Gracie's birthday celebration started with Thursday night. I took her to build-a-bear for her birthday present. I gave her $25 to spend on a bear and accessories...I thought that would be plenty! Well, it took her forever because that doesn't get you too far in build-a-bear. Even the lady said, "Oh are we on a budget?" "Um ya....do most people come in here NOT on a budget?" No wonder our economy is the in dumps...the lady before us spent close to $100 on ONE bear and her daughter couldn't even walk!! Well, Grace loves her $25 bear and we had a great time! We even shared a pizza and talked about the first seven years of her life! I love my Gracie and love spending time with her! She is the best shopper, since the day she could walk, she has loved to go shopping. She never complains of being tired and all though she has expensive taste, she never begs for anything and is more concerned about me spending too much money than her own desire to want what she wants! I tell her to make sure to marry someone with a lot of money so she doesn't have to worry about that and can have all the clothes, shoes and accessories she wants! She is so much like her aunt Stacie and they LOVE being together!! I also reminded her of her miracle in the hospital after she was born! She was a beautiful, perfect little c-section baby! But on day two, she was ripped out of my arms and taken to the NICU. Something had shown up on a test and she was incubated and no one could touch her without being gloved and covered. It was a nightmare! We stayed by her side, talked to her, sang to her, prayed for her and gave her a priesthood blessing! By day 4, I was being sent home and while saying goodbye for the night, the nurse came. She was stumbling over words, apologizing and said, "We ran the blood work again and there is nothing wrong with this baby. She's perfect. It must be some kind of mistake or mixup." But of coarse, we knew it was a miracle! She is our peacemaker in the home, our clumsy, funny girl who is always making us laugh, but not on purpose, that's Bella. She came out smiling, and other than the first couple of colicky months and a few drama queen moments, she is still always smiling and making others smile! She is and always has been our perfect teenager in a little body. She loves having a teenage sister and spending time with me and the young women! She can't wait to grow up and be a mom, but loves being a cute little girl too! She said to me yesterday, "I will be such a good mom, I dressed Brockie and fed him and carried him into church" ( I didn't dare remind her how she also refused to take the sacrament and told Brock she was mad at him because he wouldn't share his snacks with her), but all is forgotten and forgiven! I love you Gracie! Happy 7th Birthday!
Friday night was Grace's camping birthday party. We set up a tent in the living room for them to play in. Then we went on a scavenger hunt leading them to a big basket full of teddy bears, so they had something to snuggle with in the tent. We had to have a pretzel eating contest to go along with the song from her invitations. Then, we had bought a little fire pit and built a fire in it on the deck and roasted marshmallows and had smores instead of cake. They also jumped on the tramp and went down the deck slide for a while. After opening presents we took some pictures and then played sardines in the dark with glow sticks! It was a lot of fun and Gracie has such cute friends who are such good girls! I am proud of her choice of friends! The only thing that would have made this party better is if she had Sam, Emma and Gentry, her little cousins there with her to celebrate! 
