Ringing in 2024!

 My Dearest Avery,

My goodness, what a whirlwind end of the year we had! We took off for fall break and went to Disneyland for Oogie Boogie Bash - and even got to meet up with Grandma Dotty and Pop there! You had a blast and even turned your stickman Halloween costume into "Stick Minnie" to go with the Disney theme! When we got back, it was time for Halloween festivities at school and in the neighborhood. In November Evan went camping with Dad so we had a girl's weekend and you had your very first sleepover with Eva, a friend from soccer. We had a quick soccer tourney up in Phoenix and then we went to Roswell to see your Dad's side of the family for Thanksgiving! We came straight back to our holiday party and Evan's birthday party! Then it was holiday concert and Christmas basically - we took off on Evan's birthday to spend most of the break in Denver - mostly because we're looking to move there, which you're not happy about. Somewhere in there, you had another tourney in Phoenix.

You're having a great time with your teammates at soccer - you really love the people and you just love any time you get to spend playing soccer. You seem to have a hot/cold friend situation at school, though. You mention feeling like an outsider but I will tell you, Dad is always talking about how you're the center of attention at your lunch table whenever he's helping at school hot lunch. You're getting a little tempermental at times, which I think is a sign of things to come but mostly you're your normal, fun-loving self. You really are resisting the idea of moving to Denver - you'd much rather stay here where your life is pretty steady and you know how to navigate school and soccer and horseback riding. Oh riding - you are doing so well with your new instructor, Kim. She really pushes you in every lesson to try new and hard things, including overcoming your fears associated with riding Annabelle, the horse you fell off of - and you've come so far - it's really working well for you - you're confident and much happier at riding. And getting to do new things like riding without stirrups or with your eyes closed or cantering more. It's amazing to see!

Here's your life in pictures right now....

Disney fun!

Merida! Dad was so excited to see his favorite princess!

Thor!

Holiday party!

SNOW in Denver!

Amy's Donuts for Evan's birthday!

Backyard movie for the win! With smores!

Santa with Eva!

TOCA soccer training in Denver - it was really cool to see their equipment and how well you did!

Stick Minnie!

Halloween soccer practice!

Sledding at Denver Children's Museum!

Driving Grandma crazy! She said you were a crazy driver!

Soccer fun!

Rock climbing during our girl's weekend

Soccer with Eva

At Aunt Cat's over Thanksgiving

Trying to get Evan's pinata!

Ready for Oogie Boogie Bash!

Smores!

Holiday performance! You got to be Mars, your favorite planet! You did so great!

Had to get a cracked tooth fixed

At a DU Hockey Game (Go Pios)

Watching hockey before ice skating!

You did great at ice skating - got away from the walker pretty quickly

You said you were stylin'this day!

Big gift from Santa!

Oogie Boogie Bash nails!

Evan reading a goodnight story to you in one of the many hotels we were in

Getting a medal at a tourney!

You're helping Evan with his homework! Win for everyone!

Ugly Christmas Sweater day - you're wearing Dad's sweater as a dress!

Riding!

Reading Santa's letter

OBB Parade!

New haircut for the new year!

I told you you couldn't wear your soccer uniform for picture day and this is how you get back at me - haha!

Eva spending the night!

Brunch after a game!

Bubbles at the Denver Children's Museum!

Avery, my love, you are such a wonderful person. You are kind and caring and really good at standing up for yourself which I so admire. You work hard in your studies at school, which has become a lot more difficult this year. It's caused extreme stress and happiness and required a lot more time this year! You're still managing to make it through and learning so much. You've really grown a ton in the last 3 months - I can't wait to see what the rest of the school year has in store for you.

All My Love,

Mom