As I told you earlier, "Footsie" lost his arm and could no longer play football like he used to. Instead of that bothering him he decided to do something further for his country by serving as Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas. Here is a picture of some of "Footsie's" family. I enjoyed holding his grandson. I showed "Footsie's" son my impersonation of his father. I'd pull my arm up into my sleeve and pretend that I didn't have an arm. The first time I ever did that was when I was a very small girl. "Footsie" was there and laughed real hard. Footsie knew I wasn't making fun of him. I just wanted to be like him. He was really good at understanding kids.

Like my brother, I have many hobbies, too. I play the piano and I also do ventriloquism, clowning and make balloon animals. I help my brother with his business and he pays me at least $5 for a half an hour. Not bad for an eight year old! I also have played soccer for two years. Here is a picture of my soccer team.

It's hard to decide what I want to be when I grow up. Maybe I'll be a soccer player, a teacher, or maybe even a piano player. I might even want to be a dentist. I guess I have a lot of time to decide. I love animals and would love to have a dog or cat. Like every kid, a pony would be nice. Here's a picture of me when I was in preschool riding a pony. I had a lot of fun!

I've been to exciting places like Cancun, Mexico. I have also met a lot of famous and interesting people. Last August (1997) I went to Little Rock, Arkansas where I met the President of the United States for the first time. Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, meeting the President is still exciting. I couldn't believe how red his face was! He sure had a bad sunburn! I got to shake hands with him and talk to him. Here's a picture of the two of us.

I have met several Medal of Honor recipients. Many of them are my personal friends. Two recipients I see the most are Pete Lemon and Bill Crawford. They both live only about forty minutes away from my hometown of Pueblo, Colorado.

Most of the Medal of Honor recipients are old enough to be my grandpa. One of the recipients told my brother and I that we can call him "Uncle Bob". His real name is Bob Howard. All of the recipients take time to talk to me and ask me how I'm doing. My mom and dad remind me not to be too hyper around them. I have a lot of energy and have to remind myself to sit still sometimes. Do you ever have that problem?

Here's a picture of another Medal of Honor recipient, Don Ballard. You'll see that I'm dancing with my dad and my brother Douglas is just watching us. I had to dress up in a black and gold dress. After all, not only was I going to see the Medal of Honor recipients, but also the first lady Mrs. Clinton, Bernard Shaw of CNN, and Miss America! There were only about six kids there and I got to be one of them.

I have also met a lot of women who are very special. Sometimes I think people forget that women can be heroes too. My biggest women heroes are my mom and grandma. Another important woman hero to me is Lt. General Carol Mutter. She is the highest-ranking woman in the Marines. She's from Colorado and was the first woman to become a 3-star general. (One lady became a 3-star admiral a few months before her.)

A lot of you might think I'm very special because of all of the people I've met and the places I've been. While I'm lucky to have done these things, I'm special because I'm me! You're special too! No one else can be just like you!