July 26th, 2007! That was my youngest daughter Hannah's 14th birthday and it was one of my favorite Hannah birthday celebrations! When kids are young they have big expectations for their birthdays. There is a lot of fun that goes along with that and we have many great birthday memories but now that our kids are older, big birthday parties are no longer an expectation. Yesterday was one of those low key birthdays. First of all, yesterday was a Thursday so Dan and Jordan were off to work. Second, Bethany was away at softball camp for the week so that left Hannah and I home alone. Bethany was able to be home Wednesday evening for a few hours so we were all there to open a few gifts. We have all been burning the candle at both ends so I was glad when Hannah said that she planned on sleeping in on Thursday morning! I decided that if she was sleeping in that I was going to shoot for 8:30 myself. But around 8:10 the phone rang and it was "Jack In The Morning" letting us know that Hannah was the winner of the birthday boquet on 89.1 "The Spirit." We knew she wanted to sleep in but Dan and I just had to go say happy birthday from Jack. She smiled and went back to sleep. A few hours later she appeared and was ready to boogie. She had told me several times in the last two years that she was going to get her permit the day she turned 14. That's what they all say..right? Well, she wasn't kidding. First thing she did was to hand me the book she was studying in and had me ask her several questions. After that we grabbed the necessary items, birthcertificate and social security card, and were on our way to take that test. She informed me that if she passed she would be glad to drive me around on any erronds that I needed to do. "Ya right," I thought. Her dad and I have let her drive a few times in a church parking lot. I'm just sure I am going to let her start out on Collins Road. I wouldn't be surprised if that is the road in our city that has the most accidents. Well, she did pass and she did talk me into letting her drive. We started out in a parking lot. After several laps, a few attempts at parking between some yellow lines and some right and left turns we headed for some quite side streets. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. She was doing really well. A little closer then I like to be to the right curb but I was pretty calm for me. So after doing that for a while we decided to try 42nd street. 42nd is some 25mph and some 35 mph and is 4 lanes( 2 east and 2 west). We traveled about 3 miles on that road and drove around some residential streets off of 42nd as well. Hannah was beginning to feel quite confident and I could not believe that I had lasted this long on a first "non parking lot drive." I was actually enjoying myself. I thought it best to quit while it was going well so we went home to get some lunch. Later, we enjoyed going out and doing our nails together. Then Hannah got a surprise visit from her friend Brenda who brought her a wonderful gift. Hannah screamed when she opened it-an itunes card. 
Later, Dan offered to take her out to supper but she opted for a quiet meal at home. Good thing
because not long after, her friend Brenda called and wanted to drop off a gift so we asked her to join us for supper. Soon after Brenda left, Susie and Morgan showed up, along with Susie's mom
(Hannah's second mom), and brought her a delicious birthday cake they had made. Yummy!
Thanks gals!
It was a wonderful day full of many surprises. But the biggest surprise to me was when Dan let Hannah drive to the airport that night at 10:30pm. It was dark and raining but off they went. Kind of a scary drive for the first day of a permit. They were going to welcome back some folks from our church who were returning from a missions trip. I opted out of that one! Of course it was because it was past my bed time, NOT because I had any qualms about the drive.
Hannah, Thanks for sharing your 14th birthday with your family and friends. Knowing you has brought joy unspeakable into all of our lives. You are beautiful and I love you. Mom
P.S. Drive Safely! :)
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