Harry Potter Birthday for Hannah!

(I know-they look wonky!  

They are supposed to look like the cake that Hagrid brought Harry for his birthday!!!

More HP cookies at the end of the post!!) 

We're not a Sugar and Spice family.

We're Snips and Snails and Puppy-Dog Tails All the Way.

No daughters for Lizy B.

(absolutely, totally fine with that by the way.  

Little boys love their mommies something fierce.)

but....

if I had a daughter, a little girl to call my own....

I would order up a Hannah.

Hannah is my niece, she's up there in the middle between her 

littlest sister, Danijela, and her brother, Mark.

I think her sister Maddie took the photo.

(can I quickly mention that I have quite a few nieces-Katie, Sami, Maddie, Danijela, Ani, Maddie, Nikki and Rachel-I love them all dearly, but today we're chatting about Hannah.)

Hannah is....well she's just amazing.

For awhile, she wanted to be a nurse.

She loves helping people, so it seemed like a good fit.

Then her little brother Mark (also my Godson-isn't he cute!) was diagnosed with Apraxia.

Apraxia is a motor speech disorder that makes it challenging to communicate verbally, 

especially for a little boy like Mark who loves people and is so outgoing and friendly.

You can read more about it HERE.

We rarely see him without a smile on his face.

I remember once Hannah asked, after helping Mark communicate with his cousins,

"How could God do that to such a great little boy?"

I didn't answer her at the time, 

and I don't have an answer, 

but I could see the seeds of something growing.

Mark is doing amazingly well.

He attends a school for children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

His hearing is fine, but it's an environment where he can easily communicate using 

sign language and his speech is improving everyday.  

We love hearing him chat on the phone!

But Hannah....she's the gift that grew from his struggles.

When Mark started learning sign language, so did she. 

Soon after, they went to an Easter Seals summer camp together.

Mark was the official camper and Hannah was his 'buddy'.

No one was surprised when she and Mark had a fabulous time together, 

but Hannah was so amazing with all the campers that she was invited back after he went home.

She spent her summer laughing and playing with all sorts of kids who had a 

variety of special needs.

She changed her major too.

Now she's studying Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences and Special Education. 

Hannah is planning on spending her life helping munchkins like Mark, find their voices.

Hannah is still a typical, fun-loving young lady.

The kind of girl we would all love to have for a best friend, fiercely loyal, so quick to laugh and be silly and just enough of a naughty side to keep you on your toes.

  She recently turned 21 and spent the weekend in Las Vegas with a best girlfriend and....

....wait for it.....

her MOM, 2 AUNTS and her Aunt's BF.

By Choice!!!!!!

Yup.

I had the time of my life.

No...they were not all mine!

(These were the only two pictures that survived...the rest have been burned)

I know what you are thinking....

"...um, I came here looking for some Harry Potter cookies thank-you-very-much......?!

What's going on!!!"

Here's the Harry Potter part.

Hannah Loves Harry Potter!!!

Loves!!!!

So right after I won that giveaway and received the necklace, 

I heard about Hannah's birthday trip to Las Vegas.

I knew.....just KNEW.....

Harry Potter needed to go to Las Vegas!!!

I've got close-ups and all kinds of cookie talk for you in the next post

(as well as a surprise from Erin over at Bookish Charms).

I just had one more little thing to say to Hannah...

...tap-tap...

are you there?

You asked once why God would make it hard for Mark to talk.

I still don't know the answer to that.

What I do know,

with all the certainty in the world,

is that God gave Mark an amazing gift.

He's giving that same gift to countless other little hearts and minds....

He Gave Them You.

So proud to be your Aunt.

Love you, Happy birthday.

Thanks for stopping by,

Lizy B