Natalie is 11!

We entered the winter birthday season with Natalie's 11th birthday. It was a fun one! We started the day off with donuts for her birthday breakfast.  It was a regular school day for her. Her birthday request for dinner was to have a 4-course meal of her choosing. It was a lot of work but fun, too. We had roasted vegetables for the first course, then a baguette with a nice cheese she picked out (goat cheese), then roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy, then berry pie and ice cream for dessert. It was all delicious! We used the berry pie recipe my dad had made at Thanksgiving and it was a winner!

We had to decorate it somehow:

After dinner we opened presents. She got just what she wanted:

After presents we watched some Studio C. All in all, a pretty good day for Natalie!

It was a great year for Natalie. She is growing fast. She started babysitting this past year. Just at our house for starters, and then with Lizzy at other houses, and now a couple of friends trust to her to come on her own. She loves being able to earn money on her own and save for things she wants, or blow it all on candy and treats :). She is great with kids, especially preschoolers and elementary-age kids. She even signed up for an after-school tutoring program at her school as a tutor. I was impressed that she was willing to spend her time doing that and she seemed to enjoy it. She's done well with the school change she had this year. It was hard for her and she really didn't want to but she's made some good friends and is doing well. 

She still loves cooking and is getting better and better at it. She had a goal to learn how to make all the parts of a Thanksgiving dinner and is well on her way. She and Elizabeth have started rock climbing and are both doing really well at it. As long as we can make sure they go regularly, they will just better and better. She is trying to decide if she wants to do swim team again this year or try something else.She still reads constantly and recently got into the Ranger's apprentice series. She still loves to sing and is getting better and braver all the time. She sang a duet of What Child is This with another girl from our ward before Christmas and they sounded amazing! I was impressed she was able to hold her harmony part so well.

We sure love our Natalie and it's a pleasure to watch her grow up.