Luma Solem: My baby's not a baby.

Dawna turned 12! Oh. My. Goodness! I had a hard time sleeping the night before her birthday as I contemplated how much she had grown and changed since she was born... and how much I've changed since she was born (not a super flattering thought...)

Then...

And Now...

Don't blink! Babies grow fast!

Dawna celebrated her birthday on Friday by taking Sara, Hope, and Lizzy to the Peak to go climbing.

Then we went out to ZenSen sushi. Sara and Hope were not taken with the food... As the girls watched the little plates go by on the conveyor belt, Dawna voraciously grabbed and devoured piece after piece... all while her friends looked on and one commented, "I'm just looking for something edible." It was a cultural experience, to put it mildly.

After sushi, we returned to the Whitfield house for watermelon cake, requested by Dawna.

The best part of Dawna's birthday celebration was Saturday morning. Sara and Mandy joined us for a trip to the Sacramento Temple for Dawna's first experience with baptisms for the dead. Incidentally, Sacramento is the only temple Dawna has been in before... as a baby, she came with me in a front pack to the open house!

Elder Grandpa Koberstein shared 7 family names with us for the day. Among them were 3 Korsch sisters from Germany and two Koberstein girls: Anne and Mary.

And after all that, I nearly blew it... I was so sure my recommend was in my wallet... but it was not! Between all our moving hustle and bustle, I must have packed it with my temple clothes. Shoot!! Temple workers saved the day by calling in to our bishop or stake clerk or someone... whew!!

It was very special to me as a mom to be with my daughter in the temple. To me, the temple is heaven on Earth, so peaceful and beautiful, the place I feel most centered and confident in understanding who I am. It is God's house. Witnessing Dawna's desire to go to the temple grow over the past year and seeing how she sacrificed climbing time this week to make sure she had time to get her recommend was very uplifting to me as a mom. Maybe I'm doing something right... or maybe (more likely) she just came that way. Dawna has always been an angel baby and continues to be an angel baby... or angel child... but now a tween... soon a teen!!