She is Sixteen going on Seventeen

On Hazel's birthday, I greeted her singing "You are sixteen, going on seventeen..." while she was singing it as well. How is my sweet baby sixteen!?! She's growing up so fast which is wonderful and hard all at once. 

Before we left Utah, the girls had a wonderful dance birthday party. We pop popcorn, laid out drinks, borrowed a speaker and playlist, and had an epic dance party in our front yard. It was SO much fun! I'm glad we could celebrate with a bang. 

Sixteen brings so many fun and terrifying exciting new things - like a driver's license!

... and a first date!

And while she's growing up and starting to spread her wings, she's also still just our wonderful Hazel. Always grounded, always ready to help out, always looking for the bright side of every situation. 

Moving when you're sixteen is HARD. Leaving friends, choir, Vanguard, and her comfort zone has been a big deal for Hazel. But she has faced it with poise, grit, and optimism. She's essentially approaching our move to Iowa as her pre-mission. She's leaving the world she loves for two years to live in a new place and do all the good she can while she's there. And knowing Hazel, she'll be able to do much good in the two years until she graduates. 

So what is Hazel up to so far in Iowa... Well, she found a job within a week of us arriving. She interviewed, asked all the questions, filled out paperwork, got fingerprints done, and was all ready to train. But then their needed times changed and didn't fit with her school schedule, so they weren't able to hire her after all. Her response to this disappointment, "Well, at least now I know how to apply for a job!"

She's enrolled in classes at the Home School Assistant Program and loving it. She gets to go in person one day a week and take some great classes. Then work through things at her own pace the rest of the week. She's also signed up for a community college class that starts in a few weeks! She's hoping to get some college credits under her belt before graduation. 

We found an awesome homeschool group here! Hazel is the oldest in the group by a year. They have one sophomore and a few Freshman (including Eliza). But the group is eager to grow a great high school group. So, Hazel has willingly taken on her role as the oldest and is helping lead out this inaugural high school year. 

This picture has nothing to do with anything, but it's so cute! Plus Hazel has a fun sense of humor and will appreciate it's randomness. 

She's sewing up a storm! Her sewing skills have far surpassed mine in the last year. She has something really exciting planned for Halloween and is working on making each of the kids a costume. Amazing! 

She's been writing lengthy letters to the one and only Annabelle Lee in beautiful penmanship and sealed with wax. These two are the best pair, and seeing them separated has been HARD. But they are making the most of it. On tour, the chaperone in charge of taking role didn't call for Hazel then Annabelle. She just would say "Hazelannbelle" as one entity, knowing that where one was, the other would be also. She wasn't wrong!! 

She's sharing her love, shining her light, and being unapologetically herself! She's standing up for what she knows it right and having faith that the right things will fill her life for the next two years. We couldn't be more proud of her! 

Happy Birthday Hazel!!!

Fourteen and Fabulous!

Our no longer "Little E" turned 14 this year! FOURTEEN! 

I decided to write her blog post first because according to Eliza, her birthday comes first. You see, she was born about 10:30am and Hazel wasn't born until 12:30pm, so her birthday is obviously first. Hazel disagrees haha! 

Either way, we were so excited to celebrate Eliza and Hazel's birthdays. While packing I found the banner I made the year they had a Fancy Nancy birthday party. They've grown a bit since then... 

In fact, this has been a year of tremendous growth for Eliza. She's grown taller (by at least 6 inches), stronger (hello aerial silks), and wiser. Eliza tackled her most challenging school year yet and did a fantastic job! 

She's always been confident and unapologetically herself, but I love how this year she's embraced that confidence even more. While so many of her and Hazel's social, spiritual, and academic circles overlap, Eliza's been charting her own path, and we love it! She's comfortable in her own skin and it shows in how she presents herself each day. 

Eliza has also grown stronger and more resilient this year. We've loved seeing her face hard things with courage and a positive attitude. 

The news of the move was hard on everyone. But she's repeatedly looked for the bright spots and worked SO hard helping us prepare. Now that we're here, she's gone out of her way to be friendly and outgoing. She told me that at the home school program this week she walked in on a small group of kids just sitting in the gym without talking before school started. Rather than sit down and keep to herself, she loudly walked in and said, "Well you're all sure quiet in here!" and started making friends. 

She tackled quite a few new skills this year and worked really hard. She just finished her first year of private violin lessons. She's come SO far! In fact, she was able to get into the upper level orchestra at the home school assistance program here in Iowa. It will be a challenge for her, but she will do great. (While I don't have any pictures of her playing, I do have this ridiculous movie. Hazel was helping Eliza film herself playing for her end of year Vanguard presentation. Michael and I were gone somewhere, and they were getting tired and slap happy. Hazel took all the blooper shots and created this. They are SO fun together when they're not getting on each other's nerves.)

Eliza's enjoyed quite a few new experiences this year including her first year of choir, her first choir tour, her first plane ride, and her first FSY. She chose to attend ASL FSY and LOVED it! She made some great friends and had fun with old friends. (Then immediately got in the moving truck to start driving to Iowa. Whew! Talk about a bit of a rough transition, but she handled it with grace.)

At home, Eliza is a fun big sister. She's not always the most nurturing with the little boys, but when there is serious fun happening, you can bet Eliza was involved. Here she is making mustaches and beards for Lionel and Walter just like in the book. 

She fills our home with beautiful music, order, strong opinions, a deep love of chickens, and many great lessons given in quiet moments.

We love you Eliza! We are SO proud of your strong sense of self, your positive attitude, your helping hands, your care of creatures, and the fun you bring into our home. Happy Birthday! 

Cousins!

No words on this post except we've been so blessed to live close to cousins and we're going to miss them SO much!