Elizabeth McKinlay of West Simsbury, Connecticut

By Julie Wardell

Whenever six-year-old Elizabeth McKinlay goes outside to play, she usually heads for the wooded hill in her backyard. There she spends many hours wandering on the hill, gathering rocks or flowers, or just enjoying the beauty of the woods. Elizabeth sees toads and mushrooms too.

Elizabeth’s brothers (Alex, 9; Clint, 12; Lance, 15; and Rod, 16) and sister (Larisa, 4) also enjoy playing on the hill. Alex and Elizabeth had so much fun playing in the two-story fort built by their brother Clint and his friends that they decided to build their own fort.

Besides playing on the hill, Elizabeth enjoys riding her bike, swinging, and swimming. She recently mastered the crawl stroke and can swim the length of the pool and jump off the high dive. Her hobbies include collecting stickers and stuffed animals. Elizabeth is looking forward to joining a soccer team.

Everyone in Elizabeth’s family is assigned certain responsibilities. Elizabeth is a good worker. She cleans her room, vacuums, dusts, washes the dishes, and pulls weeds. Elizabeth is the best weed puller in the family because she never complains. Feeding the dog, Sunny, is sometimes her responsibility too.

At the start of the school year, Elizabeth’s father gives each child a blessing. Each one records the blessing in his journal, along with other information, such as his height and weight. Elizabeth enjoys keeping her journal up to date.

Visiting the advertising company owned by her father is a lot of fun for Elizabeth. His office building is a three-hundred-year-old mill that is a national landmark. Whenever Elizabeth is at her father’s office, she sits at the artist’s drawing table and draws with markers and colored pencils.

Elizabeth is a very busy girl who loves to do many activities with her family. Attending church meetings, participating in family home evening, hiking, swimming, and enjoying the many natural and recreational surroundings of the community are just a few of the things her family does together.

Photos by Corliss Clayton

Elizabeth swinging

Sticker collection

Elizabeth

Touching a mushroom

Alex and Elizabeth exploring the fort

With her bike

Elizabeth at school

Elizabeth’s father watching her draw