June 29 Kaity's Birthday

Saturday: This is the very day our Kaity was born TWELVE years ago in an Army hospital in El Paso, Texas. I was actually THERE when she was born--not in the birthing room--no, no, no. But I was in town and got to see little Kaity a few hours after she was born!!! 

I'm super thankful for these pictures of this precious time in our lives!

Emma, almost 10, holding her
baby sister

Well, Kaity has grown quite a bit in the last 12 years. This is her last year as a pre-teen. She is tall, athletic, funny, interesting, extremely SOCIAL, smart, mechanical, kind ... and I love her so much.

I picked Kaity up at about 3pm and we drove over to her dad's so that she could get a birthday hug from him. I love these pictures of them!

After visiting with Jesse for awhile and checking out his newly renovated 2nd bathroom, Kaity and I drove over to my house. The following pictures (all of them) loaded in backward order. I never know why that happens, but I'm going to just leave them as you see them. It doesn't really matter!

I bought an ice cream cake for Kaity, which turned out to be ALL ice cream with frosting on top. It was good, but I was hoping for ... CAKE too. I put some sparkling candles (which were difficult to light), and Kaity had fun blowing them out.
 

When we ordered Kaity's gifts a few weeks ago, she was completely intent on having an official NFL football. So ... here it is!

Aren't these great pictures of Kaity?

Kaity also wanted a CROSS necklace. I felt a little hesitant about this--because I think it's so important for people who wear BIG crosses (or little ones for that matter) to actually imitate JESUS--when friends look at them, hopefully they see attitudes and actions that represent Jesus. It's kind of like bumper stickers on cars that preach about Jesus, but the drivers of those cars (sometimes) drive like ... idiots--which gives the Lord a bad reputation. Anyway, I cautioned Kaity about wearing this cross. It should always represent Jesus and what His death on that cruel cross accomplished as He sacrificed His perfect life for our sinful ones.  

On one side of the cross it has Joshua 1.8: "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." It's a great Scripture from an incredible time in Joshua's life. Hopefully, Kaity will let me tell her Joshua's story one of these days.

The other side of the cross has a ... football. Hmm. Not sure what a football has to do with the cross of Christ--but hopefully, it means that Jesus is interested in everything we do and gives us the athletic ability that we have (or don't have, in my case). Kaity liked it very much.

The cross was wrapped in FIVE different plastic bags ...

Here is Kaity with her football. She really is a natural athlete. I hope that she follows through with athletics--it would be a shame to waste the gifts God has given her. 

Here she is opening the card I designed for her. I'll show it to you at the end of this post.

Kaity's card:

It sure was nice to spend part of your birthday with you! Diana took her out for lunch, with her siblings, to Outback Steak House. She received lots of cards and nice gifts for her 12th birthday. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KAITY!!!