Evelyn- it’s been quite a year in so many ways….where to start? I think I’ll start by acknowledging the fact that you’ve grown more - maturity wise- this year than most before it. You are truly growing into a young adult right before my very eyes. This is saying a lot- considering you’ve always wanted to be an adult from the moment you joined the world. I love watching you gain more freedoms, learn to drive, take complete control of your academics. I think that’s because I have complete trust in your ability to navigate your life and I’m so proud of the hard work you put forth in school and outside to become the person you are hoping to become. This year you transferred schools TWICE. You started high school at Poway High across the street. You left behind your friends and your comfort zone and you were pretty angry about it. It was a hard year and you clung on tight to your middle school friends, yet opened your heart to experiences at your new school. You participated in chorus and you won an award for “most promising freshmen.” That’s no small thing in a school of 3500 kids! You performed in a singing group at Christmas in front of the school and it was beautiful. You took challenging classes and swam every morning for PE despite the inconvenience of it all. You went to seminary and completed the first year. You took acting classes and singing lessons. You were busy.
In March of 2020, almost the end of your freshmen year, Covid-19 hit and schools shut down. This was a scary time for most but you found on-line school and seminary to be a breeze and much easier for you than most kids! You finished the school year with straight A’s and loved the break from your typically busy schedule. Over the summer, because of your success on-line, you decided to switch back to Classical Academy On-Line program so that you could continue on for the year virtually and then hopefully transfer to junior college come junior year and get some classes in before college. You’ve always been forward thinking and certainly do not hold any sentimentality regarding highschool- so this has seemed a good option for you and you are thriving now in your sophomore year. Over the summer, you traveled all over the place from Vegas, to St. George for boating trips, to Seattle,WA to visit family, Carlsbad for a week of beach camping with friends, Big Bear for Emma’s birthday, Yosemite for camping, Pismo Beach to see the Paces, and Victor Idaho for Fall weather and a visit to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and the National Tetons Park. It’s been a lot of travel and so much fun. Dad bought our family a boat this year and you’ve attempted to be a good sport coming out each summer and fall weekend! You enjoy the boat for a few hours, but the sun is not your friend and you tire easy out there baking in the heat. We appreciate you for trying your best and coming out when you can. We love being on the boat together as a family. This past summer you began teaching voice lessons to elementary children and you’ve been an amazing teacher whom all the kids adore! This is a great way for you to make money too.
Favorite things: You love every change of season- you adore summer when it’s summer but love to look forward to Fall. You love holidays- especially Halloween and Christmas. You love Rubios chicken taquitos, in-n-out, crepes and chocolate brownie ice cream. You love to watch vampire diaries and scary movies. You love to read and have read about 10 books in the past couple of months! You like to stay up late and sleep in. You love photography and staging photo shoots. You are very stylish and love to save for cute outfits and style your wardrobe. You love music more than anything and we can always find you putting together a new playlist, working on a song for the guitar or ukulele, or a vocal performance, or playing the piano. You love your friends Emma Metton and Caylie Clark. These girls have been your best friends since 6th grade and they mean the world to you. You guys see each other almost every weekend. You also enjoy spending time with Amaya Campbell and Cooper Bullick. This year you’ve put yourself out there and taken more risks than ever socially. You are not one who likes big crowds or busy parties. You enjoy small gatherings and a few friends. But you’ve pushed through some of these fears and had fun in the process. Recently, you went to homecoming (put on by the neighborhood moms in the backyard because of Covid) and you had an awesome time. It was a couple weeks before your 16th birthday- so we bent the rules a bit! I’ve never been one to follow every rule perfectly… hope it doesn’t come back to haunt me. You had a wonderful time and it was fun to see you all dressed up as beautiful as could be.
Recently you took a personality test and found that prudence, spirituality, perspective and fairness were your top personality strengths. I found this so interesting because aside from spirituality, your strengths were so different from mine! You are a very special and unique person and I’m so grateful for all that you teach me on a daily basis. You are strong and independent and like to be in charge of your own affairs. Not always easy to parent- but also sometimes very easy to parent! I have no doubt that in your life you will succeed in every way possible and achieve all that you dream of! You are disciplined and determined! We love you and appreciate the person that you are and all that you bring into our life. Happy 16th birthday Ev! Love you!!
