Happy Birthday Alayna!

Today Alayna turns 7.

Almost everyday she tells me that when she is X years old, Ashtyn will be X years older. Which is always followed with the exasperation of

"I will NEVER be older than Ashtyn...."

The home teachers came over the other day and she always has an arsenal of questions for them. One of them was "How old will I be when I am resurrected?"

Although there is no definite answer on that her hope for being older than Ashtyn is more than just a glimmer....There is a good chance that she will be older than me....She has quite the spirit.

As for today, she is SEVEN!

She is wishing she was turning eight with the opportunity to be baptized, but I am glad she gets to be seven. She is learning so much so fast. She is an amazing little girl.

One of both Jay and I's very favorite thing Alayna does is laugh. She has the most genuine kid laugh and uses it according to when things are funny.

She does not force a laugh, if it is not funny to her she doesn't make it up.

She was reading Magic Treehouse Mummies in the Mornings and was understanding the silliness and jokes that were weaved into the story and asked "why do they make books funny"

Alayna LOVES knowledge and is very smart. She understands things on a level that is much more mature than her age. For a while she was my silent car rider. Now she rattles off question after question. It gets tough to keep up with the answers.

Alayna is very determined. She will work and work to get what she wants. And it goes the other way. If it is not her idea or not something she really wants, good luck getting her to do it.

I have learned to find ways (not always successful) of making her think it was her idea or something she wants.

If there every was a real life Ramona, it would be her. From the frosting disaster at IKEA to her impromptu Napolean Dynamite performances in the aisles of the grocery store, almost always including the moon/rain boots and booty shakes, She exudes the meaning of free spirit.

I am so glad she chose to be a part of our family. We LOVE her so much!

JSYK: I got a call while in San Diego with Jay Alayna called me to ask if I could sew some buttons on a shirt for button week. I told her sure. with only 2 days between CA trips, I sewed ALL 70 something buttons on that shirt. I think there must have been a near lethal mix of my project minded mind with a little guilt for leaving her for a week....