My Ella, is 9. It’s quite unbelievable actually. She has never been a challenging girl to raise. She has been able to listen to reason, since she could talk. She has never screamed at me, and if she talks back in a whine (which she is finally trying on for size the past year or so) it’s barely audible. She is full of snuggles, and love. Combine that with a deep need to win, and you have Ella.

I remember once at a football game we went to, she would cheer her little heart out until we scored, “get em! Get em!!” and then she’d turn to me when they were crushed and say, “are they ok, I just feel bad that we tackled them..”

Ella is very strong physically, and tender on the inside. This always makes for funny happenings, like the time she ran to give 80 year old Grandma Ginny, and knocked her over When she was FIVE. Or when she knocked over my 35 year old friend Kent, at the airport on the way to Hawaii.

I love that girl. Happy Birthday, sweet Ella. We celebrated at Lagoon on Saturday, and her cute sisters blew up a ton of balloons, and taped them to her closed door do they would fall in when she woke up… So cute, and fun to see them party with each other without my direction.

Xo