Happy 18th Birthday Sunshine!!!!

Well, it's here.  My little girl is officially 18.  I believe that to some that might imply being grown up and may also involve maturity.  Well, not so sure where she stacks up on those things, but I do know she enjoys a good time!  And based on her birthday celebration Skype call that I hear going on right now between her and her College Plus friends, I would say she is certainly fulfilling her calling for having fun!

For her birthday weekend, Sunshine arranged a great weekend celebration with all of us together, which included taking the whole fam to the "Muppet Movie" (fantastic movie, BTW), going to Wendy's for lunch today as a family, having the entire Beaver family over for the afternoon, and a (most likely late night) Skype call with her College Plus peeps.  She has had an amazing weekend, and it hasn't just been fun for her, it's been fun for the whole family to celebrate!  It really was cool that the main thing that she wanted to include in her birthday celebration was to celebrate with her family, all of us being together.  Not too many 18 year-olds want to celebrate such a milestone with her family!  We're thankful that God has placed a desire within all of our kids to enjoy being together.

Our little girl was born 18 years ago in Augusta, Georgia.  She was 7 weeks premature and was born at just under 5 lbs.  She ended up staying in the NICU for 12 days.  It was strange when Heather came home from the hospital and we had to leave our newborn behind.  Fortunately we didn't know any better since she was our first.  Based on who she is today, I'm guessing Sunshine thought it would be way more fun to hang out in the NICU with the other babies!  I'm sure it was one LOUD room!

I'm thankful for our Sunshine.  As her blog title states, she brings "Bursts of Sunshine" wherever she goes (and BTW "Bursts" can often be translated as "drama" too - we'll see if she reads this or not!!).  There's usually not a dull moment as she is usually capable (along with her brother Rye Bread) of bringing an entire school day to a screeching halt with endless lines from movies and Tim Hawkins.  But in the midst of all the excitement (again, read drama), there is a heart for God that desires to honor Him and serve Him.  As parents, we are blessed.  And we know that where she is today is completely by His grace and by His doing.  He is the one who has made her who she is - not our parenting, and not our genes.  I'm thankful that it rests on His goodness and His wisdom rather than our own!

We hope you have had a great birthday Sunshine and we hope you know that your birthday celebration (again, read drama) does not extend into the next week!  We love you very much!

I thought I'd post some more of her senior pictures (taken by the great Mrs. Beaver).  Enjoy!