Happy Birthday to Wendy

Today our daughter, Wendy Rebekah, is 36 years old.  Wendy was born March 28, 1975 and is our youngest.  She has two older brothers, Todd, 40 and Matt, 38.  This is my favorite picture of the three of them.

Here she is at 3 months old.  What a cutie pie!  Please disregard her hand....she's just a baby.  We didn't even notice that when we picked out the pictures, but have had a few laughs about it since. 

Wendy was the only grandaughter on both sides for several years and also was one little girl in the middle of a bunch of boys.  She, fortunately, had a best friend just 3 months older than her, who lived next door to us and kept her from being a total tomboy.  Of course, the girls did their share of playing whatever the boys were playing, but then could come in for a tea party when they wanted.

Age Two and one half......

 Age Five.....

Then she started school....This is Kindergarten....

I think this one is Second Grade....

Here's our little cheerleader.  I made her outfits to match her brothers' Boys Club basketball team uniforms.

She played softball in the Willard Lions Club league during the summer and basketball during the winter.

Then Junior High.  They let the girls go out for cheerleading half the year and play a sport the other half if they wanted to.  So she chose to cheer for football season and play basketball.

That is some high hair, sis.   Well, it is the 80's after all.

 This might have been 8th grade graduation.

Here's Freshman basketball.

She was in band in Junior High and High School...played in the percussion section.  We loved going to the Marching Band competitions.    She had to make a decision after her sophomore year between Band and Softball.  Their practices overlapped and she could not do both.  Softball won out. 

This is the traveling team she played on during the summers.  Tournaments were in Tulsa, OK, Sullivan, MO, or Shawnee Mission, KS on the weekends.  We even played in Kearney, Nebraska for Regionals one year.
 

Then graduation and college.  She started at OTC then transferred to Evangel to play one year of softball.  During her college time, she met the man who was to become her husband.  He was the Student Minister at our church and although he came to our church after she was out of high school and not in the student ministry, he noticed her and asked her out and that was it.  She went to Houston on the 1995 summer mission trip with our students (which Doug led) in July and our all-church retreat (which Doug led) in August.  Then on October 7, 1995, Doug proposed.  That proposal is another story in itself (or video if we could get our hands on it).  This is their engagement picture.

They were married on May 18, 1996.  She was a Teachers Aide at Truman and at Watkins in Springfield until their first child was born.  And here's what she has been doing since......

 

                                Lucas, May 3, 1999; 
                                Bailey, November 29, 2000; 
                                Micah, May 20, 2002; 
                                Ruth Ann, October 9, 2003.


Wendy, your dad and I are so proud of the Godly woman that you are.  I love how you and Doug train your children to love the Lord and serve Him already at their young ages.  You are an incredible wife and mother and I have learned so much from you.  I am thankful that we can talk every day if we want to....that we have so much fun when we are together....that we both love LeMadeleines and PeiWei and Cheesecake Factory and shopping and Zumba/Strength training exercise and...........


I hope every birthday is better than the last and your life continues to be an amazing example of someone who desires to be a Proverbs 31 woman.  

I love you very much,


Mom