Gabriella's B-day Part 2

What an amazing birthday our sweet princess had! When she went to sleep on the night before her birthday, she kept saying that it was going to snow "a bunch, a bunch", so she could go sledding. We told her that the snow was probably finished & there wouldn't be more when she woke up. Oh, what a surprise we all woke up to! "A bunch, a bunch" of snow & her first snow day from school! She said, "See Mom, I told you"! It was perfect b/c I really didn't want her to go to school....I really wanted to be together as she spent her first birthday with us! The snow day allowed us all to spend the entire day celebrating our special little girl! Thank you, God! Since the hill out of our neighborhood was totally iced over, no one was in a hurry to go to work. She opened her presents & insisted that we go ahead & eat cake! Cake for breakfast? Anything for THE PRINCESS! Thankfully, we were able to head outside to play & run off the sugar high we all experienced from eating for breakfast! She was so excited about the snow. We told her that it must have been Jesus' birthday present for her! The coolest part was that on our wedding day in March 1999, we had a surprise snow & laughed then about it being God's wedding present for us. We just don't get much snow here in Knoxville, so it's really a big deal! Isn't God amazing like that! So, anyways, we bundled up & headed out! We had a blast sledding & watching the kids ride their bikes in the culdesac...yes, that's right...the kids decided to ride their bikes around & thought it was hilarious to slip & slide. Gabriella was ready to tackle the icy hill on the big wheel, but we had to draw the line somewhere! Lol!Then we came in to warm up & watch the inaguration! I was so glad to have the kiddos home from school, so we could all watch it together. Siskel & Ebert didn't get into it too much, but Troy & Gabriella loved it! During the election, Gabriella did not like Obama...I'm pretty sure that was b/c he had brown skin & we had told her about his African heritage. However, she seemed to have moved on from that, & I believe the MLK parade & the inaguration festivities played a big part in that. I felt so blessed to be watching our country's first African American president being sworn in. How cool is it that our African-Asian princess celebrated her first birthday in America on the same day that a man with African & Asian roots became President!

For her birthday dinner, she wanted to go to her favorite restaraunt, Wasabi.

This picture is especially funny b/c back in December at Nate Dogg's work Christmas party, she got really tired of everyone coming to our table to meet her (& staring at her & telling her how beautiful she is). Being her silly self, she slipped a lemon into her mouth without us knowing it, & when people would come to meet her, she would smile a big lemon smile! It was hilarious! Last night, she decided to try it out again! She has the best sense of humor, & we know came from her birthfamily b/c they were funny when we met them, as well! I'm so glad we were able to meet them & learn this about them, so we can tell her where she gets her silliness!

Happy Birthday sweet princess! We are so blessed to have you in our life!