For her birthday, I had planned a full day of celebrations. The Wiederhold family joined us early in the morning and stayed with us till we used every ounce of partying we had in us. Her birthday party was positively a great success! Here is what we did:
10:00 - 12:00 The Garmons and the Wiederholds attended the movie viewing of "Rio" at the movie theater, completed with popcorn, root beer, and candy. This was something we used to do often when the Wiederholds lived in Walnut Creek.
12:00 - 4:30 We took all of the kids to In-N-Out Burger, and then left straight for the swimming pool. The children had a wondrous time swimming and playing. Amy and I conversed and relaxed. So far, so good.
5:00 - 8:00 We came home, changed clothes, and ate dinner. Little Caesars once again came to the rescue. At 6:30, two of Gillian's other friends joined us and we, the ladies, took off to have a mani-pedi experience. The girls enjoyed themselves choosing colors and designs for their nails, while Amy and I settled in our chairs and allowed the masseurs massage our arms and legs. You could tell we were good friends, because not only we complimented each other styles, but we also felt for the same colors and designs for our nails. What a great time we had laughing at each other and getting scared that the pedi guy was truly performing a surgery on our toe nails. Great memories. We couldn't stop laughing even after we arrived home!
After our hillarious experience at the nail salon, we returned home and sang to Gillian. Elijah and the boys had stayed home and made the cake. I'm so glad I've got a husband who makes delicious desserts. It tastes so much better when someone else makes it, and even better when Elijah makes it :)
After the cake, Gillian opened gifts from her friends and family. This year we gave her, beside the big trampoline outside, a very practical gift - a sewing machine. She loves to sew and has been begging for one for a long time. Our neighbor has offered to give her some sewing lessons, and Gillian can't wait.
Gillian also received a special guest right before the party was over. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry sent their emissary, Hagrid, to inform Gillian that she had been accepted and is welcomed to join the ranks of the other middle school wizards in this prestigious school. Gillian was overwhelmed with joy, but had to reject the offer on the grounds that she would missed her parents terribly. Sweet daughter of mine, I would miss you terribly too.
After Gillian said goodbye to her friends, we had a prayer thanking the Lord for the amazing young woman she is turning to be. Lying down later, I was thinking of Gillian and what advice I could give to her that could be her life motto. The words of Sister Dalton, in the recent General Conference, were impressed upon my mind of something that Gillian does so well now, and that if she keeps doing throughout her life, she will be blessed with mortal success as well as eternal happiness. Perfection is a lofty goal, but if we practice hard in giving it all we have in all things, however insignificant and small those things may be, we can unequivocally say in the end of our life that we had an amazing journey, a battle ground where we fought with all we got, a place of beauty where we added some of our color of love, a training center where our little daily attempts at perfection brought us closer to God.
Happy Birthday, my loving daughter of mine!
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