Anna Helen - Yesterday and Today

Yesterday was Anna's 13th birthday!

Anna is an important part of this large family.

And an even more important part of this smaller family.

Anna was our 12th grandchild and 5th granddaughter.

And here is Anna through the years.  These pictures were taken roughly 9 months apart.

So you can see that Anna has been busy growing and maturing in a beautiful way.   I've written about how she's changed in previous posts.  You can check them out by clicking on the year:  2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. So now we're going to concentrate on Anna throughout 2015.

She started Middle School this year and it's been a big change but she loves it!
She's in band where she plays the clarinet and in chorus and she loves both because she loves music.
Along those lines, her family got a piano this year and she enjoys trying to teach herself to play.
She's continuing her swimming lessons; and likes freestyle and the back stoke best.

She still helps a lot with Clara and Eli and loves being their big sister.
And she made the Honor Roll the first grading period this year and the Principal's honor role during the second.
She and her family spent a few days in Louisville last summer with their Aunt Sarah and Uncle Mike which was a lot of fun.
And they spent a week in Union Pier, Michigan at the beach with her dad which was also a lot of fun.
And they spent a week in Gulf Shores, Alabama with her mom's big family over the holidays where she enjoyed spending time with all 37 other family members in the same big house for a week.

She still likes Harper in fact, loves her....sometimes.

She's taller than Noah again after a short period when he passed her up.

And after having always liked reading, she's more interested in it than ever and enjoys it even more.

And finally, right now, she's learning Swedish on an awesome app at home.

I love writing about Anna because she's such a great kid!  She's very smart in school and in everyday life.  She's sweet, thoughtful, loving and a little shy.  She doesn't exactly go on and on about herself but she's agreeable trying to think of things for me to write about.  We love her very much and we couldn't be more proud of her so we're wishing her a very happy birthday and a year that surpasses all others but is only half as great as the many more to come.