Elliot the Great has turned 11!
This is sadly the only picture we took at his birthday party. He took a group of friends to Main Event for laser tag, bowling, and pizza. I asked him just now (4 months after the party) about what he remembers. He response was "Uncle Blake was annoyingly good at laser tag. He would hide behind the obstacles and shoot you before you could do anything. I did win one round though. I beat YOU, Mom!" At that point he leaned in close with his trademark crazed wide-eyed look.
Just a couple of weeks after his birthday, January rolled around and this guy moved up to the wild world of the Young Men's program at church! I have seen a huge development in him since then. He gave a lesson in Deacon's Quorum on Jacob & Esau, and a talk in Sacrament meeting. He did a great job of coming up with content, organizing it, and practicing for both. He's always been independent and capable, but his willingness to take on assignments like this has blown me away.
He has some awesome youth leaders. The picture above was taken at a stake youth hike up Picacho Peak, which was the hardest, steepest hike he has ever done by a pretty wide margin. He has also been camping on an island that they accessed by boat, gone backpacking, built and launched rockets, did an iron chef competition, and has been on a temple trip- all in only 4 months as a Deacon!
It was really cool taking him to the temple for the first time.
He is still a creator. We find paper filled with symbols only he can decipher, and his school work has an abundance of doodles. Here he is making a robot that can draw at the Library Maker Fair.
Elliot crossed over from Cub Scouts to the full Scout program. I think the program is a great fit for him, and he's pumped about going to Camp Geronimo with his troop this summer.
Possibly my favorite side of Elliot comes out when he's playing with Felix. He'll read to him or try to get him to say funny things. It brings out his caring and responsible side and is so sweet to see.
Elliot is a one of a kind kid! I love playing board games with him and chatting with him while driving to his increasing number of activates. He keeps his homemade "Story Cards" in the van, and I love it when he is sitting back there with friends and they are busting a gut listening to him make up crazy stories. He loves giving cryptic comments and then refusing to explain them. He has a strong sense of justice, and is the only one who can reliably keep track of how much screen time Isaac lost on the previous day. He reads a TON, and we struggle to keep him stocked with reading material despite weekly trips to the library.
Happy Birthday, Oat!
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