Anna's 15th

Today is Anna's 15th birthday!

Anna was our 12th grandchild and 5th granddaughter.

She is an important part of this large family

and, of course, an important part of this wonderful family!

I wrote about Anna on her birthday last year in this post

and following the link in that post will take you back to previous posts that will tell a lot about Anna's past.  So I'll just post a few pictures here showing how she's changed 'through the years'.

and talk about what's been going on in her life during the previous year.  First of all, in January she and Noah went to an ISSMA competition and Anna got a gold with her band ensemble.

 Both Anna and Noah are gifted singers and were in the Trojan Gold Choir last year.  But this year in order to be in Band and Pep Band and play at all the basketball games (which she loved), Anna had to drop choir.  The good news is that she plans to take it again next year!  And, of course they brought down the house in their duet during the Hibner family talent show in Gulf Shores this year.

Also, Anna has continued her very amusing Instagram account featuring pictures of Harper with funny captions which she started 2 years ago.  Harper should know that Anna is always watching

and trying to teach her smart new tricks.  To see what it's all about, follow @harpee.doodle on Instagram.

Another big change for Anna this year is that she started high school and really loves it.  She's doing well academically and and is looking forward to being a Sophomore next year.

During the summer, Anna was lucky enough to vacation in Florida for a few days and in California where she enjoyed sailing with her family.

And of course there was the trip to Gulf Shores over the holidays.

 where she enjoyed spending some good times with her best friend/cousin, Jenna.

Other activities that have kept Anna busy this past year include teaching herself to play the piano, the keyboard, and the ukulele which she got for Christmas in 2016.  She finds self teaching a lot of fun but hard at times.

Anna still aspires to be a meteorologist some day which explains the interesting cloud photos she sent me when I asked for pictures from her California vacation.

So that tells you a lot about what Anna's been doing and what her interests are but there's a lot more I want to say about her.  First of all, she's quirky

fun,

and secretly might still wish she were a lap baby.

She's also smart, sweet, loving, kind, and helpful.

And although she was very excited to get these pens for her birthday because she's artistic and creative, nothing excited her more than the atlas she opened but which I did not capture a picture of.

And we didn't talk about it but I know she's very excited to welcome her baby sister in just a few short weeks.  So Happy Birthday, Sweet Anna!  We're hoping it's amazing but not as amazing as the many more to come!  We love you very much and could not be more proud of you!