Spotlight on...

Ashtyn Sarah Hill was born naked, as expected. But if you knew her at all you would believe me when I told you that she was born in a pink, ruffled dress. This picture tells it all: she is a princess.

Really, she is. Ashtyn smiled early, and she has never stopped. Except when she is sick, which is another story (and includes us at the pediatrician and the hospital lab today).

Ash is a very conscientious worker. She is great at school and will work hard till the homework is DONE. She has a goal to make bread every Saturday for a six weeks. Today, in spite of not feeling well, she made 6 loaves of bread. If you ask her to do the dishes, she will stand there for an hour, but she will not walk away until the dishes are done.

That brings us to the next thing you need to know about Ashie. She has two speeds: slow and slower. But she is ALWAYS worth the wait!

If there are two children at home and one of them is Ashtyn, everything will go well. There will be no fighting, and chances are the dishes will be done or the living room will be newly cleaned. That's just how she is. She can even boss her older, taller brother around; but he just loves her so much that he will do whatever she told him to do. The flip side of that is that she will do anything anyone asks her to do. She's just helpful like that.

Everyone loves Ashtyn. I don't blame them. She laughs at everything, she is consistently happy, she is smart enough to NOT be annoying, she's adorable, she's a hard worker, she's inherently helpful, she's positive, she genuinely loves people, she is good.

Ashie heard a cute story at Oakcrest camp last year about a girl who everyone ostracized, but she made fabulous zucchini bread. So if Ashtyn hears us talking badly about someone--even if they deserve it--she sweetly says, "I'll bet they make great zucchini bread." She makes us want to be better.

That may be the nicest thing anyone can say about another human being.