Happy 18th Birthday Jamie!

We had such a great day celebrating Jamie - we did about half the stuff she came up with in the last week - it was a full day.  We went to church all together at Salem this morning - joined by Kathryn and Christian.  Our new pastor (Glen Stevens) is preaching through the book of Mark.  We like him very much.

Birthday lunch was at HuHot Mongolian Grill.  We haven't been there in awhile and really enjoyed making up our own bowls of deliciousness for the grill.  Jamie is still a carnivore - chicken, beef AND pork!  That's my sweet girl!


Then we were off to Mexican Village (a local favorite) for Fried Ice Cream which Jamie claims is even more awesome than birthday cake.  It WAS yummy.  And Jamie's was free!  Which brings up an interesting quirk about Jamie's birthday - when does she get her free meal, dessert, coffee, whatever?  She was born February 29, 1992 so she only has a "real" birthday once every four years.


We all came home for presents - which were pretty much awesome all the way around.  Then Kathryn & Jamie went to do sister stuff for a couple hours.  Nate & Jamie took Kathryn to work and then went on to see "Valentine's Day."  I thought it was super sweet for Nate to take his sister to see a movie she wanted to see.  

Grandma Miller sent Jamie a special card and included a card that Philip sent to Uncle Brett for his eighteenth birthday.


It was neat to see the familiar handwriting and what he had to say to his brother on his 18th.

Grandma & grandpa Knick sent Jamie such a neat gift - Grandpa made Jamie a recipe box made from water maple wood cut from their property in Ohio.  It got a lot of ooooos and aahhhhhhs.  It's a beautiful box with a woodcut of Jamie's name on top and special dividers inside.  It has large 4 x 6 cards that Jamie has started to write her favorite recipes on already!


We all love the lid that has curved sides and a latch that clasps itself when you close the lid - a point Jamie made and giggled over at least 15 times in a row.

Jamie also received cards & gifts from Aunt Cindy Grandma & Grandpa Knick, Grandma & Grandpa Miller and Jeff's parents (Don & Gloria) and Barry & Cindy Klein.  She was excited to shop with generous cash gifts of course:  she bought herself a penny whistle, sketch book...she also has plans to buy a fish - she has her eye on a beta!  I'm trying to encourage her to wait until she moves to school as I take care of my fish mostly my ignoring them to make them strong.  They are hearty goldfish - not sure betas would thrive in MY fishbowl.

  Jamie and i had so much fun shopping at Hobby Lobby yesterday.  I really wanted to get her some art supplies that she could use for the rest of this year and for school next year as well.  We found a nice portfolio case for carrying both projects and supplies.  It seems very versatile.  We also found a book for displaying her art all together.  It was fun to have her with me to pick it out but didn't leave many surprises for her to open.  Jeff & I did get her favorite beef jerky Jack's Links!  (she's always been the carnivore of the family - we even had steak for supper last night!!)


After eighteen years celebrating Jamie, each gets more fun - we learn more about our dear Jamie.  She is the joy of our lives.  We're going to miss her so much when her life moves to the next phase this summer.  But she is so ready - she been practicing with her wings.  She'll soon be ready to fly!