When Anna Turned 14

Anna turned 14 this month!  Truth-be-told, she's felt all of 14 for a year already.  She is a smart, intuitive, gifted, mature girl and she makes us so, so proud.  Happy Birthday you, Anna Brown!

Gifts included a new hand-held shower head, journaling pens, fun new Sharpie markers, a pre-order of a book in a series that she loves, a mini-torch, new bedsheets, a lettering book, and a bracelet maker doohicky.  She also got to take a kayaking trip to mark the occasion.  Pics further down! From FL grandparents she got some moolah and the AL grandparents sent $14 for the occasion.  At a visit shortly after, they completed some wishlist items for her - a slingshot, a goretex raincoat, cookie dough, and some cool fidget rings.

What makes Anna an awesome birthday girl is that she makes her own birthday cakes.  HA!  This year, it was pumpkin cake ... using pumpkins from our own garden.

At youth, she wore the traditional Birthday Beard and Noah led the birthday song serenade.

 Kayaking with her friend, Lainey.  They went 9 miles down the Caney Fork.  She said this outing was her favorite birthday activity yet.  So enjoyable!

What a year this girl just finished: enduring three different surgeries, acing her first high school courses as a middle schooler and now as a freshman holding her own, suffering multiple pet deaths and another round of family drama courtesy of her brother that has taken a toll on her heart, scooting all over town without parents thanks to that same new driving brother, starting babysitting, growing in her art skills and poetry writing, getting into trying animation, designing our Sweet Rock Flock logo, joining up in a high school bible study, and taking a trip out of state for church camp.  She's still as passionate about her pets as ever and she's really branching out style-wise in terms of hair and clothes and her bedroom.  She's killing it in school GPA-wise and there's hardly a week that goes by that some youth worker or the youth pastor himself doesn't stop me to tell me how much they think of that Annagirl.  She knows her own mind and she is comfortable enough there to stick with it and the still small voice of the Lord rather than follow the crowd.  May she always live with such freeing conviction.  She's become quite the little social butterfly of late, hanging out with so many different girlfriends on any given day.  Her closest friend is Addie, but her other faves include Lainey, Lacey, Josie, Mallory, Ava, Kate, another Kate, Lexi and her sister, Addi.  We thank the Lord for the gift of these dear friendships in her life.  For her birthday, would you pray that she would continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord in this and coming years of teenage life?  Thank you so much!  

Anna, my love, you are a light.  You delight.  You are just right.  I like you so much and I love you to pieces.  You are the neatest little spirit!  Getting to walk beside you all these years is pure joy and I humbly thank the Lord for this gift.  Keep on doing you, Baby Girl!  Proud of you.  Happy Birthday again!

Love, Mom