Helen celebrated her 6th birthday this past Tuesday, March 12. She had a grand and magnificent vision for her birthday, and she lived up every moment of it!

Helen wanted a St. Patrick’s Day themed birthday party this year. I loved that because, since having two birthdays within a week of St. Patrick’s Day, I have kind of given up on planning much for the day itself. With her birthday being St. Patrick’s-y, I felt like I totally got my fill! (But Josh made sure we partied today as well, because he is the ACTUAL best person ever!)

Just a few days before Helen turned 6, she lost her first tooth and was richly rewarded! That week she also made some good progress on something from school and she jubilantly declared “This is my growing week!” She loves getting big and doing big girl things. I love watching her enthusiasm for all these big girl things.

What you ought to know about Helen is that she is good to her core. She just wants to do what’s right and learn and grow and make people happy and have fun. She also very clearly loves the Savior. We frequently casually say things about this or that family member being the best ever (see above 😂), and often Helen will say “No, Jesus is.” And she’s absolutely right. She also will mention gospel principles that apply to things every day situations, such as “I shared with Bianca, and that is following Jesus.” I am truly so grateful for her desire to follow the Savior and for her example of joyfully loving Him. Loving Helen is also a very joyful thing to do!

Helen also loves being fancy! She loves the days where she gets to dress up in some way for school; she loves making dress-up out of just about anything she can find; and she loves pretending that she’s a princess or a grown-up going somewhere fancy, or just embracing a fancy moment. I must confess, I find myself wanting to follow her example in creating fancy moments more often.

Helen got high heel Sunday shoes for her birthday as well as this very fancy fur stool. This picture was the fancy moment she created when she was trying on her Easter dress. We might have to get some more official versions of this fancy moment photographed some time.

Also for her birthday, Helen received a MUCH anticipated set of Easter bunny accessories. She loves them, and I get a decent kick out of ways and times she decides to become an Easter bunny.

Around the end of January, Helen determined that she NEEDED a Valentine’s Day outfit. Here are some of the contenders. I made the dress/skirt for both outfits. (Feel free to be impressed)

Helen also just loves to play and have fun! She is six, after all!

Helen is such a fun part of our family. One thing I loved about her birthday was that she was so excited and ready to have a fun celebration that nothing anybody did or didn’t do could phase her on her day. If somebody got grumpy (which definitely happened because we were still slowly recovering from daylight savings), she just happily ignored them and went on with her birthday plans. And that is kind of how she rolls in general as well. She likes to be happy, and I would even be so bold as to say this sweet little girl already knows how to “live after the manner of happiness.” She certainly makes my life happier.

Birthday season has begun for the Monson family! And today we got to celebrate a super exciting birthday with Portia! Turning 8 is an especially big deal because now Portia can be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost! She is super excited about making covenants with God, and understands what it means so much better than I did at age 8. I have seen in Portia, her whole life, a desire to do what is right and to serve the Lord, and I am so grateful for that about her.

Some other fun things about Portia right now include:

• She still loves beavers
• She makes up funny songs
• She loves crafting, cooking, and all kinds of creating
• She loves makeup and fanciness (see her makeup she did herself in the above picture)
• She is on an adorable dance team
• She’s friendly and fun to be with
• She’s still as precocious as ever

Here’s some pictures with captions that help explain how cool Portia is!

Last week, I got to go on a field trip with Portia’s class. It was so fun to see Portia with all her friends. And I felt super cool that she even wanted to sit by me on one of the bus rides even though her best friend was there.

I also took the opportunity to get a picture with Portia and her “twin” Owen. They are both spunky little blondes with the last name of Monson in the same school class. Portia says that whenever there is a substitute she’ll ask if they are twins. I tell Portia she should just say “yes”, because that’s the closest I’ll ever get to having the boy/girl twins I always wanted.

Also, Portia is on her cute little dance team! She has been working so hard all school year on her routines and yesterday was her first dance competition! It was a long, busy day; but Portia rocked those dances! I was so proud of her! Her team even got a “white diamond” rating for one of their dances which is the highest diamond rating you can get!

And today, we celebrated all the wonder and beauty that is Portia! She picked out her meals, activities, and decorations. And, in spite of an exhausting day yesterday, losing an hour of sleep last night to daylight savings, and a two-hour break for church, she had a great day of fun celebrating!

Of course we adore this girl! We think she’s just about as terrific as 8-year-olds come!