Birthday Girl!

There was once a little blonde girl with big brown eyes and a very stubborn personality.  She was a handful.  She was a mommy's girl as a baby and then her own person as she grew.  She wore a stoic, expressionless face when she was being punished and was loving and happy when things were going her way.  She loved her big brother and they were best buddies growing up in Guatemala.  They played in the yard with their German Shepherd named Kazan and their kitties named Ricky and Smoky.  The little blonde had Chapina friends and they all played in the street jabbering Spanish.  Her friends loved to play with her hair as it was so different from their own jet-black hair.  Up until age 9, this little girl saw much poverty first-hand but loved her friends and adapted to them and their ways.

 At the age of  9, she moved back with her family to the United States and had to adjust to the American culture and schools and new friends and family close by.  She did! She excelled in school, learned piano, played soccer during her middle school and high school years and ran cross-country during her freshman year in high school.  She was a dedicated Christian student during those years, attending camps, mission trips, and church activities.  She graduated with honors from high school in the top five percent of her class and attended University of Georgia her freshman year.  Then BRAD interrupted and she transferred back home where she got engaged, got married, and completed college in 3 years total.  Right after graduation she got pregnant with a sweet baby girl who was born March of last year.  Now a little boy is on the way.  That little stubborn strong-willed girl knew exactly what she wanted and she got it.

I'm proud of that woman who is my daughter.  She loves her husband and children and her parents and grandparents and brother and most importantly, Jesus, and has a very rich life for which I'm so thankful to the Lord.  Happy 24th Birthday, Erin!  You've made life JOYFUL for your parents.

Love,
Mom