16-years-old

It's official, Jonah is 16-years-old.  It is hard to believe that sixteen years have passed since he was born.  He has brought so much energy and joy into our family.  He has always been an independent person that craves freedom, so getting his drivers license and all of the freedom that comes with that has been something he has been looking forward to for a long time.

Jonah is in the thick of teenage hood and sometimes that can be a challenge.  He is often frustrated with us and doesn't agree with most of what we say.  At the end of the day though, he will obey and I'm so grateful for that.  He is a great teenager, but even good teenagers are hard! 

Jonah is very social.  He loves to be with his friends and never wants to miss out on anything.  He has been playing flag football with his friends and he loves that.  He loves to go to the High School football games every week and he is always involved with the spirit assembly's and other things at school.

Jonah is very passionate about things.  When he goes in on something he goes all in.  He gets very excited about things.   He is willing to work hard for what he wants.

He is so handsome!  I tell him all the time and he says I only think that because I am his mom.  I told him other people think so too and girls want to be around him and he said, "that's just because of my killer personality."  He does have a killer personality, he makes everything fun!

He loves to laugh and take things lightly.  He doesn't understand why I worry so much.  He choses to think that everything will work out and it usually does.  I admire that about him, although sometimes I worry he doesn't worry enough! Ha, see I worry a lot!

Jonah has always loved sports.  He loves to play sports and he loves to watch sports and he can rattle off statistics in most sports.

Jonah's favorite saying is "I don't give two craps about anything."  That is also how he gauges people, he likes to hang out with people who are relaxed and don't stress. I guess that could explain why we have a hard time with each other sometimes, ha! Sorry Jonah, I'm not wired that way.  He got that from Keith, they are both really good at not overthinking things and believing things will work out.

I got a text from Jonah's seminary teacher that said, "I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate Jonah in class! He is a great influence on all of the kids he is around and is always sharing very inspired thoughts.  I just wanted you to know he's a great kid and I'm so grateful to have him!" I loved getting that message. We sure love Jonah and are so proud of the young man he is becoming.