Cutest teenager ever... in my opinion. Cannot even begin to believe that he is 15!!! But we are all HUGE fans of this kid and love him in every way. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANE!
An excerpt from his journal:
Dane! You have grown such an incredible amount this year… both in stature and maturity. You are somewhere between 5’6” and 5’8” by now and much taller than your poor ol’ mom and sis. You have grown out your curly top and have created a style all your own. You are super duper handsome and fun to be with- despite the fact that you a full blown teenager. Of course you do have your moments of moodiness and/or argumentative behaviors but overall, you are a happy and content person who enjoys school, friends, sports, seminary and life in general. This year you started highschool and you LOVE it. Because we live so close to the highschool, your friends walk home with you every day to hang out, eat and do homework. There are at least 5-10 kids here every afternoon in between school letting out and soccer practice starting. You enjoy having your friends over and never need alone time much. You are doing well as a freshmen academically. Last tri, you took biology, math, English, PE and auto shop. You really enjoyed autoshop! This tri you have an off- roll because you made the Freshmen soccer team and with so many games at the end of the school day to travel to, It’s been fun to have a little break in your schedule and to have you home a little earlier in the afternoons.
As far as hobbies and interests, you continue to enjoy grilling and baking. At least a few times a month, you think of a fun recipe or try to look up an idea for how to make home-made French fries, or home made Mac n cheese. You also love your x-box and have enjoyed lately playing with your friends on-line. I don’t like screen time, but you always remind me that this is normal for a boy to enjoy video games with friends and it really does seem to make you very happy. You still love soccer and this past season you played for Coach Conner Mcfadden’s 2006 team - the Nomads. You started every game and have continued that trend on your freshmen team as the striker! You are really enjoying playing for your highschool as that was always your goal with soccer. In addition to soccer, you’ve consistently taken tennis lessons for over a year with the Poway tennis coach and you hope to try out for the tennis team in the spring. You love to come up with new clothing ideas and design ideas for your room. For Christmas and your birthday this year- you asked for a bedroom makeover and it’s been fun to work together to create a room that you will enjoy. Your favorite tv shows this year: Stranger Things, Seinfeld, The Office, and Ted Lasso. Your favorite food: Panda Express and Pick up Stix. Your favorite dessert: caramel chocolate brownies.
This year you went to your first formal dance with a gal from Westview Highschool- Kennedy. You bought her a corsage and we picked her up with a few other buddies! You went to every home and almost every away football game and all of the stake dances. You attended youth conference and High Adventure in which you went river rafting and hiked the Sequoias. Our family went on a Lake Powell trip with BYU friends! Pismo Beach with the Paces, St. George for tennis camp and then Las Vegas for our family spring break trip! We skied/snowboarded in Brianhead all winter. You spent the week beach camping and brought your friend Jack Larson along. Visited Grammy Papa and all the cousins in Seattle for a few weeks, traveled to Midway, UT with Grandma and Grandpa and our family to spend the week zip lining, river rafting, rodeo watching, and exploring the Olympic Park in Park City. It was a wonderful vacation and you had the time of your life. You’ve lived now through two years of a pandemic: school shut downs, masks at school, quarantines, vaccine mandates and everything in between…. It’s been crazy! But you’ve also enjoyed increased time at home with the family, breaks from soccer and church and other duties/responsibilities, and the chance to really value and feel appreciation for in-person learning after a year of virtual! You are so happy to be on a soccer team and with friends IN person. It’s been quite the year or two. Dane, you are a joy to be around. Your personality is laid back, friendly, funny, easy going. You are talented, athletic, smart, responsible, kind and helpful. You look for ways to include others and you are always willing to lend a helping hand in your family and at church. You attend seminary daily and you are an example to your siblings of a true peacemaker. You make life more fun and we are so grateful for the wonderful person that you are!
