I now have a 15 year old!

Lauren turned 15!!

Yesterday, February 27th was her date of birth, born in 1996.

Tonight she starts driver's training!

Oh my goodness, how did this happen???!!!

It was just yesterday when she was wearing her princess crown and gold glittered shoes.

At age 4 she begged and begged to play the violin. We finally gave in to her plead at age 6 and she has been very passionate about the violin since then. A couple weeks ago, she was chosen to play the first violin part in our state's mid level orchestra. She was one of 32 violinist out of 800 who auditioned chosen for this special honor.

She has always been a special big sister to her younger siblings. They look up to her and admire her.

She loves family time together.

Lauren and Olivia preparing family devotions:



A heated game of pictionary with the girls against Steve and I:

Lauren giving Samson swimming lessons:

 Lauren also likes to spend time with her friends. In fact, she shares so much in common with her best friend since Kindergarten that the local newspaper did a write up about the two girls:

The coolest thing they have in common is that they share the same birthday.

Not only that but they were born at the same hospital 1/2 hour apart from each other. Big deal right?

Well, what if I told you that they were born in a hospital 2 1/2 hours from where we live now and each of our families moved to our current community 5 years apart from each other.

We moved here first and enrolled Lauren in preschool at a small private school in town. The next year, her best friend's family moved to town and the girls started Kindergarten together at the same small private school.

As the years went by, we discovered that prior to moving, our families lived within 1 mile of each other.

And the coincidences don't stop there...

We drove the exact same van, same model, same color.

We had the exact same camera.

The girls went through 6th grade together at this school and finished #1 and #2 in the class.

and the list goes on...

Today, as freshman's in high school, they still consider each other to be their best friend.

This school year Lauren participated in Tennis and was on the Nordic Ski team:

The girl's ski team earned gold honors for academics this year. Together, they averaged a 3.96 grade point gpa! Isn't that unbelievable???!! Simply amazing!!

We are so proud of you Lauren, all that you have accomplished and the beautiful young woman you have become.

Continue using your gifts to bring glory to Him. Let His light shine through you. Look for opportunities to further His Kingdom. Take the high road in life and strive to be the unique person God has made you to be.

You are dearly loved by your family.

But don't forget that God loves you even more!!