Manda Panda is 10 years old!

It's hard to believe our sweet girl is 10 years old! From the moment she woke up, she had a huge smile on her face! We could just see how happy she was that it was her birthday!

She asked for breakfast in bed.....so I got up a little early and made her some pancakes. I found some snack pack M&M's and decided to put the candies in the pancakes. Amanda liked that!

Next we let her open her present: Heeleys! We surprised her because we had told her that she should ask for those for Christmas! When she tried them on they were a little snug, so I ran back to the store during the day and exchanged them. Daddy took us out to Olive Garden for dinner to celebrate her birthday and she 'Heeley'd' al over the place! After a yummy dinner, we came back home for our traditional Backer's cake! The card in the picture is from her school class. It's also her VIP week and she gets to be 'line leader' all week! It took Amanda 3 tries to blow out her candles....I guess that's what happens when you get as old as 10 years! Here are 10 things we love about Amanda!

1. She is a sweetheart! She's always putting others needs and wishes ahead of her own. She is so kind to her siblings and very helpful to her parents! Just last night, she was helping Sydney (who was whinning about not being able to do Heeley's-she got Amanda's old ones) learn how to do Heeley's. She is always helping Brandon.

2. She is a tease. She knows how to have fun and likes to get people laughing!

3. She is very creative: She is writing a play and designing the sets in our basement. She has all the parts organized and labeled.

4. She is a smarty pants! Amanda has always done great in school! Now that's she is in 4th grade, she is getting some harder material, but she doesn't give up and shows real determination.

5. She is talented. If her Mom would teach her weekly, she would be a pro on the piano! With the little instruction she gets, she is able to play beautifully! She can also dance, play soccer and sing!

6. She is a good friend! Amanda has numerous girls that call everyday to play with her. The party is always at our house! People know that Amanda will always be nice to them.

7. She likes to hang with Mom & Dad! We love that Amanda will hang out with us and likes to talk! We keep telling her that someday soon, she won't think we are cool....and we'll be sad when that happens. She promises it won't happen!

8. She is adventurous! Amanda is always up for anything, anytime! She loves to take bike rides with her Dad. She will try any ride anywhere.

9. She is responsible: We can trust her to do whatever we need. I also love and appreciate the fact (since I'm a Gibson and we don't like phones), that she will make phones calls to anyone.

10. She is beautiful and she's our daughter! We just love Amanda because she is Amanda!

Happy Birthday, Amanda! We love you!