Dear Cara,

You bring adventure and light to our lives! You have a creative, silly personality and always find a way to make us laugh. At the same time it can also be completely frustrating, but that’s just part of growing up!

We are finally past potty-training (hallelujah), and are now working on your reading skills. Unfortunately for my patience, you just take things at your own speed. Before you are ready, there’s just no arguing with you. I hope you can take that same stubbornness and determination and apply it appropriate throughout your life!

You love to play with your brother and sister, whether its your “stuffed animal game”, Lego’s, MineCraft, or just outside exploring and making up your own games. Although you are the youngest, you seem always ready to try new things and don’t have much trouble keeping up. You are a fantastic hiker – having completed 3, 10 mile + hikes in the last year. You are also amazing on your bike, can run fast, and throw a ball like I’ve never seen in a 5 year old. We are so proud of you and can’t wait to see all the new things you’ll learn this year as we travel.

I love your snuggles in the morning and hope you never grow to old for those! We love you Cara and are grateful you are in our family!

Love,

Mom & Dad

I’m not sure why it took us so long to settle on a dinosaur theme for Cara’s birthday since we knew we’d be IN Dinosaur National Monument. It only seemed natural once we made the decision. We had a lot of fun! Because my parents were meeting us there, I had my mom shop at the party store near her house to stock up party supplies and she did a great job.

Cara wanted pletta (Swedish pancakes) for breakfast, and while daddy cooked she opened up here presents. Rachel & Andrew got her a new PlayDoh set, we got her a book, Grandma & Grandpa Madsen brought her a fun dinosaur activity set, and Grandma & Grandpa Curren provided the funds for 4 months of Netflix! Wahoo!

After breakfast we drove to nearby Vernal, UT and visited the Dinosaur Museum. While it was on the small side, the kids seemed to enjoy the hour we spent there. Plus, we went out for lunch afterwards so there was that to look forward to as well!

We spent the afternoon hanging out at our campsite, and Sam and I gave her our present: a new bike! I’ll have a full post up later this week about her new Woombike, but let’s just say that it is amazing. We couldn’t be happier with this bike, and she is already riding like champ!

We finished off the day with “Mom’s Famous Nachos” for dinner, watching Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and eating cupcakes! It was a fantastic day, and just proves to me over and over again how easy it is to celebrate birthdays and holidays while on the road!