Someone is turning ELEVEN!

Celebrating sweet Grace!

She was so excited to get to pick PF Ch*angs for dinner! She told Mom "I want K Cakes place... with lettuce," which of course means PF Ch*angs (we went there for Kate's gotcha day last month and had lettuce wraps, which she LOVED)

And Will came home last night, so we had the whole family home to celebrate! And Grandma is here, too, so Gracie is just feeling extra special! :)

The littles were all enjoying shoulder rides, and Gracie didn't want to miss out... :)

There was a big pile of presents awaiting when we got home!

But first we had cake... Gracie picked chocolate with chocolate icing, so that's what Mom made for her!

She loved having a day all about her!

And Mom loved having the whole family around our table!

Gracie had lots of presents to open... here she is opening the Bop it that I gave her! She loves it :)

Gracie's big present this year was a rip*stick. She had been talking about this thing for awhile and telling us all about how her foster brothers in China had one and she loved it. Our neighbors have one and she rides it over at their house and is really good, and that was the one thing she asked for for her birthday. She is incredible on it! We were all trying it out and just couldn't understand how she's so good at it!

She was even riding around while looking at books! I'm telling you... she is amazing!

Tomorrow is not only a special day in our house because of Thanksgiving, but it is also Miss Gracie's birthday! Not only that, but it marks one year since we first fell in love with that big, bright smile and knew that Tong Jiao was a part of our family!

How fitting that her birthday should fall on Thanksgiving this year! We are oh so thankful for our precious (soon to be) 11 year old! I fall more in love with this sweet girl every day... her bright smile, her love for life, her confidence, her desire to learn... that's not saying that every moment is perfect, because it's not. But she truly amazes me. She is so loving, so brave, so sweet. She communicates more than I EVER thought would happen having just been with her for 5 months. She's beautiful on the inside and out and has such a sweet heart.

She has been looking forward to this day for so long and could hardly contain her excitement all day. And I don't think that it was a disappointment. She soaked the whole celebration in and loved every moment of her "birthday." She got to spend the day with her Grandma, go on a long bike ride on the trails with Will, go shopping for a bit with Sissy, have a delicious dinner out, open lots of presents, and eat chocolate cake... yes, it was a perfect birthday! :) Tomorrow the celebration will only continue as we sing "happy birthday" a couple more times, celebrate Thanksgiving, and remember a year back when we saw that precious smiling face for the first time.

To my sweet Gracie, I love you dearly and hope that your first birthday in America has been everything you could've asked for! I can't wait to celebrate more tomorrow! I love you precious girl!

Happy 11th Birthday sweet girl!!