I have been participating in a blog circle with some wonderful photographers who are also mothers of girls. Each month (more or less), we write a letter to our daughters to preserve thoughts and memories of this time in our lives. I treasure being able to do this for my girls and I love the chance to see the messages that my friends leave for their own daughters. You can access all the letters by clicking HERE. Once you have read my letter, please follow continue on to see what my friend Nicole Johnson wrote to her daughter Chloe by clicking HERE.

Dear Avery and Alexa,

I am writing you this letter from a hotel room in Whitefish, Montana.  Tomorrow we are off to explore Glacier National Park.  We drove yesterday to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and then the rest of the way today.  It was a last-minute trip.  We were having dinner last Sunday with our friends – the parents of your friends Max and Teddy – who had plans to come here and invited us along.  We decided to join, though the timing meant we would have to drive here rather than train or fly, and we truly had almost no idea what we were getting into.  But your dad and I promised each other adventures and so you two – our biggest adventures of all – come along for our crazy rides.

I think that this adventuring has helped you both to be more adventurous yourselves.  That picture above is from your first soccer practice, and the ones below are a mixture of that one and the following week.  (Yes, that’s right – I am now officially a soccer mom.)  I am so proud of you both for how you’ve thrown yourselves into this and are having so much fun.  It’s so wonderful to watch you run around and play!

I hope that, as you grow older, you continue to love all the amazing things that your body lets you do.  We are so lucky to have such a wonderful life – to be able to take trips, see beautiful places, hike mountains, and to run fast, play games, and spend time with our friends.  Have fun and go on all the adventures that you can handle (though I do recommend naps in between).  I love you and am so very proud of you!

love,
Mama