This one is for my Samantha...

(These pictures are shuffled as are my memories of Samantha.)

Today is Sammy's fifth birthday! We started the celebration by having her two cousins, Kassidy and Kelsie, spend the night. They vegged out with pizza and root beer in the living room while watching The Grinch. After their tummies were full the girls helped me make bouncy balls... BIG hit of the party! They then had a slumber party in Sammy's room. Andy took the mattresses off Sammy and Ashley's beds to make one big king size bed on the floor. (I'm not sure if that was the best idea since they didn't go to bed till very, very late!)

(Sorry, I had to show off the cake. There are also butterflies on the sides of the cake... and sorry some of the photos are blurry. The batteries in my camera died while out to dinner.)

In the morning the rest of the Bullock family joined us for cake and ice cream... well, they didn't eat any. Sammy opened her presents and had fun playing with them the majority of the day.

(She also got Connect Four from the Bullock's.)



For dinner she wanted to go to the Olive Garden but didn't have the patience. The wait was about 35-45 minutes! Yikes! So we took her to a family favorite, Jalapenos! The girls loved talking to everyone and pointing out the Grinch painted on the window. And of course Sammy beamed when the employees came out and sang to her! (She ate the whole dessert by herself and wouldn't even share one bite! What kind of kid am I raising?... Oh yeah, mine.)



After dinner we went to Target so that Sammy could spend the $5 Grandma Laurie gave her. I couldn't believe it... she wanted a Barbie! It was probably the fastest shopping trip we've ever made. She saw the one she wanted within 5 seconds and to checkout we went!

Happy Birthday, Samantha! It's been five wonderful, exciting, and interesting years! We love you very much and are glad you are part of our family!