SIXTEEN!

Rebekah turned SIXTEEN yesterday!  Remember my list of markers that show how life is passing ever determinedly and rapidly....despite not really feeling my age?  Things like grey hair and wrinkles, a 20 year high school reunion and a husband turning the big four-oh?  Having a daughter turn 16 is right up there at the top of the list.  Thank you, Rebekah, for the shocking reminder that I really am 38 years old.

I don't cry when my kids go to primary for the first time at 3-years old.  I don't cry at preschool graduations.  I don't cry when at 5-years old they go off to Kindergarten.  I DO, apparently, cry when they turn 12 and go into the Young Women program at church.  And apparently I DO get a little emotional when they turn 16.  Heaven help me when Brennan comes to pick up Rebekah for a date tomorrow night...I'm pretty sure that if I cry as they walk out the door it might be humiliating, for both mother AND daughter.

To celebrate this momentous milestone birthday...well, we thought it would be appropriate for Rebekah to go on her first date.  With her father.  Maybe the sentiment wrapped around a father being his daughter's first date is only something I appreciate...still, Rebekah and Bryan had a good time.  Dinner and then "The Avengers" movie made for a great evening.

But the biggest part of Rebekah's 16th birthday observance will actually be a month from now.  Bryan and I decided to start a new tradition...that of taking all of our kids on a trip for their 16th birthday.  Oh, nothing too exotic, but something that would give us the chance to have some one-on-one bonding time with our teenager right before they head off into the land of dating and jobs and even more general teenage busyness.  When asked for guidance in selecting a spot, Rebekah's main criteria had to do with sitting on a beach.  So we booked a resort hotel at Mission Beach in San Diego for 4 days.  I have to admit, I think I'm just as excited as she is!  Doesn't it look amazing?