Lauren turns 10!

Pardon me while I indulge my motherly love and show off my daughter a bit! I can't believe that she has hit the double digit milestone so quickly! I pulled together a few of my favorite memories of her to share.....if you have it, you should listen to "Slipping through my fingers" from "Mamma Mia" while you read this....it's cathartic. I wanted to put these in some sort of chronological order, but that requires a lot of time in Blogger, and it's getting late, so you'll have to mentally organize her by age!





The first time I saw Lauren she was taking the world by storm and letting everyone know what she wanted - and nothing has changed! She was a wonderful baby, always quick to smile and loved attention from her family - especially her brother!

This is her first birthday photo page from our album.













This is birthday # 2 - a ladybug party.






















Some favorite photos from the lake house before mom and dad moved to St. Louis. The kids really miss that house! Especially the water. Lauren was too young to do many of the activities it offered, but we got a lot of snuggle time in on their porch swing!






























This is Lauren trying her hand at "mutton busting" in the Laramie rodeo on our trip to Wyoming. She won a $2 bill and stayed on longer than any of the locals! That's my girl - never afraid to try anything!












Favorite early winter scenes....Jason frolicking in the background!









The question bears repeating....but still it makes me smile.





I miss these days....sibling squabbles rule at our house now.























One of my favorite pictures of Lauren with her daddy at Oma's house in front of my favorite flower - blue hydrangea!

And a lovely, but way too mature looking Lauren at age 5 in her first and so far, only dance recital!












Some more favorite photos - Lauren in front of the badlands topography....


















and a lovely view of the Grand Tetons from our lodge in 2006.








Let's just hope that I'm not heading into teen years where this outfit becomes more than a Halloween costume!















I prefer the angelic look here at her first communion!
















Here she is recently wearing.....does anyone recognize it?.....a bridesmaid dress from my wedding that's been refashioned into a 1904 dress for the St. Louis Exposition and World's Fair recreation that her school does in 4th grade each year.
I drew the stage decoration...it's supposed to be the Grand Festival Hall.












Well, that's a quick look at some of my favorite highlights of the past decade.....


























So here is the birthday girl from our party this evening! She got a Nintendo DSi, a hand me down nano from me (who upgraded), a trip to Equestrian camp from grandma and grandpa coming up in 2 weeks, and next week is her pool / slumber party while Jason is at Boy Scout camp! Not bad for a decades worth of growing!