Happy 13th Birthday Savannah!!

That's right. We now have 2 teenagers in this house. Savannah is 13 today. She and her dad go out on a date every year on her birthday. She really looks forward to this really special time with her dad, and so does he. I hope that she will measure every guy that she ever dates (and how he treats her) against her father. Last night, for the first time, she wore make-up. I actualy got to be the one to put it on her.

---As an aside, both of my sisters just screamed in terror simultaneously at the thought of me puting make-up on Savannah. No doubt they had immediate flash backs to our youth when I was a make-up zealot, and would hold them down and pack the fashionable 80's style make-up on their faces, and then close my door in disgust when they did not thankfully worship at my feet for their new-found beauty. (sigh)--


Relax girls,this wasn't much, just some Bare Minerals, and some sparlkly clear lip gloss. She looked so beautiful. And she was just beaming. Her dad let her open his present to her before they went. He had gotten her a new jacket that she had been wanting very badly. So she got to wear that out to dinner.

Savannah is an amazing girl. She was born an artist, and her gifts in that area leave us in awe.Seriously. She has such a good heart. She is sensitive to others, and always has her eyes wide open. She doesn't miss much, but she also doesn't see the need to make her own opinion always known. (ahem, must be from her father) She is wise beyond her years, but because she is so quiet, it sometimes catches me off guard. I tend to underestimate her.
She has grown into an amazing young woman. She is smart, beautiful, talented, and courageous. She loves the Lord with all her heart. She has a quiet determination about her that I just DARE you to try and bend. She loves her brothers to death, and would do anything for them.

Savannah is an artist, and she sees the world through her artist's eyes. Black and white are only used for "shading" in her world. She notices every beautiful sunset, the colors of every pretty mountain range,the way that the rain drips off the trees, and every other delicate thing in nature that most of us overlook. This past year, she began to seriously try her hand at writing. She is learning to use WORDS to pour out what she sees in her mind. And she is very good at it. She works hard to make her reader VISUALIZE what SHE is seeing. Truly amazing.

This year music has begun to really SPEAK to her, and her ipod is filled with everything from hard rock, to opera, to christian. Acting has become a serious passion for her. She auditioned and got a leading role in "The Emporer's New Clothes" this year, at the Fine Arts Academy. She is still enjoys her dance classes and has several good friends there. She loves the church that we go to, and has her closest friends there.

Next month she will get braces on her teeth.Which she will handle with grace and determination, as always.

Race and I could not be more proud of our daughter, and the young lady that she has become.
We Love you Savannah Rose. Happy Birthday honey.