Happy 12th Birthday Zander!

Zander,

How is this your last birthday before the teenage years?! I cannot believe you are turning 12. I am loving every moment of your current age, even if you keep getting older on me. You are starting to sit in the front seat on rides in the car, giving us the best opportunities to chat about what is going on at school, church and soccer! You are excelling in middle school, getting all As (and maybe one B in 2nd quarter in reading). You are thriving in the advanced classes and starting to participate in the extra curricular activities that middle school has to offer: boys’ volleyball as the team manager, FCA on Wednesday mornings, Crosby Scholars and orchestra (playing the violin). You have also started to learn how to speak Spanish this year and thanks to Grandpa’s help, you are learning how to play golf (and already have a pretty great swing). You continue to thrive on the soccer field, playing offensive positions and twice being nominated for Team of the Week due to your stellar performance at the games the weekend prior! You continue to be active at our church, assisting with the audio visual team for youth worship nights, helping with set up and clean up during youth events, and participating in youth retreats in the fall and spring! This summer you will attend your first week-long youth camp event. This past year, you got to take trips to England, two weeks at the beach, a 5th grade beach retreat, a mountain ski weekend in the winter and a trip to our nation’s capital over spring break, so appropriate since you love history! Your favorite genre to read is historical fiction.  You are almost as tall as me now but you still continue to show me the respect a son should give to a mother. You are incredibly polite, consistently optimistic and such a hard worker (you have started cutting our grass this year and helping me with more chores around the house without me even asking, ex: emptying the dishwasher, folding the laundry, taking Beau for a walk and feeding him, and sweeping the floors). I’m so incredibly thankful that God blessed us with such an amazing son 12 years ago! I can’t wait to see what this next year holds as we countdown to you becoming a teenager! I love you so much!

Love, 

Mommy (a.k.a. Mom at this point)

You wanted a soccer ref set and a study/notetaking Bible with your name on the front for your birthday and we were able to make your wishes come true! I love how you continue to study scripture unprompted. I also love that you are thinking about how you can earn additional money by reffing games in the future (hence the need for a ref set).

To celebrate #12, we took some of your best buds to Top Golf for two hours of golfing fun! You wore your new golf shoes, bracelet and glove from Grammy and Grandpa! We had a blast hitting from the tee and trying to earn the most points! I love the friendships you are making with the guys at church and that we were able to have a pretty laid back celebration (as requested by you). We had a cookie cake for dessert since you aren’t really into too many sweets.;)

Breakfast in bed for your birthday! You also got to open your presents from us before school! For dinner, you requested East Coast Wings…. Complete with a complimentary dessert (carnival fries) and bottomless chips (a must according to the birthday boy)! After dinner, we went shopping with your birthday money/gift cards while Maddox and daddy went to Maddox’s baseball game. You purchased a poker set, new soccer ball and a portable volleyball set with your birthday money!