I can't believe the time has come for me to wish my beautiful niece a happy 12th birthday. Can you believe it?! My little Julee, the firstborn grandchild/niece turned 12 today. It is just another reminder how quickly time passes. I still like to picture the adorable, bouncy haired toddler I babysat all the time. I am so happy to see her growing up though and turning into such a beautiful young woman. 
Julee, I hope you know how much I absolutely love you. You are such a great girl and I really feel blessed to be your aunt. I have been lucky enough to get to spend several of your years close to you. I am so happy I was able to and I hope there are many more to come. I guess being the first niece in the family I just hold a special place in my heart for you. I spent so much time with you in your first few years I felt like you were just my niece. I am so happy that I was able to spend that time with you watching you grow and hitting milestones in your babyhood. I certainly learned a lot spending time with you and taking care of you. While I will always miss those baby and toddler days, I am so excited to see you getting older. I don't know how long it will take to sink in that you are a Beehive now and quickly entering the teenage years. I so look forward to it though. You are such an amazing girl. I am always so impressed with the things you are involved in with school and all that. You seem to have such a desire to learn and try new things and I hope it is always something you embrace. It will certainly lead you to many fun experiences in life. You really are something special!
I hope you had a fabulous birthday! I wish I could have been closer to you to celebrate this milestone with you. You have so many amazing things to look forward to. Know that I love you and I am here for you always. 
Happy Birthday Julee Lulee!
I told Noah to lean against the tree like 
I told her to keep a straight face and she just couldn't do it. She kept saying "Mommy, why are you making me do stuff that makes me feel like a dork?" It was so funny.
If you can't tell I have recently become a fan on changing the color on my pictures. Some things just look good not in full color. 
This is one of my favorite pictures. You can see her pretty eyes and her messy hair. I don't know what it is about it I just love it!
She looks mad or like a little punk. I promise she was having a good time though. I love that she will indulge me when I want to take a bunch of pictures. Noah is not quite as cooperative, if you couldn't tell by the lack of pictures of him. 
The cactus in our front yard has never had so many blooms at one time. They are so pretty when they are opened up.
My self taken picture. I like the sun shining on the one side of my hair.
Dorko Noah. You gotta love this kid!
Zoey took this picture of me. The kids are always asking to use the camera. 
My gorgeous little Zoey. She wanted me to flip her hair out just like mine. So cute!
Noah took this picture of me all by himself. Pretty good job for a 2 1/2 year old.
I found these cute Spongebob watches on clearance at Walmart for $3. My kids love Spongebob and were very excited about their new "clocks" as Noah calls them. Noah's is all for show but Zoey can actually tell the time on digital clocks and watches. They wanted to show them off so Mommy of course took pictures.
