SaraLittlejohn.com: Ten or Tin?

In 1939, the Tin Man set out on an adventure to hunt for what he thought was the missing piece in his life, "I'd be gentle and sentimental, if I only had a heart!"

Today, our first born child, turns ~~tin~~ TEN!! When I think about her and all that the Lord has created her to be, first and foremost, I see this amazingly huge heart that just explodes out from her body. If you have ever been with Katie, then you know exactly what I am talking about. Most of the time she is more intuitive than people three times her age, she sees situations through the lens of gentle and sentimental. She represents every sweet and savory thing a ten year old should be.

There are days Mark looks at me and says, " I really feel like we are done parenting Katie, not that she doesn't need us for the rest of her life, but she pretty much already gets everything we were trying to get her to embrace."

On December 25th 2002, my mom had the high privilege of reading this poem to her entire family as a way of surprising them with the news that we were pregnant. Katie was the first grandchild on both sides of the family, and the first in her generation on my mom's side of the family; spoiled was an understatement. If you have journeyed with us for any amount of time you know why this poem is even more special to me today than ever before.

Mom reading the poem...

Twas the Night Before Christmas

by Zach Hall

Twas the night before Christmas

There was no one to see

Except a lovely woman

We call her Valerie.

Val slept in her bed

All curled up with cheer

With visions of Brian and Wayne

Sipping on their beer.

Christmas was here

And Val could not wait

To see Mark and Sara

And pinch their cute little face.

She jumped out of bed

And ran down the stairs

To find Mark and Sara

Sitting on their chairs.

Val jumped and she screamed

This Christmas was bright

Now that her kids were here

Everything would be alright.

Mark sat on Val's lap

She kissed his little face

They hugged and they laughed

It was a nice Christmas embrace.

He said to her quietly,

"As your only son-in-law,

I would like to congratulate you,

Sara and I have made you into a Grandma!"

In true Fry fashion the room erupted into tears and yelling immediately. The promise of a baby was too much. Katie has lived up to her promise in every way plus so much more.

In search of pictures, I dug out all five of the boxes labeled "Picture Albums" and of course after an hour of searching I could not find Katie's first baby album :( It's probably in a box labeled 'misc stuff' :) So I tried my best to gather some pictures of the last ~~tin~~ TEN years....

Katie,

It pretty much takes our breath away that you are turning TEN YEARS OLD TODAY! An entire decade of exploring one of the most precious creatures this world has ever been given. You never cease to surprise us with your thoughtfulness, your diligence, your desire for excellence in every area of your life, and most importantly the way you exhibit Jesus every day in word and in deed. You have taught your daddy and I more than we will ever be able to teach you. We are proud of you. We are blessed by you. We enjoy you. You make us laugh. You make us smile. You keep us on schedule, and on our toes. You bring a touch of sweetness to every person and every situation you come in contact with. We are unendingly grateful that you are our daughter.

We love you!

~Mama and Daddy

Grammy with Katie in the hospital