Our Adorable Bookworm!!!
Words can’t begin to express the emotion that has been welling up in our hearts these past few weeks! After having the amazing privilege of going to Costa Rica on a Mission trip at the end of April, we came home to jump right back into a whirlwind of events leading up to a season of lasts and firsts with our oldest! It goes without saying though that the joy in this season certainly outweighs any sadness. It’s only the nostalgic sadness of realizing we are coming to the end of one season in our firstborn daughter’s life and we will never be that way again. But such sweetness in seeing the beautiful young lady she has become and the joy she has brought us and many others. We just watch her and are truly amazed at how beautiful she is (inside and out) and blown away by her strength and light! We are so thankful that she knows the Lord and desires to please Him. We can’t wait to see where the Lord leads and guides her in the future, but for now, we will just breathe in each precious moment and thank the Lord for his abundant love and goodness in our lives. And share some of her loveliness with all of you! Allen & Hope had such a fun time doing photos together. We love doing Senior Sessions because we get to capture the essence of that Senior and let their individual personalities shine! It’s so much fun!
That’s not all tho! Keep reading and scrolling for more fun!
The Tallahassee Homeschool Community puts on this beautiful English-Country dance each year to celebrate the end of the year and also to recognize and celebrate the local homeschool Seniors. It is such a delight! If you have never had the opportunity to attend an English-Country dance, you are missing out. :-) It truly is such a sweet thing! There is a “caller” for the dances (who shares the name of the dance then describes how to do it). The gentlemen present ask the ladies to dance and everyone lines up. Then the dance proceeds and almost all of them involve switching partners quite a few times. It is very sweet because it involves the entire group participating together! It is very non-exclusive and that is probably one of my favorite things about it. It’s also a very un-intimidating environment because the guys are encouraged to ask the girls to dance (only as friends) as a courtesy. It’s a bit of a training-up for some of the younger gentlemen as they are taught how to politely ask a young lady to dance so that none of the young ladies are left standing alone (holding up the wall…Eek!). It really is such a sweet environment. We have attended it for several years and always enjoy it tremendously.
This year was something special tho!!! Because our daughter is a Senior and had the privilege of participating in the Senior Recognition portion, where the Seniors line up and their parents speak a blessing over them or share some sweet words about them. It’s a beautiful part of the evening. Then all the Seniors and their families and friends go outside and release lanterns into the sky - that is symbolic of ending this season of High School and beginning new ones. There’s something special that happens in hearts as those lanterns float up to the sky. The beautiful realization that our little tiny 6 pound, 5 ounce baby we brought home from the hospital 18 years ago (the same one that we felt totally inadequate and unprepared to be in charge of and raise) is now a lovely young lady beginning a brand new season of life… and that she belongs to the Lord is the sweetest part of it all!! Allen said it well, when it was his turn to speak a blessing over her, that after we miscarried in 1999, and then God placed her in my womb, we knew we had to name her Hope, because she had brought us so much hope and it’s been amazing to watch her bring hope to many others throughout her life as well (Not a clue how that incredible man of man got through that speech without tears tho! He’s a keeper, I tell ya!).
So without further adieu, we present to you our firstborn, our oldest daughter, our pride and joy,
Our Senior….Hope Elisabeth Adams (and her family and friends)
GO LIGHT THIS WORLD, BABY GIRL!!! WE ARE SO VERY PROUD OF YOU!
-MOM & DAD-