8-years-old

This beautiful girl is 8-years-old today.  It's hard to believe how quickly she has grown up.  She was such a sweet baby.  She was mellow and easy going.  She quickly became a handful in her toddler years.  She was feisty and had a nasty habit of hitting and saying, "your stupid." 

She used to run from me at the grocery store and refuse to come back.  She has always been stubborn and assertive. By the time she went to pre-school she had mellowed out a lot and very rarely hit or said mean things.  She has always said hilarious things though, I love hearing the crazy things that come out of her mouth. 

One time when she was about 4 or 5 years old she told me that she wanted to be a doctor when she grew up.  I asked her who would watch her kids when she was at work and she told me that her husband would stay home with them.  I asked her what she would do if he didn't want to stay home and without any hesitation she said, "then, I'll punch him in the face."

When she was 4-years-old I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up and she said, "Well I can't be a bowling pin, so I don't know."  I love the random, funny things that she says.

Hallee is a beautiful, graceful dancer.  She loves dancing and has thrived in her dance classes.

We found this beautiful spot at BYU to take her pictures.  The view is gorgeous!

I didn't realize how gorgeous the back drop was until I got home and looked at the pictures.  I wish I would have done more pictures in this spot.

Hallee also loves to sing.  She has a beautiful voice.  She loves to turn on music in her room and sing and dance.

Hallee is a spiritual girl and a deep thinker.  She has a lot of questions and always wants to understand why things are done certain ways.  She gives beautiful, thoughtful answers during family scripture reading.

She set a goal to read a scripture story every day and she has been doing great with that.

She also made a goal to write in her journal every day.  She is a beautiful writer.  She has been writing amazing thoughtful letters and notes since she was in first grade.  Her teacher would always tell me how impressed she was with her writing.  She has a big vocabulary and uses a lot of descriptive words.

She is so kind and thoughtful.  She loves to write notes telling people what she likes about them.  She also loves to thank me, give me hugs and tell me she loves me.  Since she is my baby, I know this won't last so I'm soaking it all up!

Hallee loves all things girly.  She loves make up, dress up, jewelry, nail polish and flowy dresses! She asks to put make-up on every Sunday for church. 

It was so fun to take Hallee's pictures. She loved to pose and kept me laughing.  Her baptism dress reminds me of my wedding dress.  I remember walking up stairs to take photos around the Salt Lake Temple on my wedding day.  When I saw Hallee walking down the stairs holding her dress up I immediately thought of my wedding day. 

Caitlyn had this crown and Hallee was thrilled with the idea of wearing it for some of her pictures.  I can't get over how grown up she looks and how gorgeous she is.

Hallee loves life and gets so excited about things.  Her excitement is contagious.  The other night we went to an outdoor play and they were playing music and Hallee had a blast dancing to the music.  I love that she is uninhibited and doesn't worry about other people watching. I hope she never loses that.  I get worried a lot, especially with the current climate in the world, and watching Hallee dancing without a care in the world is good for my soul.  It reminds me that everything is going to be okay.  I love the positive energy she brings to everything.

After we took her pictures around the duck pond we drove up to the bell tower.  Hallee got so excited when she realized it was playing, "I Am A Child of God." 

Hallee loves art.  She loves to color and do crafts.  She wants to save everything she makes at school.

Hallee has always been nervous about physical things.  It took her a long time to enjoy swings and slides and she is scared of heights.  She is starting to push herself out of her comfort zone.  I love to see her realize she can do hard, scary things.  She has been wanting to try soccer for a while.  She was signed up last Spring, but that was canceled so she is excited to start this Fall.

It's hard to sum up how wonderful Hallee is.  She is kind, strong, hard working, persistent, hilarious, stubborn and an all around beautiful person.  I'm excited to see the wonderful things she does with her life.