Oh Hadley...she's a fun, fun girl. We are a lot alike in many ways already and we just seem to click, so that's fun.
She's such a sweet, yet sparky girl. A great combo to have! I knew from the start with her that she was going to be a leader. She's very spunky. I remember being in the waiting room somewhere with several other kids when she had just turned 2. The other kids were all older than her...4-5 range. But, who was in charge? Hadley. Haha. She had them all lined up against the wall, just like she wanted them. Hilarious.Because of that sparky side of her, I really was honestly a little concerned by her 'mean girl' potential early on. But, I knew that through some molding and shaping and Holy Spirit work, that 'sparkiness' could definitely be used for good and not bad. What I believed has been proven true in her life.
She has 'mellowed' through the years. It took some work on her parents' part. And God's part of course. She became a Christian back in March of this year and it's so very cool to see the change in her. She is young, but even in a young child you can see the difference God makes in a person's life. She soooo loves her Savior and is always wanting so badly to please Him. Makes parenting easier too...pleasing us or just doing good isn't the focus. Now she is focused on pleasing Someone much bigger than us or herself. Very cool.
She is such a great mix of girl/tomboy. She loves girly things...fixing hair, doing fingernails, make-up, playing with dolls, pretty things in general. But, she also loves climbing trees and riding bikes. She is very athletic naturally. A few years ago (they were 4 and 3 years old), she could run faster than her brother. Grady didn't mind. He decided to become her coach and started 'training' her. ;) It was so cute. But, she just picks up on things like that very easily...comes natural to her. She is taking ballet right now and loves doing that with her sisters. But, she also really, really wants to do judo with her brother. ;) We shall see how it all pans out. She loves to take my iPhone and headphones and go running. Loves it. Loves to exercise in general. Very cool to see. She is also very health-conscious. We've taught them about what's good for them and what's not. Not that we never eat bad-for-you foods, but when we do, she announces that it's not good for you and we shouldn't eat very much of it. ;) Love the accountability we have with her.
Speaking of that, because she's spunky, when she sees somebody doing something wrong, she's not afraid to speak up. Her Daddy and me included. ;) So, yeah, like I said...we can always count on her as an accountability partner...which we honestly love and encourage.I really am so impressed with the softening of her heart over the years, esp. since this past March. She is such a sweet sister. Her greatest desire these days is literally to 'be a servant.' Seriously...I'm in awe of her so much. She really is achieving that goal of being a servant. And leading her siblings in that way too. So very cool to watch. She really is a leader around here. And when she senses that I am tired or overwhelmed or just 'done'...she steps up (without being asked) and takes up the slack. I think that's pretty cool at the age of 6.
A couple of other things is that she is really good at writing...her favorite thing to do is write letters to us and others, including God (she has a whole tablet where she writes letters to God...I didn't even know about it until I stumbled upon it one day not too long ago). She is constantly writing. That seems to be how she chooses to express herself. She also loves to make things. She just recently went through a phase where she made tons(!) of little notebooks out of scrap paper, decorating the front. They were really cute. She gave them away to all our neighbors and her friends at the seminary.
Speaking of that, she has recently been going up to the patio of the library on the hill to have God time...spend time alone and read her Bible (she is already in Exodus). She's made several friends up there...including one young man from Guinea Bissau (it's in Africa...I had never heard of it either, but there are lots of students who come here to the seminary where we live from there). They really hit it off and he was taken with her and her love of the Word. So cute. She took him a homemade notebook one day. Then, a few days later, he and another friend of ours from Guinea Bissau came to our house bearing gifts...very cool little homemade bags, made in their country. Love that. It was really, really sweet. Love all the different people my kids get to meet.She also loves babies and loves to hear about pregnancy/birth.
She currently wants to be a 'servant of God' and preacher. :)
I'll wrap it up now, but needless to say, we love this little spunky, sweet joy of ours. Can't wait to see who she becomes.
And now, just a few (haha) Hadley pictures taken this year...
On a date with Daddy, eating some yummy yogurt.
Losing her first tooth.
Painting a cute Christmas tree ornament.
She drew this back in December. Haha. What? She has a childbirth educator as a mom. 
