For you Thing 1, on your 21st Birthday.

My Sunshine Girl, here we are at your 21^st birthday.   Wow.  As per tradition this is your birthday letter.  To remember, to celebrate, to pause and let me tell of all the past year held for you.  Most years are filled with change and transition and new.  This year was no different.  You continued your journey as a student at Nashville State, completing your first year.  During the summer the Weidman boys and the Horel girls were under your nanny watch.  It made for an interesting schedule for certain.  It was then you made the decision to move cross-country to Seattle and thus began the planning, the goodbyes, the scheduling, road trip planning, etc.  The decision was not an easy one.  Our family was in the preparation stages for an international move and you had several choices for the next year.  Ultimately Seattle won out and I had the privilege of accompanying you on an epic road trip.  OK, maybe a bit monotonous and quite long but we definitely made some memories and had some fun along the way.  I’d say that was a defining moment last year for sure.  The adventures have continued as you've hiked around WA, signed on with a nanny service in Seattle, been in your first collision as a driver, (yikes and thank God you weathered that without injury), you've road tripped to Portland, spotted a whale in the wild, participated in the Women's March and dug into some soul searching and faith finding.  Not to mention the countless life lessons you've navigated as you've found your voice, shared yourself with the world.  What a gift it is to see your boldness and intentionality in all you do.  You are and always will be my sunshine girl.  That was the first song I ever sang to you, “You are my sunshine”, and you being my firstborn brought the brightest light into my life.  So, here on your 21^st birthday I say here’s to you.  Here’s to another year of adventure, change and new living situations.  A year marked with maturity, wonder and boldness.  A year where you feel love so deep and true that you might just think it’s straight from heaven.  A year of friendships and community.  A year for taking risks and learning new things, for grabbing hold of those God sized dreams and running towards them.  A year of twenty one.  Or one and twenty as the Austrians would say.  I say a year waiting for you to behold.  With new eyes and a fresh perspective.   I pray all this and abundantly more for you.  I love you and am grateful to be your Mama, it is my purpose.  Shine bright in this year of twenty one, may it be the best yet.  With so much love, Mama. 

I just love this photo that captured, you, beautiful you!