7 years old

Celebrating the girls birthday is always so much fun, but this year was my favorite yet! I think the older they get the more fun we have. We decided that since they had a roller skating birthday party with their friends, we would go ice skating as a family on their real birthday! Claire was extra excited since she loves to ice skate and was excited to wear her new life is good shirt which reads..."have an ice day". She was also excited to wear her fake glasses of course! For some reason the girls really wanted Jay and I to ice skate with them this time....to the point of Claire crying about it. For those of you who don't know, Jason blew his knee out two Decembers ago and I have rheumatoid arthritis, so we are not the best candidates for ice skating. He was smart and declined, but for some reason I said yes. I made it half way around the rink before I stepped off and thankfully got a full refund for my attempt. The girls were fine since I tried and kept skating their hearts out. We headed back home to get ready for our family party. My parents and Jays came over for dinner and cupcakes. We had so much fun eating, talking, taking pictures and singing Christmas carols! The girls got their favorite present ever from their grandparents...their first American Girl dolls! They knew they were getting them since I let them pick out which one they wanted, but they were still in shock when they unwrapped them. They hugged their grandparents tighter than I have ever seen them before. Their dolls are precious, even I kind of want one!! Ava named her doll Julie and Claire named hers Amy. They are the best of friends already and have gone pretty much everywhere with us...church, the library, out to eat and to both grandparents houses! Jay and let the girls pick out an accessory to go with their dolls. Ava got a cute watch because she loves to wear her own watch and Claire picked out glasses to match her own pair.

Jason and I can not believe they are already 7 years old and are so proud of the sweet young girls they have become. They love Jesus with all of their hearts and have told so many of their friends about Him. They will ask anyone, anytime "Are you a Christian?" They are such a great examples of witnessing to others for me!! They LOVE school and are excelling in reading and math. They are having a blast doing gymnastics this year. They love jumping and flipping on the tumble track and climbing the giant rope and falling off into the pit of foam! The are really enjoying the Y princess tribe with Jay and have made such sweet friendships. I am excited to experience what it is like to have two 7 year olds and know that it will be even more fun and challenging than having two 6 year olds!