Love the detail. The dad is about to cut the umbilical cord. Love how both parents are smiling from ear to ear. :) Cute. And really good I thought. Way better than I could draw that, that's for sure. The posture of the mom? It really does look like an actual position of a mom grabbing her baby for the first time like that. Loved it. ;)
Pretty girl in her pretty new (to her) dress. :)
Yes, lordie...this was all her. We had nothing to do with it. :) Balloons.
Being Mamas.
Folding and putting her clothes away.
Some of her artwork.
The picture that was on the panda invitations for her birthday.
For her 6th birthday we all went and took some friends to see Tangled. Then another day we had cake, ice cream, and presents.
Family pic, February 2011.
Praying for her.
Her panda birthday party cupcakes.
Getting her 2nd haircut.
A letter to Uncle Jared, my brother. "Dear Jared, I miss you. This is a message from Hadley. I love you. Where do you live? This is a picture for you." :)
She wrote this when Joel went on a trip to the Amazon region during the spring. "Dear Daddy, I miss you. This is a letter from Hadley. I hope you have a great day visiting the Indians. I love you. We can't have fun without you. Love, Hadley Goodbye!"
At a tea party birthday party with friends and cute kittens.
:) At a friend's house playing with costumes.
Discoveries. We love where we live. We're in the city, but the kids have a GREAT place to run and play and experience 'wildlife' and such...'country' life. It's perfect.
She and her friend (and our next door neighbor) were having a 'rock and roll party' one day. She dressed up for it. ;)
A GREAT big sister.
Fun with make-up.
A little photo shoot...
Silly.
Just got her nails done when Grandma was here and treated us all to a mani/pedi.
1st communion, at the Asas de Socorro Easter service.
"Dear Granny, Easter is about Jesus. I just learned this on Lent. I am 6, and you? Goodbye."
Zipline. With her flip-flops holding tied on for the ride. Ha...cute.
"Mama, you are super duper loved by Hadley. But can I love God most please? Thank you."
She had made 'shaky' bracelets...she was dancing and making music with her bracelets. ;)
Love her little notes. 'Fight the devil, but honor the Lord.'
With her chicken, who is at least twice that size now. :)
This is a shawl that I wore when I was little.
Love Jesus (Geazus). ;)
Tubing with Grady.
Trying on Gillian's crown. Princess Hadley. :)
She was being a 'servant.' :) She seriously is always mindful of this. Sweet to watch.
Playing Guitar Hero at some friends' house. There young adult sons said she was a natural. ;)
Hadley on Ladybug...the horse my dad got for them.
Getting her nails done for Gillian's and Jacob's wedding. It's just soooo tickley. ;)
We always said that whenever they started asking and really wanted them, we'd let them get earrings. Here she is with her new earrings in June...she got them the day of Gillian's wedding rehearsal (here she is at the rehearsal).
I never noticed how similar our hair had become until someone took this picture. ;)
Hair all done.
Pretty.
Always leading. She did a great job being flower girl along with her sisters.
At the reception. 
Yum. Eating some of Granny Hough's pudding cake. ;) 
Cowgirl Hadley.
Sticker face.
Computing with Uncle Tucker when he was here. ;)
Treasure map.
She made a treasure hunt for her siblings in the house. ;) Fun.
Fun jumping in the mall.
She LOVED it, as you can tell.
She found a little dead bird and had to inspect it. :)
She planned a party for me (Daddy was traveling and told them to take good care of me:) )...and made these all on her own (I didn't even know she was doing it). 
Getting her hair cut for the 3rd time.
About 4 1/2 inches off.
One of the letters to God I found when I stumbled upon her notebook of notes to God.
Hadley with her notebooks. ;)
I found this one day. Love her little notes to God she leaves everywhere. Love where her mind is all the time.
It's been very hot around here up until the past few days. Hadley found a way to make popsicles (just made of water). I have popsicle forms, but she didn't know that and just set out to make it herself. I asked her how she kept the stick straight up as it froze. She shrugged her shoulders (easy answer, silly Mama) and said, "Tape." ;) Hmm...yep, it works.
She leaves little notes like this all over. Sooo sweet. Really blesses us.
Hadley's chicken, Lily, has recently started supplying our family with an egg a day. Thanks, Lily!
Fun silliness with her sisters at bedtime.
Roller blades!! Finally!!
She'd been asking for these for a loooong time. Daddy brought her some from the states. She picked it up quickly and loves her new form of exercise. ;)
