Joyfully Overloaded

 Man of the Woods, Boy have you pushed yourself this year. You have: ~ Been the keynote youth speaker at the Distinguished Citizens Award Dinner, where you had to write and give a speech.  ~ In the same night passed your driver's permit exam and had your Eagle Project approved. ~ Spent 2 weeks at the Summit with 15,000 other Scouts from all over country. (Sorry most of the photos are from that trip. Glad I got to go with you, even though we hardly saw each other.) ~ Worked on staff at Camp Roosevelt. ~ Completed some difficult climbing routes at the gym. One of those routes you were the third person to complete it after months of practice. ~ Competed in International Rubik's Cube competitions. Of which you came in 16th or better in all the categories' you competed in. ~ Taken on the role of the Order of the Arrow Chapter Chief for Central Highlands. Nobody can ever accuse you of being lazy. You not only push yourself to grow but you inspire others to do the same for themsel...

 Happy One, What a year it's been. We had some epic snow storms, grew for 7 months to a family of 6 with our Little Miss moving in with us. You started Kindergarten. You learned to ride a bike, fell in love with camping, and we had some Epic Family Adventures that included visiting Niagara Falls, and Boldt Castle. We also had some hard times. I worked out of state quite a bit and we said goodbye to our Little Miss yet again. But you have grown in ways I could not imagine this year. You love with your whole self. You fell deeply and pray freely. One of my favorite things about you is how you will just spontaneously break out in prayer be it supplication or praise it does not matter, you bring all your thought to God. I hope you hold tightly to this habit. Your free giving prayers inspire me to be like you. I love you, and I am grateful to be your Mom. An Interview with your five year old self: What is your favorite color? Rainbow What is something special to you? My fox blanket What...

 To my First Born,   What a year this has been. To start with the obvious you've flown by me in height. You earned your Life rank and became an OA member. You volunteered your time as a CIT at camp. As a troop we hiked Mount Washington. In short: You have had a lot of wins this past year.  Part of your Life rank service project was cleaning a walking trail for a local elementary school and building a new bench for the outdoor reading circle. You amaze me. You dream big and you make it happen. You already have goals set for year 15:  - Work on Staff at Camp Roosevelt - Go to the National Jamboree. - Get your driving permit by the end of 2023, of which you already have all the money saved. - Take the Life Guarding course over the school year so next year you can be a Life Guard at camp, or even better be a secondary one so you can work at COPE. My favorite part about how you dream is how often you bring other people along with you. You have a natural gift for leading a...

 To My Laughter, This birthday is a big year as you enter your teenage years and prepare to enter high school. You are entering the last phase of childhood more and more we'll step back as parents, giving you space to both succeed and fail on your own. My goal is for you to learn from both. I hope that you use them to help become the man you want to be, the man God made you to be.  This year you will receive your Bible, the one you've begged for all year long. Your entire life we have worked hard to make sure there is always a group of men in your life that you can look to and follow after. As you enter your teen years we want you to know that you can reach, past us, for advice and direction. We want you to learn to find trustworthy people to lean on when life is hard or when things seem blurry. Inside this Bible you will find notes from men who have gone before you. You are loved now and always. For your Bible cover I chose Jerusalem, because you have always dreamed big and ...