Kya's Double Digit Birthday!

As of today, Kya is officially a "tween." An entire decade has passed since we welcomed her into our lives and became parents for the first time. Parenting Kya has been full of joy, tears, frustrations and pure love.  We could not imagine our lives without her.  She loves to dance, read and sing.  She adores babies and toddlers and has a gift when it comes to the elderly or physically impaired.  Growing up hasn't always been easy for her (or us), but we have seen that hard work and being consistent really does pay off.  She is growing up to be a wonderful young lady and we look forward to seeing how God uses her as she continues to grow into an adult.

Hard to believe how much she has changed in 10 years.  On the day of her birth she was 9 pound 8 ounces and 22 inches long.  On the day of her 10th birthday, she was 64 pounds and 4 foot 7 inches.

Our own beauty queen.  May you always know how much your are loved by God and your family.

Instead of a family & friends party, Kya was allowed to choose two friends to join us at a Tea House.  She chose Kailey and Yahira and of course her sister was allowed to join us too.

Waiting on the front porch for the tea house to open.  None of the girls had ever been to a tea before and didn't know what to expect.  Once inside, they were all very curious about everything, wanted to dive right into the food and didn't understand why they had to eat things in a certain order.  All but one enjoyed the tea, but only after they had dumped a ton of sugar into their cups.  Overall, it was quite entertaining for my mom and I to watch and teach them about how to be young ladies.

Our very elegant table

After the tea was over, we sang to Kya and she got to open her presents.

and then the girls got to try on some fancy hats and boa's.  Two hours in an adult setting started to wear on the girls, so I sent them outside with my mom to wait while I paid the bill.  My mom said that they immediately jumped off the porch and began running around.  I am guessing the sugar from their tea  had kicked in.  This is what I find so fun about "tweens".  They are stuck in the middle of being a teenager and a kid and are still so full of innocence....the emotional hormones that are starting to kick in, I can do without though.

I am very proud to be your mommy Kya.  I love you!