Mia's 16th Birthday!

Happy 16th Birthday to Mia! It's hard to believe this precious girl is 16!

Mia's birthday fell the Monday after her Addams Family performances, so we had a lowkey evening. She was happy with her oreo ice cream cake though; those are always good! 

Ryan took her the following Saturday to the DMV where she scored a 100 on her driving test. Way to go!

Earlier this summer, Ryan and I were talking about how we wanted to take the girls to New York City at Christmastime. We then began to think about the fact that Mia loves all things related to musical theater. It just so happens that two of her favorite actors, Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada, are the current leads in The Great Gatsby on Broadway. It came together perfectly. We were able to get front row seats for the show in early December! We surprised Mia by giving her a copy of The Great Gatsby book which seemed a little odd for a birthday present, and she was a little confused by. We told her to flip to page 16, and that's where she found a souvenir ticket giving the details. This was a fantastic gift!

I always like to ask for favorites around a birthday, so here's Mia's:

Color - Red

Movie - The Fall Guy

TV Show - Only Murders in the Building

Books - Ember in the Ashes (both the standalone book and the series)

Drink - Coke

Food - Dad's Wagyu NY Strip Steak

Friend - Lily

Bible Verse - Psalm 71

School Subject - Chemistry

Activity - Listen to music or sleep

Place to Go - Home

Game to Play - 20 Second Showdown

Restaurant - Willy's

Animal - Tiger

Memory from the last year - Our day at Disneyland Paris

Most Thankful For - Lily

Goal for the year - No specific one

The four of us had a good time celebrating Mia a few days later with a couple of rounds at Puttshack. That place is so cool!

I had a lot of fun gathering these pictures to post on social media of Mia over the years. There are quite a few good memories with these pictures!

We are so thankful for Mia. She is tenderhearted, incredibly bright, and a lot of fun. She works hard, whether that's at school or for one of her roles in a production. Sixteen years with her have gone by in a flash. We are so proud of the young woman she's becoming, and we can't wait to see what the upcoming years hold for her.

Annual Family Pictures

 I always enjoy our annual family pictures with Allison Mauer. We tried a new location this year: Green Meadows Preserve in Kennesaw. It was a great choice, and Allison did a fantastic job again. Here are some of my favorites.

I'm so thankful for this family of mine!

A Beautiful October

 October is such a beautiful month! Here are a few pictures of some of the fun we've had.

The cooler weather always leads to the prettiest sunrises and sunsets.

Lily's volleyball season came to an end in the semi-finals. They had a great season!

Just a fun picture of Lily and me.

Mom and Dad went on a Hudson River cruise, and one of their stops was in Annapolis. I loved this picture of them.

Our cousin Russ married Lacey one beautiful Saturday, so everyone was in town. Wayne invited all of us to have lunch together at Marietta Country Club on Sunday after church. It was a wonderful time together.

Mia had some fun this month. She was excited to go see Conan Grey in concert with Paige Pennington and Leah Colvin. They had a lot of fun together. The upper school also had their fun run one Friday afternoon, and Mia got to wear one of the big inflatable suits; Mrs. Martin was happy to take a picture with her!

The four of us went to Birmingham on a Thursday afternoon, so both girls could have an official visit on Friday. Lily spent the night with our cousin Francie on Thursday night, and I think she had a great time staying in her dorm room and hanging out with her.

She spent Friday night staying with Lucy Elrod, and I know that was fun too. We all four had lunch with our friend, Eliza Smith. It was great to catch up with her, hear about her Samford experience, and get a look at her dorm room too.

It was fun to see both girls being welcomed!

We had such a great time at the Falcons v Bucs game with Jeff and Elizabeth Smith. It's been awhile since we've gone to a game together; it reminded us how much fun we have together!

Matt Ryan was inducted into the Falcons' Ring of Honor during halftime. It was great to see him again and hear his acceptance speech. He was a wonderful quarterback for many years, and he poured a lot into the Falcons' community.

The Falcons won in overtime! It was so exciting!

I loved doing The Bible Recap's daily reading plan this year. Almost every morning Decker and I sit in the living room, and he snacks on a greenie while I read. It's become a calming little morning routine for me.

These two happened to wear the same shirt one day; they're so much alike.

Mia enjoyed going to the Marietta Market with her class one day for lunch. Amazingly enough, they were actually able to snag a whole table so they could sit together.

We were glad that Avery Hobson could join us at The Lion King at The Fox one evening. This show is always impressive to see.

A little bit of Halloween fun:

Ryan grilled up some yummy cheeseburgers after I had fun making little jack o'lantern faces on them. The seniors put together a trunk or treat at school. Lily made an awesome Scooby Do trunk which handed out Scooby snack packs. Pretty sure she won best trunk or most visited trunk (well, if there'd been a competition anyways).

It's been a lovely month.

Happy 18th Birthday Lily!

It's hard to believe there are 18 years between these pictures.

It's difficult to even put this celebratory post together. My mind is swarming with floods of memories from the past eighteen years and exciting dreams of the days still to come all while there's a big lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. I am so incredibly proud of Lily and the woman she is turning in to. Trustworthy, confident, beautiful, just, fun, diligent, witty, loyal, social, discerning, intelligent, hard-working. I simply can't find all the right words to articulate my thoughts and fully describe the incredible person that Lily is.

M.M. Coder said: She looks like you. She acts like you. She reminds you of your younger self yet she is so unique. She is smarter than you were. She is stronger than you were. She is all the best parts of you and so very much more. And still more. She is herself. She is beautiful. She is your baby all grown up. She is an amazing you woman, and she is a gift. 

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Ryan and I treated Lily to dinner at Marcel's on her birthday. It was a wonderful meal, and I'm thankful for this time together. I asked my list of favorites while we were there. It's fun to see how "favorites" change (or don't) over time. Here is a list of some of 18-year-old Lily's favorite items:

- Color: Pink

- Movie: Legally Blonde

- TV Show: Only Murders in the Building

- Book: Powerless

- Drink: Dr. Pepper

- Food: Chicken Biscuit

- Friend: Avery Hobson

- Bible Verse: 1 Timothy 4:12

- School Subject: Honestly, free period, but true subjects - Literature

- Activity: Mock Trial

- Place to Go: Friends' Houses

- Game to Play: Wavelength

- Restaurant: Cava

- Animal: Otter

- Memory from the last year: Being a SALT at Camp Crestridge in July

- Most Thankful For: My friends

- Goal this year: Finish high school strong

As much as I love my sweet girl and wish I could hold on to her forever, I truly cannot wait to watch Lily take her next steps. There are many wonderful days ahead for her!