Whitlee Turns the Big 9er

I have had a deal with my kids that when they turn 8, they can have their first birthday party.  Whitlee got shorted out of that deal last year because we went on a cruise for her birthday and by the time we planned and executed the cruise and got back, her birthday was long past and we were burned out on parties.  So this year, she got to have her first official birthday party with friends!

She chose an animal theme, because animals are her most favorite thing in the world!

She had to have her birthday party a week before her birthday because her birthday was on LDS General Conference weekend as well as spring break, so we were worried that a lot of her friends wouldn't be able to make it.... coincidentally, we had her birthday party on Charlotte's birthday, but Charlotte was at a ward girl's campout, so it all worked out.

We set out cupcake supplies for an animal themed cupcake challenge.

And crafting supplies for a craft.

Josie came over early to help us set up for the party.

We played animal headbands.

And had an animal nailed it cupcake challenge.

On Whit's actual birthday, we headed to the cabin to enjoy General Conference and play in the snow.  Her siblings gave her fun gifts like new shoes, and jewelry.  She got a Zuppy Dog (robot dog) from Mom and Dad.  She had been wanting one for a long time.

She decided she wanted a Cheetah Print cake for her birthday and we did our best with the supplies we had at the cabin.  Even the inside of the cake was Cheetah Print.  It didn't turn out perfect, but it turned out pretty well, considering it is always 2x harder baking at the cabin.

10 Things About Whitlee:

1. She is an animal lover.  She loves every kind of animal and rotates frequently between which animals are her favorite.  Lately, it has been foxes.  She loves cheetah print and loves to wear it.  She has cheetah print shirts, jacket, skirt, and shoes.

2. Her favorite toys are stuffed animals.  She still likes to sleep with her stuffies and when she gets together with friends, stuffies is what she likes to play.  It probably goes hand in hand with that animal obsession.

3.  She learned how to do her hair this year!  She has had a goal to learn to wash, brush, curl and care for her hair.  She even got a crimper for her birthday and loves to crimp her hair by herself. She is getting so good at doing her hair!

4.  She has been learning piano and gymnastics this year.  She has continued to take piano and gymnastics lessons and is coming along nicely with both of these talents.

5.  She is starting to be a competitive athlete.  Whitlee played softball and basketball this year and we are starting to see some natural athleticism coming through!  She got very competitive in basketball and was scoring several points in every game and really got in there to get rebounds and help her team out.  In softball, she had a desire to learn to pitch and she loved it.  She wanted to be out in the yard in all her spare time practicing batting and pitching and she got to pitch in most of her games.  She also got some great hits at bat!

6. She is getting braver.  She is starting to overcome some of her biggest fear.  One of those has been her fear of water.  She is being so much braver in swimming lessons and her dad actually taught her to back float this year.  We also convinced her to go down one of the bigger water slides at Lava Hot Springs and she found out she loved it and went again and again!  Now if we can just convince her to overcome her fear of amusement parks, maybe we could go to Disneyland again.  Right now she cries if we even mention Disneyland.

7. She still likes to snuggle.  If Mom or Dad sits down in the recliner, she is there within minutes with a blanket ready to be held and snuggled.  She really treasures her role as baby of the family and loves to be held.

8. She is very smart but does not love to read.  This kid scores high on her tests and got to participate in the gifted program this last year.  However, she takes after her dad and I have a very had time convincing her to read books!  I had to bribe her with $5 to finish a book during the summer.

9.  She loves to ride her bike and sleep outside.  Whitlee has mastered riding a bike and loves to go on bike rides and is always begging everyone to go on a bike ride with her.  She also loves to sleep outside and she and Bronson slept out for almost 7 days in a row this sumer.

10.  She is still the baby of our family and spoiled like crazy.  She has a funny and witty personality and her oldest siblings still take good care of her.  She also has a sweet testimony of the gospel and I love it when she shares it with the family.  

We love our Whitty Bug!