Tessa Mary

Today is Tessa's 9th birthday.

She was born in Kansas and is our 16 grandchild and 7th grandaughter.

Tessa is an important part of this large family.

And an even more important part of this smaller family.

Last night I conducted a phone interview with Tessa.  Here's how it went:  Hi Tessa   How are you? I'm fine!  Tomorrow's my birthday!

I know!  Are you excited?  Um hmm

Do you have any special plans?  Umm for my birthday party I might be going to Trampoline World or Sky Dome. I haven't decided yet.  

What do you want for your birthday?   Probably like a stuffed animal.  I already got a bike and lots of other stuff.  Did you have a little family party today?  Umm, I think we're going to do something like that tomorrow.  Will Grant be able to come?  No, because his school starts on my birthday.  How about Daddy?  No he won't be able to come but he's going to come visit us in a couple of weeks. That's awesome I'll bet you're excited.  (She literally giggled.)  Yeah!

Has your school started yet?  Yep  When did it start?  Ummm I think it was on the 17th

What grade are you in now?  4th grade

What do you like best about school?  My favorite part of school is recess.   But I love school and my teacher's great!

And what don't you like so much?  I do not like math.

What's your favorite thing to do at home?   I don't know.    I like to draw.

You're a very good artist.

And I like to play with my Barbies.

What's your favorite animal?  A  cat.  Why?  Because they're fluffy and cute and I like to snuggle with them.

What do you want to be when you grow up?  I want to be doctor.

How many kids would you like to have some day?  3 or 4.

Did you enjoy Christmas in Gulf Shores last year?  Yes!   I loved it!

What was your favorite part?  Going on the beach.

What else can you tell us about yourself?  Well, I'm not a big fan of video games.  Sometimes they get boring.

Anything else?   Umm Yes.  I have four favorite colors.  What are they?  Blue, White, Pink, and Purple. 

 I like all animals as long as they're not really dangerous.  

I like to dance.

 I'm going to start gymnastics but I still like to dance.

And I like swimming.  I'm in stroke school now.

What is that?  Stroke school is basically where you learn all the stokes.

Which is your favorite?  Probably freestyle.  Are you pretty good at it?  um hmmm. 

 I like to look at pets at the pet store.  When you come in, on the left they have cute little kittens in different kinds of cages and last time I went they had a baby kitten.

I like lots of kinds of food.  What's your favorite?  Probably this real good chicken that I had or some mashed potatoes that I had at Carraba's.  We usually go there with the whole family. 

Where are you going for your birthday?  Me and Mom and Evan are going to go to Carraba's. 

 And I really like Barbies.  Right now I'm cleaning up some of my Legos to make a Barbie wonderland.  

And that was pretty much how the interview ended.  Tessa did a great job of trying to think of facts about herself that we hadn't covered.  But I can add even more facts about Tessa.

She's quiet and unassuming.

When there's hustle and bustle going on around her and everybody's focused on the task at hand, she quietly stays out of the way.

She's a Mommy's girl.

And a Daddy's girl.

And she loves her big brothers almost us much as they adore her.

She's stylish

Enjoys shopping

And is a great planner and organizer.  She's also crafty like her Mom and just so eager to please.

But more than all that, she's sweet, patient, loving, smart, and unbelievably artistic and creative.  We love her more than she can imagine and we're wishing her the happiest of birthdays. Tessa, Happy Birthday and we just cannot WAIT to see you in December!