Adele is 12!

I can't believe Adele is 12!  How does time go so quickly?!  Adele went to Young Women's (12-18-year-old girls group at church) for the first time last Sunday (her actual birthday).  The young women went to Primary to get her, and Ceci cried and hugged her as she left.  It was tender.  Ceci feels like she is being left behind as her sisters grow up!

Here is the morning birthday dance to The Beatles, "You Say its Your Birthday!"

Ceci's get-up for the birthday song, and Tennie trying to get a piece of the photo

 
We played games Sunday afternoon, and then Em, Mike, Bailey, Zoey and Tate came for dinner where, in Davis-style, most of the family sent something they loved about Adele via email that we read interspersed with our around-the-table comments.  Here they are just as they came:

Taeya:  What i love about Adele is that when ever we play you always think of me and ask me "what do you want to play?" You also are very kind and generous.  I also look forward to mail because you send me awesome stuff!  I love being pen-pals with you, Adele!

Mitchell:  I love you, Adele, because you are fun.  You do nice things, like play with us. 

Trent:  Adele, you have a great talent of being compassionate.  And you are very hard working and determined.

Ink:  I love many things about you, Adele.  You are so genuine in your love for others.  You really know how to show love and appreciation.  I love that you are so observant and aware of people around you.  I love how much energy you have, and that you are so curious about the world and want to experience things.  I love that you love babies, and you are so kind and gentle and sweet with them!  I love that you are my niece and we will be family forever!!!!!

Lucie:  I love Adele's pretty shirt.  And I love swimming with Adele at the beach. 

Anders:  I like Adele because I played a funny game with Geoff and Adele, where Geoff had a pillow and he tried to spank our bum-bums.  Adele and I ran away--it was fun!

TK:  I love how you are so nice and forgiving.

Happy birthday Delo!! 

Del, it's hard to even begin to say what I love about you. I honestly could talk about why I love you for hours. 

You always make me feel loved, special, cool and beautiful. You are always showering me with love and compliments. It's impossible to not feel like the coolest, best person in the world around you. You have such a positive energy and positive light about you. I am so inspired by your dedication to hard things, by your unique sense of design, and your openness to give love. I can not wait to see how you continue to grow, because you are always becoming kinder, wiser and more beautiful inside and out. I love you so much my little Delo, I hope you know how wonderfully special you are, and even more how perfectly you are loved. 

Love your favorite :) aunt Britto 

Adele is so dang funny I can't take it. Everytime she walks into a room she lights it up with her bright eyes and beautiful smile. Her quirky dance moves could entertain the masses and I feel they will someday. She has a genius natural ability on camera and her videos bring smiles to everyone they reach. I would most definitely buy a yogurt from 801 yogurt. The cutest kid on the block and the sweetest most sensitive soul in the world, Adele you are truly a blessing to be around and a gift to this earth. I wish you an amazing birthday and we will party when you get here!!
Love always,
Christian and Heather

Adele, I love how much you love and prioritize people. Most kids care a heck of a lot about toys and STUFF, and while toys and things are fun to you, you care way more about people. You are so sensitive to other people's feelings, and you act on any inclination you have that someone else might not be happy or feel comfortable. That's what the Savior did. While he was on the earth, people were His priority. He was sensitive to how people felt and what they needed and He spent His time trying to help them be happier. You are mature beyond your years, Delo. They way you treat other people, and make others feel, makes me want to be a better person, more like you. If ever I am having a bad day at work, I stop by your house because I know you're going to be super excited to see me and that ALWAYS makes me happy. :)

I love you, Delo! Happy, happy birthday!  Nikki

What I love about Adele: I love her sending me emails and calling me "dude." I love her memory and powers of observation and powers of retaining what she hears. I love how she loves MorMor!! I love her speed. I love her crazy sense of humor. And much more!! Happy Birthday Adele!!  Poppop

There are lots of reasons why I love you Delo. One of them is that you are an incredibly sensitive person. You are aware of the feelings of the people around you and you are constantly reaching out and trying to make everyone feel good. I also love your creativity, spontaneity, hyperactive mood and smart ideas. You are one of my favorite people in the world. I love you and feel privileged to be your aunt.

