Official Teenager!

As of her birthday in July, Eliza is officially a teenager! She gave Hazel such a hard time when she turned 13 that the other kids decided it was her turn. They didn't hesitate to tease her endlessly with things like, "You'll be boring now that you're a teeeeeenager!" Jokes on them though because Eliza is a pretty great teenager. She's made huge strides this year in so many areas of her life, and we're so proud of her. 

One thing Eliza did this summer is really start setting a new direction for her hobbies. After struggling with various aspects of gymnastics last year, she turned to the Lord in prayer for guidance on what she should do. She received a clear answer in about January that she should finish out the season, but not continue competitive gymnastics. And even though it was hard to step away from something she's loved so much, she did it with courage and determination. 

She quickly decided to wanted to spend more time with music. She's always had an amazing ear for hearing music and has dabbled in playing the piano, ukulele, and fiddle. But this time she's been serious about becoming proficient in an instrument and learning to read music. She decided on violin and has been taking private lessons all summer. She's already made a ton of progress and loves it!

She also auditioned for and was accepted in to Utah Valley Children's Choir (the same choir Hazel sings in) as an Alto. She's loving choir. And I love hearing these two girls sing together. Especially since they sing different parts, it's so lovely when I hear them practicing together at home. 

Eliza still wanted something to keep up her strength and flexibility from gymnastics, so she found a place to begin learning aerial silks. It has been awesome to watch her take to this new hobby! She LOVES it and is quickly mastering skills and becoming more confident. 

But hobbies weren't the only thing Eliza took charge of in her life this year. She also chose to take on a much more intense academic schedule this year. Our new homeschool group allows youth 13 and up in their "Seniors" program which is essentially a rigorous high-school schedule. There's a lot of reading and writing involved, but Eliza wanted to participate. She has dived right in and is doing an incredible job! Her persuasive editorial even won best in her group last week. 

One of the classes Eliza is loving is a photography class. She's taken some amazing pictures already, and I'm sure there will be many, many more to come this year. 

This summer Eliza participated in Heroic Youth as a Youth leader for the first time. She had a lot of fun, pushed herself in many areas, and learned a lot! The challenge at the youth leader only portion was a huge struggle for their team (the theme was resilience and they sure did a good job creating a simulation to test the youth's resilience). I KNOW it pushed Eliza especially. But she made it through. She's grown SO much this year in her emotional resilience and we're so proud of her hard work in this often unseen/unnoticed area of her life. 

One of her new goals in life is to be punctual. It's such a great, worthwhile goal, but man it's keeping me on my toes. I'm not an excessively late person by nature, but 6 kids have made me in to a less than punctual person. Thanks to Eliza constant nagging reminders, we've all been working on arriving on time. I tease, but I truly do admire how much she wants this in her life, and I'm hopeful some of it will rub off on me. 

Despite so many new experiences and so much growth, Eliza is still her fun-loving self. She enjoyed a good romp at the park or catching the occasional toad.

She's an awesome big sister! When the boys struggle to clean up their room, Eliza is the master at motivating them. She invents these "escape room challenges" and suddenly those boys are jumping through hoops to get everything cleaned up within the time limit she's given them. Walter too loves his time with Eliza (and her lizard). 

Eliza is still fearless. When given the opportunity to try something new, she's often the first in line. 

Eliza still loves to create. The one thing she really wanted for her birthday was a pair of Converse. Within hours of opening them, she decided to embellish  them and make them her own. She's always doing this with her clothes, backpacks, decor in her room, etc. She has a great eye for taking ordinary things and making them her own. 

We love, love, love you sweet EE! Have a wonderful 13th year. Keep learning, growing, and pushing yourself. We truly can't wait to see all you'll become.