Max at 12

We love our Maxy so much and have had such a great year with him. (Even though he wants me to stop calling him that, it's a hard habit to break.) This is the day he was ordained as a deacon. So special to have all of his grandparents there. 

This was his first time doing proxy baptisms in the temple. It was a wonderful day.

Lots of new things for Max this year! He got phase one braces on in February. He's actually done a great job flossing and taking care of his teeth.

Max continues to be super creative. I love watching him come up with an idea and then execute it! He had an idea to make a Messi jersey as his Valentines box. In typical Max style, he had a very specific vision. He spent so much time on it and it turned out so cool!

This picture is all the more special now because GG has since passed away. She passed away in May. I'm so glad Max got to know his great grandma so well. He loved visiting her (as long as I went with him--he found that sitting at a lunch table with all her old friends overwhelming unless I was there). :) 

Max got very into golf this year! He took golf lessons with Graham and really enjoyed it, for the most part. He did end up frustrated a lot because he wanted to be good instantly and did not like that Graham was so much better than him. :)

We went to Hawaii and Costa Rica this year and Max loved both trips. He loved seeing the animals in Costa Rica and he loved the snorkeling in Hawaii.

Max was Abu in the school Aladdin play in the spring. He begged his teacher to let him be Abu even though the part wasn't actually in the play. It was a little confusing though because he complained about it constantly and looked completely bored on the stage. He was basically in every scene, just standing next to Aladdin looking like he hated it, haha.

Max got really into soccer this last year! He finished up his spring season with a great rec team that helped him built confidence and helped him realize he wanted to play a bit more competitively. Here he is with his coach, who was very sweet and enthusiastic. I'm not sure what his real name is, but I call him Smee because he always wore that red beanie.

This is Max with Mrs. Eccher, his 5th and 6th grade teacher. She's exceptional, and Max is so lucky to have her for two years. (And to have the same great class for two years too!) He's convinced she doesn't like him, but I'm sure that's not true. :)

5th grade report on Muhammad Ali

Another pic with his rec team, The Cooks.

Max did BYU soccer camp with Jesse and the Craguns and loved it!

I just love this picture of Max. It really captures him right now.

Max went to Clear Creek with Eli and Graham and had a blast!

These three continue to be great buddies and love to hang out and sleep overs together. They have a "tradition" of watching marvel movies every time they have a sleep over. But I'm pretty sure they just call it a tradition since they know their parents are more likely to agree that way. :)

Max is obsessed with strawberry frappacinos and spends a large percentage of his net worth on them. 

Max continues to love fishing and loved our summer fishing trip to California.

Max is a major BYU fan and is wearing BYU gear most days.

This is a picture with his new team, the Hot Shots. They're a AA team and they've been a fantastic team for Max. The coach has been exceptional. He plays forward and got 3 goals in the fall. It's fun having Graham on the team too.

Young mens has been awesome for Max. He's loved it and has loved the activities. This was an activity at BYU. I think this is after Will Ferrin, the BYU kicker, gave them a tour of the athletes facility.

Some fun art I found that he did. A drawing of himself making a crazy face for his school pictures last year haha.

He's always doing fun things with his friends! Here he is with Graham and Bailey, headed to Cornbelly's. He loves Cornbelly's and went a fair amount with his friends this year.

He and his friends were gangsters for Halloween. He was very set on getting XL And Ones for his costume. I wasn't sure they'd stay up but he made them work haha.

The costumes in action! Max and Graham remain very close friends and are almost always together. They love to cook stuff together, play video games, and play soccer outside.

This is from Max's birthday party. Bailey, Jesse, Warren, Cooper, Max, and Graham. These are his closest friends this year. He also played with Eli a fair amount, but they had a bit of a falling out this summer, so they haven't hung out as much since. Warren's a newer friend this year and they have fun hanging out.

Reflections award! He forced him to enter and he hated it lol.

Max was a big Christmas guy this year! He loved all things Christmas and wanted more Christmas-themed clothes and was very into decorating his room.

He went to 3 football games this year and loved them!

Ma'x tree he decorated in his room.

Baptisms with the young men! We've tried to go to the temple once a month and Max has really learned to love it. He likes the way it feels when he goes. I feel like Max has grown a lot spiritually this year. He was really nervous to pass the sacrament at the beginning of the year, but he conquered his fear! He's still not comfortable in every position, but he's getting there.

Max and I have a really close relationship. He likes to be near me, and I love it. He wants me to come in and talk to him every night, and I love that too.

I got to come help with Max's class Christmas party for a bit and had to sneak a picture, even though he was clearly very embarrassed.

Max absolutely loves being in the kitchen and cooking. I need to be better about teaching him more in the kitchen and letting him do more. He makes himself eggs most days and loves making grilled cheese too. He loves making smoothies and I found this recipe he made the other day. It actually was so yummy! I love this part of him. He loves a well crafted meal and really enjoys food in general. It's very Lee of him.

Max continues to really struggle with Violet. :) He has an extremely strong urge to correct every single thing she says. We're hoping one day they'll be BFFs. But for now, we're just trying to survive it and try to encourage improvements! Driving them to piano each week completely wipes me out because of the fighting, so this was part of his reparations this last week: he had to tell Violet five things he likes about her.

Max became a big Man City fan this summer and talks about them all the time, keeps up on their matches, wants to watch them, etc. He loves Haaland and got his jersey for Christmas.

6th grade picture! Didn't smile with his teeth because of his braces. :)

Max is very into games and specifically is very into Yahtzee lately. He probably played 20 games of Yahtzee during Christmas Break. He plays a lot by himself too. His top score is 415.

