Dear Leah,

In the blink of an eye, another year has come and gone. You're now seven. Seven is one of those ages that sounds SO much older than the year prior. You are officially closer to your teenage years than your infancy. Crazy! And, with that, we have definitely seen you change and grow so much this past year.

The most drastic change is that you are now at school all day long. It's been such a shift to have our "little mama" gone all day. The one who was once so good at keeping her younger brother entertained is no longer there. The one who used to willingly notice and offer to help around the house is no longer there. The one who brought so much liveliness and fun to our days is no longer there. But, being at school each day is right where you need to be! You have loved first grade from the very start. You have surprised us all by how quickly you jumped into the academics of first grade. You're one of the best readers in your class and love to do math. Your teacher says you are one of the first kids to offer to help others when they need it....not shocking at all! You take school seriously, but also balance work with plenty of socializing. It turns out you even found time to acquire a "boyfriend" who writes you notes. Lord help us all!

When you're not at school, chances are you're still running at breakneck speed like you always did. You've taken up soccer, and have seemed to really enjoy it! Despite playing through every weather element possible during the first season, you chose to play a second season, so it looks like we have a new sport to cheer on in this home. You spent a lot of the first season being too afraid to be aggressive, which wasn't surprising given your kind heart. After a few pep talks, however, you really flipped the switch and became pretty competitive. Mommy missed seeing your first goal, but when asked to try to score at your next game, you went out there and scored within the first few minutes! Along with soccer, you've been busy loving your time as a Daisy. There have been lots of fun adventures as a Daisy...your favorite would probably be a week long day camp you did last June. You are also still doing Awana each week and your eagerness and ability to memorize verses is admirable. Adding to the busyness, we're going to finally give into your ongoing request to do "gin-astics" again, so that'll fill some time during these dreaded winter months.

If we're not out and about, you're still so content to be home and playing. Your imagination is, by far, one of your greatest assets. You can usually be found somewhere in the house creating an entire world of imaginary play....school, shopping, house, babies, you name it. The mess and disaster that typically comes with the playing is not so fun....especially since you HATE to clean up! The term "Hurricane Leah" or our "tornado" that you inherited early on still rings true to this day. It's all well worth it, though, because you can keep yourself and your siblings occupied for hours with your playing skills.

Speaking of siblings, you are still the most wonderful sister your two brothers could ask for. We're not sure if it's because you're a girl, the middle child, or just because you are who you are...but you are the glue that holds everyone together around here. You care deeply for everyone in our family and selflessly give to those around you. When we had two extra kiddos living with us this past summer, there were many moments when your help was what kept this ship sailing! You never tire of caring for others and set such an amazing example of true love. There is not doubt that Christ's light shines through you. It's the exact reason why we were excited to let you go off to first grade all day. Those teachers and students will (hopefully) be forever changed by the love and kindness you show to them. The world around you will always be immensely blessed simply because you are a part of it. Keep shining little girl, and may God bless you as much as you bless those around you!

Love,
Daddy and Mommy

Disney World

It's the trip that every parent hopes to take their kid(s) on at least once in a lifetime. It's the trip that takes hours upon hours to plan and prepare for. It's the trip that's worth pulling kids out of school for an entire week just to make it happen during a "less crowded" week. It's the trip that is SO exciting that it's worth waiting until the morning you leave to tell your kids because seeing their reaction was the most priceless way to start the trip. We did it....we took the trip to Disney World!

It started as a regular Saturday morning (in the kids' eyes). Little did they know, Mom and Dad spent all week packing in secret. About twenty minutes before we had to leave for the airport, Grandpa, Grandma, and TiTi showed up. When the kids asked why they were at our house, we decided it was time to present them with their bags of goodies. Inside the bags were all kinds of treasures that would be perfect for their trip to Disney. They looked through the bags and after about a minute, Leah exclaimed, "We're going to Disney World!!!". Caleb was equally excited and Joel didn't really seem to realize what was coming his way (you can tell the older two have been in school long enough to hear lots of classmates tell stories about going to Disney).

We had some very excited kids, because two of the three had never flown (the one who did was so young he didn't even remember).

 After a day of traveling, a day by our awesome resort pool was just perfect. There's nothing like the high 70s, sunshine, and a pool in November!!!

After a day of relaxing, our insanely busy and tiring week began on Monday morning. We spent all five days visiting the four different parks. There were awesome rides, shows, fireworks, parades, treats, character visits, and precious moments of family bonding. The kids were on cloud nine (most of the time) and did a great job of keeping up with the pace of our jam-packed week. Knowing we'd only be doing this trip once during their childhood meant that we had to get all the fun in that we could in one short week. By the end of the week, we had a few meltdowns, a few moments of being terrified on rides, a few rough early-morning wakeups, and a whole group of very tired people. It was, however, worth every second of the difficulties....this trip was magical! The kids will hopefully remember it for a long, long time. The memories made were priceless!