Happy 17th, Angela!

 I love commemorating birthdays. Remembering the way my children have grown and developed over the course of a year. I told them I'd stop the photo shoots after their 18th birthdays, but I'm so glad I have their years marked here.

That means that, for this precious daughter of mine, I have one more year!


To say this has been a crazy year would definitely be an understatement. Much of what this amazing young lady loves has been shut down by the pandemic. Choir, PraiseWorks -- even taking the ACT! 


And yes, the delay in taking the ACT was a huge disappointment for her. Ever since she took it with Olivia when she was in 8th grade (and Olivia was in 11th), she's been looking forward to taking it when it counted. We told her that would be April of her sophomore year. If we'd said February, she would have been fine. But April? No such luck! July ended up being the winner, though, and she actually came out of the test energized and bouncy! Yes, that's our beautiful nerd for you!


She still loves sewing challenges. She continues to create a line of beautiful doll dresses, and her current passion is researching historical period fashions so she can replicate them as accurately as possible in her custom doll dresses. 


She's also enjoyed experimenting with various mask patterns, including outfitting her sister with plenty of masks for the fall semester! Oh, and making sure she has masks that match her favorite dresses. As you can probably imagine, she has a pink one with black straps to match this pink dress!


And anyone who knows her well knows that she always has yarn with her, everywhere she goes. Sometimes it's knitting, sometimes it's crocheting, but she's always got something new going. 

And a book. Always a book -- or her Kindle.


The passion that has been hardest to maintain on her own is her music. Although she's working on guitar and piano, her real passion is vocal music. With Arkansas Youth Chorale suspended indefinitely and no PraiseWorks this year, her choir opportunities have disappeared. 

But, every Sunday, she stands in the back at church and sings her heart out! And she's had the opportunity to practice some worship leadership skills on Sunday nights as our church continues to do online only for evening services.


She also has decided that she'd love to explore musical theater at some point, so we're praying for the schedule to work out and doors to open for that once everything starts getting back to "normal."


Meanwhile, she's starting to explore photography as well and has taken some gorgeous pictures! I'm excited to see how she develops that talent. 


I can't describe what a joy it is to be the mother of this young lady. She's brilliant and witty and creative and fun. I love watching her grow and learn, and I love that she's finding ways to pursue her passions even when everything doesn't easily fall into place. 


So proud of you, sweetheart! Happy birthday!


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