Brielle's Birthday - Jump Arena

The next morning we checked out and headed off for Brielle's Birthday fun.  (It was my birthday too.)  We didn't want to drive all the way home on anyone's Birthday and spend it all in a car.  So we stopped in Twin Falls for some fun and stayed the night there.

We went to a jump gym:

Ashton LOVED their enclosed jump dodge ball game.

We wen to a local Mexican Restaurant for lunch.

We swam in our hotel- specifically BEFORE our next activity...

... Because our next thing on the agenda was a special surprise for Brielle... pierced ears!

In my family growing up, we had to be 14 or read the Book of Mormon- whichever came first.  I ultimately didn't care to until my wedding day, having read the Book of Mormon plenty of times by then.  With Brielle, we were a little less solid on what age.  I thought maybe 12 for double digits or entering Young Womens, or maybe 13 for becoming a teenager.  Brielle actually read the Book of Mormon last summer.  She would read 10 pages every day and then talk about it with Todd.  By 10, she just seemed plenty responsible to take care of her ears and keep track of her earrings.  She also isn't the flashy type and she isn't vain.  So Todd and I decided to let her go ahead and do it.

She didn't know why we were headed to the mall.  We told her it wasn't for clothes.  In hindsight she might have been a little less shell shocked/nervous if we had given her time to prepare.  Instead we just walked into Claire's and said were there to get her ears pierced and then she went from really excited to really quiet and observant of everything going on in prep...  but she did just fine.  She's tough :)  They give 50% off anything you buy in the store the day of piercing your ears so she got a good start on some earrings to own for part of her Birthday presents.

We went to Golden Corral for dinner- Brielle and I both love that place.  I mostly love how fast it is and easy with kids :).

After dinner we went to see the new Captain America movie and went back to the hotel for cake.

We watched conference in the morning before using a late check out.

All packed up, we headed home for Brielle to open her presents.

Back home we opened presents.  For my Birthday I asked for trees.  We did get several trees the week or two prior, but Todd also bought me a lens for my camera he knew that I've always wanted.  He bought it used because it is so expensive which I'm thinking is the way to go from here on out.  Everything left on my wish list is incredibly expensive.  And, while it is used, you can't tell AT ALL.  It looks/works brand spanking new but he saved about 20%.  Huge shout out to Adorama.com.  This is the second time we've done a purchase through them and they are an AWESOME trustworthy company.

Here is Brielle opening her presents back at home (the day after her B-day because I completely forgot to pack them.  She was good about it and I think the earrings thing was the perfect buffer for that.

Brielle wanted this sweatshirt so bad at that huge Dick's Sporting Goods store in SLC the last time we were there.  But they didn't have her size and said it was sold out in all their stores as well as on line.  After my leather jacket experience last year, I learned you can always find something.  ebay had it but not in her size, a few other athletic stores had it in other colors.  I spent most of our drive home from the last trip looking for it online on my phone.  But eventually, I did find some remote store I'd never heard of and got it on a clearance deal.  Woo hoo!  She was pretty shocked to see it there... and in her size!  Sneaky, sneaky!

She's been asking for a rock polishing kit.  She was super excited to get it, but the poor girl hasn't had any time to play with it this month with soccer and all that the month of April has her do!  She can't wait for May to finally have some time again!  Neither can I...

Brielle is a dream daughter.  She's smart, she's kind, she's fun, she's gorgeous, she's tough, but she's feminine, she's helpful, respectful, dependable, thoughtful, she doesn't ever say anything bad about anyone, she is a good friend to her friends, she takes care of her little sister, she's just such a good girl!  She is super busy these days and she handles it gracefully.  I hope her perfect tween years don't mean she'll be a crazy teenager!  'Cause I'm loving my angelic child.  With the crazy ups and downs to my health in the last two years, she has born more responsibility than most 8 and 9 year-olds should have to.  She has been a life saver.  So capable.  I love this girl.  She is an example to me.  It's amazing how much we learn from our children.