Happy Birthday!!!!  Love, Erie

Here are a few things we love about Adele:

--she is always so excited to see us and gives us a great big hug (from Jamison and Elise) 

--she is a fun cousin (also from Jamison and Elise) 

--when she likes something, she works really hard at it and becomes really good at it

--she is a tenacious soccer player and won't let anybody beat her

--she is very thoughtful of others and sensitive to others' feelings 

--she shows love easily 

--she is a strong supporter of Tennie and Ceci 

--she is faster than a cheetah 

--she is strong-willed 

--she is an amazing artist (Ian & Liz)

Unfortunately, I didn't jot down what was actually said around the table.  I do remember my own words: I love that when I ask Adele to do something it will be done, and with exactness.  It is important for her to do things right, and while this causes the poor child some stress, and she'll have to learn that perfection is overrated (as my friend Cindy once said), I really appreciate it as a mother.  She is obedient, dependable, responsible and diligent.  Admirably so.

I loved hearing everyone's comments, and seeing the threads of her dominant gifts emerge.  She is a very special human being.  I'm grateful to get to be her mother.

At the end of the day we had a treasure hunt for the presents, written by Ceci this year.

Ceci gave Adele three very thoughtful and generous gifts 

J'aime L'Art Party

Adele had her birthday party yesterday choosing, J'aime L'Art as her theme.  And it is fitting since that kid loves to create, and adores anything French!  When we looked online for ideas it seemed every "art" party was for preschoolers so we did some brainstorming about how to make it fitting for a 12-year-old's party.  I think we hit the mark because her friends all said they want to have this party for their birthday parties this year!

Trying to create an "art studio" feel, Adele drew a variety of frames for the walls.

The girls started off painting their initial.

The wooden figures are waiting their turn...

Next each girl designed an outfit for their wooden model using scraps and knots.

They could have done this for hours.  That is Adele's to the far right, next to hers is Tennie's, and Ceci's is the third from the right.

Next they did Nail Art using some awesome art pens.  I was on blow dryer duty...

We had lunch which was croissant ham and cheese sandwiches, chips and veggie cups with Ranch.  For anyone who knows Adele, gumballs are a must.

And the last creation of the party was to decorate your cupcake (which we all learned takes some skill!)

Adele passed on the little rosettes I had imagined...

Adele's great group of friends

Tennie, Adele and Ceci all made me laugh when I looked at this picture

The only thing that could have made it better is if her friend Nina, and her cousin, Taeya, could have been there!

Holidays at a Backwards Glance - Part 2

On the Sunday evening before Christmas we acted out the Nativity.  As you will see from the pictures it wasn't the most reverent performance, and it didn't help that I was scrambling around the room trying to capture it in pictures (none of which are great quality), but here they are.

Geoff's mom, who is valiantly fighting an aggressive cancer, agreed to play the part of the innkeeper.

Adele played Mary with Jacob as Joseph

Under the piano bench was no more suitable for our Mary than a stable-cave way two millenia ago for Mary, the real mother of Jesus!  (Baby Jesus wasn't supposed to be coming out...)

It was hard to stay serious with Bailey as a sheep.  And then there is Geoff as the angel in the background holding a light behind his head for a halo.

Adele looks very engaged...

There are the three wise men...and something wrapped up in the background...

Christmas Eve is also Geoff's brother Christian's birthday.  We had a tractor parade and caroled around the property.  This was a great memory, followed up by genuine Swiss hot cocoa, and a bonfire where everyone took a turn to say what they loved about Christian and me, a Davis birthday tradition.  The night was thick with love and unity - a beautiful Christmas Eve.

After a reading of A Night Before Christmas the girls set up a sleeping, no waiting, place in the laundry room.  They were up giggling and playing all night, according to several ear witnesses.  Ahhh, to be a kid anticipating Christmas morning...

