The Tommerdahls: Summer turns EIGHT!

Summer had a fantastic birthday week filled with celebration! On Saturday she celebrated with Grandma and Grandpa T. On Tuesday, she and I had our mother-daughter birthday date, followed by presents from Grandma and Grandpa K. On Thursday she had her birthday party. On Friday we celebrated as a family. On Saturday she had breakfast in bed and a date to the Loons game with Daddy! Here are some pictures!

Eight Year Pictures

Summer is one of the most compassionate, considerate, thoughtful, loving, unselfish, generous, people I know. Her big heart loves and gives without bound. She loves Jesus with her WHOLE heart and desires that everyone know Him the way she does.

Summer loves to read, loves to cuddle, and loves to make up games and stories to play with her siblings. She brings fun wherever she goes and is a natural born leader.

She has grown so much this year in managing her emotions - she feels highs and lows to their extreme, and through lots of practice can now identify when she is "climbing up" and "sliding down", and can both predict, verbalize, and manage her feelings so well. I am so impressed with her growth in this area this year.

At JCPenney's, Summer asked to do the "fairy pictures" for some of her 8 year photo shoot. She still loves to dress up and be fancy :). And she loves to help others - she loves to come in during the summer to help her teachers at school, help mom with the chores (because she feels bad mom is working when she is playing!), and help her siblings with whatever they need. She is such a sweetheart.

Summer you are such a blessing in our lives, a true gift from God. You encourage me to be better, bolder, kinder, and more like Jesus. And I love our conversations, our time spent reading together, and your friendship. Happy 8th birthday, Beautiful!

Eight Year Stats

Summer weighs 55lbs (48th percentile)

Summer is 4' .75" (27th percentile)

I thank the Lord for blessing Summer with perfect health.

These sisters had their birthday well-check together :)

Birthday Party

For her 8 year birthday party, Summer chose to have one special friend over for an afternoon and evening of American girl fun. She picked Adelyn, a special friend she has had since she was 1, and who also had Kirsten, the American girl doll. Summer planned the entire evening and loved making her own invitation in Word (I was surprised how much she knew how to do!) with only a tiny bit of help from me inserting the pictures. She planned to have them play at the park with their dolls, play dolls at home, have mixed noodles for dinner (both dolly size and girl size), and watch the American Girl Doll Samantha movie.

Decorating party hats for the girls and dolls

The dolls ate everything the girls did, just smaller. Cucumber included for size.

Daddy putting Parmesan cheese on the doll noodles...:)

Summer picked an icecream dessert so we used some cucumbers for her to blow out her candle.

Kirsten had a candle too

The girls helped the dolls finish their plates ;)

And take their dishes to the sink!

The girls acted out plays from Summer's American girl doll play book and played dolls.

They ended the night with popcorn and the Samantha movie!

It was a perfect celebration for Summer with a sweet, sweet friend!

Birthday Dates

I always like to take each kid on a birthday date around their birthday. This past week on Tuesday, Summer and I went horseback riding, and out to eat at the American Girl Bistro at MOA and had fun window shopping all the cute American Girl doll things. Summer and Daddy went on a date on Saturday to the Loons game. It is so special getting one-on-one time with our oldest! Here are a few pictures:

Breakfast in Bed

In keeping with the Tommerdahl tradition, the kids look forward to breakfast in bed on or around their birthday! We chose to do the day after Summer's birthday, because it was a Saturday and Daddy was home! Summer requested pop-tarts, bacon, fruit, and grape juice.

Grandparents

Both sets of Grandparents found special ways to celebrate with our girl! One of the main items on Summer's list was a new bike. Not only has she outgrown her current bike, but her current one broke last month! Grandma and Grandpa T took Summer bike shopping while they were here in July and gifted her with not only the fun of picking one out, but also a brand new ride!

The weekend before her birthday, they celebrated her with a DQ cake and a special add-on to her bike, an attachment that looks very similar to an adult version for carrying a baby on the back of a bike, yet for a doll!

She literally has her dream bike! Thanks for making her birthday so special Grandma and Grandpa T! Also a huge thank you to GeeGee Sandy for the Claire's gift cards for both Summer and Larkyn for their birthdays - they can't wait to pick something out!

Grandma and Grandpa K gifted Summer with another "top of the list" item that Summer has been wanting ever since Colton got his for his birthday in April....a SCOOTER! She got a new pink helmet to match, and LOVES her new scooter!

She also received a gift card to go on a girls back to school shopping spree with Grandma (and mom and sister) to pick out some new things, and out to lunch!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa K for such a fun and generous idea! She had so much fun!

August 3rd

On Summer's actual birthday, she had a fun day of swimming lessons and getting to pretend she has a dog, which she SO badly wants. We have been dog sitting Grandma and Grandpa T's dog all week, so out of all possible outings she could pick on her birthday, she picked to go to the dog park (and picking up his poop to prove her responsibility!) and give Bode a bath! Then she sat and cuddled and read with him until dinner. For dinner she requested Pizza Hut pepperoni pizza, fruit salad, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and ice cream treats! After dinner we opened presents.

Summer is an enthusiastic gift opener and truly makes the giver feel good! She is so grateful! She loved the checkers/chess game, doll stands, nightgowns, and shopping money from Aunt Nancy and Uncle Paul.