Finally the WHOLE Family!

Here we are!
All 9 of us!
In one place.
At the same time.
All awake at the same time.
It wasn't easy!
Matt and Ryan are working so much this summer, they are rarely home.
Here it is…the big unveiling:

Shawn, Ryan (19),  Joshua (15), Matthew (19)
Zachary (9),  Jacob (11), Deb
Sophia (7), Katelyn (5)

Dedicated to Jennifer, who's been waiting for a family picture!
And who's one of my most loyal blog readers!
Along with Emily and Anna!

Sophie gets to meet Poppa and Grammy Smith

I should have had the camera ready when they came to the  door.
She RAN into Grammy's arms for a hug and then JUMPED up into Poppa's arms!
He didn't have a choice but to pick her up!
What a wonderful first meeting!



Between the two girls, they kept their grandparents busy.

Poppa read books and Grammy and I took the girls around the neighborhood,
us walking and the girls on their bikes.

Poppa and Grammy and Daddy with the 4 youngest grandkids

Not a day goes by that the girls don't have

 paper, pencils, markers, crayons and scissors in their hands

 "creating" masterpieces!

Sophie "wrapped" a present for Grammy complete with her paper creations 

and a few miscellaneous objects from around the house!

Can't wait for them to come visit again!

Birthday Evening!

Now all the rest of the presents came out!


She was GIDDY!

Look at all these smiles!

I usually get "fake" smiles when I pull out the camera,
but these were the real deal every time!

 

Mosiac game for when we go to the hospital sometime later this summer.

The rings she picked out!
She was so good about sharing with her sister that has been sharing with her for the last 3 months.

 

Matt, Sophie, Emily (Matt's girlfriend), Josh, Katie, Jake, Zack
(missing Ryan who is at work)

The Birthday Cake!
Sophie picked out the "7" candle.
She put the sprinkles on. I have never had a cake with so many sprinkles!
There wasn't room for any more.

Wait, Dad and Mom aren't in ANY of the pictures!
So happy for our little Birthday Girl!

Kids grow up so fast...
but when they turn 7 only 3 months after their "arrival" it really goes fast!

Birthday with Grandma and Papa Carver

Papa and Grandma Carver came for the afternoon and dinner.

More presents!

Disney princess dress-up shoes! 

 

 

Birthday with Friends!

Then it was off to the park to play with some friends.

It also happened to be the last day of school so the older brothers came along. 

 

One of the brothers got the girls to line up for a picture with his DS!

Then when I came along with my camera, I said "1,2,3" and
 on "3" both Sophie and Katie struck a pose!!
It was hilarious that they both did it at the same time!

 

Birthday Lunch

...And then you open another present at lunch!



Since Ryan had to work this evening, we went to the park and met Daddy for lunch.

We made a couple different kinds of cake before the big day to see if she liked any of them. So far she hasn't been a  fan of anything made with flour. She has eaten a couple pieces of pizza and a couple of sandwiches, but she would choose almost anything else to eat instead!

 I told her we could make an ice cream cake since she LOVES ice cream, but she wanted
 BIRTHDAY CAKE!

Birthday girl with most of her siblings. Matt was at work at lunch!

Birthday Morning

This little cutie woke up VERY excited for her birthday!

 In fact she had a hard time falling asleep the night before!

In our house we put up signs for the birthday person. 

Sophie was delighted with her birthday signs and Mommy was even more delighted when Sophie read "Sophie is 7" from her sign. Granted she knew her name and the number 7, but we've been working on the word "is" in her reading lessons and I was thrilled that she read it on her sign!

Sophie went with me to pick out some of her presents. I wanted to be sure we chose things she really wanted. But after I wrapped them all, she pointed to each present and said,

"rings, color, play game". She knew what was in each gift. 

Well, that was not going to do.

There had to be some surprises! Mommy had to go do a little more shopping!

This is the VERY FIRST BIRTHDAY SHE HAS EVER CELEBRATED!

That breaks my heart, and makes it so special that we are the first ones to honor her birthday.

How do you make a little girl who's never celebrated a birthday wait to open presents until Daddy comes home? You don't! So I let her open one before breakfast!

"School," she squealed, excited about a white board to practice her letters!

More birthday to come...