Lowry Ten

Handsome Husband’s birthday last week officially ushered in our household’s busy birthday season.

Firstborn was actually due on Husband’s birthday, back in 2005, but she’s evidently as punctual as her mother. She waited six more days before making her grand entrance.

birthday boy & girl, april 2005

Today we celebrate her tenth birthday. Ten. 10. 1-0. Gulp.

Hitting this milestone– a full decade, double digits– warranted SERIOUS celebration.

And I’m not the only one who thinks so…

Our dear friends, the Lowrys, plan a special trip for their kiddos on their 10th birthdays. They visit somewhere special in the US, just with Dad. Named after former presidents, their destinations typically have something to do with their respective namesakes. Reagan flew into Reagan International last spring and got the full tour of our nation’s capitol; Lincoln plans to visit the Lincoln library in Chicago next year.

Our former pastor has shared about the rite-of-passage camping trips he ceremoniously marked with each of his four kids. Author Bob Goff shares about taking his children on a trip anywhere they want in the world upon turning 18, in his inspiring book, “Love Does.”

Cultures world wide boast coming-of-age ceremonies: Quincineras, Bat & Bar Mitzfahs, many African nations’ rites of passage…

… we’re calling ours the Lowry Ten.

Recognizing a good thing when we see it, we brazenly copied the Lowrys (imitation is the best form of flattery, no?), surprising our own big girl with a special trip with her daddy.

en route to the airport, still has no clue where she’s going

Combining her Lowry Ten with Husband’s annual birthday Mancation, the two will rendezvous with Husband’s childhood friend (and army/deployment buddy, groomsman in our 2001 wedding, and witness to Husband & myself meeting way back in ’97) and his own daughter. They covertly selected Arlington, Texas, as equi-distant between Oregon & Montana, and are surprising the girls, who are fanatical Minecraft pals online.

off they go

None of them have visited the state before, and though they plan to spend the bulk of their time at the local Six Flags, I hope they enjoy some genuine Texas BBQ and get their fill of sunshine.

I am so thankful we were able celebrate our sweet girl in this fun way. (We have had a year to plan and save.) I had a sobering epiphany this morning that if the next ten years go as fast as the last ten, we need to make sure to treasure every moment with these crazy kids in our care.

Who would have ever dreamed that the sum of our [husband and myself] collective peculiarities would culminate into one brilliant, enchanting, and distinct little person? Not I, said the fly.


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