Britt,

How can it be a year since I wrote your birthday letter.  It can't really be time to do this again can it?  You have really shot up in the last year, at your doctor's appointment last week you are 5 foot and 4 and 3/4 of an inch, you are literally 1 inch shorter than your mother.  You keep checking, eagerly anticipating the day that you pass me.  Yet you are still the sweet boy that will get back up out of bed and give me a kiss on each check before going to sleep if you forgot before heading to your room.

This year has held a lot of stress, but you have striven to be a help and comfort.  At this time last year, we had just moved into our new home and were still unboxing everything.  But since then, we have lost a job, struggled through some temporary jobs, and just now started a new job.  The financial set backs have been tough.  We didn't do birthday gifts or meals out this year, and Uncle Benji has taken over care of the dogs for a little while.  You have seemed disappointed at times, and took it hard when we thought we'd have to rehome the dogs, but through all the set backs and changes to what is typical, you haven't become angry or resentful, and for your outlook I've been grateful.  You may not realize it but you set much of the mood for your siblings.  When you are having a bad day they tend to complain and grumble, but when you are having a good day, you seem to raise the spirits of those around you.

This school year has been a bit different than previous years.  I needed a bit of a recoup and rest period from the farm and the twins, and you needed to spend this year preparing for high school level work, so we signed you up for a few online courses.  In the fall you tried coding.  You still have a great love for video games and thought it would be great to be able to make one.  After working with the material, you decided that the coding part wasn't what you expected and that you didn't really enjoy that part.  So even though you didn't score highly in that class I see it as a success, because it helped you to better know what it is that you did and didn't want to pursue in life.  You have also taken a year long writing course.  Middle School Writing has required a 5 paragraph essay every two weeks.  The learning curve has been steep, both in figuring out how to structure the different styles of essays, and in learning to pace yourself over 2 weeks to complete assignments on time.  A concept that has been fluid in our homeschooling journey this far.  Just over halfway through the class I can say that you are doing really well on writing, and that I hope before long you won't need my help to manage your days and your project planning.

You have also grown in maturity this year.  Enough so that we allowed you to travel on a plane alone for a 2 week visit to Christopher. You had a ball, and we got reports of exceptional helpfulness and good behavior.  We are also allowing you to stay home and even with Ruth's help to occasionally watch the twins while we run short trips to town.  You have the daily chore right now of getting the twins up and feeding them breakfast, which you tend to be attentive too.  There are still days that they squall for you while you obliviously are involved in a Nintendo game.  But you are excellent with them.  Today, watching you hit a ball with your bat, and seeing Will screech with joy and chase after it to bring it back, I thought just how blessed I am to have you for a son.

You look forward more and more to what lies instore ahead in life, but still enjoy the current moment.  We are seeing more than glimpses these days into the kind of man that you are growing into: a man of perseverance and determination, a man who thinks deeply about the things of God, a man of kindness and consideration, a man who retains a heart tender to others, a man who can always find a joke and a smile.  We love you so much Britt, and pray that you continue to grow into a God honoring man.

Love,
Momma