Sloane's Birthday

Yesterday was Sloanie's 7th birthday and as you see, she had a wonderful day and was obviously well compensated. Apologies for the fuzzy pics but we are still waiting for our camera to be repaired so in the meantime, I am using my cell phone.

Krissy asked me write a blog entry dedicated to our special little princess so please bear with me as I'll no doubt come across as very biased;

As our only girl, Sloanie has always been very special to Krissy and I. She's always been very well behaved (especially compared to her younger brother!) and is particularly mature for her age. Sloanie and I have always been very close but it seems as though our already strong bond continues to increase as she gets older. I try to find time for daddy/daughter opportunities as often as possible although I'm sure not as often as either of us would like. One of our favorite games is to come up with the most disgusting sandwich ever and believe me, we've come up with some doozies. Although on Sunday's we change the game slightly and talk about our favorite things about Jesus. I'm continually amazed and how spiritually insightful she is and how deeply she thinks about spiritual things even at a young age. Each night I give her a 'bus ride' to her bed where she and I kneel down and say a prayer together. Her prayers are so precious and spiritually mature for her age. She's had a great love for the Savior even before she could speak.

Sloane does very well in school, in fact she was the student of the month in October. What I find especially impressive however is her attention to detail and her love of homework (sounds just like me, right Mom & Dad?) She's actually sad when she finishes her homework and is downright upset if her teacher doesn't assign homework on a given day. Believe me, neither Krissy or I were like that and we have no idea where she acquired/inherited this strange behavior (Grandpa Gibson maybe?).

One attribute Sloanie did inherit from Krissy is her desire to be kind to everyone regardless of differences. She goes out of her way to befriend kids who are new, shy or different. I was NOT this way as a child (although I'd like to think I've made some progress as I've gotten older) so I'm very thankful Sloane takes after Krissy in this regard. A couple of nights ago Sloane and I had a good daddy/daughter talk and I told her how much I love her and how special she is to me. I told her for the very first time about a spiritual experience I had as a teenager. Of course I won't go into specifics but I knew from that time forward that my first child would be a girl. Sloanie got a bit teary when I told her about my experience and I think she knows her daddy loves her.

Obviously we love our little girl very much and are grateful for the privilege we have to be her parents.