Someone is Seven!!

Well there's lots going on here and we're very busy trying to get everything ready for our trip to Florida in 11 days!!

But I would be remiss if I failed to mention that there have been other exciting happenings in our home besides the adoption. :) Our precious little Rachel girl turned 7 years old on October 30th. It was a packed day for her as we did all our celebrating in one day. Most years we have done her friends birthday party the week after her actual birthday so as to avoid the Halloween craziness, but this year we thought we better get it done early, and since her b-day fell on a Saturday we decided to have her party then too.

Here is the birthday girl in the morning, opening her gifts from us. Then we had waffles for breakfast at her request.

The party guests (all 11 of them!) arrived before lunch for Rachel's "Adventure Party." Since it was a little damp for a picnic outside, we did away with the table and had a picnic lunch of sandwiches and chips and veggies on the picnic blankets in the dining room.

After lunch we went to the trails by our house for a scavenger hunt


and some "gold panning" in the creek, led by these two prospectors. :)


Evan had spray-painted some little rocks with gold paint and then planted them, along with some "jewels" in the creek. The girls were thrilled with their riches and even braved the cold water to fish the treasures out with their bare hands when the "gold pans" ended up being too difficult.

Back home for some hot chocolate and birthday cake!

and gift opening with her sweet friends.

We had a couple of hours to clean up and rest and then we had a family dinner party with quiche and caesar salad - Rachel's two favourite things. :)

and more cake - thanks Grandma. :)

It was a fun day, to celebrate a fun girl. Rachel is such a little sweetheart. She is shy in public but plenty loud when she is comfortable. She loves to play - barbies, playmobil, polly pockets, dolls. She loves crafting - painting, perler beads, drawing, cutting, gluing. She loves to pretend - costumes galore, building forts, crawling around like an animal, inventing scenarios of "good guys" and "bad guys," imaginary creatures, playing house. She loves to be read to - her favourite author right now is Patricia Polacco, who writes and beautifully illustrates picture books about her family's history. She loves to snuggle - hugs and kisses, back rubs and piggy backs, anything to be in close and cozy. She loves to make up silly rhyming words and right now she insists on calling us all Bob for no reason in particular. :)

Rachel has been the baby in our family for 7 years. She is excited to be a big sister - finally! But I know that it will also be quite a big adjustment for her, not being our baby anymore. She's been quite used to people doing and saying things for her, so she doesn't have to. She doesn't mind in the least, being coddled and cuddled and she plays the cute factor quite well - especially with Daddy! I know that we will have to make sure to give her lots of snuggles and attention once the baby comes home, but also be intentional about encouraging her in her new role. I am sure that she will be a great big sister because she loves to be my helper, and she loves babies.

That's all for now! I may not have time to do the other posts that are floating around in my head before we leave for Florida, but we will have our laptop with us and I will be posting pictures of the baby as soon as I can.

So stay tuned! :)