Ezra

Ezra is 11 (and a half) now and he is a great blessing to our family. He is responsible and independent and still very helpful. He is in 6th grade, which is middle school, and has been placed in a couple of advanced classes. I honestly couldn't even tell you what his greatest subject is because he's just good at all of them. It must've been all those Dairy Queen Blizzards James would get me when I was pregnant with him ;) But, unfortunately, we have entered the years of mom feeling dumb because I can no longer help him with his math homework. Thankfully, Grandpa Johnston has come in handy once or twice and James seems to remember more of 7th grade math (his class does 6th and 7th grade math at the same time), so James is able to help on the rare occasion that he needs help.

Ezra is the oldest, so he has more responsibilities, but he handles them well. He has started babysitting for us for shorter periods of time, which is soooo helpful! He still refuses to change diapers or wipe noses though, so we don't normally leave him with the babies. He loves his siblings, but he has a special connection with little Brielle, which just melts my heart. He has been wanting his own room since we moved to Arizona and he lost his own room, but with 6 kids and 4 rooms it just wasn't going to happen. However, for Christmas we moved Ezra and Makai to the downstairs guest bedroom so we could make room for Koda in Deklan's room (Ezra, Makai and Deklan were all in one room this past year!). He loves to have a little more space and freedom. Thankfully he is normally very trustworthy with that freedom.

He also just joined the group of cool kids with a cell phone. We caved earlier than we planned because there were too many times this past year that James and I found ourselves wishing he had a phone (especially now that he's babysitting for us), so Santa got him one this past Christmas and we agreed with Santa that it was time.

Last year Ez was able to be his school's mascot for their pep rally and assemblies. It was a really fun experience for him. This year he has been asked to come back to a couple times this year to be the mascot again. It's the perfect thing for him because he can be totally goofy and he doesn't get embarrassed because no one knows it's him.

He still plays piano. I love hearing him play. His favorite thing to practice is his speed, but I just love all the songs, even the slow ones. He tried out for the Jazz Band in school this past year, but the two spots were given to two 8th graders. He's practicing and hopeful that he might make it next year! Since he didn't get into Jazz Band, he decided to join regular band and is now doing percussion. His teacher has him mostly on the xylophone since he can read music and it's similar to the piano. He normally gets very nervous performing, but at his last band concert, he was confident and poised. Many of his fellow percussionists were looking to him to make sure they were doing things right and he would give a nod, or redirect them. It was awesome to see.

Ezra's favorite sport is still soccer, though James and I did talk him into playing flag football the 1st quarter. He absolutely hated it, so I don't think there are any more flag football games in our future. We're still trying to convince him to get back into baseball, but it's the same quarter as track, so he has decided to do track. I miss watching him play baseball, but he doesn't love the sport, so I'm trying to accept that he may never play again. He plans on trying out for soccer this quarter. Fingers crossed that he makes the team!

This new year means that Ezra is now in Young Men's (the youth program at our church for ages 11-18). With that change, he gets to receive the Aaronic Priesthood which allows him to pass the sacrament in our church and prepares him for the Melchizedek Priesthood which will allow him to give blessings and bless the sacrament. He is so excited for this next step in his life and he continues to stay true to his baptismal covenants and prepare for a mission for our church when he turns 18.

Last summer we took the kids to Rexburg, Idaho and toured a little of the BYU-Idaho campus where James and I both went. Ezra told us at first that he wasn't interested in going to BYU-Idaho, but after touring the campus and seeing how beautiful it is, he has drastically changed his mind and is looking forward to that as an option for him for college.

Ezra has done really well since we moved to Arizona. He has a wonderful group of friends complete with secret handshakes, a secret language and a matching shirt schedule for each day of the week. His friends are great boys and we're excited to see them grow up together.

We sure love this sensitive, loving and crazy leader in our family. Life wouldn't be the same without him. He really is a mother's blessing and I adore him.