume for Camp Nemo. :) I can't wait to see all the creative things you do with your new blog!

4. I love your piercing brown eyes. You got those eyes from me and we all know that everyone loves a brown eyed girl!! I pray your eyes stay pure and focused on Jesus.

5. I love your thirst for knowledge. You never seem satisfied with a passive answer to your questions. Which at times can be annoying, but it just shows how smart you are and how much you want to learn. I pray you always ask questions and always want to learn - no matter how old you are.

6. I love your voice. I love to hear you uplifting your sister or your friends. I love to hear you reading to your sister. I love to hear you singing. It amazes me to see you on stage at church and hear you sing your solos. You have a gift and I'm so happy you aren't afraid to be in front of people.

7. I love that you know what is right and will take a stand for what is right, even when someone is treating you bad. You learned a good lesson this year about friendship and what it means to be a true friend. True friends don't hurt each other. I was proud you stood your ground and showed them that you weren't going to take it anymore. I pray you keep that boldness and fight in you and know that your self-esteem isn't wrapped up in friendships. You are still YOU, no matter who your friends are.

8. I love seeing the motherly instincts coming out in you. You've asked several times when you can start babysitting. I hope you keep that desire in you. You are so sweet around some of the little kids and several of them already look up to you and love you so much (Caleb!!). :)

9. I love your silliness. You can really make us laugh. I pray you never grow too old to be silly. Some of the things you come up with fills my heart with joy and laughter.

10. I love YOU. Simple. I love YOU for being YOU. I hope you will always be YOU, no matter what anyone else says or does. I know sometimes YOU don't like it when Bekah copies YOU and YOU want to be different. She just loves YOU so much and wants desperately to be like YOU. There will be a day that she won't want to do that anymore. But please keep being YOU, no matter what. YOU are unique and God's special creation. I am thankful He chose YOU for us. YOU have blessed our lives in so many ways and we cannot wait to see what the years ahead hold for YOU!

I love YOU so very much!!!!!!