Grandma Val found a very nice pillow at the annual Tea and Sale. Little children dancing ... how appropriate for our little dancer! It graces the sofa in the living room now for the next time she's ready to cozy down with a movie.
Grandma also sent another treasure. A ring that once belonged to her mother. Amber was very touched that she was given this pretty ring. It's an heirloom passed to the fourth generation. What a special gift!
Amber invited her closest friends to spend the afternoon with her. Sarah (left) just had surgery prior to Christmas, so wasn't in school yet. Ellie (top left) and Carsyn (bottom right) are both homeschooled. They brought their American Girl dolls and had a picnic. Later, after all the festivities the girls got out the Barbies and had a fashion show. I didn't get any photos of that event.
Amber decided she wanted her friends to help her decorate her cake. Initially her cake was going to be two layers, but we ran out of ingredients ... like powdered sugar ... so no two-layer cake. However, she did fulfill one of her merit badge elements for AHG and that was cutting cake and piecing it to make another design. She designed a butterfly. The original recipe design called for a Twinkie in the center for the body, but it was loaded with color dye, so she fashioned one out of the other circular layer. This frosted butterfly was too decorated for Evyn, but we had just enough frosting to dab on a portion of the remaining layer so he could enjoy some cake, too. Amber made the cake and frosting: white cake and lemon frosting. Very refreshing.
The body of the butterfly is graced with almond chocolate orange section. She got this from Santa and I thought it was pretty special she shared her chocolate orange this way. She only gets them once a year from Santa. Sadly, two of the girls didn't like the piece of chocolate and it was tossed. Oh well. There was also a decorating accident, but they made up for it by throwing on everything else from the decorating box!
Later in the evening she opened her gifts after a special request dinner. We had stuffed shells with fresh homemade ricotta (thanks to Daryn) and homemade sauce (from the freezer). It was REALLY yummy. I found this pretty gift in Poulsbo before Christmas. It says, "The angels danced the day you were born." I thought it quite appropriate.
I also made a sweater for her doll. Her comment when she first opened it, "Oh, a Hobbit jacket!" Nope, I said, it's for your doll. I'd worked on it just about all day Dec. 24 in hopes she could have it for Christmas, but I just couldn't get it completed. It still needs a closure, but she may decide she likes it without. We shall see.
While Daryn was making the ricotta, Ian and I went to Silverdale to pick up this game we had heard about earlier in the afternoon from one of the girls' moms. It's really fun. We started a game about 8:45 or so and had to continue on this morning. However, some were not happy they weren't doing well and put a real damper on things and I called an end to the game altogether. Oh well, another day.
Lastly I got Amber a little case of jewelry making supplies as she really enjoys designing and making earrings. I thought I would foster her creativity. We'll see where it leads.
Then later this morning Amber got a call from Grandma Judy. They had a wonderful chat. She loves to get phone calls.
Happy Birthday, baby girl. I love you!
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