Happy Birthday Eliana!

In July, Eliana turned 14 years of age!  She didn't want to have a big party with friends over.  Instead it was just a small family gathering and, at her request, a cake from Cold Stone, which she ordered.

She is the one who requested the writing on the cake.

It had lots of candles all around.

Make a wish!

It was very cold and solid inside.  We had to heat the knife with hot water several times to get it to slice the cake.

The cousins were in town when she was opening presents, so they had a fun time watching.

She still has the hobby of keeping her aquarium and got a hand-drawn gift certificate to a local aquarium fish store in Portland.

She also got a set of "fake" AirPods, which Gabe needed to try on.

From Gabe, she got a set of Tony's Chocolonely chocolate bars with different flavors.

She got a card from Elvin's parents.

And the kids are really into these stuffed animals called Squishmallows.  They come in various sizes, from normal sized to ridiculous sized (see below.)  

All the kids like them, for some reason, and here is Gabe coveting Eliana's cat Squishmallow.

She also got a "gift certificate" to get her ears pierced with a second set of holes, which was her request.

A couple weeks later, mommy took her...

What else does Eliana spend her time doing?  Reading books is a regular activity, and is even more enjoyable if Lucky comes over to keep her company.

She handles technology like a modern teenager.  Here she is multitasking on three separate devices!  Actually, she is not crazy about technology and doesn't spend a huge amount of time online.   Elvin captured this photo because it looked funny.

We got a free air hockey table from friends and Eliana and Gabe like to play.  They are quite competitive and also pretty evenly matched.

She is also quite the artist and it seems like she favors watercolors as a her medium of choice.

During the summer, she participated in a weeklong summer camp where the kids worked on acting and drama.  She did a short skit with another teenager and it was really good!

She has also taken up the alto saxophone.  She just started learning this past summer in preparation for taking band at school and she has enjoyed a lot.

Her and Gabe have turned out to be little foodies and regularly discuss the merits of various foods and desserts in different local restaurants and stores.  After a Costco run, Elian brought home a tiramisu which was promptly sampled by both of them.

And Eliana and Elvin enjoyed sampling boba drinks at different stores when they have the opportunity.  Elvin's taro drink was so-so but Eliana's boba milk tea was great!

So that's our Eliana, growing up fast!