THE EVANS FAMILY

Tuesday, January 2, 2024

Ember - 11 years old

Ember is *E*L*E*V*E*N*

She is growing up so fast and each year reminds us that she is getting farther from a kid and closer to a teenager. I know God designed everything perfectly, but we often find ourselves wishing that we could stop time because it is flying by too quickly.

At age 11, Ember is about 55 inches tall and weighs around 63 pounds. Ember's room has changed color schemes some. She has an aqua bedspread and rug. We sold her Barbie house and she has a saucer chair in the corner instead. Toys are becoming fewer and fewer on her shelves and books are taking over the space. Ember goes to be between 8:30-9:00 after reading or unwinding for a while after her brothers go to bed earlier. She still calls her Daddy up each night to "touch her fingers" and get one more hug and kiss. She continues to start her CD player to play music for her to fall asleep to. Her favorite song for us to sing to her at bedtime is "Go to Sleep." Ember is definitely starting to sleep in more on the days that she doesn't have to wake up for school or church. She usually wakes up between 7:30-8:00 but sometimes sleeps past that.

Ember is a strong personality who likes to be around people and have fun. She likes to have some control in situations and sometimes overreacts when that is not a possibility. Ember is a hard worker and very bright. She likes to do her very best on most things and is persistent when learning something new. She is tidy and likes her room to be clean and organized. She enjoys being silly and making others laugh. She is creative and comes up with activities and games to do with her brothers or her friends. Ember is still a leader and a kind friend to those around her - but it is often harder for her to treat her brothers with as much patience and kindness.

Here are some of Ember's favorite things to do. Reading is still at the top of the list. She goes through books very quickly and rereads her favorites often. She is currently going through the Anne of Green Gables series and has just started The Lord of the Rings series. Ember loves school and all things associated with it (except for being waken up to go). Her favorite parts of school right now are math and reading. Ember loves to sing. I gave her my old ipod that I found and she enjoys listening to music with that and singing along. She often makes up her own songs as well. Ember also enjoys sports and activities. She still loves practicing her gymnastic moves that she has been learning from friends and through classes this year. She loves to just run when the opportunity presents itself and she likes to do obstacles that challenge her when walking around Buffalo Park or anywhere else there is something to climb on. Trips and vacations are still some of Ember's most favorite things. I don't know if anything can top the beach to her overall but she sure also loves going to Disneyland or other theme parks. She continues to love camping and has developed an interest in hunting like her Dad and she is now old enough to start hunting. Ember has been really enjoying the 4th - 6th grade midweek meeting that our church recently started for kids her age. They learn catechism questions and answers, memorize verses, pray together, eat snacks and of course play silly games. Ember continues to be adventurous and pretty fearless and enjoys things like: high ropes extreme course, ice skating, ziplining, flips off diving boards, swimming, climbing high in trees and bungee trampolines. Ember is still a great eater. Here are some of her favorite foods: avocado toast with an egg on top, egg burrito, waffles, corn dogs, chicken nuggets, noodles with butter, pickles, olives, cheeseburgers, pizza, brisket and most fruit.

In her down time when Ember isn't reading or singing, she still really enjoys being creative. She likes making things with her Rainbow Loom. She enjoys doing paint by sticker books. She will create a village of Legos with her random assortment of Legos collected over the years. She will make up songs, stories and poems. Ember enjoys playing games and has been really into Solitaire recently. She has been learning new games such as Settlers of Catan and Euchre (games that Dad and Mom really enjoy). She learned a game called James Bond that she enjoys from the girl that helps watch the kids during our Lifegroup meetings. She will also often play Sorry!, Tenzi and Chinese checkers. Ember still enjoys being outdoors. She likes riding her bike, rollerblading and working on gymnastics in the grass. She doesn't play on park equipment as much but will practice kicking her soccer ball with a bungee that returns it or practice bumping her volleyball to herself.

There are just some things that each person struggles with in life and Ember's tend to remain mostly the same. She still doesn't enjoy being rushed and we are learning strategies and solutions to make this be less of an issue. She can play so well with her brothers but then there are times where she doesn't have the emotional and metal capacity to handle them and doesn't kindly let them know she needs some space. She doesn't enjoy when we go somewhere and there are not friends for her to play with. She usually handles these situations quite well but would prefer that there be someone her gender that's closer to her age there. Since things come fairly easy for Ember, she often struggles with being humble and seeing these things as gifts from God. Ember has always been a good eater but has randomly started not liking certain things like cashews, Zbars, pomegranate seeds and Cuties.

