Meredith turns 9!

Meredith is now nine whole years old!  Two years older than Regan was when we moved here.  She's a neat kid and we're so thankful to celebrate a new year with her.  We have a tradition that when you turn 9 in our family, you get a weekend away with Mom.  We've got that planned for the end of November so stay tuned for that update later.

Her actual birthday was on a Monday. And it was an exciting Monday because Jake had been gone for 9 days and was able to get to school in time to surprise her at pick up.  We had a quiet family celebration that night and a swim party on the weekend.

Sweet Meredith was very generous and instead of gifts for her, she asked that her friends bring a coat.  We are going to Germany in December and can take them to Syrian refugees there.  Many refugees left hot climates in the summer and are ill prepared for the European winters.

She invited all the kids in her class plus a few more good friends.  We had a bouncey slide at the swimming pool and it was a big hit.  Lots of fun was had by our family and all of Meredith's friends.

Happy, happy birthday, Meredith!

Birthday treats in Meredith's class.  She helped me make s'mores bars to take to her friends.

A birthday chanting clap her class does.  Mere seems to like the attention!

Fun gifts from lovely Ms. Leah

Nerf gun from Jane

And even better, check out this amazing letter that Jane wrote Meredith.  Those two haven't always gotten along so this just warmed my heart so much.

Meredith wanted a plain vanilla pound cake and it was still in the oven when it was time to blow out the candle so I couldn't take it out of the pan yet.  So not the prettiest cake in the world but it worked!

Birthday girl in the pool

Bouncey slide/ obstacle course

Anna was still tired from the school's Fall Festival the night before so she curled up for a while in the swinging nest chair.

Round and round - making a whirlpool in the baby pool.

Andrea and Meredith

Bounce!

Such a special girl!

Meredith surrounded by friends and sisters!

Had a little technical difficulty with the pinata after only a couple of kids got to whack it.  Jake just ripped it open which was exciting for them, too.

Look at the all the coats and jackets that Meredith's friends contributed!  We'll take them to Syrian refugee kids in Germany in December.