Anna enjoys making a mess with her pink birthday cake.

A first birthday is always a special occasion for celebration, but for one family the day was cause for praise and thanksgiving due to a miracle and answered prayers.

Anna Shinabery, daughter of Lee and Kerri Shinabery of Jonesboro, was the guest of honor Saturday, July 5 at party attended by more than 200 friends and family. While little Anna messily enjoyed eating her birthday cake, her family wiped tears from their eyes.

"We all cried," said Becky Shinabery, Anna's grandmother. "I know people don't usually cry at birthday parties, but Saturday there wasn't a dry eye in the place."

They were, of course, tears of joy.

Anna, who was born July 9, 2007, was diagnosed with a rare tumor only a little over a month after her birth. The tumor, called Kaposiform Hemangioendothelioma, is a vascular tumor associated with the Kasabach-Merritt phenomenon, a bleeding disorder due to trapping of platelets by the tumor.

KHE is usually present when a baby is born or develops within the first few months of infancy.

Anna's tumor, which was located around her kidneys and small intestines, was consuming the platelets from her blood stream.

Anna's story moved people all over Northeast Arkansas to pray for the young girl and to make platelet donations in her name because she needed frequent platelet transfusions to survive.

Lee and Kerri Shinabery celebrate their daughter's first birthday, a day they hoped and prayed would come. (Photo provided)

Needless to say, Anna's grandparents and great-grandparents were also praying every day for Anna. They are Randy and Becky Shinabery of Marked Tree and Tom and Patti Ross of Harrison. Her great grandparents are Marie and the late E.L. Shinabery, Jr. of Marked Tree and R.D. and Hilda Gill of Tyronza.

In an effort to help provide the needed platelets for Anna, her great-grandfather Gill made weekly trips to Jonesboro to donate for his "little girl."

At one time there seemed to be little hope for Anna. Her parents baptized her in her hospital room because they didn't think she would live long enough to be baptized by a minister. However, through prayers, Anna began to get better through what her family call a miracle.

After more than nine months in Children's Hospital in Little Rock, Anna returned home to her family in March.

"She finished all her chemotheraphy treatments and hasn't had once since Feburary," Becky Shinabery said. "And her oncologist officially released her June 17."

Now Anna is learning to live life just like any other normal little girl. She is very active and is sitting up and pulling up on her own. She also undergoes physical therapy on a weekly basis.

"She babbles all the time," Shinabery said. "She says da da and some other words too."

Anna is also getting more aquanited with her two older sisters, Ashlee, who is five, and Allison, who is three.

Saturday, all eyes were on Anna as she enjoyed her pink iced cake with the excitement of any one year old given a sugary treat and permission to make as big of a mess as they would like. And while the guests sang "Happy Birthday" her family's hearts also sang with joy. The joy of a miracle.