Jozie's birthday

We have a five year old! I love having the privilege of getting to watch Jozie grow up and learn so many things. For her birthday this year she got to invite a few friends to a birthday party. We went to the Utah Fun Center (Classic Skating), which lets you pick an activity for $2 a kid on Tuesdays - awesome! We were originally going to use the bounce house part there, but after Jozie's collarbone incident the doc said "definitely no" to that, so we switched to a large jungle gym part, which was still really fun.

We played for an hour in "the jungle," then opened presents and ate pizza and cupcakes. It was low-key, fun to spend time with some of her friends and their moms, and a great time to celebrate Jozie.

Sabrina, Haven, Chad, and Jozie!

Ry, Sabrina, Haven, Kate

Sabrina, Haven, Annabelle

Sienna and Jozie

Here's a birthday letter to Jozie so we can remember what she was into at this time of her life:

Dear Jozie,

Happy number 5 to you! This has been a great year for you. You’ve been in Pre-K at Murray Early Childhood Center and have loved it. Your best friends there are Sienna Bagley and Sabrina Lanier. You have a lot of neighborhood friends as well: Annabelle Stanfield, Kate Fackrell, Quinton Cristman, Gavin Cramer, and Emily Burtenshaw. You’re a good friend and people like to be around you. You like to ride your yellow plasmacar and your bike, play in the sandbox, play with Polly Pockets and magnet dolls and other toys, and make-believe you’re Snow White, or Rapunzel, or a dog, or a baby, or lots of other stuff.

You and Haven are pretty good friends. This year she’s grown up a lot and can interact with you and the two of you will play together for a long time. Some of the things you’ve done together this year are riding plasmacars, playing in the sandbox, visiting parks, playing with toys, sliding down the stairs on mattresses and in sleeping bags, sliding toys down our “toy slide” (carpet tube on the stairs), sleeping outside in the backyard, playing in sprinklers, exploring in and painting the canoe, putting away silverware, and cooking. You’re looking forward to having a new baby in our family. You would like to name him or her Flower. :)

You’ve loved playing with your cousins the Hulls and have also enjoyed entertaining your little cousin Spencer. He likes to watch you and you make him smile by making funny faces and giving him toys. You love spending time with Daddy/Papi, hanging out in the backyard, going on “citas” (dates), and riding up the stairs on his back. You love giving everyone hugs goodbye and usually ask them to give you a kiss on the cheek before you go (including your friends’ moms). Lately you and Haven are into saying “hi” and “bye” to everyone we pass, wherever we go, like at the grocery store and in restaurants. It makes people smile.

You’ve learned some neat stuff this year. You took swimming lessons for the first time last July and loved it. You can’t wait to take swimming lessons again this year. This winter you learned to ice skate! It was all your idea. We went to the outdoor ice rink in South Jordan a few times and you picked it up really quick. You grew up a ton in my eyes as I watched you circle the ice rink on your own.  You would like to experience a ballet class. You continued in Spanish preschool until Christmas and have also learned a lot about Spanish and numbers and counting from Isabel, who visits twice a week.

You don’t like wearing jeans because they’re not comfortable. Your favorite pants are “soft pants,” especially your second pair of striped ones (you wore out the first pair). You have a pair of cowboy boots your aunt Crystalyn gave you and you really like to wear those or your flip flops. You got your hair cut short a few months ago. You said you wanted to do it because long hair was always getting in your face and in your mouth; your friend Sienna also has shoulder-length hair. You’ve really liked it short.

You’re not a very picky eater. You don’t like spicy stuff but that’s about it. You’ve never liked tuna fish before this year and now you say you love it. You’re really great about not eating too much sugar or salt and about eating (and liking) lots of healthy stuff. Some of your favorite foods are Carbonara, Stroganoff, plain noodles or noodles with a little sauce, salmon, broccoli, cucumber, strawberries, blueberries, avocado, apples, bread and butter (with cinnamon sugar or garlic), and taco salad or street tacos, but yeah, you’re really not picky. You tell me my food is awesome and that I’m the best cook. J

You’re a sensitive and yet a pretty tough girl. A couple weeks ago you were playing outside with neighbors and fell and fractured your collar bone. You’ve been a good sport about it, even when it was still hurting you on the day of your birthday party. You like to race your friends and really love it when you’re the fastest. I love when you get sweet ideas like bringing me a flower or surprising me with something. You love spending time with me every night and reviewing our day. I love getting a hug and a kiss on the cheek and so does Daddy/Papi.

I’m looking forward to another great year with you! I love you so much, and so do Daddy and Haven. I know Heavenly Father is pleased with your choices. You’re learning about the Holy Ghost and often talk about how choices affect having the Holy Ghost with you. You’re a very special and a wise person.

Love you!

Mom

I sure love being Jozie's mom. What a blessing and challenge it is to be a wife and a parent.