She's 16!

Bella has turned 16!  She's gotten all 50 hours of driving time and will be taking her driver's road test next week.  So many milestones!

We love Bella so much. She's hard working, organized, kind, creative, thoughtful, intelligent, talented, and beautiful.  She's all around amazing.  She's so close to getting her eagle scout award, she's gotten straight As in high school so far, she's in multiple different bands at school, and she's in her class presidency at church.  She's got a lot going on and still she balances it all and has a great group of friends.  It's so fun to see her grow.  She and I hold tight as the only girls in the family and she reminds me all the time that she's my favorite daughter.  

For her birthday, she wanted the giant stuffed bear from Ikea and several much more expensive items.  I figured we could at least get the bear and see where we go from there. :)  He's become a permanent companion ever since. 

Bella always needs service hours for scouts and I'm always happy to go along.  This month we've worked on a community garden in Detroit...

...and cleaned up a local park in our own neighborhood.  Everything is more fun when Bella is around.

And in honor of 50 hours of driving achieved, she drove us to Royal Oak and we ate chicken wings and fries.  No one loves their breaded chicken more than Bella.  As someone who has no appreciation for food, I love to watch her enjoy it.