abigail eleanor lewis

it was around 1:15 on the afternoon of november 11, 2004 when i went to plop my 37-weeks pregnant self down on the couch for a rest and suddenly realized that something was different.  way different and incredibly unpleasant.

yep - my water had broken.

i had just cleaned the house so i acted on instinct and threw a towel between my legs as i ran to call josh -- from the bathtub.  i'll spare you the details but after a flip of the calendar day, a very long labor, and an incredibly difficult delivery, i was holding the most beautiful thing i had ever seen in my arms as josh and i bathed her in our tears.  now six years later, i still think she's captivating...

...but that has a lot more to do with the gorgeous heart that i see growing in her than any beauty she possesses outwardly.  josh and i played a little game tonight where we threw out adjectives or descriptions that came to mind when we thought of oldest daughter, and here are a few of the abby-isms that topped the list:

tender

a helper

sweet

compassionate

full of emotion

a happy learner

beautifully maternal

this past weekend our families gathered together on a gorgeous saturday morning to celebrate abby's sixth birthday, but before they got there, she and daddy spent some time reading through the bible that we had given her as her gift.

she set out to memorize all the books of the bible, and while she didn't have it mastered before the troops arrived, she did have quite a handful of them memorized (including "deuteromony").  :-)  once her cousins arrived, eating lunch was everybody's activity of choice...

but dining on cothran's cake (courtesy of my parents who have bought probably 113 cakes from that little bakery) was a highly-anticipated sequel (especially for grandpam who drove four hours from working in florida just to get some!)...

and, of course, abby topped off our little gathering by opening a few much-loved gifts while her cousins patiently watched from the sidelines...

and before i go, poor baby sam didn't make it into any of the other pictures, but she's just too precious to be left out...what a cutie!

do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in GOD’s sight is very precious.

1 peter 3:3-4