N turned 9 years old a few weeks ago. We celebrated twice– once in a small party with my family and once on her actual birthday at home.

My mom baked these fantastic cupcakes. I stood and watched her, trying to soak up some of her cupcake decorating skills.

We surprised her by celebrating with my family. When she realized what we were doing, she asked to call her chaperone. The chaperone said she was so excited and wanted a photo of everyone together.

A simple request, but clearly it meant something to her.

She showed a ton of appreciate for each card, reading them carefully. I really don’t know that I’ve ever seen a child express so much gratitude.

My niece picked out this stuffed dog from her collection and gave it to N.

One of our gifts to N was a pair of sneakers. It’s a truly practical gift– have something of good quality to take back with her and wear for the fall. Sneakers because this girl is so active! I thought it would be a boring gift, but it turned out to be one of her favorites. She even wore them to bed!

We celebrated N’s birthday the second time on her actual birthday. We arrived home from Pennsylvania that day, so we just had store bought cupcakes and gave her one gift. 

Celebrating N’s birthday was a lot of fun! I think she truly appreciated