The morning after her birthday, Samantha got to open her present from Uncle Chris and Aunt Becky. Before opening it, she had to wrestle with Caleb (her regular morning work-out). Samantha's special uncle and aunt gave her a Dora tennis racket and some Dora tennis balls! She absolutely loved them, and Caleb thought it would be a good idea for her to begin practicing right away (inside, of course). We need to work with her on keeping her eyes open, but she can smack the ball surprisingly far.

Samantha had a little help with opening presents from her cousins at the party. After opening two presents, she decided that she wanted to go ahead and get her Papas to open those two presents so that she could play with them. The cousins didn't mind opening the other presents for her. :-)

We had such a blessed time with family on her birthday. Tim's mom made the birthday cake. Isn't it beautiful?

The joy of trying to get a toddler to smile a "pretty smile" on her birthday!

Our little girl turned 3 on Tuesday, and we have had a fun week celebrating her special day. Here are some pictures from her preschool class. The kids seemed to enjoy the cake (I love the picture of the boy facedown in it), and it was cute to watch Samantha's face when they all sang to her.

This Halloween, we went to Nana & Granddaddy's church and enjoyed their "Trunk or Treat." The kids had a great time saying "trick or treat," getting candy, playing games, and watching a puppet show. They were also thrilled with all their "loot" when we got back home.

Here are some pictures of our princess and knight!

Last week, Caroline and Claire spent the night with us for one night. I loved these pictures of Samantha "reading" and of Caroline putting on Samantha's shoes for her.