Ten

Today is Grace's 10th birthday...Andrew left for England again yesterday, so we celebrated on Saturday with a movie, and then our annual trip to the mall to buy her build-a-bunny a birthday outfit. If you look very close in the above picture, you'll notice the tears on her cheeks...her siblings were doing their job by torturing and teasing her until she cried. To be fair, Grace is incredibly sensitive and quick to tears...but still.

Sigh. You'll have to tilt your head to view this picture. Don't know why it won't load correctly. I took more pictures today: she had a piano recital, Ryan had a choir concert, and we barely ate dinner at 9pm tonight after it was all over, so I just frankly don't want to load those pictures on right now.
Anyway.
Our Grace.
Most of you know that we waited a long time for our Grace.  She is a gift, made even more precious by the things we learned waiting for her. Not a day goes by that I don't look into those brown eyes, and say a little prayer of thanks to a loving Heavenly Father who, after trying our faith, gave us this gift. I look forward to every day that I get to teach her, love her, and learn from her. Jillian enjoys playing the game "how long did I wait for a sister!?!?" with Grace...the answer: 12 long years of praying for her. Grace plays along good-naturedly, confident in her "miracle of joy" status.
"Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace..." - 2 Thessalonians 2:16