Sweet Sixteen

Well it is official, we have a 16 year old son!!! David James Hall turned 16 on September 10, 2013. I am not sure how to feel about having a 16 year old son. He will be gone in just 2 short years. David is becoming quite the young man, I am having to learn that I have less and less influence and control in his life and will soon be a bystander instead of the driver. On Sunday September 22, 2013 David was ordained to the office of a priest in our church's young men's organization. It is quite a big deal for our ward because we have been without any boys older than David for over a year. The 16 year olds play an important role in our Sunday service and next Sunday it will be a wonderful moment to see David up in front doing his new responsibility. David is starting a new chapter in his life, he will be driving soon, he can date now, he is less than 2 years from graduating and about 2 years from serving a mission. I am happy for him to move on into the next stage but I am not ready to let him go off into the world. We want David to know that we love him very much and are very pleased with the choices he has made and is making now. I do have to give credit to others for the success of my son, he has had several outstanding church and Boy Scout leaders that have helped make David who he is today. It really does take a village, I can not say that I have raised my son to be the man he is without the help of so many others.

OK this is a little late, but the cord to my camera likes to hide from me, lol. I have experienced several first day of kindergarten before this year, 4 to be exact, but this year I was having a hard time at letting my Jacob go off to school. This was for many reasons, and I am sure people could tell I was not ready, we did not get him registered until 3 days before school started. First, Jacob his a older kindergartener, he will be 6 next month, so I have had him home with me longer than some of the other kids. Second, our district changed to full-day kindergarten here, so I was worried that he would not handle all day there very well. Third, in public settings, he is quite shy and quiet, takes after his mother. Fourth, he had not attended any kind of pre-school, not sure how he would measure up to the kids that had. And fifth, he is my one and only left-handed child. I did not know how he would be received at school by his peers because he writes differently than they do. All in all, I did not cry when he waved good-bye and marched off with his class and never looked back, lol. I have not been worried about him since he got into the car the end of that first day and said that he loved school and couldn't wait to go back the next day. I guess I always over worry about my kids, but that is my job as their mother. :)

Jacob's First Day of Kindergarten.