Emma is TEN!! She's grown so much in the past year, it's remarkable. This year in school, she's really improved in her writing skills and has excelled in her other subjects, too, even the ones that require more effort (math). She's taken initiative in her homework and projects and can often complete her work without help. Emma's always been above grade level in her reading comprehension, and when she has down-time, she almost always has a book in her hands. Her 4th grade teacher requires the students to read chapter books that are at least at grade level, which has opened up a new world of book series for Emma. Her favorite chapter books are fictional stories that are written from animals' perspectives. She also loves comic books and graphic novels - anything that makes her laugh. She's grown taller this year, of course, and also stronger. We see it in the new skills she's accomplishing in her weekly gymnastics class. She's creative and artistic, and she can draw the most expressive pictures of scenes she imagines. She loves animals and being outdoors, but she's also a "homebody" who loves nothing better than wearing comfy clothes and relaxing with a good book or movie at home. We love our amazing 10-year old!
Emma with her #9 waffle on the night before her 10th birthday.
Emma's birthday was on a Friday, and her class had a birthday party at lunchtime that day. Dan and I attended the party, and surprised Emma by picking her and Hallie up early and taking them to Bergey's Farm!
Emma LOVES the baby goats, and there were so many of them this spring!
This goat wanted to get by, and it wasn't afraid to walk right over Emma if she didn't move! It was hilarious!
Hallie's big and strong enough to hold the baby goats, too!
Next, we cuddled with the piglets.
Hallie ended up with a pig pile!
Once Hallie got up, they all ran to snuggle in Emma's lap.
There were tiny baby rabbits at the farm that we could hold.
This was Hallie's favorite part of our visit. Snuggling the sweet bunnies.
Grandpa and Grandma Jester were able to join us at the farm and enjoy the animals with us.
Emma and Hallie took Grandma Jester back to the goat pen. Grandma loves animals as much as Emma does.
Hallie got to pet some ducklings for the first time - her favorite animal! One of the ducklings escaped from its cage and she helped to rescue it and return it to the cage.
There were also some very young baby goats that still need to be bottle fed.
It was a first-time experience for all of us, and those babies were aggressive about getting to the bottles!
A day at a farm full of spring babies was the perfect birthday for Emma!
That evening, my parents joined us at our house for dinner, dessert, and gifts.
She got a pair of binoculars and a book from one of her favorite comic series from Nana and Papa Campbell.
We gave her a Magic Mixie.
She received a momma dog stuffed animal with baby pups in her (zipper) belly from her out of town cousins, Naomi and Miriam
It took a couple of weeks to coordinate her gift from Grandpa and Grandma Jester. They came with us to Build-A-Bear to let her pick out her own stuffed animal, outfits, and accessories. Emma chose a rainbow rabbit stuffed animal, two outfits, a bed, and a few other items. It was a lot of fun!
The day after Emma's birthday, we were able to return to our friends, Dave and Cynthia's, house to visit their 10 Golden Retriever puppies again. We met them when they were 2 weeks old, and this time they were 4 weeks old. They had grown so much!
2 weeks old 4 weeks old
They were much more active and playful when they were awake, and therefore harder to hold on our laps.
Such cuties!
But after a while, they got tired and were happy to be snuggled to sleep.
It was part of a perfect birthday weekend.
Happy birthday to our 10-year-old! We love you, Emma, and pray that God blesses you immensely this year!
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