Birthday Beauty

Summer has turned the "fantastic four"! June 12th was the magical day, but the birthday celebrations lasted a whole week prior to the event. We participated in a different surprise celebratory activity each day and she got to open one present each morning.

The first day of Birthday Week, my mother and I took her out to lunch to the Lion House Pantry in Salt Lake. We first snapped a few shots of her amid the flowers by the Joseph Smith building to capture her extreme cuteness!

I stashed some matches and a Birthday candle in my purse to stick in her slice of layer cake. We joyfully sang Happy Birthday to her, ignoring the astonished stares of the other diners.

Afterward lunch, we shared oxygen with an actual celebrity! Okay, here's your quiz question: Who is the local singer/cute boy who SHOULD have won American Idol a couple of years ago? David Archuletta, you guess? You win! He was signing his biography at the Deseret Book store and we made the wise choice of stopping to take his picture.

Another day that week, we had a prim and proper princess tea party with Summer's aunt Cindy and cousin Annika!

For another activity, I took Summer to the Treehouse Children's museum and met up with some of her other cousins. She looks like a hot rodeo queen!

We also took her to Cherry Hill to frolick and swim! We had a great time, but the weather turned ghastly with pounding rain, thunder, and killer lightning. The weather show started just AFTER we left, though. Phew! Jerald is hot, by the way. Just so you know...

We also had a park day! Here is Summer striking a striking pose. :)

Wow, all of these festivities can wear a girl out!

Then, the night before her birthday, my parents and Jerald and I took her out to dinner to Fazolis, where we experienced some inspired Italian food!

On her ACTUAL birthday, Jerald and I delighted Summer with balloons and streamers that the "birthday fairy" had spread about her bedroom for her to wake up to that morning. We made the wise choice of actually informing her of the plan this time around, as opposed to last year's Birthday surprise spectacular that didn't go over too well (click here to be reminded of our sad and deflated balloon spectacle). We gave her some presents and then, Jerald whipped up her favorite breakfast of some fluffy pancakes before we headed up to Park City to meet up with Jerald's family at their time share resort. We celebrated her bithday with a pink frosted cake at her request, and then spoiled her with more presents. :) Yes, we were wearing coats. It was a lovely and ARCTIC June afternoon. What's up with THAT?

The best part of giving Summer presents is the look of pure delight on her face!

I think we would be perfectly content to stare at Summer all day long. She is mesmerizing. I thoroughly enjoy her company and tell her every day that she is my best friend. She's fun, quick-witted, smart, (she has already learned how to read!), sparkly, gorgeous, smells like cotton candy, and is a gifted dancing queen. Simply click here to view her disco dancing skills. It was a delicious treat to make her feel as loved as she is on her birthday. We're so thankful to be her parents and cherish even the very thought of her. :)