What? The twenty-third what you ask?

Well, obviously (to me anyway) the twenty-third anniversary of the birth of my daughter, Rachelle, that’s what.

I want to take this opportunity to stroll down memory lane and share a few memories with you.

RachelleClimbEveryMountain — Rachelle ‘climbing’ the ‘mountain’ … one of my favorite early photos of her (c. 1990)

MossFamily-copy — Silly family photo (c. 1989 or 1990)

FlowerGirlRachelleAndRingBoyDerek — Flower girl, Rachelle, and ring boy, Derek, at my brother’s wedding.

We’ll skip ahead a few years (the years during which I took mostly video to VHS-C tape and not film photos), to the time when Rachelle perfected ‘the look’ of exasperation because I loved taking candids of her with a digital camera.

Work4God1stHalf-016 — Rachelle giving me the ‘look’ during vacation Bible school (c. 2005)

BonnerSpringsMeet-PANA0079 — On the tennis court (c. 2004)

Of course, there was the ever changing (sometimes by the week) hair color:

RachelleAFreshman — Blonde, First day of School as a Freshman (c. 2004)

July25th-PANA0069 — Reddish Blonde (c. Sumer 2004)

BlackAndTeal-006 — Black and Teal (c. Summer 2005)

Rachelle played various team sports, including soccer at a young age (and I can’t find any of those photos, probably because they are in a box in the basement with the videotapes of the games). She also learned some judo and jujitsu, but never competed. Besides tennis (shown previously above), she also played fast pitch softball for a couple of years:

RachelleSeasonOpenerSoftballMay2003 — Rachelle on the field during the season opener (May 2003)

Rachelle played lacrosse for three years, the only female in an all-male league, who went undefeated that last year and she earned the Player of the Year award from her coaches.

scan0002 — Bulldogs Goal Tender (c. 2005)

But singing became her first love and most beautiful talent, joining a youth choir in third grade and continuing to perfect her voice through a succession of choirs and voice instructors.

HonorRecital-PANA0019 — Performing her solo at the Honor Recital (c. 2006)

Rachelle graduated from high school with honors.

RachellesGraduation-468 — Graduate Rachelle (May 2007)

Rachelle received two full scholarships (one academic, one music) to attend a local community college, where she continued her pursuit of vocal performance in various choirs and voice studios, including the Jazz Choir (notice the dark hair color).

RachelleJazzChoirMar2008 — Rachelle performing with the Jazz Choir (Mar 2008)

She gradauted with honors, but declined to attend graduation, so I have no photos of that non-event. In August 2009, just three months after graduating, she moved to North Texas (as did her brother and his wife). Rachelle enrolled at the University of North Texas and Derek joined the Guildhall at SMU. Terry and I found ourselves empty nesters rather abruptly.

RachelleApril2010FunnyFace — Funny Face (Apr 2010)

Rachelle studied abroad in Europe (Germany mostly) during the Summer of 2010.

RachelleAndTerryBeforeLeaving4AirportMay2010 — Rachelle with her Dad before leaving on the plane for Europe (May 2010)

For the last three years, Terry and I have made the annual Thanksgiving trip to North Texas to visit them.

KidsTdayDentonTexas — Rachelle transfers the ‘look’ to her boyfriend (finally, I’m spared) (Nov 2010)

But she still tries to hide from my camera.

SillyFamily — Rachelle and Terry hiding from my camera while tailgating at the UNT v KSU football game (Nov 2010)

And both my kids know how to ham it up for a photo.

SillyOffspring — Rachelle (smiling sillily) with Derek (Dec 2010)

For Christmas, Rachelle comes home (usually by plane) and Derek and Royna rent a car and drive up to visit. Usually, she helps me trim the Christmas tree.

RachelleSettingUpXmasTree — Setting up the Christmas Treet (Dec 2010)

This past spring has taken us to North Texas twice. First to visit for Easter and second to attend Rachelle’s graduation (again with honors – manga cum laude) from UNT.