Derrick is 11!

Derrick had a fun birthday party with his friends. They watched a Pokemon movie and then wished they had enough time to play with the Pokemon cards. We love that he has chosen such great friends!

 It is crazy to think that time just keeps going and we don't notice. Derrick is already 11! He is such a good kid and has been through some rough roads figuring out friends, instructions, and confusion in homework. He has put in great effort to resolve these and has made goals and kept them. He is such a thoughtful person and thinks through directions that he is given. He is very responsible and likes to follow rules. He is getting more adventurous, since he takes a survival kit with him when he roams the farm near our home.

He loves to shoot his bow and arrow, his BB gun and loves to make stuff with rope and wood. His friends got him really into Pokemon and only had 10 cards before his birthday. Now he has well over 100 and loves that he has what he needs to play the game.
His dad lets him drive trucks and tractors when he needs an extra driver on the farm. He really enjoys going to scouts and received all of his compass points with his Webelo award before going into 11 year old scouts. He did karate for a year and decided that he wanted to try some new sports. He is very excited to start basketball and wrestling. He is a great helper at home and helps with bringing in wood, doing dishes, washing the tub and shower and doing his own laundry. He has also helped make meals like eggs and oatmeal for breakfast, baked potatoes, tacos, bread and more. He still takes piano lessons from me and continues to improve and plays for our family nights. His favorite color is still red. We are so glad he is in our family and appreciate that he does his part to make our family happy. We love him and are so pleased with his choices to follow our Savior. He is diligent in making sure he brings his scriptures to church and actively participates in the lessons. He helps teach lessons for family night and likes to discuss the scriptures when we read as a family.