Happy Birthday, Mandy!

I can’t believe that my baby girl has turned 30!  It seems impossible; however, Mandy’s knack has always been making the impossible…well, possible.   She even managed to be born on Thanksgiving Day – a special blessing, indeed!

Here I am, ready to leave for the hospital:

She was a big bundle of joy – 9 pounds, 11 ounces and only 19-1/2 inches long!  (I still don't know why they had her dressed in blue.)

She didn’t sleep a whole lot when she was little (so much to do and see, you know), but she was just the most beautiful thing I had ever seen:

It was just the two of us for a while (with Dee Dee right beside us, of course)…

…She was just a few weeks away from turning three when Robert became “Daddy”.

She became a big sister to Alan…

…And continued growing, and doing well in school and just everything that she tried.

There were holidays and parties of all kinds through the years -- she loved dressing up at Halloween!

She did some dancing and singing in the Texas Children’s Choir and Broadway Troop…they even performed at Sea World and at a big military Christmas shindig at Fort Hood:

She grew into a lovely young woman…

…Who graduated high school with honors…

…And graduated from college with honors, too!

And now my baby has a family of her own!

I am so very proud of my daughter and of the woman she has become.  I feel honored to have had the privilege of being with her through the years.  Happy birthday, Mandy!  We all love you!