Beth

Today is Beth's birthday!

Beth is our 5th child and 3rd daughter!  And she's an important part of this core family,

this large, extended family,

and this beautiful family!

I wrote about Beth on her birthday last year in this post:  2016.  And in that post are links to all the other posts I've written about her.  There are also lots of pictures that show how she's changed over the years so I'll just include a few more here.  (I'm sure she wishes we would have had newborn photographers like her back then.)

So now I'll just say a little about what's been going on in Beth's life during the past year and what changes have occurred.  First of all, Beth has always been athletic and competitive

and has continued her strength training with Lynette Will-Murphy of Will Power Fitness but this year she's upped her game by adding the Couch to 5K running program to her repertoire!

She's also enjoyed the experience of having two kids in middle school who are both competing in voice and band.

and she has one in first grade

and one in preschool five days a week so for the first time all the kids are going all five days although Clara's are only half days.

Also Beth's business continues to keep her really busy.  She's added some classes and enhanced some of her regular sessions.  I got to watch a family session and loved how she interacted with all the kids.

And she managed to sneak away for two very short visits to Florida - one with the kids where they visited Disneyland,

Universal Studios

and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter,

and Blue Springs State Park where she did not swim with the manatees

but did have dinner at the World's biggest Hard Rock Cafe.

And the second visit to Florida was to her brother's house with her parents for a weekend in July.

But the most important things about Beth this year have nothing to do with her short getaways or where she visited.

The most important things are what she does on a day to day basis. On her own.  Holding it all together.  She runs a successful business.  She's a dedicated and conscientious mother - rarely resorting to fast food or boxed meals.  Beth is a scratch cook and a careful planner of nutritious and delicious meals and snacks.  She gets her kids to their practices and to their competitions and to their games.  She makes sure the demands of schoolwork and extracurricular activities are met for each of the kids.  And she carves out time to exercise and keep herself healthy.   And she doesn't stint when it comes to being a mother.  When time is required or discipline or support - she's always there.

We are incredibly proud of you Beth and we don't know how you do it but we know that you do it ALL!  Happy Birthday to one of the most amazing people we know and who we're lucky enough to call our daughter!  We love you so much!!!