“WHO TURNED 4 YEARS OLD?” roared the troll…

…why, Kate Michelle, of course!

(*This post is LONG overdue! We’ve had influenza that has swept through all the members of our family. Ugh. I think we’re finally getting over it though!)

At first we had a really hard time coming up with a theme for Kate’s birthday cake this year, but her big brother, Levi, had an excellent idea…

The Three Billy Goats Gruff!

Kate daily listens to this audio book in her cd player and frequently quotes lines from this book all the time. It was the perfect theme for her cake and she was SO excited when she saw it.

This was probably one of the easiest cakes to make…the goats were purchased from Bomgaars, the bridge was made by Daddy out of a piece of ice-cream bucket and popsicle sticks, and Mom drew the troll, laminated it, and then stuck it to a popsicle stick.

To make Kate’s birthday extra special we made some of Kate’s favorite foods for supper -- mashed potatoes, chicken patties, and Jell-o. Daddy also brought a little ice cream cake home to celebrate, since her big birthday cake wouldn’t be eaten until the Sunday after her birthday (so we could celebrate with some of her other relatives). She loved that ice cream cake and had fun blowing out the candles!

Kate is getting so big! She did a wonderful job while Dad and Mom took her pictures.

It is so hard for us to believe that it’s been 4 years since she was born.

I think Kate is the most photogenic child I know. Smiles are just so natural for her and she adores attention and having her pictures taken!

As I said earlier, we ate Kate’s big birthday cake at Grandpa and Grandma Van Egdom’s house. Uncle Paul and Auntie Erin’s family came to help celebrate. That was really fun!

Kate loves singing and joined everyone as they sang “Happy Birthday” to her.

“I’m four!”

Opening her gifts from Grandpa and Grandma Van Egdom.

Happy birthday, big girl! We love you more than you could ever know and are so thankful that God has blessed us with such a beautiful and amazing little girl!