Here's to a Decade of Fun!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET LUCY!!! Can you believe this little baby has been around for 10 whole years??? Wow. It still feels not so long ago,  that I was not-so-patiently waiting in a hospital bed for the go-ahead from Dr. Meigs to induce me so I could meet our Philadelphia baby.

She came early on the morning of December 4th and my life has never been the same. She immediately brought so much JOY into our lives, and I never knew you could love such a tiny little person so much-- and be filled with so much worry and fear and hope every time you looked at that little face who was depending so wholly on you! Well, ten years have since flown by....

And here she is today! Lucy got to play hooky and skip school on Friday, so she could spend the day with Daddy hiking in the mountains. They decided to hike up around Nederland in the Rockies, and enjoy some Christmas snow!  

Jon had it all planned out, from the picnic lunch, to the trail they'd hike, to getting Panda Express (Lucy's favorite) for dinner on the way home. He's such a great dad!

The hike was about 3 miles in the snow, and very, very cold. Jon was able to make hot chocolate for Lucy when they got to the halfway point, which I'm sure hit the spot!

Gorgeous! A winter wonderland. I love that they took selfies.

Jon was elated that he got to use his truck for some off-roading in order to get to the trailhead. Lucy was totally freaked out of course when she saw these signs, but Jon said his truck performed admirably. They got home Friday evening just in time for Lucy to go to open gym that night with her friend Collette at the Rec center. She was one tired girl that night!

Grandma Joanie had flown in Thursday morning to spend the weekend with the birthday girl, so Saturday morning we took Lucy to "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." She's a Harry Potter fangirl as you know, so I don't think she minded seeing it twice in one week. That evening she picked the Cheesecake Factory for her birthday dinner, and she even got her very own slice of Oreo cheesecake. Lucky!

Right after dinner we headed into downtown, to the Denver Zoo to see the "Zoo Lights" which is a yearly tradition where they decorate the entire zoo with Christmas lights. Traffic was brutal along I-25 (of course) so we were rushing to get there, but finally made it and despite the bitter cold, we had a great time!

They had a LOT of lights! It was beautiful.

Despite cold, tired kids we were able to get at least one nice family picture....

Until you zoom in on Lizzie's face and see it up close. It totally cracks me up!! Ha ha ha!! That little face just says to me, "It's cold. I'm bored. Get me outta here." Poor baby!

We met the cousins there which made it all the more fun! They loved wandering through all these thousands of lights together. This was the "BYU cougar" we found.

And the hippo tunnel which was their favorite. Leah had fallen asleep in the car on the way there, and was just cranky as could be, so she rode in the stroller and then ended up falling back asleep somewhere along the way. 

Following in her mother's footsteps, Lucy's birthday WEEKEND finished on her actual birthday, December 4th, and commenced by opening presents early that morning. I even managed to snag some real butter beer at a specialty shop here in Parker. Yum!

She got lots of fun presents-- Roald Dahl books, two science kits, new clothes, an illustrated Harry Potter book, and a new bike which she'll get to pick out sometime this weekend. Spoiled rotten!

Here she is-- our resident fashionista in her new church clothes. I think TEN looks great on her!

That evening after church, she picked chicken pot pie for her special dinner, and this amazing chocolate Kit Kat cake for dessert. Get it, Luce!

The cousins came over to help us celebrate Lucy, and brought a fun birthday present. They also helped us eat all that yummy birthday cake and ice cream.

Singing Happy Birthday and blowing out the candles....

When I found out I was pregnant with Lucy, shortly after I went to the temple and while sitting there in the session I very, very clearly received the impression that this baby's name was to be Lucy. I had all kinds of other baby girl names picked out, but I knew it almost from day one that this was our Lucy.  The name Lucy actually  means "bringer of light"-- and that's just exactly what she does. She's brought so much light into our lives, and into a very dark, scary world.  She is wise and mature beyond her years, and so special to so many people. We LOVE you Lucy!