Trevor, the birthday boy

Trevor has been growing up all too quickly.  We celebrated his birthday in a rather low key way in October.  Last year so many family members came for his baptism and birthday celebration that our family party at home paled in comparison.

For his birthday we encouraged all the good work that he has been doing at karate by getting him a set of sparing gear and letting him attend BBU (black belt university).  This was a special camp where he went Thursday and Friday evenings and all day Saturday where he worked on leadership and all of his karate skills.  He had a blast and it paid off in his testing where he was promoted two belts.  He is now a high purple!  With all the leadership training, he was also invited to be on the "Leadership Team" at the dojo.  The Leadership Team get extra training where they not only work on their own karate skills but they also learn how to work with the younger students so they can help them.  I am so impressed with the skills he is learning through this experience:  patience, using positive reinforcement, and respect.  I can't help but think that these skills he is developing with be a wonderful help to him throughout his life.

Trevor has such a tender heart.  When I learned about the huge rally at Red Rocks I was disappointed to see that it was on the same night as his 3rd grade program at school.  He was excited about playing a weed (the rapping, break-dancing, villain) in the musical about gardens and plants.  He was so sweet when I told him that I would miss the rally to come to his performance.  He gave me a big hug and said, "Mom, I don't want you to miss seeing Mitt Romney!  I'll just ask dad to record my performance so you can go."  I totally teared up at this gesture and was so grateful to him.  He totally rocked his performance.  I am so proud of him and the young man he is becoming!  I love him so much!