• Max is an incredibly unique, brilliant boy. I love being his mom. He loves to understand things and is incredibly intelligent. He's extremely creative. He's thoughtful. He has a good heart. He's generous (he used his own money to buy our Christmas presents this year). We love Max so much and love having him in our home.
• You can always find him reading. He continues to mostly like graphic novels, especially Big Nate. He finished Harry Potter last year and love that. He likes watching Studio C and comedies in general.
• He's had a hard year in some ways. He's really struggled being short and hates that. Kids, even his friends, say things that are unkind. I think they're trying to be funny, but it's still hard. Even though it's been hard for him, I think it's also helped him grow. 
• I don't have a great piano picture from this year, but he's had a great year! He learned the Bach French Suite No. 5, Gigue. He learned an F Major Mozart Piano Concerto No. 19, mvt. 3. He's learning a Tarantella right now. Cameron has practiced with him the past few years but starting in September, Max transitioned to having lessons alone and practicing on his own. He's actually done with great with that and has really risen to the occasion. He pays a lot of attention now that he knows he's in charge of his own piano. 

Andy at 14

 

Soccer is still a big part of Andy's life. He's on a Surf team. His coach is Coach Ezra--he's loved him. This is from when his team won a St. George tournament this year. It was such a fun, intense tournament and so fun to see them win!

Andy seems to really like his school choir. He's here with his friend Kade Ballam.

We got Andy a new bike this year! He was really excited. He keeps growing and needs a different bike every year, which is quite expensive. 

Another choir concert--this time pictured with Mitt, Lincoln, and Davis.

Andy went to BYU soccer camp with his friend Kyson and loved it.

I love when we get to see this really creative, funny side of Andy. This is when he and Max prepared a presentation on teenage slang for the Messick family reunion in Bear Lake. It was so funny and well done.

Andy's piano journey continues! He says he'd like to quit if we let him, but I don't really believe it. We require him to practice an hour a day. His practicing isn't the most focused or efficient practicing, but he still plays incredibly because he's so dang talented. This is when he participated in a new competition (I think it was called Mountain West?) and got honorable mention.  

Andy got first place in the Encore Keyboard Competition this year, a huge accomplishment! He played his Beethoven Appassionata Sonata (3rd mvt) and Liszt Liebestraum No. 3. I hadn't heard him practicing his Liszt the few days leading up to the competition and asked him about it. He told me, "Yeah, I'm not practicing it." I thought he'd learn his lesson in the competition...and then he went and won first place haha. Typical Andy! The other big accomplishment is that he's playing in Carnegie Hall this week! He won first place in a competition called The Golden Classical competition and gets to play in Carnegie Hall because he won. So exciting! He's also been working on a Debussy called "Gardens in the Rain." He wants to learn a really cute Scriabin Etude next.

Andy enjoyed being on the mountain biking team this year! He got to race on the 9th grade A team.

This is the only race I've ever been allowed to come to. He says he doesn't like the cheering and the extra attention from having more family members there.

A swimming party with his soccer team.

He got to ride Wasatch Crest with Cameron and some friends this year and loved it.

Handsome boy! 

Andy with his friend Grayer. He basically lives at Grayer's house. His other good friends are Isaac Smart, Lincoln Abbott, Kyson, Rhett, Cole Read, Kade Ballam, Cade Meyers. He has a few different friend groups he hangs out with.

Poor guy inherited all our nose problems. He had a turbinate reduction a couple of weeks ago. And he'll have a deviated septum surgery in a few years once he's done growing.

He's turned into a big BYU fan and loves watching BYU football and basketball. And he follows a fair amount of sports teams in general. I'm trying to get better at understanding sports so I have more to talk to him about.

Andy with some fun friends at Walmart.

Just a classic Andy picture! Brendan let him have this 49ers jersey, which he loves. Andy won't smile with teeth because he got braces in July. Typical fluff ball hair--all the boys have this same hair style these days. :) 

• Andy has worked so hard in school this year. He really wants to go to BYU so he's worked so hard to get good grades. He has straight A's which has been a big jump for him! He's in an AP Human Geography class. 
• He continues to grow and be tall. He's just shy of 6 feet tall right now. He wears the same size of shoes as Cameron and steals his shoes and clothes, which Cameron is not a fan of. 
• He continues to be a sneaky, devious guy. I find piles of candy wrappers (my piano teaching candy) under his pillow case. I got an email at 11:30 PM one night that told me Andy had just rented "White Chicks." A few issues here--he should have been in bed. Definitely not an approved movie. And definitely did not ask us if he could use our money to rent a movie. 
• Of course, he's still a great kid. It's cool to see him develop his own testimony and grow spiritually. He's involved in his teachers quorum (I think he's first counselor) and enjoys our monthly temple trips. He's also learning a lot in seminary and really pays attention in his church classes too. I'm impressed by how much he knows. 
• He's very into his music and is blasting rap, etc. into his air pods all the time. He can never hear us. It drives me absolutely crazy. He likes Don Toliver, Tame Impala, Giveon, Mac Dimarco. 
• He's very into Stranger Things lately and has been loving watching the new season!
• He still likes to play games on occasion. He'll play "King Domino" with me, but only if we play his way. This is very typical Andy haha. And of course he wins almost every game he plays because he's so dang smart. 
• He loves to play ping pong with Cameron and they play many nights before bed. 
• Andy was on accutane for 7ish months this year. He was a trooper and his skin looks great!
• Andy got braces in July. 
• We realized he'd been eating candy in bed every night and then just going to bed after without brushing or flossing. He has remarkably good luck though and somehow has no cavities.
• He's obsessed with clothes. 
• We love Andy so much and are so grateful he's part of our family.