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.
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| 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!!
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