Keeping Up with the Jones': Jennifer's 14th birthday

I can not believe how time has flown by. I know everyone tells you that it will, but you don't realize how fast it will happen. On Feb 15, Jennifer turned 14. She is such a wonderful daughter. She is maturing into such a lovely young lady who I am very proud of. She loves animals and kids. And animals and kids love her!! She is an awesome babysitter if you are ever in need of one. She takes her babysitting jobs very seriously planning ahead of time with a bag of goodies (not food) for the kids when they are super good. She HAS to get there 15 minutes early because that is what she learned in her babysitting class.

She is also our drama queen. As most of you know, she has been doing drama for about 6 years and is very good at it. She loves to be on the stage entertaining and doesn't normally get nervous like I would.

She is a great soccer player, and is often the team's saving grace as goalie. Everyone is always telling her what a great job she did on the field after the games.

She is a talented musician too. She has picked up the clarinet with the band and does a great job of playing it.

And she maintains humility when people are complimenting her. I love that she doesn't seem to get a big head.

She is a great friend to her many friends. She has several friends that have been close since the day they were born.

And she loves the Lord. Her faith is strong and she continues to grow in her relationship with God.

And she is an excellent daughter and sister. We all love you Jennifer and wish you a very Happy Birthday!!

On her birthday, Justin and I got up earlier than normal (6:00) because Justin wanted to make her a special breakfast. Even though he wasn't going to be around to give it to her, he still wanted to make it. He asked about how she liked her eggs and was deciding what to make. We ended up making Ghiradelli double chocolate muffins (thanks Mary!) for her birthday breakfast. When her clock went off, Dale and I were standing there with tray in hand and started singing Happy Birthday. I had cut a boiled egg (she loves them!) in half and put a candle in it, along with a muffin and a special yogurt that she had wanted. She got breakfast in bed on her special day. I took a picture but had to promise not to put it on Facebook or the blog. :)

When she got home from school, the house was all decorated compliments of MiMi and Justin. We had a family party that evening with MiMi and Papa, Papa and SaSa, Uncle Brian and Aunt Deena. We grilled out steaks and had baked potatoes, green bean casserole, salad, and bread..followed by cookie cake and ice cream.