You have grown so much this year Dane! Physically, emotionally and socially. At almost sixteen you are a little over 5 foot 7 with long legs, beautiful blue eyes and adorable curly hair- which you recently dyed to a light brown. I was so nervous for you to lose your blonde, but it actually looks great! At this age, you care a lot and I do mean A LOT about your looks! You have a skin care routine and a hair routine. You shower daily, you investigate new styles and save money to buy new clothes and shoes. Clothing is pretty much all you asked for this year for Christmas— oh and a clothing rack to hang all the clothes on! Ha! But you really do take pride in your looks and you are super duper handsome and well put together. But enough about the outside, let’s talk about your inner beauty and passions. Dane, you are an incredible person and I truly think the world of you. I love your kind and compassionate personality. You are sensitive and helpful and loving and fun and really have a darling sense of humor. You always lighten the mood. You are a peacemaker in our home, an example to everyone. You are fun to be around, a good listener and conversationalist. You work hard and you don’t complain much. You take your life seriously and want to excel. You care about your school work and your soccer career. You are AMAZING at soccer and you hope to go pro one day. You are a deep thinker. Sometimes this is hard on you because it can cause you to see the negative in life. But you have many tools and coping skills that allow you to pick yourself up. You write in a journal and exercise every day. You are very passionate about soccer, music, and cooking! I think you have the best taste in music and I always enjoy listening to the songs you find and often put them on my own playlist. You have a true talent for cooking. You like to look for recipes but also enjoy tweaking them and making them your own. When you have time off from school, you are often in charge of dinner and these are my favorite times of the year because I love what you make for us! You’ve mastered chicken parmesan, pesto pasta, gourmet hamburgers, gourmet Mac and cheese, teriyaki noodles, brown sugar salmon and so much more!
You are patient and good to each of us in the family- but particularly to your little sister. You are her hero and she absolutely adores you. She knows that she can turn to you for a listening ear or help in any way. You two have a special relationship. You are also beloved by your little bro who wouldn’t miss one of your soccer games to save his life. He thinks you are near perfect and admires everything about you. Ev, though gone at college, also thinks you are pretty cool. You are a helper at church and seminary. You are a friend to those in need and care about others. You don’t like to see people left out and you are not “too cool” for others. You care about the gospel and forming a relationship with Jesus Christ. You care about the advice and wisdom of your parents and grandparents and are an extremely coachable kid who likes to ask questions and learn. You enjoy math and writing and science and school comes pretty easy to you. You enjoy racket sports and are really quite good at tennis, badminton, and pickleball. You don’t love reading, but you are pretty good at writing and I’ve always been impressed by your English papers. You love the outdoors- you are always up for adventures and always have a positive attitude and incredible growth mindset regarding new experiences. Last year you biked 200 miles down the coast of California with your Young Men’s group, camping along the way. This was not easy in any way shape or form, but you worked hard to prepare and you moved forward with confidence. You LOVED this trip, though it was one of the hardest thing you had ever done. This past summer you also attended BYU Soccer camp without a friend- which was a little tricky, but again, you had a good attitude and enjoyed your week. We traveled so many fun places: Costa Rica, ski trips to Brianhead, Pismo Beach with cousins, Yosemite with friends, Seattle twice! and of course Utah for camp, hiking and Lagoon. I’m excited for the many adventures that lay ahead including your humanitarian trip to India for three weeks! And your drivers license just around the corner. You take your test on February 10th! And though driving has not been your passion, you are getting better and better every day and are actually quite good!
Dane… Dad and I think you are one in a million. We love everything about you and know that you are destined for great things. You make our life better in every way and we feel beyond blessed that you are our son. Love you and happy sweet sixteen!
