Eagarbrood: Happy Birthday!!!!!

Dearest Hannah,

Seventeen years ago YOU!, my baby daughter was born and made me the happiest I had ever been. You see, by the time I was pregnant with you, Dad and I were finally getting our bearings and had settled down in place of our own, got active in our ward, and I was feeling capable and joyful in my role as a mom.

Besides that, you were possibly the sweetest baby that ever lived. From day one you enjoyed your sleep, your food & your family. You were darling... a little round thing with dimples that were so stinkin cute. I love this newborn photo of you. It should have given me an insight into your teenage years: you were photographed looking like you were holding a tiny telephone to your ear.

This next photo demonstrates just how agreeable you were as a baby.
You were 5 weeks old and had still not smiled for anyone on command. When the Kiddie Kandids lady got it on film I was shocked-glad to have it photographed but really, you smiled first to the....photographer?

You soon grew into a very sober, shy & thoughtful baby. You were about 6 months old in this next photo and would not smile for nothin'. Now, I want to make mention of this little habit you established about now in your life. It involves crying and holding your breath until you would faint. You'd get upset, maybe even your feelings hurt, and jsut cry and cry and cry and then BOOM! Faint. Slowly waking up with blue lips and fluttery eyelashes and a little whimper like...,....where am I? Oh it was oh so heartbreaking.

When you did it the first time I wanted to rush you into the hospital! When you did it in front of Grandma I thought we would have to rush her to the hospital.

We ended up taking you to your pediatrician where he assured us that you were fine and advised to carry a squirt bottle around and when you fainted, lay you down carefully and then squirt a little on your face to get you to wake up. I only used the water method a couple of times because it was just too darn sad.

Luckily you grew out of that by your first birthday. Nothing lost except a few brain cells.

Here you are with big sister Lindsay. You called her "sissy" for the first couple years of your life. She was elated to have you and you got along great. As long as Lindsay was boss. You didn't seem to mind.

Just a note...I must have fifteen photos of you guys in matching dresses/ensembles professionally taken. They are almost all very sweet.

Here you are on your first birthday in your new Osh Kosh overalls that Grandpa gave you. You are so stinkin cute and so content in life.

You spent hours chasing the chickens, swinging on the swingset & playing in the sandbox in our backyard. So industrious! You really were a homebody and were most happy when we would play all day in the yard or in the house. You loved your naps...it seemed as if when I put you down in your crib you would give a little sigh and tell me night-night. I think it was to get away from your dominating big sister but that's just a guess. :)
Hey, you are wearing a different pair of Osh Kosh Overalls. These are red and blue.

Here you are a precious two-year old! This is the age where you began your full-time job as comedian at our house. You were sweetly silly and mimiced anything you saw.
What do you know, another pair of Osh Kosh overalls. Yeah, mom is pretty predictable. But look how totally stinkin cute they are!!!

Here's a little of that comedian action coming through. Although I don't know who you are copying. I think this one is all you!

Seriously one of the cutest grins & faces ever on a three year old. Your favorites at this age were Little Mermaid, Chuck E. Cheese, church (boy have things changed) and going to Grandpa & Grandmas to swim.

You and Linz were the best playmates. Here you have all of your barbies lined up on the living room floor. You were always putting on shows for dad and I -dancing, singing, gymnastics.

Dress ups were your favorite too!

As you grew up a little it was evident that you were agile, coordinated & athletic. You loved it all! Biking, blading, snowboarding, soccer, softball, basketball. Pretty much anything & everything. Here you and dad went on a big bike ride with our ward.

You have been such a good student! Your teachers were always very smitten with you and your ability to make friends & help others. You could get away with anything at school. But you didn't. You were THAT good! You won best citizen in every school class in Elementary. You also had a parade of friends every where you went. You did everything together. Sleepovers, swimming, parties, library, riding bikes, playing.. you name it. You were our little social butterfly.

Your freckles have been the topic of many, many smiles & sweet words. So has that smile of yours. It can brighten up even the darkest of days.

One of your special gifts that became evident around the start of school was that you befriended those who needed a friend. It was heart-warming and brought out those times where a mom is so proud of the character in her own daughter and admires her and wants to be like her.

