4.29.2025

Nan is NINE!







Nan, 

Any year with Nan in it is a good one, and this year proved no different! You are simply so wonderful to be around, and I am so proud of how you navigated a big year of changes. I find it impossible to believe you're NINE, yet here we are. 

It does not take much to excite you, which makes being near you so much fun. It could be something as simple as turning on a song and you instantly start tapping your feet and dancing a goofy dance that makes everyone laugh. Maybe I decide to surprise you with a piece of candy, and you'd think it was your birthday. You are always eager for something fun but often, in any given moment, YOU are the fun thing. 









This year you started third grade at a new school, which was a big and scary thing for you. We worked through some hard mornings, some anxious moments, and lots of big feelings. But you DID IT. You were brave when you needed to be, courageous through the fear, and no matter what, you were someone others found to be a good friend. God provided lots of wonderful girls in your class who included you from the start, and you've made some great friends, which seems to always happen no matter where you are, because being friends with you is so a no-brainer. You care about others, and often you put what they want first. It was hard to put you in a new situation that you were unsure of, but you came out on the other side soaring high and we're very proud of you. You wrote me a note recently for my birthday in which you thanked me helping you adjust to your new school. It was my pleasure. 





You also worked really hard at spelling this year. It is something you have struggled with, and Nana offered to meet with you once a week and work with you if you were willing to put in the effort. You worked HARD, and you improved so much over the months that you worked with her. I think spelling will continue to be a "growth point" ;) for you, but it was neat to see you lean into something that was hard for you and put in the effort to improve! (Plus, Nana made it way more fun than I could, which helped ;) ) 

You are still an incredible helper, and that is most often the word that comes to my mind (besides 'fun') when others ask what you're like-- "a helper." You will haul wood with your dad until the job is absolutely done. If I get crabby ;) about the house being a mess, you are the first to hop up and start to pick up. When Dad has a hard day and mentions it, you walk over to him and start rubbing his shoulders. Your little heart is just always ready to lend a helping hand, not for anything you'll get in return but because you genuinely love your people. 
















You're still never at a loss for words, making things up or scrunching words together to communicate what you are trying to say. Like when I asked you to try and find the computer charger and you came out of the room and said, "There are so many cords in Dad's office I can't even complicate them!" My favorite though was when there was a really pesky fly in the kitchen: you picked up a fly swatter, slowly walking towards the fly and said, "Don't move! This is a big deal for me; I've been dealin' with this fly for years!" 

Nan, you have grown so much in your faith this year, asking genuinely curious and thoughtful questions about Jesus as you get to know Him more. Your heard is very tender, and I know that the peace you find in Him is real, even at your young age. It's such a gift, isn't it? We often talk about how God made you to be someone who feels your feelings big-- which is such a gift!-- but sometimes this means you feel your worries big, too. And this year we talked a lot about how sometimes you even feel your worry in your stomach, but that God is always there to talk to about it. And as I hear you pray, and see you reading your Bible, I know you are feeling that peace He has to offer you more and more. I hope you always realize that He is the absolute best place to carry all those worries to. 







Over spring break this year we went to Colorado, our absolute favorite place. And Nan Louise, you are never dull, but Vacation Nan is another level of fun entirely. Climbing up a very large boulder face you said to your dad, "I don't really like heights, but when I get nervous about it I just dance it out... like this...!" and proceeded to wiggle/dance/climb your way to the very top where you danced a little jig! Your love for endurance and your natural athleticism also shine brightly when we're hiking. It's so fun for us to see you loving all the best things that we love about Colorado too, and getting to watch you sing into that vacation mode where you're just joyful and abundantly Nan is worth every effort it takes to get there! You also genuinely love your siblings to their core, and being able to have their undivided attention and just BE with your family is a highlight for you as well. 








Speaking of what you love: your pets get showered with your attention every day. You bid Skipper (the cat) goodbye every morning, and nearly everyday when we pull in from school you jump out of the van (sometimes asking me if I can stop in the middle of the road before we even pull into our drive!) so you can grab Skipper and sit/lay with him. It didn't surprise me at all that when I asked where you wanted to take your pictures this year you said our yard because you wanted Skipper in them with you. You also really enjoy playing fetch with Dewey, and taking him for walks, even though he is still an ornery 1-year-old. There is some mutual love that happens between you and animals that is really fun to see, and I am grateful you have two pets to love (even though I never thought that would be the case ;), and have had our neighbor's dog, Jude, to love for many years as well. 

Nan, never stop being your tender, goofy, fun, helpful, curious self! Flip over monkey bars, get your toes thick with mud, curl up in your hammock with good books, and keep loving others fiercely and fully. God is holding you so closely, and I can't wait to see what this next year brings with you, our wild-and-free redheaded girl! 







And like I have ended every birthday letter: We hope you understand the why behind our no-s. We hope you feel safe in the boundaries we set. We hope you feel freedom in the wide-open places we leave for you. We hope you see God in our actions and in our words. We hope when you leave our little home for good and go out on your own that you'll look back on this simple, little life we had together-- chaos and mistakes and messes and all-- and see that it was grace that held us together; that you see that it was God's daily bread that provided it all. 

Nan Louise, happy NINTH birthday! We will always come for you, and there is nothing you could ever do that could make us stop loving you.