Let me tell you about my beautiful daughter Ashlyn.

For 16 years now there has been a very special angel walking the earth. She lives in the New Braunfels area and her only job is to be beautiful and wonderful and of course, break my heart. I don't talk about her much in my blogs simply because she does not live in the chaos that is this house. That's probably a good thing considering that she would be the only sane one here and that's a lot of weight to bare for a young girl. That special angel is my oldest daughter Ashlyn. I was never married to Ashlyn's mom but we knew we had a special child even before she was born. Ashlyn's mom, stepdad and I get along fine and everything has been about as good as can be considering we are all truly different people. Her and Amy get along great and who can complain about that. CJ and Lily call Ashlyn "Sissy" and they absolutely adore her. They talk about her all the time and she has amazing influence on them. Ashlyn is a great sister to them.
As I get older, I realize that I've missed alot of time with Ashlyn and I think that even though she's my daughter, there's a gap between us that tends to hold her up from us being closer. I would contend that the gap is distance but the other is that she has a complete other life with her family that has mostly built her personality. My influence has been limited but many times I see a part of here that reminds me of me. <-Mostly that similarity is goofiness that she sometimes displays but hey, I like my goofiness so I think it's great. I think in the coming years Ashlyn and I will develop a really strong relationship and nothing would make me happier. When that time comes I look forward to learning more about her and I think she'll find me to be pretty interesting too. I also hope to get the opportunity to explain how God entered my life and completely changed it. I think for most people who don't live their lives around God, they think the ones that do are nuts. I used to think the same thing. I want to be able to tell Ashlyn that God is real in my life and if anything, He's made me love her more. I think she'll appreciate that.
I could go into all kinds of stories about Ashlyn but I think that she would rather I didn't. I will tell one however, it's about the first time I saw Ashlyn when she was a newborn and her mother came by the house to let me see her. I absolutely had no words nor could I keep from shaking. I looked at Ashlyn and I gave her goo goo eyes and she looked at me like "you're weird!" I think she may have even tooted and smiled a little...figures! In any case, she was adorable and angelic. I think she must have known it was me because she was comfortable enough to let it fly. All my children have done that with me. I must have that toot-able way about me...how cool is that!
Well, I'll leave you with that story since thought it was funny. I've posted a picture of Ashlyn and me (I'm sure against her will) so you can see for yourself how pretty she is. To her excitement, she is now minus the braces. I must say God has blessed me with beautiful children. Don't you agree?
That's all for now.