EIGHT

I can't believe my big girl turned eight last month.  To kick off her birthday, she invited three of her friends over for a small, pizza party, and before they arrived we gifted her some walkie-talkies.  On her birthday she had a couple of requests: biscuits & gravy for breakfast, ribs & asparagus for dinner and ice skating.  Benji and I also wanted to spend some quality, one-on-one time with her, so we got manicures together and Benji treated her to lunch.  Since the walkie-talkies were for all the girls (and eventually, Landon) to enjoy, we wanted her birthday present to be extra special.  We decided on a diary because she loves to write.

Her girlfriends: Elsa, Penny & Sela. They all know each other from church and are homeschooled.

Landon is the luckiest to have her as his big sister!

She got her first manicure with Momma on her special day.

And went on a lunch date with Dadda to Momji's for some sushi. 

Look - it's Dorothy Hamil, Tonya Harding & Nancy Kerrigan!

Polar Pizza from Baskin Robbins.

McKinley's highlights from the past year:

At the St. Paul Rodeo, she impressed a bunch of Marines and many other on-lookers by doing three strict pull-ups.  Side note: Dadda won the pull-up competition with twenty-five pull-ups.

During our annual Fourth of July photo shoot, she modeling one of Momma's childhood sailor dresses, making this photo one of my favorite photos of her.

We celebrated McKinley's baptism, along with Ahmma & Dumpa and our neighbors, the Stokes.

She was the only girl to make it to the top of South Sister during our annual Girls' Cross Country Running camping trip, accompanied by her Dadda & Dumpa.  South Sister is the third highest mountain peak in Oregon with a summit of 10,358 ft.

She opened a savings account as her and her sister's thriving, can-collecting business continues to grow.

She eagerly started second grade with MFW Adventures in U.S. History.

She ran the "open race" during the Champoeg Invitational, completing her first 5k.

John Macy of Photomacy took our family's pictures during the fall, about four weeks before giving birth.

She was born to be a big sister! And she was the one to give Landon his nickname: Little Bubba.

After Landon was born, the girls got a real modeling gig with Hanna Andersson, a children's clothing company.