On our many vacations we have taken as a family you get the vote for the peacemaker.

And most photogenic.

Soccer. Hmmmm. Where do I start? I must have a thousand photos of you on the soccer field. You have devoted your heart, mind, soul & body to this game. Starting from about age 8. You showed tremendous potential even at that age and we have LOVED every minute watching you. Especially those games when you scored 10 goals all by yourself.

My fave part of you scoring was when someone would yell from the sideline, "GOOD JOB, HANNAH"

and you would say, (in a high squeaky voice), "THANK YOU".

Ok. Not alot people know this about you but you are one seriously good dancer. Your little clogging "team" (including Brittney Wilson) won more trophies one year than your soccer team. I just LOVED those jiffy pop costumes. I think you wore them twice and they cost almost eighty dollars. Now that right there is parental love.

Here you are just as sweet as can be at Easter time. One of the greatest things about having you as a daughter has been your enthusiasm for all things fun & new. Holidays, vacations, school years, adventures, day trips, shopping, etc. The list goes on and on 'cuz you as a kid were always up for anything!!! Love that! Your attitude is contagious. Especially to other not-so-excited people in the family. Thank you for that.

I'm not sure how I can sum up your relationship with Emma in a short paragraph. The only thing I can think of is to say that you have had a particular sparkle in your eye the moment you laid eyes on her and it has never gone away. This touches my heart in such a way that I can only think that it's probably what heaven must feel like. She loves you like no other. When hurt or tired it's you that she wants sometimes even more than Dad or me. It is just precious how you have made the effort to be her best friend, hairdresser, fashion consultant, dance teacher, buddy. Many times she'll just say to me ," mom, I'm going to go hang out with Hannah right now." How special is that?

You are such a good friend and have always had many, many girlfriends. ( and now boyfriends!)

Here you are on a photo shoot with Lindsay and Aleesha. It was many years ago and yet those two are still your close friends. You have so many life-long friends like that.

You and dad have always been close and that is so awesome! I love how you can joke around with him and still let him know how much you love and care about him. One of your greatest gifts is the compassion you have for people. And your brute strength. You are seriously one tough cookie!!!

You have a million-dollar smile. I mean, the braces only cost $3000 but your smile is worth much more than that. Absolutely beautiful! You have gotten more compliments on your toothy grin than the amount of retainers you've gone through.

I know the realization that soccer wouldn't be in your future for your last year of high school has been incredibly rough. For all of us. I've cried many-a-tear over it because you have worked your soccer-lovin-butt off for the past four years to get to a place where you could truly shine in your senior year.

I know. It hurts. I am so sorry. I'm so sorry for your injury and hope with all of my heart that you will overcome that sometime soon. I'm not sure why you have been dealt this blow to your body, and that each time you work through the pain and seem to have recovered it will recurr all over again with more of a vengeance.

But I do know that your love for the game won't quit. That your competitive spirit is not gone and that one day soccer will be a part of your life again. Don't feel like a quitter. That's not what happened here. This was something out of your control and we will get through this.

This is a photo of you and I and our spontaneous trip to vegas in '05. I love going places with you! You are so fun and positive and always the life of the party. You are so beautiful that so many people stare when we are in a crowd. I want to yell at some of them, "HEY, THAT'S MY BABY GIRL YOU'RE GAWKIN' AT!!! GET YER EYES OFF HER, NOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW!!!!

But I know that might embarass you so I just give 'em dirty looks.

From sweaty sports star, Laurel president, sweet sister, stage princess to beauty queen. You do it all with such grace and humility. What a great example to all.

You have extraordinary talents beyond compare. One of which is photography. You truly have a gift and I would love to help all of your dreams come true in regards to that gift. You have all my support, every day, all the time.

You are beautiful, smart, witty. You have people around you that adore and admire you. You feel things that others can't feel. You have a keen knowledge for emotional intellect. You have such deep faith. You have a great gift for knowing who you are and what you are capable of. Your sense of fashion & style astound me and others. You have a bright, quick mind that can see things clearly and uniquely.