Thanks for Ida

The other day after school Ida had been in her room for awhile, and when I knocked on the door, she opened it a crack and said “I’m working on something. I’ll show you in a little while!” When she finally emerged it was to show off her completely cleaned room with beds made, floor clear, and desk organized.

Right now as I type this Ida is packing her lunch and singing “Nephi’s Courage” in a French accent with an air guitar flourish.

A somewhat recent Ida quote (well, in the past year) from the archives: “My favorite things to do are sleeping, bouncing, and climbing. And watching TV. And eating, I like eating.”

On Sunday we had a special visitor at church, Elder Neil L. Andersen, and Ida wanted to meet him. She stood in line to shake his hand and I noticed her talking to him for a few extra moments. She came back beaming with this:

We had Ida’s parent-teacher conference a few weeks ago and her teacher told us, “I have to be honest, Ida is one of my all-time favorite students.” (Our response: “You tell that to all the parents, don’t you...”)

Ida is a gem. She is a deep breath of fresh air, a truly patient and smart and kind person, and a loving and understanding big sister—and little sister too. I’m so thankful for Ida.