Ella Turns 13!!

Ella has been waiting to turn 13 for a very long year now and it finally happened. The world of PG-13 movies has opened up to her and she wasted no time getting started on her list. To celebrate this big milestone in her life, she invited over 12 of her girlfriends for a night of pizza, popcorn, candy, chocolate chip cookies and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. However, she learned very quickly that if you REALLY want to watch a movie, you don't invite 12 giggly, VERY LOUD girls to watch it with you! Despite the fact that she had to watch the movie again the next day to really take it all in, she had such a fun night with some really great friends!!

Ella chose to go to Indian Garden for her birthday dinner again this year, which we were all more than happy about. We stopped by Red Berry frozen yogurt next door for desert then headed home to open gifts. And boy did she get some really great gifts from grandparents and aunts!!

This Harry Potter Hogwarts Lego set brought her to tears...

And had lots of other envious admirers!...

13 crisp clean bills from GPA Pomeroy...

Birthday cake in a mug...

A gift card to one of her favorite stores on earth, Barnes and Noble...

Two new PG-13 movies...

And lots of cute cards and money...

When Ryan turned 13 (millions of years ago) his grandpa gave him some money and taught him how to invest in the stock market, which Ryan absolutely loved and still does today. He wanted to do the same thing for Ella, so started her a new account with money she could learn to invest the same way he did so many years ago.

We also gave Ella two tickets to see the Broadway musical Wicked!...

Waiting for our train into New York City to see one of my most favorite musicals. I can hardly wait for Ella to see it cause I know she'll love it, too!...

We got off the train in NYC and headed straight for hot chocolate. It was freezing in the Big Apple and we were not dressed for the cold! We ended up at this cute little cafe where the hot chocolate was disgusting, but the chocolate chip scone was amazing. We wandered around the city and found Broadway was closed off to traffic and had a fall festival going on where we shopped for jewelry, scarves, etc until lunch....

Aunt Wendy recommended this great Cuban restaurant called Victor's Cafe right around the corner from the Wicked theater. It was so good...

The play was amazing! Just as I remembered it. We laughed. We cried. We had the greatest time!!...

Ella climbed these same rocks in Central Park about eight years ago in the freezing December cold...

St. Paul's Cathedral...

Ella's 13th birthday was as fun and amazing as she is smart, funny, kind, thoughtful, goofy, clever, spiritual, hardworking, motivated, driven, independent, responsible and everything else you could possibly ask for in a daughter. I don't know what I'd do without her most days of the week.... and she's getting awfully good at detecting when I'm about to BLOW my lid in frustration at her siblings and when to step in and take matters into her own hands. She is such a lifesaver! She is open and honest about everything and loves to talk about anything and everything for as long as she has an audience to listen. I am in awe at the growth she's made spiritually, too, and the time she sets aside each night to read scriptures and to work on Personal Progress.

I could go on and on about this incredible girl, but I'll just end by saying how much we love her! She is the greatest blessing we could have asked for! Happy 13th Birthday Ella!!