Lia's 18th Birthday!

Luckily, Lia's 18th birthday fell on a Sunday this year, so she was able to sleep in.  I decided to round up the rest of the family to go into her bedroom at 10 a.m. to wake her up for church by singing "Happy Birthday" to her which was a first for our family.  It was a rather funny way to start her birthday!  After the traditional whipped cream and strawberries on waffles for breakfast, Lia went to church and spent the afternoon working on memorizing all of her lines for Freaky Friday since she is supposed to be off-script by now.  We then had the grandparents over in the evening for her actual birthday celebrations.  As always, we enjoyed a dinner requested by Lia before opening gifts and eating banana cream pie for dessert.  It's hard to believe that my first born child has reached adult age as she is still such a child in so many ways.  However, the fact that she will be going off to college in Utah in a few months and celebrating her next birthday without us forces me to acknowledge that this adult age really does mean some big changes in the next few months.  I am so excited for her and the journey that she is about to begin.  Welcome to adulthood, Lia!

Lia smiling in bed after we woke her up on her birthday morning.

Lia and her siblings posing around her breakfast waffles before she blew out the candles.

The family, plus my parents, sitting around the table at the beginning of dinner.

Lia sitting next to her presents before opening them.

Emmett insisted on helping Lia open all of her gifts.

I ordered different colored, custom made shirts for all of us to wear for Lia's senior trip to Disneyland next month.  They all have a Mickey head on the front wearing a grad cap with the phrase "From the Tassel to the Castle" written on top.  Each shirt also has our names written on it.  Here is Lia holding up her shirt that boldly says, "The Grad," underneath the Mickey head.

Lia holding up the book that Ella gave her and the 1-8 that Ella made out of Perler beads.

Lia showing off the ticket to The Phantom of the Opera that I am taking her to see in Seattle in May.

The family photo I asked my mom to take before Lia blew out her last candles of her 18th birthday celebrations.

The siblings helping Lia blow out her candles!