Grant is 10!

We celebrated Grant's birthday this past month. And boy was it ever a celebration.  I would coin it 3 tier celebration as Grant's biggest and best birthday present was his trip to Disneyland with Grandma and friend- Brandon.  Grant had the time of his life and felt that he had chosen wisely to give up birthday gifts in lieu of one wonderful Disneyland day.  A big thank you to Grandma for spending the day with the boys and making Grant feel so special.  Of course we also did a fun family ding dong ditch Halloween party with Grandma-- a Halloween tradition lasting the past 10 years.  This year we added masks to the event and that was a definite upgrade.  The kids decorated pumpkins and then each child chose one friend to ding dong ditch.  It was fun and sweet and every bit as fun as it was 10 years ago.  I don't think we'll ever outgrow ding dong ditching at Halloween time-- always as part of Grant's birthday celebration.  The third part of the celebration was a soccer party with Grant's entire soccer team!  Buzzwords for the party: swimming, soccer, chocolate cake, pizza, rootbeer,  great big giant saran wrap ball full of goodies, and skeleton oozing with candy.  It was so fun if I do say so myself and Grant felt thoroughly celebrated.  So proud of Grant . Love this boy more than words can say.  Here is an excerpt from his journal:

Grant- you are a super funny, thoughtful, kind, athletic and wonderful little boy who brings so much joy to our home!  You love being outdoors and playing sports, in particular- soccer and lacrosse, but you truly enjoy almost all sports and will play tennis or volleyball, golf or basketball whenever possible!  You love to listen to music and you love to dance and play the piano.  You enjoy math but dislike reading on your own.  You will, however, listen for long periods of time to audible books- in particular Harry Potter and you love for your mom to read out loud to you! We like to read biographies of amazing people like Pele, or Albert Einstein.  We also love to read “I survived” and Illustrated Classics.  We’ve read Anne of Green Gables and the Secret Garden.  You are fascinated by stories of children who have risen above their circumstances.  You love young children and young children love you.  You take care of many little ones at church and enjoy spending time with your baby cousins!  You are so gentle and kind.  You also love animals and have begged and begged for a dog for over 2 years!  This year we finally adopted two little kittens and you love your baby kitten Loui so much.  You are very responsible and take special care of him every day.  

Your favorite thing to watch on TV is action movies with Dad or professional soccer.  You also enjoy watching Survivor with your mom.  You love chocolate croissants and chicken squares.  You love all things sugar and soda.  Sprite is a particular favorite of yours! You love having “phone time” to play a few video games- Brawl Stars to be exact.  You enjoy going outside alone to lay on the hammock and listen to music or throw the lacrosse ball around.  You love to go to practice and live for the weekend games.  You enjoy your soccer teammates and coach and you are a leader on the team.  You are showing great responsibility practicing the piano every day and you enjoy listening and learning about musicals from your big sis!  You even starred in the school play- Wizard of Oz- as the tin man! And you did a fabulous job.  You sing in chorus after school, though that’s not a favorite… it’s more of a duty to mom since she is the piano player kind of thing.  But you have a good attitude and contribute so much!  

School is going a million times better for you in 4th grade than it did in 3rd.  That was a hard year and you were unhappy for a majority of it.  You just did not like school!  I believe it was a combination of the fact that you didn’t like to sit for long periods of time, and then the fact that reading and writing was not necessarily easy for you. That on top of the fact that you always want to be the best and do your best— it didn’t bode well as you felt that you were not at the top of your class and struggling with the curriculum.  Since then we have worked hard at having a growth mindset and turning negative thoughts into positive ones— though we have lots yet to learn- as everyone does! But I write this in your journal because I want you to remember one day when you are a father, that you struggled through a difficult year and wanted to give up, but then turned it around through positive thinking, and all sorts of behavioral strategies you decided to implement. You were so strong and brave and  you came out on top.  Dad and I were truly so proud of how you grew and matured through something that was very difficult!  We know you will do amazing things in your life.  

Grant you are grateful to the core.  One of the things I love the most about you is that you treasure every good experience and always choose experiences over material items.  You love to go to DIsneyland, Universal Studios, you love to ski, you love to adventure! You love to be with older kids, younger kids, all sorts of social situations pose no threat to you.  You are comfortable in your skin and you always express gratitude for whatever it is that is happening.  You are so good at this !  Your best friends are Brandon Jones and Luke Jorgenson.  You also have a very close relationship with Dane  and you love your Dad more than life itself!  You and he are very similar and so you two are like two peas in a pod.  

This past year:  you tried out for the school play as Tin Man in the wizard of Oz, you started piano lessons, learned to ski, learned to play lacrosse, traveled to Tucson, Brianhead,UT, Zion’s National Park, Las Vegas, Seattle, WA, Pismo Beach, and Hawaii!  You zip lined and parasailed and snorkeled!  You sang in chorus and played many a weekend tournament!  You earned an award for being the biggest hustler in lacrosse, you memorized your lines for the primary program and you got your first pet- a kitty named Loui.

I adore you my friend!  I tell you often that it is a joy to be your mother.  I respect and admire you.  I enjoy learning from you and watching you grow and mature.  I love the relationship you have with those around you and your Father in Heaven. I’m so grateful to have you in my life and for the opportunity to be your mother.