Nevertheless, we had a great day with this adorable girl. She was so excited to turn 13. Nobody loves birthdays more than Abby. She is only a little more excited when it's her birthday, she really loves any reason to celebrate! She kept telling me over and over that I was going to have two teenagers in the house now. I told her that I love my "teenagers" and so her turning 13 didn't scare me one bit.
Abby is, by far, the happiest child in our home...if you don't count the first 20 minutes of each morning.. ;) She has a smile for everyone. She's the ultimate "helper". She can walk into any situation and see what needs done and she will jump in and do it, She can and will play dolls with Sadie, soccer with Ethan and help Jenna organize her room. She truly exemplifies Jesus Christ by being willing to "strengthen the feeble knees and lift the hands that hang down." She constantly nurtures the loving and giving heart that she was blessed with.
Along with her other many wonderful traits, Abby has been blessed with more determination that I can begin to believe. If she decides she's doing something, you might as well help her or get out of her way, because she's doing it with or without you. A perfect example of this came in February of this year. We learned that our stake would have a member of the General Young Women's Presidency join us for one evening at Girl's Camp. As part of their visit, they would be having a special dinner with those young women who had earned their Young Woman Recognition Award. While Abby had worked towards earning this goal, she still had the majority of it. The girls cannot start working on it until they're 12, so she had only been working on hers for about six months. You should know that this award takes hours upon hours of work to achieve. We're talking no less than 100 hours and usually more than that. Once Abby heard about the dinner though, it was all over. She came to me and said, "Mom, I have to be at that dinner. I will be so disappointed in myself for the rest of my life if I'm not there. Will you help me make a schedule for how I can do it?" Well, how could I say no to that?!? We sat down and spent two hours mapping out how she could achieve her goal. I was so overwhelmed for her, this would be no small task. I told her it wouldn't be easy, but she didn't care, she wanted it and she was going to do it. I walked into her room two days after we made "the plan". She was on her bed working on her personal progress. I noticed she had written a quote by Pres. Hinckley on her magnetic board. It said, "You have not failed, until you have quit trying." I mentioned to her how much I liked it and she said, "Oh! That's my motivation, mom. I read it everyday so I can remember what my goal is and how much I want it." And do you know what, she did it! I watched her miss doing things with friends, I watched her spend hours reading and studying gospel principles, I watched her set goals and become an even better person than she already was, I watched her serve and love so many of Heavenly Father's children, I watched her grow closer to the Lord and lastly I watched her learn that she can do hard and amazing things with help from her Heavenly Father. I can't think of a single time when I've been more proud of her than I was as I watched her achieve this amazing goal. It is said that we often learn our greatest lessons from our children, I can honestly say that I learned an amazing lesson from this daughter of mine during these past six months. This Wednesday, when we have dinner with Sis. Marriott, I know Abby will have a wonderful time and be so glad again that she achieved this goal that she set out to achieve.
Abby, you make me so happy. Your heart and determination are going to help you so much in this life. Always remember that Heavenly Father loves you and you can do anything with His help. I'm so proud of the daughter that you are and I love you more than words can say. P.S. Don't be too anxious to grow up, I love having you around! :)
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