Twelve!

Emma turned twelve in early March.

I suppose she's not technically a teenager for another year, but we have witnessed such amazing transformations in this young lady over the last year. For one thing, she has grown about seven inches in the last eighteen months. She has started babysitting. She is forging through the jungle of middle school and doing so well with all of it.

For her birthday, she wanted some deco for her room. And that's what she got…along with a couple books and a whole heap of clothes. (She had outgrown everything in her closet for the summer season!)

Her biggest present hid under the blue sheet:

Revealed:

I had had surgery the day before her birthday (ciao, gall bladder!), so we waited a few weeks to have her friend party. A lot of girls couldn't come because it was during spring break.

It's taken a while to find good friends here in our new city, but slowly, it's coming along.

Emma is a wonderful twelve-year-old, a gem in every way. We love her so much and are thrilled she's ours.