Alyssa

This is my sweet Alyssa!  She turned 9 in January.  Oh, she is growing up too fast!  But the more she grows the more I love and appreciate her.  From the moment she came into our family, she has been a delight and blessing to me and Brian.  She has a very gentle, sweet temperment.  She is a snuggler and a cuddler yet she often quietly sits back and waits for it instead of being the "squeaky wheel" like some of her brothers are sometimes.  I often worry that I am not fulfilling her needs enough because she is so willing to help take care of the needs of others.  She is often unselfishly doing things for others.  She loves to write notes and give treats to those she loves.  She easily shares with others.  She is the peacemaker in our family.  Whenever she senses contention, she jumps right in to try and do whatever she can to make peace.  She loves reading, animals, her Kaya and Chrissa dolls, doing crafts and art.  She is a great artist!  These hobbies are so opposite of mine since the time I was little, but I do love to read to her and color with her now.  I sometimes wonder how I was so blessed to be her mother instead of one of my sisters since these were things they enjoyed when they were young also.  However,  Alyssa does like to swim, put on my make-up, do hair, go shopping with me and help me cook which are some of my hobbies.  Alyssa is a great student and really enjoys school.  She often recruits her brothers and/or the neighbor kids to play school with her in her free time.  She says she wants to be a teacher when she grows up.  She would be an excellent one.  She is a great piano student as well and seems to enjoy playing.  I enjoy listening to her play.  I love my Lissie!

Alyssa was asked to do a singing/speaking part in a  our stake Relief Society Birthday meeting last Thursday. I was very glad that she readily accepted even though she gets nervous talking in front of groups (she gets that from me) as I believe that it builds character to do hard things and it's important to share our talents. She has a pretty singing voice (she gets that from her dad) and she is a great memorizer.  She did an excellent job.  The skit included about 15 ladies from our stake along with Alyssa and one other girl all telling about counting their blessing in the midst of adversity.  Alyssa sang a primary song about being thankful, then she said, "I know that my Heavenly Father loves my family.  He has watched over us, especially this year, while my baby sister has been sick.  He has heard our prayers.  He has helped us feel comforted.  We are more grateful for each other than we were before.  All the things and all the money in the world are not as important as our families and our faith in our Heavenly Father.  Count you many blessings.  Money cannot buy your reward in heaven nor your home on high."  Our stake R.S President and another sister in our ward wrote the script.  I feel like they expressed beautifully how our family has been blessed during Lydia's health problems.  My family is definitely my most important treasure on this earth!