Ember continues to grow and learn in all aspects of life. She keeps getting stronger and learning new things physically. She improved at skiing with another year under her belt and is much faster than I would like to go. She played volleyball for the first time and did really well for her first year. Her FCS JV volleyball team actually ended up winning 1st place in the intermural program the city puts on for private and charter schools. Ember started official gymnastic classes this year and quite quickly moved from Level 1 to Level 3. She truly enjoys learning new skills and is often practicing handstands and back walkovers around the house or at the park. Ember continues to grow and excel academically as well. In January she won her school spelling bee and advanced to the Coconino County spelling bee where she won 2nd place against 2nd -8th graders who won their school spelling bees. She is in a math class 2 levels above her grade level and in an advanced ELA class. Ember continues to grow in her emotional health as well although it continues to be the most difficult for her. She still has days where she does great at nicely stating what she needs and keeping under control and then there are other days that she lets things get under her skin too quickly and upset her. She is continuing to learn that she can't please everyone and needs to at times just do what she enjoys without thinking of others opinions of her. We also encourage her not look to be a victim in all situations. Most people (even her brothers) aren't always trying to ruin what she would like to have happen on purpose. Sometimes things just don't go as planned and we have to adapt to that. She has surprised me multiple times within the last year by being super helpful or selfless without us asking her to. She offered to carry my water bottle to the car for me, she let Reece go first on something voluntarily and ran upstairs to help Kade get his shirt down when he asked me to help. Spiritually, Ember still has a desire to know God more and more and to please Him with her choices. Sometimes her own selfish will takes over but that isn't usually what she wants. She continues to memorize scripture and catechisms. She continues to take her Bible to church and take notes. She has good insights when we do family worship night and our nightly prayer and Bible reading.

Ember is mature beyond her years in some areas and then, at the same time, still so in need of training, love and direction. We are so thankful that God has placed us in her life to help with these things. Ember is so special and unique in how God has made her and it is so exciting to watch new things unfold and grow in her each year. We are so thankful for our 11 years with Ember and pray for many more years and memories with our wonderful girl! We love you, Ember!

BIRTHDAY ACTIVITIES:

Pancakes for breakfast

We took Ember lunch at school

She got to open a few presents after school. She got a mood necklace, a 3D pen and some new Nike tennis shoes

We went trick or treating in Belmont again with some friends

We finally had the ice cream sundaes Ember wanted for her birthday treat about a month later because of busyness and sickness

Ember's 11 Year Interview:

Favorite color? Blue

Favorite toy? Tickle

Favorite food? Pizza and soup

A food you don't really like? pomegranate seeds

Favorite thing to watch? Dude Perfect

Favorite place to go? Mexico

Favorite book? Chronicles of Narnia

Favorite song? "The Middle"

Favorite restaurant? Pano Vino (in Mexico)

Favorite thing to do each day? Read and sleep

Favorite thing to do with Mommy? Go to stores

Favorite thing to do with Daddy? Get Boba tea and get tickled

What makes you happy? Friends, family, and getting A's

What is something scary? Thinking about my family dying

What are you really good at? Reading, math, singing, hugging

Who is your best friend? Evelyn, Evi, Bailey, Adeline

What do you want to be when you grow up? Teacher

What do you think about before you fall asleep? How the day went, how I wished the day went, and future days

Here are some more pictures from the last year!

Friday, December 15, 2023

Reece - 8 years old

Reece turns 8!!

It is crazy that Reece is EIGHT years old already. My how the time flies! This boy continues to make us laugh and surprise us.

At age 8, Reece is a little over 48 inches tall and weighs around 51 pounds. Kade and him still share a room upstairs and Reece continues to sleep on the top bunk of their bunk beds. He still is by far our earliest riser each morning. He usually wakes up between 5:30 - 6:00. He is usually in bed by 7:45 each night and falls asleep quickly. He still wears a sleep mask each night to bed and likes sleeping in underwear, not pajamas.

