Of my four sisters I am the only one with a summer birthday. My three sisters have winter birthdays and I like to celebrate with them. Christine was born Dec. 18, Elizabeth on January 6, and Cynthia on February 8. Christine's birthday is just before Christmas, so sometimes she just got early Christmas presents. Elizabeth's birthday starts the New Year fresh and it is fun to mail her a present after Christmas. On Cynthia's birthday my mom always made a heart-shaped cake covered in pink frosting; she is our family's Valentine's princess. I am lucky to have three sisters and they always remember to call me on my birthday in June.
In my photo album there are pictures of my birthdays. In our family we got to choose the birthday menu and mom made us a cake of our choice. I usually have strawberry shortcake but when I was little I had different kinds of cakes. On my first birthday I had a square cake with one candle. They let me put my fingers in the frosting. When I was 4 I wore a Magic Chef hat and blew out my candles outside at the picnic table. For 6 I was given a lovely pink dress with a big collar and mother made me a tiered layer cake. When I turned eight we lived in Sudbury, Massachusetts and my little brother, David, helped me and my sisters blow out the candles on the cake. My grandparents came from Utah and I was baptized in the Cambridge Chapel.
When I turned 15 we lived in Lima, Peru and had a fancy party for my Quinceaneras. And he next year I had a store-bought cake and my friend Bonnie from was with us to blow out the candles. My family surrounded me to sing me Happy Birthday. Probably Mom or Dad is taking the birthday picture.
It is important to take birthday pictures on a special birthday. Looking at these pictures, I can see how much I grew every year and how much my brothers and sisters, grew, too! Last December we celebrated an important birthday--Dad's 85th. My brother came from California and we all went to a fine restaurant to remember his long and happy life. Happy Birthday everybody!
