This Friday was a bitter sweet day in the Marshall home. We have had the biggest blessing by finding Miss Megan and her parents Anita and Steve to help us out by watching Jase.

He is the only child they take care of, so he is absolutely spoiled rotten.

They have had a huge part in his development  and I know he wouldn’t be as kind and loving as his is today without them.

Friday was Megan’s last day as Jase’s sitter. She decided to take a job in Iowa at her aunt and uncle’s bakery. We were so excited and happy for her to be taking this huge step in her life, but we are so sad to know that we are losing a great piece of our family. Jase will still be watched by her mom, but I know it will be different for him without her. To show her how much we love her and appreciate her I decided to make her a gift to take with her. They are Mennonite, so they don’t believe in keeping pictures, so I decided on the next best thing and did a project with Jase’s hand print. This is what we came up with:

Jase wasn’t sure sure about painting his hand at first but he trusted mommy and let me do it.

This is his painted hand. He was not to happy about it being wet and dirty.

Afterwards, he saw what the hand print looked like on paper and decided we needed to do his other hand too! I think he is going to be wanting to do a lot more “projects” with mommy this summer!

I used Stickles to outline his print and write We love you…Jase got into my craft room and decided he would add his own personal touches to the writing before it was dry hence the messiness of it, but instead of “fixing” it I decided to leave it as his personal “touch” to the project. She would appreciate seeing his oneryness in it I know!

Close up of the frame.

I searched for quotes about missing someone and love, and it was hard to keep my eyes dry as I was writing them. These were a few of my favorites…

“You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.”

“When I miss you I don’t have to go far…I just have to look inside my heart because that’s where I’ll find you.”

We will miss her. I am so thankful for her and all of her love she has given to Jase. Thank you Megan for helping to raise my baby. I think we’ve done an excellent job, and I will always be in your debt.