Jack is 16 Years Old!

My sweet Jackson is 16 years old!!! 

Two years away from being a full fledged adult!!! 

Let's see what Jack's been up to this last year. 

Last year we celebrated Jack & Zeke's birthdays together with a BBQ at home. It was such a beautiful day getting to hang out on the deck with everyone. 

Last June Michael took the older boys on our church's rafting trip for the first time. They had a blast! This year our whole family is going. Everyone is rafting except me....I just want to get the lay of the land this year and then I'll probably join in next year! 

In the beginning of homeschooling, I always tried to make it so we would be finished with school by Jack's birthday, but last year that just wasn't an option so we didn't finish with school until June 16th. This year is very similar...we aren't finishing until June 13th. 

Buddies! 

Jackson did really great at his first year of high school. He was still a little behind, but only by a tiny bit.

Right after school we headed out for our first camping trip to Ephrata. The older boys have gotten more experienced with helping Michael set up the trailer. They handle all the outside set-up while Ella and I head to Wal-Mart to go grocery shopping and then when we get back the trailer is all set up and we can go inside and get it all organized. 

Jackson took part in Puget Sound Skills Center Fire & Emergency Service Training last summer. Because of that he wasn't able to stay with us the whole time we camped for our second camping trip of the summer. He was able to come out with us and stay one night and most of the next day and then Michael took him and Owen home. Owen had to stay at home with so he'd be able to drop Jack off and pick him up. Michael stayed the one night and then came back out to the campground the next day. The things we do for our kiddos! 

4th of July at Ga-Ga & Pa's always means these boys are having a blast hanging out! 

At the end of the Fire & Emergency Services Training, Jack got to take part in a Family Field Day where they demonstrated the skills they learned. Ella and I were in Eastern Washington visiting friends, but Michael took pictures for me. It was so fun seeing him in a uniform! 

 Taidnapam is one of our favorite places to camp and we had so much fun with Michael and Robin! 

Whenever we go on hikes Jackson always finds some sort of throne to sit on. 

All the work he did his first year of high school! Jackson is such a determined and self motivated learner. I never have to get on him about working. In fact he usually comes downstairs and starts working prior to me coming downstairs. He is also consistently the first one done for the day. During his 9th grade year I even called up our advisor at Lighthouse Christian Academy to ask her if we could give him more work since he was always finishing up for the day super early....hours before lunch time. She said that he couldn't add anymore work to his load since he was completing the max amount of credits that he could in one year. 

Our solution this year since he is still a little behind was to make it so he has to work until 11:30 everyday. He will just do more work in the subjects that he's trying to catch up on. It has worked great even though he might complain it's been good for him to have a specific schedule and not have so much free time. 

Hanging out at the beach looking so cool in his shades! 

Back to School Bash....getting ready to start his sophomore year!!! 

Sweet bubbies! 

Looking at this first day of school picture and the last day of school picture up above...Zeke grew a bunch. Or he's standing on his tiptoes! 

My sweet Jackson...my favorite nickname for Jackson is Beefcake. He's always been my meatiest kiddo...he outweighs Owen by probably a good 20lbs. I don't say beefcake in a bad way....he's just got some meat on his bones and that's nice since Owen and Zeke are so skinny! He's also such a cute stud muffin...he's so handsome!  

Helping clean out his room before the big remodel! 

Not sleeping in a bunkbed for the first time in years!!! 

I have been cutting the boys hair for their whole life, but last year I decided to start taking Jack & Zeke to Great Clips. They want to have a style whereas Michael and Owen just want a buzzcut. It only costs $22 and I take them about once every 2 months and it's totally worth it since they are in fact professionals! 

The last year or so Charlie has really taken a liking to Jack. Especially when he was getting done with school early...Jack would sit down with a blanket to read and before long Charlie would come along and snuggle with him. It was so sweet! Jackson still doesn't pick Charlie up and we think that's why Charlie likes him so much! 

Owen and Jack set off to do the corn maze together. They of course argued while going through it, but they survived! 

Silly jelly beans! 

They were pretty stoked about their new remodeled room! 

Jackson is very particular in regards to his clothes...he likes skinny jeans, Nikes and he loves jean jackets. He was so excited about this jacket since it's exactly like Daddy's jacket.

Jack wore his knight's templar costume again this last year! 

Love these stair step kiddos! 

Moved all their Lego sets into their room and got to show it off to Caleb. 

My handsome Christmas Guy! 

Being a server at the Women's Christmas Dinner! 

During early December it dawned on me that Jack really needed to get his learners permit. The rule now is you have to have your learners permit for 6 months prior to getting your license. Since I wanted Jack to get his license as close to his 16th birthday, he needed to get his learners permit in December. The funny thing is once you're 15 1/2 you have to pass the knowledge test prior to getting your permit. It was different for Owen since he got his permit at 15 and he was enrolled in Driver's Ed. It's a crazy rules really, but it was fine. Jack used some free online resources to study for the test and then on December 16th he went down to 911 Driving School and took the knowledge test. He is so amazing at tests....he was the first one done and he came out looking all proud of himself. We call it peacocking! By the time we arrived at home I got a call saying Jack passed with a 94%. The following Monday, December 18th, we had an appt with the DOL to go get his learners permit.  

So many of Jack's pictures are like this....he's a pro-blinker! 

Jackson loves juice, but not this non-alcoholic kind. He's also super selfish when it comes to food. If there are leftovers of something he likes you better believe he's gonna be the first one to get them.  

The older boys haven't been able to be as big of a help to Michael during this whole home restoration process as I thought they would. Mainly because there's just so much to do and it's easier for Michael to do it himself than try to explain and teach two other people. They have however used their muscles many times during this process. They've also helped out a lot with cleaning up the house as the whole process has come along. 

