Dear Austin,
You are 10 years old today and you are truly one of my favorite people in the world to be around. You are the kind of person that makes other people around you want to be a better person, including myself. I completely admire the way deeply care for others, even when you don't know them. I have seen you give things up that you really wanted because you wanted to see the other person happy more than you wanted that thing. This is a rare quality in a kid your age. You are compassionate when others are sick or hurting and you pray for them knowing that God is hearing you. You pray a lot, actually. Every once in a while when something good happens you will tell me it happened because you prayed about it and I know that you really did. Your favorite thing to do at church is the 5 minute meet and greet time we have on Sunday mornings. You can't wait for that time and you are busy the entire time trying to talk to as many people as you can possibly get to in that 5 minutes. Our preacher says that you'll either grow up to be a preacher or a politician because of your way with words. You are wise beyond your years. You are curious about life and not afraid to ask questions if you want to know something. Just the other day you and I had a 30 minute conversation about what it's like to be in college, including questions such as "how many classes do you have to take?", "how many years does it take to go all the way through?", "how many different majors are there?", etc. I don't know what God has planned for your life, but I have no doubt He's got BIG things planned for you. I am honored to get to be your mom.
Here's a few things you've been up to this past year...
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| This photo was taken today. You told me you have always wanted to touch a train track, so we made that happen. |
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| This was taken at one of Aaron's football games that we had to drive to the Arkansas/Mississippi border for. You were such a trooper! |
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| A little "hourglass" art in my classroom one morning. |
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| At the fair with Carter and Kaulyn. |
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| First day of 4th grade. This has been your best year so far in school! |
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| You and Carter checking out Lightening McQueen and Mater this summer. |
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| The ropes course in Gulf Shores. |
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| Running on the beach this summer. |
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| You got the Christian character award this summer at camp. I'm super proud of this one. |
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| 4th of July at the Millwood house with G-ma and Aaron |
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Stay sweet. Stay thoughtful. Stay compassionate. Stay just the way you are. I'm looking forward to what this next year will hold for you. I love you so very much.
Mom