After a big Christmas brunch we opened presents.  Geoff's family sleeps in on Christmas morning (torture for our girls) so we got to the business of gifts around 11:00.  With so many of us it took about three hours!

The rest of our stay was filled with movies and talking and Tango yogurt.  We did some yard clean-up and endless kitchen clean-ups and tidying!  When seventeen people are sharing a space the logistics of it all takes a chuck of time and energy!  I also got a pedicure from Em and a facial from Heather.  I was spoiled.

One day we fit in a hike to Clark's Hole on the American River.  One of the girls had the crazy idea of getting in the cold water.  Tennie and Ceci went first.  They counted down and charged into the water...

...and then after going all the way under they hightailed it out again, screaming about pins and needles.  We got it on video but swore not to post it.  It will be included in the Davis Highlights.

Natural consequences...

After watching Tennie and Ceci, Bailey and Adele (mostly Adele) were a little nervous.  Not having warm clothes to change in to were Tennie and Ceci's main dilemna, so Adele and Bailey stripped down to their underwear and ran in.  We witnessed the same shock and rush out of the water.  Adele, dripping wet, exclaimed, "That was the worst decision I've ever made!!!"  A few minutes later she wanted to do it again.  No pictures of the streakers.

Tennie went in twice.

Good times.

And now we're home, back to the cold winter of Utah.  Geoff and I have been cleaning out our paid storage unit once and for all.  Ahhh, good riddance monthly payment for STUFF!   And we've cleaned the house and are ready for a new start in 2014.

Holidays at a Backwards Glance

I'm painfully behind.  In an effort to document a great holiday I'm going to post it all in one fell swoop, chronologically.  Here goes.

Each week before Christmas we set out a gift we could give to the Savior.  We had devotionals about the gift and tried to focus our efforts to develop the Christ-like trait.  It added a nice focus throughout the whole season.

Geoff's family has a tradition of each child opening a Christmas ornament on Christmas Eve.  We've continued the tradition and over the past six years or so have focused on Danish or German ornaments.  Here are a few, with the final one being 2013's ornament.

Geoff made these ornaments one year

We walked around Temple Square one night, with about 10,000 other people.  Wow are those lights spectacular.  There is a reverence to those grounds.  We love seeing them every time we pull up to our apartment too.

Cold feet!

Our dear neighbor allows the girls to whirl around the halls in his wheelchair upon their request.  They are quite nimble!

We made the long drive to Auburn for Christmas.  Oh how it felt good to be in those beautiful hills, hearing the the birds and cows and donkeys, breathing the fresh air, staring at the vast sky with its countless stars, and seeing the endless shapes of nature!  We love our city living, but we miss our country life too.

My dear friend Cindy and I got together for a long walk on our favorite path along a canal, and then she treated me to lunch at a yummy, new restaurant that was so fresh and delicious.  We never run out of things to talk about and I'm always inspired to try new things and be a better person after being with her.  She is one of the most nurturing human beings I know and I count my lucky stars our paths crossed early on during those Auburn years.

We went to San Francisco for my birthday.  I love that city, and I'm so glad we got to do our favorite Christmas things.  And the city's gift to me was weather in the 60s!

We visited our favorite chocolate shop in Switzerland right there in San Fran.

I love this picture that someone took on my phone.  It was one of those boards that you put your face into.  We didn't get a picture of the front of the board, just the behind the scenes shot.  Love it.

 We walked a tiny bit into China town.

We had lunch at my favorite place in the city, a French cafe.  This is the next best thing to being in Paris itself.

Perfect croissants and Orangina.  The girls could have stopped there and been perfectly happy.

 On to Union Square with its tree and windows and skating rink and gingerbread houses.

Writing letters to Santa in Macy's

The view of Union Square from Macy's

To the Top of the Mark for hot cocoa and spectacular views of the city

To the ice rink for some skating

Aunt Brittany was the preferred skating buddy

Because it wouldn't be totally abnormal for blogger to tell me at the end of this long post that it couldn't post so many pictures, I'm going to stop here and continue in another post.