Braces....

No braces! 

One thing I just recently found out is that Jack doesn't like his smile with his teeth. I guess I had never paid attention before. He will smile and show his teeth, but it's just not his favorite. I like this smile either way though! 

A few days before getting his braces off, Jackson started Drivers Ed. Jack and his best friend Andrew were able to take the class together. Unlike Owen's class that was virtual their class was in the classroom. Kim and I had to attend the first class with them on March 9th. Their classes met on Saturdays and Sundays. It worked out really nicely. Jack did end up having to miss/make up 3 classes...which is the maximum you can miss/make up.

This year at the Easter Adventure at church Jack got to be the bunny and a bunny escort. Here he is escorting Josiah who was the chocolate bunny! 

And here's the Jack Rabbit! 

These handsome boys are all getting so grown up! They all participated in the egg hunt, but I bet it won't be long and they'll finally be done with all that kid stuff! 

During one of the crazy portions of the home restoration process. 

Jack decided this year instead of going back to Puget Sound Skill Center and taking some more classes he really wanted to be a lifeguard. We looked into it online and found out that most aquatic places require you to already have your Red Cross Lifeguard certificate before applying for the job. I looked into Jack attending classes to get the certificate and it costs $300!! I decided to check into Wild Waves and thankfully they do not require a certificate. They actually send you to lifeguard training and it doesn't cost you anything. So we took Owen's resume and updated it to be good for Jack and he submitted his application. He immediately got a text saying they'd like to do an online interview. They sent us a link and he was able to record himself giving the answers to the questions and that was it. He was hired! April 19th - April 21st Jack took part in lifeguard training down at Pacific Lutheran University in Parkland. It was hardcore! He had to be there by 5pm on Friday and didn't finish up until 9:30pm. Saturday was 8am - 8pm and Sunday was 8am - 6pm. It was hard work, but Jackson did great! He wasn't quite able to get the deep water certificate, but he passed for shallow water. He does have other limitations put on him since he's only 15 years old, but really he's able to do almost everything the other lifeguards can. 

On May 4th, Jack had his Dept Training. He got his uniform, visor, name tag, water bottle, bag, whistle and parking pass. 

His first day of actual work was on Saturday May 18th. So far he's worked 4 times....Wild Waves is only open on the weekends until June 13th when they open full time for the summer. He has really enjoyed working there even though the weather hasn't been the best yet. I think the highest temperature while he's been working so far as been 62 degrees. Wild Waves has been really great about him giving him time off for the upcoming rafting trip and our camping trip.  

Jack finished up Drivers Ed on May 16th. He did great on all his tests and since he'd already passed his knowledge test in December the only thing he had to do was his final drive. He had his final drive on Thursday, May 30th and he passed with an 86%. Since he didn't get his permit until December 18th he can't actually get his license until June 18th. That is the day we are coming back from a camping trip so his appt to pick up his license is on Friday, June 21st. I can't believe we're going to have two licensed drivers. For right now I will still continue to drop Jack off at work since we only have 2 vehicles. Owen usually has a bunch of landscaping jobs in the summer so I don't want to be stuck at home without a car. Most likely after this summer, Owen will be buying a car and then Jack can use one of ours to drive back and forth to whatever job he has during the school year. I know a friend of ours said that Mount Rainier pool needs lifeguards so maybe that will be an option for him. 

For Jack and Zeke's birthday this year we had another BBQ with friends and family. The weather was not nice like it was last year so that was a bummer. Thankfully our house restoration project is wrapping up at least on the first floor. It is so nice to have ceilings, walls and flooring! 

Ga-Ga got Zeke a really cool Christian shirt for his birthday and she got Jack one as well! He also got $116 from Ga-Ga & Pa, an Amazon gift card, a Cold Stone gift card and $$. Jack wanted to go to an Escape Room for his birthday so that is our birthday present for him. He's going with all of us except Zeke...he doesn't want to come. Andrew, Josiah and Justine will also be joining us. I'm excited to see how the kids do with it and if they like it. 

Jackson Daniel...

my sweet 16 year old! Holy cow how can that be? My chubby cheeked boy is now all grown up and has a license and a job! I'm so proud of you buddy! You are so driven and you know what you want and you go for it. That's not to say that things don't frustrate you. You still can get really worked up during certain tasks. Your main frustrations this year have been driving and math. You haven't huffed and puffed while driving for a while now so that's good. Also once you got past the first couple PACE's in Geometry you've done loads better. It helps that I've been through it just recently with Owen so it's fresh in my mind as well. I actually really enjoy helping you and figuring out the solutions together. 

Your latest obsession right now has to be Legend of Zelda on the Switch. You have quite a collection of Amiibos that go along with the Switch. It will be fun to see what you start spending your money on now that you have a job. There is a girl at work that you've told us you like and you've already found out that she is in fact a Christian. Who knows what will come of that! 

You have been learning how to play the guitar since October of last year. You've moved from the acoustic guitar to the electric guitar now. The youth group band is going to lead worship at church on Sunday, June 30th and I can't wait to see all you kids up there using your talents to worship the Lord. You also help out at church monthly with Kids Check-In. 

You have been helping out Owen occasionally with yardwork jobs. It's not your favorite by any means, but it's been helpful for him and puts some money in your pocket as well. 

Jackson this year has been a big one for you....lots of changes and growth. My goodness I can't wait to see what this next year holds for you. Jackson you are so knowledgeable you especially love Social Studies and Biblical Studies. I know that you've given your heart to the Lord and I pray that that head knowledge will grow into an even deeper heart knowledge of Him and His will for your life. I know that God has a mission specially for you and I pray that your heart will be in-tune with Him so you can follow Him all the days of your life. 

Happy 16th Birthday Jackers!