Happy Birthday, Alyssa!

19 years ago, she arrived. A week late, but in a hurry to get here. I couldn't wait to dress her in bows and ruffles and ribbons and lace.

Now, in a few short weeks, she will be off to college, and on her own. And I'm going to miss this girl. I'm trying not to think about it, though, because I will start crying.

On her birthday, (8 days ago! I'm caught up on this blog!!) I managed to get her to pose for some photos I wanted to take. I'll try to convince you that I was going for that retro-industrial look. You must try to ignore that we took these pictures in the back parking lot at Welenco. And, ..... ADVANCE WARNING.... there are a lot of photos here. But I couldn't help myself. Because I really love the personalities coming out here. It's awesome!!

So with minimal commentary [hopefully] .... here are the pictures taken on Alyssa's 19th birthday. This is our daughter, Gorgeous:

 

(I think that last one is my favorite)

 

(don't you just love "attitude"?)

 

 

So the story behind the photos is that Darcie was just over my shoulder, posing and making faces at Alyssa.

 

 

And you should know something about these two.

They are each other's best friends.

It's one of the qualities about them that I love so much. It would be so easy for sisters that are so close in age (22 months apart) to be at each others' throats, but that is not the case here. I love that they have such a close bond, and I must figure out how to keep them close once Alyssa is moved away. Thank goodness for Skype and Snapchat. Really.

 

So.... the photo story isn't just about Alyssa.....

 

 

 

Emma was there, too, but after just a few pictures, she was ready to go throw rocks in the puddles. Glad I got her in here enough pictures to count for something. Because right after this, things started to get silly....

 

 

 

 

 

(that last one is another favorite of mine)

 

 

 

 

 

(That was their impression of Lewis and Clark!)

 

 

 

And then, ..........

 

the photobombings started.

 

 

... and then, she got Emma in on the act. You can kinda tell that Emma wasn't quite "in" on the joke.

 

 

(That was the high-5 from their softball pitcher-catcher routine all last season. I actually caught the whole routine on camera, complete with Emma running through the foreground, but it would have been WAY too many to include here.)

 

Yep, we love our Darcie, too.

 

After pictures, the girls went off to a movie together, and that evening was Alyssa's birthday party with the family.

 

 

(Emma was trying to do "heavy, heavy hangover", and Alyssa was bending down to help her out as much as possible.)

 

 

Thanks for making it to the end of this VERY long post. I hope it gave you a glimpse into

our girls' personalities and the reality of what we live with around this house EVERY DAY.

 

A very big Happy Birthday to our Alyssa. She is so amazing and she will leave a hole behind when she moves on to the exciting college life in January. We are so proud of her and the wisdom she shows beyond her years.

 

And though we're in NO HURRY for her to find a nice young man to marry, {are you listening, Alyssa??? NO HURRY!!!!!!!}, I hope when she does find him, that he will realize what a treasure she is. Awesomeness comes 6 feet tall and gorgeous.

 

love you, Sys!!

 

--Mom & Dad