Celebrating her 13th!!!

We’ve had SO MUCH fun celebrating Isabella’s 13th birthday this past week!

 I can’t believe she is OFFICIALLY a teenager!!!

OH MY!!
So many thoughts overwhelm me when I think of how much my beautiful girl has grown up and matured over these fast 13 years.

13 years old??

How can that be??

 How could she have gone from this…..

to this, in just 10 precious years…..

 Our sweet Isabella, you are so beautiful…from the inside out! Never forget that!

My heart wants to skip a beat at the thought of how fast life is.

If 13 years can go THAT fast…just imagine how much faster the next 5 will go, when she will be 18!!!

Excuse me while I go  do the “ugly cry”

….and that’s one of the reasons I have such a deep passion for blogging and photography. It’s my way of “Freezing time” and drinking in the sweetness and beauty of each moment before it flies away and becomes just a fleeting memory!

If I don’t stop and capture it, then I feel like I’ll just miss it some how, and it’ll vanish…just like that!

..I don’t want to get to the end of my life and regret not having slowed down, soaked in and appreciated the moments. 

It’s not always easy….all the moments, that’s for sure.

But, wonderful celebrations like Bella’s party make it SO SO easy to soak it in!!! And, I am so very thankful for these moments, they are gifts to me.

a data plan for her phone!!

a new laptop!

Lots of smelly good stuff, and a special shopping and lunch date (later that week) from G-mom and Papa!

ATTEMPTING TO GET ALL KIDS IN A SHOT! HA!

Ash bought this candy with his own money for Bella! She loved it!

a charm bracelet from Nana and Pop-pop, so special!

A SPECIAL CHARM FROM her beloved COUSIN

a charm for her new bracelet that the siblings picked out all by themselves!

dancing to Psi! LOL

A few days later we surprised Isabella with a visit from a bestie, Emily (her mom is my bestie too) to spend the night!!

We got to celebrate Emily too, since their birthdays are just one day apart!!

For Isabella’s Party we had a couple close friends and family over the next day for a special brunch date at the Cheesecake Factory!

Then a few other special friends in her life met us at the mall that day for a very fun MALL MADNESS scavenger hunt!
And, of course some shopping afterwards! And,  these girls sure can cover a mall in no time flat!

They had a blast!!!

Then we moved the party back home for some pizza, cheese cake, dance party and fun times!

And we got to sing to these two precious life-long friends who have grown up together….Only one day apart!!!

They’ve shared many memories together over the years…..

Sleep over! SO ADORABLE!

and here they are (with another little buddy) Celebrating Bella’s birthday 10 years ago….

…..AND, A DECADE LATER…..(still celebrating)

Friend Forever!

 I am so thankful for the sweet friends, siblings and cousins in her life who laugh, act crazy and help celebrate with her! What a blessing!

Happy Birthday, our sweet and beautiful Bella…. NEVER forget our words to you….

We love you!