Reece loves to be silly and still has seemingly endless energy. He is almost always running, jumping, spinning or some other form of movement. Thankfully, he seems to be able to keep himself under control when he needs to at school and church. He is pretty quiet and reserved at school but the opposite at home. He is constantly making loud noises, randomly clapping his hands together or being loud to be loud. It is a constant challenge for him to show a little more self control in this area at home. Reece can be such a kind and sweet helper or he can swing to the opposite side of the spectrum and purposely try and cause trouble with his siblings. He is very bright but often lack confidence. He is stronger in math than in literacy and reading. He struggles when things are challenging and his first reaction is to give up. But then, he is very proud of himself when he does keep working at something and gets it. Reece still would rather follow than take the lead in most situations. But he is making progress in choosing for himself instead of just copying what his friends or siblings are choosing.

Reece has many things that he loves! He loves things that involve running and being active. He plays outside alot and loves recess and PE at school. He played basketball for the first time this last year and enjoyed that and continues to enjoy soccer as well. Kade and him have spent many many hours chasing and catching bugs in the backyard and greenbelt. He loves riding his bike and scooter around the house or on walks. He loves to climb trees, make forts and move rocks around. Reece enjoys going to friend's houses and any other activity such as: pool, gymnastics place, laser tag, library, etc. He still is really enjoying school and likes going. His favorite subjects are math and PE. Reece loves camping and fishing and going on any other vacation such as Mexico, Great Wolf Lodge or any amusement/theme park. Reece is an overall good eater who often has an endless stomach. Some of his favorite foods are: cereal, scrambled eggs, banana, yogurt, almond butter and honey in a tortilla, pizza, hotdogs, hamburgers, grapes, fig bars, cashews and salami.

Reece has many games and activities that he enjoys to play. He has been less into board/card games but still enjoys some. He most often plays a card game called James Bond with Ember. He still will play War as well. He enjoyed playing Uno with his friends in Mexico with a giant set of Uno cards. Reece's favorite indoor toy are his Picasso Tile magnets. He loves building different things with them and then destroying it. He has also been playing with his indoor basketball hoop and trying to do trick shots. This has been inspired by them watching quite a bit of Dude Perfect shows for their TV time recently. Reece still really enjoys doing new to him Lego sets and is getting better at free building with his bin of Legos. He still enjoys paint by sticker books but has slowed down on those. He will get really into Perler beads when we occasionally pull those out as a project. Kade and him really enjoy playing Gaga ball in their room - they roll a ball at each other trying to hit each other's feet. They also still enjoy wrestling and fighting with foam swords. One of Reece's favorite things is still being tickled. He laughs so hard but doesn't want it to stop. Reece continues to love pushing the toy dump truck around the backyard. He enjoys puzzles and just got a 100 piece puzzle for his birthday that he has already completed multiple times. Reece got a cool rocket for his 7th birthday that we were finally able to do that he loved. It shot up SOOO high and then he got to run like crazy to go get it.

As many favorites as Reece has, he also has plenty of dislikes. He doesn't enjoy when things are hard for him. He gets frustrated and says that it's impossible. He doesn't like when we cannot understand him when he is talking too quietly or mumbling which he sometimes tends to do. He doesn't like it when Ember creates a game to play that is confusing or he always looses at. Reece dislikes the attention being on him and will avoid wearing costumes or pajamas on pajama day. He still isn't the biggest fan of heights in some situations. He still usually complains about doing his chores and has not gotten paid a few times because of it.

Reece has tried/learned quite a few things this past year. He played basketball for the first time this year and enjoyed that. He got some rollerblades and learned how to do those. He is growing in his reading and spelling more and more each week and is starting to enjoy reading books. Reece. Reece continues to do well in math and was moved up a grade level this school year. He tried another high ropes course at the Great Wolf Lodge and did the lower level just fine but then got scared on the higher level. Reece was brave enough to do the big swing at the Lost Canyon camp in Williams. But only a few weeks later, he did the high ropes course at Flag X in Flagstaff and did the whole thing 3 times through, He tried a bungee trampoline at Snowbowl and did a backflip after being too nervous at first. Reece skied for another season and has gotten so much better and faster on his skis. Reece continues to grow in his Bible verse memorization and ability to answer the questions each night from the Bible reading we do as a family.

Reece is very different than Ember and has been his entire life in personality and learning style. But it is amazing to me how God can bless different people with different minds and talents. It is so fun to watch Reece continue to grow and learn in so many aspects of life. We love him so much and are very grateful to be an eye witness to the special young man that Reece is becoming.

Birthday Fun:

Chia pudding to start off the day