Ike is Nine!

Ike turned nine last month. His birthday itself was a bit of a dud with him coming home from school and then testing positive for influenza B. He then spent the entire next week home from school. We gave him a book of Harry Potter sheet music as well as a Calvin and Hobbes book, both of which he has enjoyed.

Right after turning 8, Ike got baptized. Then he got to go to General Conference a few months later.

This has been a year with a lot of growth for Ike. He played and loved basketball. I was his assistant coach, and we had a fun time together at the Jazz game.

He also spent about a week with his uncle in Jackson Hole, and is a great hiker. He and I hiked Mt. Timpanogos together, and he did amazing. He can't wait to do it again next year, and try to summit this time.

Ike is mostly a good and helpful big brother. He also is the person that rile his siblings up like nobody else. When our ward was starting at 11:40 sometimes I made Eric take Ike with him to his earlier meetings just so I could have Ike out of the house. And other times I just told him he had to walk to church so I had a few extra minutes without him distracting his siblings from their jobs of getting ready for church. He walks home from church with friends almost every Sunday.

He had a rough patch with piano at the start of this school year, but then he did amazing at his recital in December. He is learning that hard things are worth doing.

Ike remains an incredibly social and playful child. He loves to play with friends, and his favorite parts about school are recess, riding the bus, and playing with friends before school starts. He does well academically and especially loves math. He loves Harry Potter, Star Wars, and sports.