She's officially an adult and it's hard to believe. Feels like yesterday we brought home the cutest little red headed bundle of joy from the hospital. The nurse said to me, "she's a particular one!" I remember so many details- swaddling Evelyn, co-sleeping, walking around Seattle with Ev in her stroller. Doctors appointments, baby play dates with friends from my birthing class. Then toddlerhood in Arizona... Evelyn was sick quite a bit during this time, but we still had fun swimming at the club and meeting up with friends. New York- preschool and kindergarten! Probably some of my favorite mom memories were spent strolling around the Brooklyn Zoo and getting a slice of pizza on 7th avenue with Ev and Dane in my Phil and Ted's stroller. Orange County for one year filled with so many Disneyland trips and visits with Grandma and Grandpa living close by. Then our move down to San Diego. I loved watching Evelyn enjoy crafting- loom weaving, origami, knitting, crocheting! Loved seeing her passions for dance and gymnastics and piano and singing! Then acting and theatre for later elementary and middle school. Evelyn was always so good at everything she ever tried and was smarter than a whip growing up. School came easy and academics were never a problem in the slightest. Highschool and middle school mostly at Classical Academy and then Palomar Junior college during her junior year. Evelyn worked at Target, she taught voice lessons to neighborhood kids and helped out in local theatre groups doing hair and make up. Now- a college student at BYU! She has grown up so beautifully and we are all so proud of the amazing person she is. Excited for her future and all that lies ahead for our cute little red head. Love her to pieces!
You’ve had quite the year! All grown up now— this is the last time I’ll write to you about your childhood and that makes me tear up just a little. It has truly been an incredible journey to raise you into the beautiful young woman that you are today. I mean that with all my heart. You have so much fire, passion, discipline, and talent inside of you. I can only imagine what your life will hold! You are incredible at everything you do and you always have been. It seems like yesterday, you were a little 4th grader, figuring out how to fold origami and doing that for hours- becoming a legit expert. Or learning to knit, to do a handstand, a back handspring, the piano, the guitar. You are so creative and so eager to learn new things. I hope you never lose that part of yourself as you grow. This year you decided to graduate early from highschool- an entire year early! And you did it! You didn’t have the summer off to relax… instead you took two accelerated college courses at Palomar: Economics and Political Science- in order to finish up and head on out. You were admitted into the BYU Flex program and you moved out and on up at the end of August where you’ve lived the past couple of months as a young adult. It is so strange to have you out of the house, and yet… it also feels right because you have been a mini adult your entire life! You were meant for living on your own! You love it and are doing so well. You are currently taking Psych 101, Music 101, writing 150, and religion and dance. You are considering getting a job. This past year you’ve been so into music- attending so many concerts, trying out for musicals, taking voice, singing at Christmas firesides and with your boyfriend Eli Wery. Yes, this past year you had a boyfriend all year and you really loved him a lot. He is still actually a big part of your life even in college as you haven’t quite gotten over him. He’s great, but hopefully not your soul mate (that’s just my opinion!) But you two have had a fun year together. Your best friends have been Emma Metten and Amaya Campbell. You love them so much! YOu also love Eli’s sisters: Lily and Maggie.
Your favorite things include exercise-mostly long power walks. You continue to do this around the Provo River but this is a very important part of your day. You love egg burritos, Chipotle steak salad, crumbl cookies, THINK protein bars, and diet coke. You love reading and playing guitar and piano, and of course singing. You love tv drama shows and ALL music but especially country. You love to dance and you go each week to the country western dance club and learn new tricks. You are very into fashion and nutrition and music- those are your biggest passions. You hate writing and love science. You miss your little sister a lot but you’re only a little bit homesick. You traveled all over the place this past year- to St. George for skiing, Costa Rica for our family vacation, Utah for sports camps, Yosemite for camping, Seattle for cousins and Pismo for the beach. You love to travel and love to drive. You are super into make up and you are an incredible hair stylist. You may choose to go to beauty school on top of your music education degree…. At least this is the direction you are currently taking.You are so much kinder to your family than in years past. You are budget conscious and frugal. You are responsible and grateful. You are the 2nd counselor in the RS at BYU and you just gave an hour long lesson to the ladies last week. It was scary but you did it and we were all very proud of you around here! You truly have grown into the most amazing young person and I am proud to be your mother. You know what you want and you are driven and motivated to succeed. I feel blessed to be your mother and blessed to have you in my life. Grateful for your spirit and all that you teach me. I love you so much honey. Happy Birthday.
