There's a 12-year-old in the house (again)! -and- TIMBER!

Yes, it's true.  Leah is 12!  She has been looking forward to this day for several weeks now.  She's ready to move on from Primary, though she's a little nervous about joining the Young Women.  She's going to have a great time, once she gets started!

Another bonus to turning 12 in our family is being old enough to ride in the front seat of the van.  This may be the biggest reason she's been looking forward to her birthday lately.  The boys aren't thrilled.  Now they have to add her into the monthly rotation for turns to ride shotgun.  Life is hard.

With all of the treats and snacking that have been going on the last two months (and daughters that like to make cake), I wasn't looking forward to another cake so soon.  So I was glad when pumpkin pie (using the last pumpkin from Idaho) became an option.

She blew out all of the candles in one breath.  We'll have to give her more next year.

Next came the gifts.  She was looking forward to that a little bit.

This is where she realizes what this small gift is leading up to.

This is where she stares in disbelief that she actually owns a guitar of her own.

And this is where she tries it out!

Turning twelve also means a birthday party with friends.  (With a family this size, I decided to limit the parties to 8, 12, and 16 - all significant ages in our church.)  So her 2nd ever birthday party is coming up next Saturday!

Of course, Leah's birthday wasn't the only thing memorable to happen around here today.  We took to cutting down a large tree in our yard.  The septic tank is nearby and we were counseled a year ago to get rid of the tree to preserve the tank.  Hopefully, the roots didn't grow that much more during the year and damage the buried septic system.  To be fair, we've been waiting for some decent temps to get to work.  It has been brutal around here!

The kids had a blast playing in the huge instant fort the tops of the tree created when they fell.

This is going to be some nice firewood in a year or so!

 We're going to miss the shade that tree provided.  We're already talking about planting some fruit trees out there.  I'm not too worried about their roots causing damage while we still live here (let the next homeowners take care of that).  But do I want to eat fruit fertilized by waste that I helped create?  Uh...

I feel fortunate that these large branches came down without any injury to living creatures (other than the tree).  The fence was not as fortunate, but the house is OK!  :)