Happy Seventeenth, Anna!

Seventeen years ago today I received a most marvelous blessing. She was tiny and red then but now she is taller than me. She could not say anything then but now she sings, and plays piano, and talks. She talks to me and Luke and Caleb, and that is the most fun. She is a true kindred spirit. We are not drama queen girls (we have brothers to do that); we don’t go crazy for animals; we see books and movies differently enough to talk about them and similiarly enough to enjoy the talk. We make music together. We create stories and discuss them. We have different things we do and say, some borrowed and some original; we enjoy our inside jokes. 

Our award winning homeschooled scientists.

(l to r) Anna, Caleb, Luke, Jeremiah, Gracie, Sable, and Hannah

Anna and her scholarly project.

Anna and Laura playing chemists in front of the bread machine.

Pardon the blurry-ness; Luke took the picture.  

 Anna at her beloved piano.

This is one of those things we like to do and say ever since Geometry, but mine is not that funny:

If Anna has a birthday, there will be a family road trip.

If there is a family road trip, everyone will load up in Astro Mutt.

If everyone loads up in Astro Mutt, they will be stuck together for a while.

If everyone is stuck together for a while, they will talk and laugh.

If everyone talks and laughs, they will make memories.

If everyone makes memories, they will have more in common.

If they have more in common, they will be closer together.

If they are closer together, they will be hard to drive apart.

If they are hard to drive apart, they will fight to stay close.

If they fight to stay close, their children will become good cousin/friends.

 A desperate attempt at a winter family picture.

 Anna and I amongst the muscadine vines at our 94-year-old aunt's house.

So if all of the above statements are true:

If Anna has a birthday, their children will become good cousin/friends.

Mama and us four at the Christmas Festival at a local college.

Happy Birthday, Anna Elizabeth! May our precious friendships span generations and may Winsome, Ella, Lake, and Katia someday be best friends just like their mothers!

And I pray that through the work of Christ the relationships will last into eternity and be perfected there.

 Laura