We have a very busy weekend ahead of us, so I wanted to drop in right away and say that today, my sweet Leslie Anne is nine years old! She was the first child born after my dad died. Her precious little face and soft cooing gave me something to smile at through my tears. I was always very close to my dad, and Leslie is close to her dad. She would go to work with him everyday if she could. Her face brightens whenever she hears his voice each evening.

She is growing into a very tender-hearted little girl. She loves to clean and organize. She is careful in all she does. She loves spelling the most in school. This past year, she copied her spelling words everyday. To make it more fun, she came up with a little game: each week, she gave each child in the family a spelling word based on their ages. For example, her word was always number eight, since she was eight years old, Lauren’s word was number fourteen, and so forth. When I would call out her words, she would say something like, “That’s Mitchell’s word.”  It was interesting to see how that each week, the words for each child often fit their personalities. I thought her idea was so creative.

She still loves playing with Barbie, which is a comfort to me. It means she’s not too grown up yet. She is looking more mature everyday, though. I’m excited to see what God has in store for her. Please pray that she will be saved one day and serve Christ faithfully with her life. That is my greatest desire for her, and for each of my children.

My little kitchen helper making brownies. 🙂

Leslie’s soccer coach snapped a photo of her playing a few weeks ago. Whatever she does, she does her best.

Happy birthday, Leslie Anne! I sure do love you.