Noelle's 12th Birthday!

 After many months and months of waiting, Noelle finally had her 12th birthday!  She was so excited!  She had been the only one in her primary class for what seemed like forever to her, so she had been eagerly awaiting Young Women's for quite a while!

We started the morning off opening presents, including make-up!!  Now that she's 12, she is officially allowed to wear make-up, even though we think she's plenty pretty enough without it!

The Beehive girls were excited for her birthday too and heart attacked the yard.

Doesn't she look cute in her birthday outfit?

Because it was an even year birthday, she got to have a birthday party.  But, one bad thing about having a birthday two days before Christmas is that lots of other things are going on around that time.  She had invited several friends from school to a birthday party, but then found out that they all had other family things going, or would be out of town.  So, we came up with a Plan B: a surprise party!  Kirk and I took her out to dinner and then we said we were going to a movie.  Then the movie was "sold out" so we had to just go home.  When she walked in the door, there was a par-tay!!  All her church friends and cousins friends had come to celebrate with her.  (Marissa had been in charge of decorating.  I had showed her a couple ideas on Pinterest that I thought were cute and manageable, but then came home to streamers and balloons everywhere!  I guess it was way cooler than what I had envisioned.)

They all played Just Dance and roasted marshmallows and made s'mores and just had a pretty fabulous night. 

Party girls: (left to right) Megan, Camille, Lauryn, Maddie, Noelle, Brynn, Darcie, Julie, Marissa and Olivia).   

We sure are so proud of Noelle and the beautiful young women that she is on the inside and out.  She is always a fun, happy person to have around, that is always willing to help out.  She is already a great babysitter, and is often booked both weekend nights.  She is a joy to our family and we love her so much!