Elise turns 6!



Elise turned 6 on June 7 and we celebrated by having a birthday party with friends (her first "friend" one) at the park that afternoon. She had such a fun time and I was glad that several of her friends came out to play :)

The birthday girl




With her birthday banner




The makings of wands




My little poser...posing :)



Treat bags



Cake & Cupcakes




Making wands



Making Wands

Pinata time! Batter's up :)

Swing!

With her best friend from school, Anabelle

With her best friend from church, Brylee



With Kaia




With her friend, Shannyn




With our new soccer friends, Peighton & Marissa




With another church friend, Sarah




With her present from Grandpa & Grandma Stout! A ballerina doll and book :)




With Brennan and his gift for her :)




Opening her present from Mom & Trav - A new PINK razor scooter :)




At the park, she didn't get to blow out her candles, due to the wind. So, we did it after dinner at home.

Some of Elise's favorite things are:

1. Food = Corn dogs and burritos
2. Color = blue and purple
3. TV show = Fresh Beat Band
4. Movie = The Love Bug (the original one)
5. Game = Playing House
6. To do in the summer = swimming

Some of the things I appreciate about Elise are:
1. She is always willing and even excited to help around the house and in the yard. She's really a natural hard worker and I love that we just get to encourage and develop this.
2. She eats whatever is put in front of her without complaining :). Often, she says "Oh, my favorite!" about many things. This makes my job, as a mom, much easier!
3. She is super, SUPER excited that she gets to be a big sister when the baby comes. She is always asking questions and wants to know and understand how and when the baby is going to be here.  And, she cannot wait to help :)
4. She loves to draw and is always making pictures for everyone. It's so fun to see the pictures she makes not only for me and Travis, but for her siblings and friends as well. A couple of weeks ago, I took her to deliver some of the pictures she had made to some of her friends from the school bus. She just ran up to the houses, knocked, asked if her friends were home, and then said "Here you go---bye!"
5. She loves to dance and put on shows. She was born with a natural grace in dancing (although, she somehow was also gifted with some of my clumsiness... :) and she has a natural understanding of rhythm and of the way music affects the way we dance and move. It's been fun to watch her begin to develop these natural gifts in her ballet class this past year.
6. Her fabulous faith. Elise very naturally believes that Jesus is her friend and that He is the one she can count on and that she should be loving because Jesus taught us that. I love that she gets excited about reading in her Bible (even though I still have to mostly read it to her ;) and that she works so hard to memorize scriptures and keep up with her big brother and sister.  It's such a joy to watch her childlike faith develop into a solid, yet still child-like and believing, foundation.