The Marston Family

Friday, May 1, 2026

Happy 14th Birthday Anna!

This year has been a year of growth in every sense of the word.

Physically, you are almost as tall as your big sis and me…just one inch away at 5'1". And emotionally, you are no longer a little girl. You are fully, beautifully in your teen era. You've grown in your sense of self, your responsibility, your discipline, your friendship skills, and your ability to navigate life with a lot less of my help. High school is just a few short months away, and honestly? It's both thrilling and devastating to me all at the same time. I miss the days when you were my cute little sidekick. But I also feel a deep, full excitement watching you become exactly who you were always meant to be.

You are special in so many ways. It is a joy, truly, to be your mom.

What you love:

You love sunsets. I mean really love them; you will stop everything, walk outside, and just sit with one. You understand how to be present in a way most people spend their whole lives trying to learn. You love evening walks with Coco, and you love your animals — Coco, Tammy, and Louie, with your whole heart. You will drop anything to lay down and snuggle them, and they know it. Especially Coco.

You love to eat well. You make your own healthy meals: Greek chicken bowls, protein oatmeal with yogurt and bananas, avocado toast, raspberries, blueberries, tortellini. But your favorite splurge? A thick slice of sourdough with a generous spread of homemade raspberry jam.

You love a good show — this year you powered through every season of Gilmore Girls and Gossip Girl (much to my dismay). You love music with your whole heart, and the second you walk in the door or hop in the car, the music is on. Daniel Caesar, SZA, Olivia Dean, Sabrina Carpenter — you know every single word and you have the voice to belt every one of them out.

You love dance. Hip hop is your favorite, but you also do jazz, acro, and lyrical. This year you applied to be a teacher's assistant and were chosen as an intern — and the little girls in that class absolutely adore you. You are a natural with them. Alongside dance, you've been playing tennis three times a week, often with your bestie Afton, and you are looking forward to trying out for the girls tennis team at Poway High next year. (I have not been able to convince you to try out for the dance team, though I have tried.)

More things you love: ab workouts, morning and nighttime routines, skincare, braiding your hair at night for beautiful curls in the morning. TikTok dances. Hanging out with friends. PE with Mr. Holmes. In-N-Out, Crumbl Cookies, and Chipotle. Friday Night Lights every weekend to watch the boys play football — especially a certain boy you like very much (hi, Beau). Taking pictures. Doing your nails. Organizing your room. And waking up on time…even on Saturdays, because you refuse to waste a good day. E-bikes in Encinitas at Dad's house. Tanning and beach days. Your cousin Penny. You are full of energy and full of love for life and people.

What I've watched you do this year:

I've been quietly in awe of you.

You've handled heartache and stress with a maturity I didn't expect. You've experienced real loss, and rather than shut down or hold it in, you've gone to therapy every week and let yourself actually feel it. You became a WEB leader at your school. You served on a humanitarian trip to Guatemala. You've started attending church dances, started the whole complicated, exciting business of liking boys, and you've worked hard — really hard — to keep your grades up and never miss an assignment. You've even conquered your fear of stingrays and spiders (mostly).

You read your scriptures every night. You write in your journal faithfully. You limit your screen time and try to make good choices — not because someone is watching, but because that's just who you are.

Anna, you are curious, kind, funny, energetic, hardworking, disciplined, joyful, positive, loving, and deeply talented. You are a gift to everyone around you, and almost every single day, you make being your mom one of the greatest honors of my life.

Happy 14th birthday, sweet girl.

April Happenings

Spring is in full swing. This month we enjoyed an incredible spring break at Doheny Beach with our friends for a week of beach camping—spring edition. Funny to think there was a time I didn’t enjoy beach camping… now it’s our family’s favorite vacation. We loved spending time with the Matters and Judds, and other friends who came up for the day. Watching the boys fish, the girls learn how to surf, playing Nertz at all hours, gobbling up Nikki’s most delicious cinnamon pancakes and special syrup, and relaxing by the waves with a good book—definitely a highlight of the month.

