Lydia Elise: 10.5 Years

Lydia darling girl. 

Before writing this post, I went back and read her 10-year-old post. She is so wonderful and that hasn't changed. But I also see so much growth in her in just six months. That's amazing. Childhood is amazing.

Some things about Lydia at this age: 

-She loves to match clothing with people still. She often initiates matching clothes with Lucy and then together they do a "matchers belly bump" 

-She's constantly creating and always has multiple projects that she is working on at a time.

-She loves to read. 

-She misses her friends that went back to public school this year and we are working to try to fill that need.

-She plays the piano beautifully and has started learning how to play songs from the children's songbook. 

Some pictures from the past six months:  

Celebrating her birthday at Arches National Park/ reading a book while stopping to rest on our hike. 

-Lydia had the really neat opporunity to spend a lot of time with my dad on the Ranch this spring/summer. She came with me for Branding, just the two of us, and we were able to get in and actually work together. Later in the year, she spend several days in Wyoming with my dad helping with the haying process. She is a hard worker and it was a neat experience for her. 

LAGOON! She saved a bunch of money and ended up choosing to buy this GIANT dog from the store. Ha. It's ridiculous and she loves it. The kids love our Lagoon day every year. 

-She played on a soccer team this year and learned a lot. I love the picture of her and Lucy walking away from the field. She's such a good sister. 

-Homeschool co-op and self-led science experiment. 

Matching with me. (heart eye emoji) and climbing a really really big tree. 

Music and the Spoken Word with my mom and Grandma Knowles

Lydia and I got to attend a Stake Women's camp together. We took up our tent and slept over in the mountains and spend two days together and it was so fun. She and her friend Audrey had the opportunity to speak and share some thoughts about the temple with a group of about 300 women from our stake. They both did a great job. I'm proud of Lydia's willingness to speak and hope that this practice will serve her well in her life. Also, I bribed her with a JCW hamburger, but that's mostly an excuse to spend more time with her anyway. 

I love her. 

-We went to Bryce Canyon for our Family Vacation and it was WONDERFUL. Lydia and I went on a horseback ride through Red Canyon and we just had such a fun (true-fun) time. It was fun to get to spend that 1-on-1 time with her. 

-She's the leader of the cousin crew and her creative ideas serve to get them going in all sorts of fun activities. We have a LOT of pictures of her lined up at the beginning with the kids stairstepping after her. 

This spring/summer we went on a bunch of hikes and she was always willing and capable of hiking wherever the trail led us. Pictured here are WildRose trail, Morgan M, Stuart Falls, and Maple Canyon.

One of our biggest summer goals/accomplishments was hiking to the Timpanogos Caves. We hiked 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and then all the way. It was one of my favorite activities of the summer. 

-We love Harry Potter and it's been so fun reading together with Lydia. (Austin started book 1 this year, too, and they've had fun talking about it.) We just started book 5 with her and it's a special time to snuggle with her at nighttime to read a book just for her.) 

Visiting Grandpa Great. Lydia and Lucy matching once again. 

Summer swim time! (Pool, splash pad, Manilla Pond)

Some of her favorite things: dogs and reading in random places. 

Spending time with Dad. 

She's such a kind friend, sister, daugther. 

Playing on a softball team - she's most excited to start this up again next year. 

Temple chalk art + Making a Halloween Haunted House for the Library

Halloween as a black cat. 

Carving pumpkins 

Fall Festivals/Pumpkin Patches with friends. 

Life can be hard and I'm grateful to have Lydia to go through it all with. She is growing into a wonderful young woman and I'm grateful for the relationship that we have. She is brilliant, kind, determined, creative, faithful, and the best girl we could ask for.