In her own words & the scam that wasn't a scam.

Can I begin with the best part of my day? Eliza offered to pray on her own tonight.

A long time coming... spring of 2008

Each night, we kneel as a family around her bed. Per her request, Andrew or myself assist her with her nightly prayers. As of late, she's been quick to declare,

"I just LOVE short prayers!" While she's cooperative in our nightly rituals, she hasn't had the confidence to take this on by herself. I know, the phrase "lacks confidence" and the name Eliza just don't belong in the same sentence.

You can imagine our surprise and delight when she decided she was ready. I smiled the whole time. And I quote:

"Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for Mom.
Thank you for my Dad.
And thank you for my little brother.

Please bless everything.
Please bless us to get to Lake Powell
And to see Thomas in June.

In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen.

Her quiet pauses and sincere moments of thought made my heart soar; she was communicating with her Father in Heaven.

Her birthday is in one week and oh man, you should see the cute little bum wiggle she pulls when she's especially excited over something; and nothing makes it wiggle like the promise of birthday cake, friends and presents!

Returning to my previous train of thought, that small, happy moment was unexpected. Truthfully, it followed a s.l.o.w. moving, patience exhausting, afternoon. Does anyone else feel like 4:00 p.m. is the slowest hour of the day? Regardless of the details as to why this afternoon was of the lame variety (with the exception of my awesome phone call with my friend Laura), I'll say we've hit a turning point. Here's why:

1. Andrew, whom we'd assumed was a victim of a Craigslist scam, was back in-touch with the man we'd been plotting against after realizing that our product was a certified piece of crap.
The kind sir met up with Andrew to make amends. Andrew's humorous plot to send the missionaries to his house as a "referral" has since been canceled.

2. Andrew then agreed to swing by the store for a few essentials; namely milk & ice cream. I requested cheesecake ice cream to be precise. Seriously, I feel fatter after typing that last sentence.

3. LOST is on!! Last week's hiatus was a depressing and solemn reminder that this series is almost completed. Oh the heartache. Good thing I'll soon have a bowl of cheesecake awesomeness to cheer away the blues.