Well, what can I say? So far, 2015 has been your year. You turned 8, got baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, started going to cub scouts, and have your mom as your primary teacher. So, pretty much everything that's happened this year has been related to church, but I really think that's okay. It's all a pretty big deal.
You are a good boy. You try your best always to be a good boy. Sometimes you fail, but almost always you succeed. For the last couple of weeks you've had the "I can't do my jobs disease" and every time you are asked to help clean up and put something away your legs are broken, your stomach hurts, or you just fall into a melty ball of goo on the floor. But most of the time you do your best and it makes me and your dad happy that you always are trying your best. Last week, you had the best week of your year, and that is even with being off track. You were happy and cooperative, took good care of Quinn and Wyatt, and it made me happy. Happy enough to buy you a snackee cup at target, for sure.
Lately though, I am so happy that you have finally decided that reading is FUNdamental. You got some great books at Christmastime, pick out pretty lengthy chapter books at the library, and we've been reading "Super fudge" out loud almost every night before going to bed, which is fun for me, you, and Wyatt.
You are a great help in the kitchen, a great help with Quinn, and are fun to talk to. It's interesting to watch you start to transition from hanging out with the kids to wanting to be part of more adult conversations. When Uncle Willie called on Christmas day, you stayed in Grandma Judy's office the entire hour, not wanting to miss a second of your time with Willie, or to miss out on anything that was said for that photographic memory of yours. And, as part of that process of being more grown-up, you listen to and hear everything, even when we don't think that you are. For example, Quinn's kindle is lost and gone forever. We can remember when we last saw it, know who was in our house when we last saw it, but after two weeks of literally searching every square inch of the house, it's no where to be found. Well, we've been talking about it a lot and the other day in the car, when both of your brothers were asleep you said, "So, what ARE we going to do about Quinn's kindle?", as if you were the third adult in the figure it out equation. It was pretty funny.
Basketball was great this year. With dad and Coach Grandpa Karl at the helm, your team did awesome and you improved so much. It was a good time watching the little team play for 8 weeks. You are a talented athlete and it's fun to see you improve. More exciting however, is watching your love of basketball grown. This past Saturday was the last Utah home game of the season. The Huntsman Center was packed, the crowd loud and as Utah battled Arizona, you watched with eagle eyes cheering and talking sports. I got to sit by you for much of the game and it was fun to talk to you and answer your questions. I loved it. Maybe I'll be able to make you a Ute after all.
Really, I'm just proud of you. The amount of firsts sure slow down when you turn 8, but there are still a lot of great things happening all the time. You are a good boy, a good friend and a good brother. At church almost every Sunday we pass notes to each other and plan out our week. You write great sentences all on your own for your spelling homework. You have some pretty sweet dance moves and still love the same songs you've loved for years.
A month or so ago, right around your birthday, you finally had enough money to buy your own ipod touch. It took nearly a year to save up the cash and I was so proud of you when you were able to buy the thing that you've wanted for so long. It took more concentration and focus for such a long time than I thought you had, and even though I'm pretty sure you lost at least $30 along the way, you did it and it was great.
We had a conversation the other day, when you were mad at me of course, about how in heaven, you chose to be part of this family and you chose to be born first. And, as part of that, you volunteered to be the guinea pig son and deal with all the stuff you have to deal with - good and bad - and that as the first born, you, along with your brothers, have high expectations set for you. It was a good conversation, once you took your hands away from your eyes (your most annoying weapon of self defense), and we really got to talk. Yes, your bar is set pretty high but I have complete faith that you will, as you already do, hit that bar and then some throughout your life.
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