Hazel

Our beautiful Hazel turned 15 at the beginning of July. She is a light to us and all around her. I always worried about having teenagers, but Hazel has made it wonderful. She's a joy to spend time with and balances fun and silliness with hard work and helpfulness so well. Like a cute friend once said, "You're sure lucky to have Hazel as the 'captain' of your kids," and we couldn't agree more. In no particular order, here are some of the things we love most about Hazel...

Hazel has always been a natural leader in our home. Now as she's serving as the Young Women's class president in our hearing ward, we're seeing her use those skills elsewhere too. She's done such an incredible job. Her leaders and the other youth alike have commented to me how much they adore Hazel. 

Hazel still loves to read. With ever increasing demands on her time, I don't think she reads as much as she once did, but she makes her time reading count. This year she's read some incredible and challenging books. Her favorite was Les Meserable (the unabridged version!)

Hazel was a youth leader for Heroic Youth again this year, this time as a Valkyrie Commander. She even made her incredible arm band from scratch.

Hazel is such an amazing big sister! She is so patient with the younger kids. I know it can't be easy to always be moving at a toddlers pace, but she is always graceful about it. She's also SO much fun, for all the younger kids but especially Walter. 

Hazel has a movie or book quote for almost every situation. She's always had an amazing memory, and she puts it to good use quoting back the best parts at the perfect moments. Some of her most quoted books include Pride and Prejudice and Little Women, while the movies/shows that come up most often are Studio C, Ever After, Cinderella (live action), and of course all animated Disney Princess movies. Love that she's still a princess at heart!  

Hazel has a clear view of some goals she'd like to accomplish in the near future, and she's working hard toward them. One of them is getting her driver's license. She passed her permit test first try and is ready to take on learning to drive. I cannot believe we're in this stage of life!

Hazel has self-proclaimed "skillful skills." These skills allow her to pull off things others might deem impossible - like tripping over air, managing to drop all manner of things, or (a personal favorite true story from the summer) some how hitting a sweet boy from FSY in the face with a metal door requiring him to get stitches on his eyebrow. You know, those kind of crazy skills haha! I can't laugh because I know she inherited them from me. Luckily she has the posie and sense of humor to brush them off gracefully. And don't worry, the boy from FSY is fine and they are still friends. 

Hazel had a summer full of adventures this year, with the highlight being leaving the country with her choir! They traveled to Canada for 10 days and had the best time. 

They gave concerts, stayed with incredible host families, saw sights, filmed a music video, attended the Calgary Stampede, visited Banff, ate poutine and catsup chips, and so much more. It sounds like it was the best time, and we're so glad she had so much fun! 

For Hazel's actually birthday, (the day before she left on tour) we had a pretty low key day. One thing she really wanted was to pick out fabric. I took her, Eliza, and her great friend Annabelle fabric shopping and we got enough fabric for her to make several dresses. The first one is a period Colonial dress and it's amazing! Annabelle is a costuming genius and has helped Hazel make an incredible dress. It's nearly done, and I can't wait to see it! 

Hazel, while part of me wishes I could keep you little forever, the other part of me is loving watching you grow in to yourself. I can't wait to see who you become and where your hard work, brains, and love for others takes you in this life. We love you Hazel!