Today, our precious Leslie Anne turns 12 years old. I have had an emotional few weeks as I have prepared for Lauren’s graduation, Mother’s Day, and now Leslie’s birthday. I am trying to keep this quote by Dr. Suess in mind as I have culled through photographs and reflected on the past: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” And I certainly am glad that these twelve years with Leslie have happened.

Leslie is my organizer – often my left-hand girl (I’m left-handed). She is detail oriented and has definite ideas of how her school or chores should be done. I can count on her to do a good job at any job.

Here are twelve photos of life with my sweet Leslie Anne:

Only One

Terrific Two

Thrilling Three

Fabulous Four

Fantastic Five

Sweet Six

Stupendous Seven

Enjoyable Eight

Notable Nine

Tremendous Ten

Elegant Eleven

Almost Twelve! Here she shows off her organization skills: my grocery cart has never been so perfectly arranged.

Leslie loves NCIS (as you can see in the last photo). She is quiet, strong, and sweet. She jokes that she is the “special middle child”, meaning her place is the most important because she is in the middle. She may be joking, but I am not when I say that without her, our family would not be complete. I don’t know what I would do without her spunk and spirit to add zest to my days. She is artistic, athletic, a great singer, and she has an awesome sense of humor.

These twelve years seemed to go by at light speed, but instead of mourning that they are over, I’ll just thank God that I got to live them.

I love you, Leslie! I hope you have a wonderful day and an exciting year!