Americans get rare glimpse of Malia and Sasha Obama

First daughters Malia and Sasha Obama made a rare public appearance with their parents on Election Night.

The girls, aged 14 and 11, respectively, accompanied President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama to the stage in Chicago, when the president as giving his election acceptance speech. It was then that many Americans noticed just how much older the two have grown.

The nation first got to know the Obama daughters during the 2008 election campaign and the inauguration in January of 2009. Malia was about the age Sasha is now and Sasha was just 7. Since then, Americans have gotten just glimpses of the two, primarily on holidays.

They help host the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, help to light the National Christmas Tree every December and watch their dad pardon a turkey every Thanksgiving. Occasionally they are seen at other White House events, usually involving young people.

What we know of them comes from carefully selected nuggets of information that their parents release in a speech or interview. That's how we know that Sasha and Malia aren't allowed on Facebook, have to clean their rooms and won't be getting another dog.