Mikayla's 9th Birthday

This is the 3rd post I did today to get caught up so be sure to check out the ones below this one too. :)

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Mikayla turned 9 years old yesterday! We had a great party at CWC, the wakeboarding place that our family enjoys so much.

Uncle Terry and Aunt Michaelle Buford joined us for the fun as well as Aunt Megan and the Buchanan family (the ones who manage the wakeboard place). We started off with some games - "Pin the Mikayla on the Wakeboard" (thanks, Aunt Megan!),

followed by Hyper Dash (thanks, Kendalls!),

then a couple rounds of Balloon Toss (check out Ben's face in the one),
Then the four kids (our 3 plus Takiah Buchanan) set out on a Treasure Hunt to find all of Mikayla's gifts. They had to figure out the clues for each hiding place then fetch the present from that location.
After they found all the presents, we took a picture then let her open them.
She got lots of fun jewelry and hair things and girly stuff then a teddy bear from Dad and Mom - with a hat for it from Uncle Terry and Aunt Michaelle.
She got Little Women from Aunt Megan since they had just studied Louisa May Alcott in school, and Mikayla wanted to read her book. Mikayla was thrilled, but the younger kids looked a little confused as to WHY Mikayla was so happy about this HUGE book. :)

Her grandparents sent her $ this year, and instead of buying her a present, we decided to give her the money to go clothes shopping. She is SO EXCITED to go do some shopping, and we may even go get a mother/daughter massage (don't worry, I will pay for my own!).

Steve and I got her an MP3 player to listen to music and audio books. Here she is enjoying her present in the sunshine. Our baby is growing up!

I was worried that Mikayla would not have a very good birthday since there were no friends her age to share the day with her, but she told us at the end of the day that it was one of her best birthdays ever! Happy 9th Birthday, Mikayla! We love you more than you know.