Happy 11th Birthday, Hunter!

 
Dear Hunter,

Today you are 11 years old!  You’re another year older and what a year it has been!  It’s so fun to celebrate you; all that you are and all that you have accomplished.

You are one smart cookie.  It's not just that you get good grades, but also just the way you live that we can see you have a good head on your shoulders.  I appreciate the solid effort that you put into your schoolwork.  It isn’t always fun to practice spelling words at home or to study for tests, but you do it and it pays off.  You also seem to retain information really well.  It’s far from unusual to have you tell me some random piece of information full of details that I would never remember.

 

You love lots of things, but near the top of that list is coffee.  I can’t tell you how many times you have “stolen” my church coffee!  But I can let it go because on any given day, I can find you in the kitchen brewing up a pot.  You love to get a bit extra with it.  You’ve been “stealing” coffee from me since you were two years old so I’m not too surprised.  Its fun to share this coffee-love with you.  We have a good time going to coffee shops and trying different drinks.

You are our ultra-competitive child.  Whether it be a board game or a sporting event or a video game – you are always in it to win it.  Sometimes that’s really tough for you – because no one can win every single thing every single time.  But you are learning to balance those feelings.  And I’m proud of the progress I see in you.

Speaking of sports, there are two that you love more than all others.  Baseball and basketball.  This summer you had the time of your life playing baseball with your travel team (Pella Sting).  Your favorite thing is to put on those black and yellow uniforms and go out and play a game.  You are an expert outfielder.  If the ball can be caught, you will catch it.  No one worries when a hit comes your way.  You have this great anticipation – like you know where that ball is going to go before they even hit it.  And you’re very fast.  When your team won the State championship this summer I didn’t know if you would ever stop smiling.  You also love basketball and are an especially gifted left-handed shooter.  You love to make 3-pointers and you’re good at it.

 

This summer we took a trip to Oahu, Hawaii.  We visited Pearl Harbor together and toured the U.S.S. Missouri which is docked there.  You were absolutely fascinated.  That was when your obsession with all things military began.  This has led to you studying and learning about all kinds of aircraft.  You can go into all kinds of specs on various planes – some military and some not.  Its fun to hear you so fully invest your spare time in learning about aviation.

Of course, you also still love farming.  Your favorite place on earth is your Grandma’s farm.  There’s not a lot of “farming” to do there anymore, but you remember your Grandpa there.  You love to just walk around and look in the workshop and see what random pieces you can find scattered throughout the buildings.  We took a trip this past February to another family farm where you got to ride on Grandpa’s favorite tractor.  When we got in the car to come home you asked the same question you ask when we leave Grandma’s farm, “When are we coming back?”  Being on a farm, in a workshop, outside, is your favorite thing in the whole world.

You have this great ability to read out loud with such rich expression.  You are a great reader in general.  But something special happens when you are asked to read aloud.  You know, without any coaching, just how to inflect your voice.  It makes you a bit of a master storyteller.  Which is fun because we hear a lot of stories from you!

You love pigs, tigers and hamsters.  You love graphic novels and Legos.  You love shooting on your mini basketball hoop and throwing a football around.  You love energy drinks, hot chocolate and mochas.  You love burgers and roasted potatoes and donuts.  You love your sisters even though one of them kisses your ear.  You are one really neat 11-year-old boy.

You care about doing the right thing.  You don’t always make perfect choices, but I have seen you apologize and change course all on our own.  You want to do well at everything you do.  You enjoy going to church and being with your church family.  You live in a house where every single person is older than you, and I know you are watching. 

You’re a great kid, Hunter.  I honestly enjoy spending time with you and listening to you talk about school, airplanes, or farming.  I love the way you treasure memories and bring them up to just talk about them.  I love the way you laugh when you are teasing your Dad.  I love the look on your face when you are farming.  I love the way I can see God shaping you, molding you and guiding you. 

You’re a whole lot of fun and I’m so very glad that I have had 11 whole years with you!  Wow!  What a gift! 

I love you, Buddy!

Love,

~Mom