Here is an excerpt from his journal:
What a year of growth you’ve had, my friend! You breezed through 6th grade making straight A’s and gaining in confidence. You began 7th grade a little disappointed because you didn’t have any friends in your classes, but instead of wallowing, you decided to make sure that you made friends in each of your classes and you did just that. Now, half-way through the year, you are happy and continue to enjoy school. You gave a talk a few months back in church about being a good friend and reaching out to others. You described the experience of making friends when there were none to be found. Evelyn’s seminary teacher just happened to be sitting in the audience and he loved your talk so much that he asked you to give it at seminary to the freshmen students the following week. You rocked it though you were scared to death. You have just started to think about “popularity” and you desire to be noticed by others and feel cool. For Christmas, you asked only for new clothes because you wanted to change your style. You typically wear soccer jerseys and nike sports shorts daily. Now, you sport a grey beanie, surf board shorts and billabong shirts with vans socks and shoes. You look pretty stylish, but hey- you were always cool in my book. You think a lot about the way you look and you feel a bit insecure, which is crazy in your parents’ minds! We think you are the actual most handsome kid on earth. We think you are talented, intelligent and funny. But this is something you struggle with… you wonder about your size, your face, your soccer skills, your personality. I suppose a lot of this is normal…. but it’s new to us because Evelyn and Grant have an overabundance of self esteem. Ha!
Some of your favorite things include: listening to music in your room, watching YouTube videos about how things are created, playing with your kitten Edward, playing soccer and flag football, spending time with Braxton and with the Deacon’s quorum at church— you sure love those boys and you love attending youth night and inviting them over whenever you can. You like to hike, golf, snowboard, cliff jump, zip line, swim, canoe, and any type of water sport. You love to watch USC football games with Grandma or Dad. You are taking Spanish right now and doing very well. You are a conscientious student who always does homework first thing when you get home. You are a hard worker and do your chores immediately when asked without complaint for the most part. You help me in every way around the house and when you are gone- I’m not as sane! You make things more peaceful at home because you are so thoughtful and kind. You are super funny. You are witty and wise and think of interesting things. You are interested in everything and always have a lot of ideas and things to say. You are open and easy to talk with . You still tell me all the details of your day and you have done such a good job this year of seeing the good in life and looking for happy moments instead of worrying about the fears or hard things ahead. You are kind to your siblings although you and Grant fight at times. You love animals and are so happy to finally be a pet owner. You are responsible and organized; you are very clean and tidy. I am so proud of the way you try new things and push yourself to get better at everything you do. You are not as passionate about soccer this year as you have been in years past, but it is still a love of yours.
This year you traveled quite a bit. Instead of 6th grade camp, you preferred to spend the week at Grandma and Grandpa’s house and you enjoyed all sorts of fun activities like bowling, rock climbing, and car museums. All of these fun activities, along with Grandpa’s home-made pancakes made the week a success in every way. You attended ski-school up in Brianhead, UT and learned how to snowboard this year! You enjoyed visits from Grammy and Papa and all of your cousins. Our family traveled to Zion’s National Park where we hiked and enjoyed all sorts of water sports. And in the summer, traveled to Hawaii with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Stacy where you had the best time ever- ziplining, parasailing, hiking and your very favorite- snorkeling. You also went on a High Adventure hiking trip with the young men’s group at church. You were nervous to go but ended up having an amazing adventure that you loved in every way. We traveled to WA to visit our family and there enjoyed all of the usual good times- baseball games, hikes, blueberry and blackberry picking, farmers markets, the Ol’ Water Hole, Uncle Dave’s jet skis and so forth! You loved our week in Pismo- with cousin Adam and Katie! You enjoyed Disneyland with Grandma and Braxton, Universal Studios a few times and Knottsberry Farm for New Year’s Day. It’s been a busy year full of fun adventures.
Dane- you are a true gift to our family. You really are an example and you teach me something new every day. I admire and respect you. I love spending time with you because you are so giving and fun to be with. You make me laugh! You make good choices, you care about others and you work hard in all things. I count myself beyond blessed to be your mother. Your family loves you beyond words. Happy Birthday dear boy!
