{Happy 14th Birthday, SAM!}

This is Sam at his 8th grade graduation in June. He is an amazing young man & so much fun to be around. He is very daring, doing front flips off the front yard fence, jumping over things that look much too high, & flying off any jump he can find on his bike. He has recently learned to do a back flip thingy which we saw him do Saturday night at the dance festival. I'm pretty sure he likes the feeling of flying through the air. Is there a name for that?

Anyway, you'd think that we'd had lots of injuries with all of the daring things he does but we haven't. He is, however always covered with bruises. His most recent injury was a couple of weeks ago when he was riding his bike and he leaned down to fix something with his brake cable. He smacked into the back of a parked van and chipped two teeth and cut up the inside of his mouth. He came home bleeding and apologizing profusely. How can you get mad at someone who is apologizing for the inconvenience it is going to cause the mother???? You just can't- so I called the dentist and we headed to Fallbrook to get his teeth fixed. The front tooth was broken pretty far up but just beneath the root. He was a very lucky boy. It is amazing how great his teeth look. Now we wait for the bill. Come to find out that is what Sam was apologizing for, not for the inconvenience but for the cost of it. I guess I complain too much about no money for things so I bettter stop that.

Sam is a blessing in our lives. He is responsible, dependable, gentle & caring. He is very inventive and is always thinking of something he can make or do. He has a huge heart and an even bigger testimony. We love him so much and wish him the best year ever and much success in high school.