Hannah Ruth is 8 years old!!

My sweet only daughter and firstborn turned 8 this past month. I can hardly believe she has been a part of our lives for 8 years now! My emotions towards Hannah are great as she was the baby we wanted and waited for for 2 years; as I struggled so much with motherhood and helping her through the first 6 months of colic and tears; as I worked for years to understand her slower paced way of living life compared to mine; as I've worked to overcome my overreactions to her overreactions; and in the last few years as I've come to truly enjoy and delight in her "quirkiness" and love even more her tender, compassionate, justice-oriented, and truly insightful personality. She brings pure delight to my life, as she has from the first moment I held her in my arms, and I praise God for his gift of Hannah in our family. She makes life full and I am appreciating ever more definitely her girlishness in a home where we're outnumbered by the boys!

This past week she was overjoyed to get to spend time with another "American" girl her age, Tori Vaughn, whose parents are missionaries in Benin. This is a rare treat during this year since there have been no other girls on our team present with us here in Togo this school year.

Hannah is very creative and loves storytelling, writing (She is writing a series with her friend Isaac about the Ice Twins), imaginative play (especially with her animal and people figurines, complete with jewelry and hair ties for collars and other decorations), Star Wars (specifically Luke Skywalker!), learning about different cultures and peoples of the world, and any kind of slapstick humor. What a fun girl she is and a blessing! Thank you, Lord, for blessing us with Hannah Ruth!