a birthday she'll never forget

Celebrations for Hazel's 10th birthday began Sunday morning when she and Jason headed out for their lunchtime reservations at the Sun Dial in Atlanta. It had been raining all night so Jason brought her a new umbrella to go with the flowers, although the weather ended up cooperating just enough to get some photos without rain. It was quite cold though and my subjects only grudgingly agreed to go out without their coats on so I could photograph them in their great outfits.





Hazel's ensemble consists of a Goodwill top, consignment store pants, and clearance shoes from Kmart. The best part about it is that she LOVES every piece and will wear them often, which is always a plus.





We wanted to do something fun with her hair and came up with this after looking around at up-do's online. There were 33 bobby pins and a lot of hairspray holding this in place, but it looked so great and really showed off the colors in her hair!









I had to grab one more shot when they came back to get the glasses Hazel forgot- I can't believe I didn't notice them missing when we were taking pictures. I love these new frames on her.



Within a half hour of them leaving, it started to rain again, and it rapidly turned to slush and then snow! The rest of the day was crazy- them traveling in the weather and seeing Atlanta under a fresh blanket of snow, and us at home playing in the fluffy white stuff and then witnessing trees and limbs falling all around us under the weight of the heavy snow! It seemed so unreal to be out building a snowman in Georgia in March. We were having a blast until we realized the snow was causing branches and large limbs to fall all around the neighborhood, so we went inside to watch the destructive force of nature from the safety and warmth of the house. Not long later we lost our power, and it did not come back on for almost 27 hours- almost all the way through Hazel's actual birthday on Monday. Good thing the party is planned for next weekend!







Surveying the yard during the storm and the day after, we found that we lost 3 apple trees and a few limbs from our own trees, as well as having numerous limbs from neighboring trees fall into our yard. It is a mess! But the house and vehicles are safe, so we can't complain too much. More photos coming soon as we clean up the fallen trees and the yard. Our friend Jamie is outside as I type this, hacking away at the poor apple trees with his chainsaw. Thank goodness for good friends who take care of us so well!!









They did end up having fun on their date, although the camera they had with them backfired and they didn't get any photos, and it was cold and low visibility in the city. But this is a birthday Hazel will never forget!!

We love you so much, Hazel! You have grown and changed very much this year, and we look forward to the coming year full of fun and learning and excitement. You help make our life more interesting and you are a very special and important part of our family. WE LOVE YOU!!