Today was a BIG DAY at our house! Last Friday marked the end of Emily’s six month driving instruction with the learner’s permit. Today she went in to take the driving portion of the test and again scored 100%! YEA EM! The examiner said she must have had a great teacher. Perhaps, but I suspect she’s a confident drive largely because she has had a LOT of driving hours. I haven’t had to drive more than a couple of times in the last six months.

Right after she got her license she called her dad! While she had LOTS and LOTS of big smiles today, I cried. Fortunately a dear friend called a few minutes later giving me some diversion from pondering (crying) how fast my babies are growing up. And. I’m not the only one who cried.

Poor Tater. I think he must have thought she was moving out now that she has her license. He didn’t want to let go of her tonight when she took her first solo trip to town. And, after she left he said “Our Em is growing up SO FAST!”

For those who are wondering where she drove on her first solo trip, she went to youth group. We couldn’t be more pleased that the first place she wanted to go was to her youth group as she headed out the door armed with her bible and 3 ring note book (see above picture).

Emily very patiently waited while I took all (well not all but enough) the photos I wanted of her first trip to town by herself. Doesn’t she look all grown up now?

Before she headed out tonight, Tim gave her the same talk he gave Amanda before her first solo trip. I only gave her one last minute piece of advice. Poor thing. She’s been listening to me for the last 6 months and she’s heard everything more than a few times (LOL), but I did think of one last thing for tonight (^.^). And, I resisted the urge to remind her once again to always manage her space. Am I the only one who constantly thinks about managing my personal space in the car?

You can’t believe how many times my family gives me a bad time for not remembering the keys before I head out the door. Yea. Well. Guess what! Em got in the car and had to go back in the house – FOR THE CAR KEYS! Like mother like daughter.

Em,

We’re SO PROUD of you! You have really applied yourself during your driver training time diligently studying the materials set before you, driving safely and cautiously, and remaining calm in stressful driving situations.

You studied hard and it paid off when you scored 100% on both your written and driving gests. You’ve driven in rain, sleet, and snow. You handled the deer running right out in front of you at 3:00 a.m. without over reacting. You have graciously taken control of situations within the car which were distracting you even respectfully giving direction to adults in the car. You’ve logged MANY hours and even MORE miles driving on the interstate, highway, rural roads, and city streets, including construction zones, gravel roads, and mountain passes. You’ve patiently listened to me say the same thing over and over and over again to the point where you know what I’m going to say before I say it. You are as ready to hit the road as anyone could possibly be.

Of course, the above all sounds like “mom.” Dad would say something like this if he were writing this blog entry:

** Be safe!
** Call anytime you need us!
** You’ll be just fine!

So whether we have a few words or a lot of words, you know you’re loved by us both and we’ll always be praying for you when you’re on the road!

Good job, honey!

Love,

Mom & Dad