Jenna

Today is Jenna's 16th Birthday!

Jenna is our 10th grandchild and 4th granddaughter.

She is a very important part of this very large family,

a very important part of this large but smaller family,

and a very important part of this beautiful family.

I wrote about Jenna on her birthday in 2016 and in that post are links to all her previous posts.

And in those previous posts are many pictures of Jenna and how she's changed 'through the years' so I'll just put a few in here.

So now I'll talk briefly about what a sweet and accomplished girl she is.  But first of all, she became an aunt for the 6th time this year and adores all her nieces and nephews with all her heart.

And this year she was selected by her high school's athletic department to be one of ten students to represent her school in the Conference Student-Athletic Leadership Forum.  The selection was based on work ethic, attitude, and character in competition.

And she was inducted into the National Honor Society.

She was an All-District Pitcher as a Freshman at her high school (This picture is from club softball)

She started playing for a very competitive and prestigious fast pitch softball team and because of that and her performance in high school has started getting noticed by some smaller colleges already.

And she played golf for her school again this year and performed very well.

Jenna has had a busy and successful year but most importantly she is a sweet, loving, and family oriented girl.  She's very close with her best friend cousin, Anna

And all her other cousins as well (here she is performing with her cousin in the family talent show on NYE)

And, of course, she's very close with her brother, Jeremy

She had an idea for a Kids' New Years Eve party which was very successful after she and Anna organized everything themselves.

She's beyond sweet and sensitive, very thoughtful, and always cheerful and positive.  Jenna is a wonderful gift, and loving granddaughter and we're wishing her the happiest of birthdays and a year filled with even more accomplishments and dreams come true.  Happy Birthday, Jenna.  We love you very much and could not be more proud of you!

Anna

Today was Anna's 14th birthday!

Anna is our 12th grandchild and 5th granddaughter.

She is a very important part of this large family

And an even more important part of this smaller family.

I wrote about Anna on her birthday in 2016 and in that post are links to all her previous posts.

And in those previous posts are many pictures of Anna and how she's changed 'through the years' so I'll just put a few in here.

So now I'll just talk briefly about Anna and what a truly wonderful girl she is.  She's a great sister to all her siblings.

And even goes so far as to encourage her nearest brother to join her in the cold, cold pool.

She makes her mother laugh

And she lovingly holds her little sister when she wants to be held.

She's close with her best friend cousin, Jenna.

She has an Instagram account called harpee.doodle where the family dog Harper comments on almost everything including the weater and that even got the attention of Weather Channel personalities and she was invited to Valparaiso University to tour their Meteorology Department.

She's a great swimmer

A stylish diver

is musically inclined and has played the clarinet for several years.

In addition, she's able to pick out tunes on the family piano with no former training and plays the ukulele that she got for Christmas almost daily.

This year she was also accepted into the Trojan Gold Choir - a prestigious ensemble comprised of only the very best singers!

Anna has many accomplishments but more importantly Anna is a sweet, wholesome, loving girl.

She has made many friends in middle school and I'm sure her fun, quirky sense of humor has a lot to do with that.

This year she has started baby sitting for short periods of time while her mother has nearby photo sessions and she regularly helps around the house.

 So we are wishing this beautiful, loving, gifted girl the happiest birthday ever and a year that surpasses all others!  Happy Birthday, Anna !  We love you and could not be more proud of you!