Another year and feeling more blessed!

 How do you plan for a party?  Do you sit down and make a menu out?  Do you plan out every detail of how its going to look, the theme and the colors?  When it comes to one of mykids birthdays ~ I do try to make sure THEY are happy and happy with how things turn out.

 When Benjamin turned four in December, I really sat down and made sure I had everything planned out.  He had a pirate themed birthday and I planned out everything down to even "naming" the food in a pirate theme.  What I didnt plan for was not feeling well at all!  His birthday was my first attempt at making chocolates and cookies.  I had started a cake decorating class so I thought the lessons I was learning would come in handy for the cookies and future parties!  I ordered the cake from a friend of mine and she did an amazing job!


Fast forward to a few weeks ago when we celebrated Emily's birthday.  She is nine now.  She LOVES elephants ~ so her theme was elephants!  Her color scheme was pink and brown and again, I sat down to make it an elephant/carnival type theme for her.  I found a cute dress with elephants all over it for her to wear to her party. I made her birthday invitations and I found adorable plates, napkins, etc at my new "go to" party place. This time, instead of ordering the cake, I wanted to do it myself.  To my surprise it turned out pretty good!  I made elephant cookies and chocolates as well!  She was happy with everything and that is all I could ask for.

Saying all this and being able to share with you how blessed I feel to be able to do this for

my kids, what I find myself doing at Emily's parties is thanking Jesus more.  With HLH and IF this was genetic form ~ most likely Emily wouldnt have seen past her sixth birthday.  Her parties are just more special to me.  Its not just "a birthday party".  Yes, it is away to celebrate her and her life but for me, its to also celebrate how far she has come.  Its a way to see how amazing our God is.   Its a chance for others to see the miracles He has done on her.

Its not just another birthday ~ its a day to reflect on how much she has dealt with in her short life, a day to remember just how blessed we are.  God is good!