Today my sweet girl turned 12.  I always say this but I can’t believe she is 12, although in many ways she seems so much more grown-up than 12.  Maybe it has to do with all she has been through and seen.  She made countless trips to the Children’s Hospital when Joel was having his treatment.  Even before that she was always very compassionate and aware of the needs of others.

When I held her in my arms for the first time I knew she was an incredible gift from God, yet I had no idea that 12 years down the road I would be so blown away by just what an amazing blessing and gift she has been to us all.  She is always thinking about the needs of others and will often give up what is owed to her to make a sibling happy.  She is funny, creative and helpful.  I am so glad that the Lord picked Dave and I to be her parents.

We celebrated her birthday with family on the weekend and had a great time.  The birthday boy or girl, young and old alike, always picks the menu.  For Taliah’s birthday she picked ham, corn on the cob, Carolina coleslaw and for dessert she wanted the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie n’ Oreo Fudge Brownie Bar it’s rich!  This was Samuel’s second try at corn on the cob but the first time he didn’t quite get what he was supposed to do with it.  This time he made up for it and ate 2 cobs!  Hannah still calls it Corn McCob, we keep telling her it is corn ON THE cob, just like, Hannah ON THE horse.  She agrees and says, “Oh yes, corn on the cob.” and then in the next sentence is right back to Corn McCob.

I made Taliah a proper sewing box to outfit all of her sewing and crocheting bits and pieces.  I thought it was time for her to have her own needles and thread, scissors etc. instead of always borrowing mine.  She loves it and she has already been busy making stuffed animal clothing.

As today was her actual birthday we decided it would be fun to take her to an open air market in Sainte Polycarpe, Quebec as she has been wanting to go for a long time.  We got everyone ready and headed out planning to have supper there as they make the most amazing poutine.  As  we were talking about it Dave joked, ‘if it is still there…,’  I was thinking, ‘of course it is still there it has been  there for at least 25 years,’ however it did sit in the back of my mind.  Usually as you drive down the main road into Sainte Polycarpe there are many yard sales and this time I saw none.  Again, I though about Dave’s joke, as we turned into the field that should have been full of vendors we saw a bunch of newly built houses.  Uh oh, here we are in Quebec with a bunch of hungry and disappointed kids 🙁  Plan B ???

Talaih suggested Dairy Queen so we headed home and had supper at the nearest Dairy Queen the children all had fun and I think I was more disappointed than Taliah that the market was gone.  I couldn’t help but think of all the ice cream we could have bought at the grocery store for what it cost to eat at Dairy Queen, oh well, it doesn’t happen often.

Happy Birthday Taliah, you are growing into a beautiful young lady.  May the Lord bless you and keep you my dear!