The Firstborn

Julie turned six in June and started first grade today. What you can't see in the picture is that she has lost two teeth and has an adult tooth coming up through the gap. She is unrelenting in her love for all things pink, princess and posh (a fancy word for fancy). We think she will follow in her Granny Nona's footsteps and be a teacher when she grows up. She loves to prepare and present lessons and models techniques observed in her kindergarten and church classes. She is an incredible artist and illustrates her own books (5-10 papers stapled together). She even drew her own comic after seeing Daddy draw one. She says that she wants to go to college and study art when she grows up. Who knows, maybe she will combine her talents and be an art teacher. She loves to read and surprises us with her ability to read large words. Her favorite book is Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor.

My favorite thing about Julie is her love for the gospel. From the time she could talk, she has had a deep faith in the power of prayer. She is always the first to volunteer to say family prayer and to suggest saying a prayer to find lost things. She loves to attend church, to the extent that she cried when church was cancelled one Sunday due to bad weather. She loves her teachers who inspire her to ask more questions when she gets home and to teach us when it is her turn to teach the Family Home Evening lesson. I can learn much from this sweet daughter of mine.

Introduction

Howdy, y'all. I thought I would enter the twenty-first century and start a blog in hopes of keeping family and friends updated more regularly. My mom always complains that we don't send pictures frequently enough, but we do take pictures -- they just end up in massive files on the computer. (I have tried a couple of picture management sites, but you have to register for them, and I wanted something that is free for everyone to view.) I hope that since I am frequently at the computer to check email and finances anyway, I can get into the habit of writing five to ten minutes a day to keep you updated. (By the way, it may take writing five minutes a day six days a week to actually finish one post, short as they are. I sit down to write or play the piano and am interrupted within the first minute, even if the kids have been outside or the baby is "napping." They seem to have some kind of internal sensor: Mommy is busy; I must get her attention!)

Anyway, the picture of our family was drawn by our resident artist, Julie. I am sorry it is too small for you to see the incredible details she has included, such as our names on the shirts, curly hair for Daddy and Julie, Mommy holding James, the ages of the three older children, even colored irises on our eyes. I thought it was better and more exciting than the family photos we have. (I definitely look better drawn than photographed.)

So, you are hereby invited to visit the site as often as you can to see what adventures our family is having. I will try to update once a week with new pictures and stories. Please feel free to complain if I don't live up to my end of the bargain.

:)Debs