During spring break, we also enjoyed a beautiful Easter Sunday watching conference, along with a big breakfast of cinnamon rolls and Swiss pie. Apparently kids are not too old for Easter baskets—they still had a lot of fun with their treats! We loved helping Grandma bead bracelets for a Relief Society function she was in charge of. We were able to rope in not only Anna and Kenzie, but Dane, Grant, and Anna’s boyfriend Beau for the task. It turned into such a fun day, and I especially loved watching the kids serve Grandma for once, seeing as she does so much for us all the time.

making slime never gets old... ha!

Also of note this month: celebrating April Fool’s Day. Need I say more? It’s my favorite, and I never tire of coming up with ways to torture the kids. Our dummy man came in handy—I set him on the ground in the kitchen and in various other places, and it about scared the kids out of their minds. I also had scary canvas posters outside their windows, fake ants, clear packing tape across bedroom doors, a mysteriously missing silverware tray, and a big fake spider and fake shattered glass sticker on Grant’s truck. Best day ever.

This month my PEERS program officially started. It was stressful committing to the group and working through all the admin details, but once the course actually began, it was truly wonderful. It felt so good to be part of something I care deeply about—helping kids and teens build social skills and confidence.

In YW news: We put on SUCH A fun missionary night for the youth of our church-- each teen received a mission call and then we were split into groups of four to go teach a message and have dinner with a member of the ward who had also gone to that same place for their mission! The food was to represent the culture and the kids were able to hear all about the mission. It was a special night and everyone enjoyed it so much. I also taught a little Conversations 101 on April Fool's day for the youth before they began an evening of speed dating ! Elizabeth created the most amazing sugar cookie french fries with frosting ketchup. SO cute.

Texas!- this was my group

Korea

Rome, Italy

Mexico City

On to more highlights—Ev has been home for spring break and it’s been a true joy. She is working so hard at school, so it’s been really nice to have her here to rest for a bit before she begins her capstone in the PACU at the hospital. So proud of her. Bonus: Cody is flying down next week to drive back with her, so we are all really looking forward to having him here too. While she’s been home, Ev has soaked it all in—time with friends, two trips to Disneyland, lots of country swing and line dancing, a Michael Jackson movie night, and plenty of shopping trips with Anna. It’s been SO fun.

And speaking of Disneyland, Grandma took the entire family for our Christmas present this month, and it was the perfect day—not too crowded, ideal weather, great conversations, and just an all-around fun, memory-filled day with Grandma and Stacy.

We celebrated Anna’s birthday this month and… wow, did we celebrate. It was a LOT—but what else do you do when you’re celebrating your very own hype girl? The biggest party girl on earth! We surprised her with a Gossip Girl theme since she had just finished the show and loved it. We took her five best friends to Encinitas for beach pictures and a sleepover at Blake’s condo, then got up early the next morning for a full day at Universal Studios. It was seriously the best—she was so happy and so grateful, and I was just glad I managed to meet her very high standards and expectations. Girl keeps me on my toes.

I loved reading the sweet, thoughtful cards her friends (and Beau) wrote her, and I especially loved helping her create a wall gallery of her favorite music, shows, and places as an early birthday gift. I adore Anna —even when she’s deep in that know-it-all, slightly cranky teenage phase I remember so well from the older kids. This too shall pass.

As for the boys, they are plugging away, finishing up the semester. Dane just wrote a seven-page paper on happiness for his English class, which was so fun to read—he really is an excellent student, and I love getting a glimpse into how he thinks through his writing. Grant is gearing up for his AP test and is absolutely crushing a tough semester with Chem, AP classes, and 3B math. And somehow, he’s still making time for all the things he loves—fishing, surfing, spearfishing, kayaking (while fishing, of course), and then coming home to grill up whatever he caught or make smash burgers with friends. Grant’s life makes me smile.

Rounding out the month, Blake and I traveled to Utah for Ella Rustand’s wedding. It was such a special time being with the Rustands and watching Ella on one of the happiest days of her life. It was also so fun to see the whole Rustand crew and catch up with old friends from our college days. And it was nice for Blake and me to have some time together as well.

All in all, aside from Coco’s unfortunate fishing hook incident (she discovered Grant’s baited hook the hard way and ended up with it caught in her shoulder, paw, and cheek—yikes), it was about as full and happy a month as we could ask for. Thankfully, after a trip to the vet and a few stitches, Coco is back to her old self—good as new. And we're on to the last month of the school year!