Jackie Turns Six!

So, I know it's way late, but here's Jackie's birthday! December 13 every year marks another special year in a special little girl's life! Every year that passes I'm amazed. Her fourth birthday was a miracle to see and each year after we celebrate that she's healthy and strong. Not a trace of cancer, no swollen lymph nodes, no problems. The only time I remember the HIV is when she takes medicine and we're so used to her taking it that even then it's just a passing thought! Her virus is undetectable and her CD4 count remains as high as a person without HIV! So, we celebrate her birthday and thank God for a child that brings so much joy to our family. Really, life would not be the same without her!

I don't know why but birthdays are a big deal to me. It's become a tradition that we let the kids choose what they want to do for their birthday. Jackie chose to eat at home and bake her own cake since her birthday fell on a Tuesday. For her outing she wanted to wait until the Saturday after and go to a restaurant nearby that has a trampoline for ice cream and to jump. Really easy to please!
With my giving directions, Jackie poured the cake mix, eggs, oil, and water into the saucepan and mixed away! Then she poured it into the pan for baking and put it in the oven which I had already had preheating...... She also felt like a big girl opening the oven door and checking to see if the cake was done.

After the cake cooled, her favorite part.... putting on the icing!

The finished product. Jackie was so proud that she'd baked her cake almost completely by herself!

Did I tell you how easy to please Jackie is? When I asked her what she wanted for her birthday, the only thing she wanted was sunglasses. Sunglasses! I wasn't real sure how I was going to get child sized sunglasses but ended up visiting a friend the day before and she had a pair! An added bonus is that each of my friend's children sent a birthday card home with me for Jackie!

The moment we were all waiting for....... singing Happy Birthday to the birthday girl and the cutting of the cake!