Maggie's Birthday and Halloween

Sorry - these catch-up posts I'm doing are really just journal entries, and are not particularly entertaining. (But were they ever?) The pictures are from a family party that celebrated Maggie and her little cousin, Lily's, birthdays, along with John's birthday and Halloween. This was right before John moved to NY/PA, so we really didn't have time to do much. My sister-in-law got this fun cake for them:

Hmmm. If this is Maggie's birthday post, then she deserves the special kind of tribute post that we all usually do on a child's birthday. Here's a quick attempt:

-Maggie really is a delight. She is our entertainment and frequently the subject of our conversations: ("Guess what Maggie said today?") She is very bright and a bit domineering. :)

-She can sing just about any song she's heard and she loves to dance. (Sorry, but I have to brag: She can even sing more difficult Primary songs like "I Love to See the Temple" and "Families Can Be Together Forever.")

-Sometimes she'll talk about something we're going to do and she'll say in a high-pitched voice, "That will be so excited!"

-She takes her clothes off often, which is why there are occasionally pictures of her in her pull-ups. She loves to sit on the toilet (for a nanosecond) and to take baths. (Which is a switch. Until recently she hated bathing and swimming.)

-Her new love is Dora. When she watches the show and they ask the kids to say something, she yells it out enthusiastically. She has a little Dora phone that she often carries around.

-Anytime the older kids say or do something funny, she'll immediately copy it. Sometimes over and over.

-When I ask her something, she'll say,"Yes," and repeat the phrase I used, as in, "Yes, I am cute." And she enunciates "yes" very clearly.

-Everyone loves her curls. I hear comments about her hair daily.

I don't know if that does her justice. I'll see if I can add more later. She really is a precocious, cuddly girl.

These are the cousins in their Halloween costumes:

These pictures are from my sister's ward Halloween party. While John was in PA, and while we were getting the house ready to sell, we lived with Kimberly and Tom. We loved the time we spent with them. Heaven knows it wasn't easy for them to host us for two months, but they were ALWAYS generous, warm, and helpful. They never made us feel like we were the burden that we certainly must have been. Quite frankly, I don't know how I'm surviving without Kimberly (and the rest of my family) here.