It is hard to believe our eldest daughter is 10 years old! I remember turning 10 years old myself and thinking it was special my age was in the double digits. It is a wonderful thing! We became parents for the first time one decade ago...how the time flies. It is neat to look back and see how our adorbale, bright eyed Isabelle has changed and grown over these years. She is really blossoming into a gorgeous, young lady.
Here are some things we want to remember about our Izzy at age 10:
-She is a very thoughtful and caring person. She received $10 from her Great Nana as a birthday gift, and she decided she wanted to use it to buy Lily a birthday gift. She started tearing up a little when she told me she wanted to do that. It was a big sacrifice for her because she does not yet get an allowance, and so when she gets money that is all her own, she really loves to buy something of her own choice. I was very proud of her for doing that, and Lily loved her gift. She actually got Student of the Month at school because her classmates voted her as the most caring student in her class. Lily then wanted to reciprocate the deed, and bought Izzy a gift with her $10:
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| Lily bought Izzy a stuffy she knew Izzy really wanted |
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| Student of the Month |
Once while we lived in Calgary, we saw that somebody had smeared ketchup all over the bus stop bench at the girls' school bus stop. Izzy came up with the idea that we should go over with a bucket of hot water and soap and wash it off one night for FHE. I was again, so impressed with her thoughtfullness.
-She is very intelligent. She knows a lot of things, and loves to share her knowledge! She loves to participate in Sharing Time at church, or at FHE, or school, or anywhere that asks questions. She seems to always know the answer, or at least tries to figure out the answer. She is diligent at studying for tests at school and does a great job. She often brings home tests with high percentages. She loves to read and learn. She loves the Dumb Diary series, and various other novels from the library.
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| Proud of Isabelle's good marks |
-She is an amazing big sister. She shows wonderful leadership with her little sisters, and cousins. She is so patient with them. Olivia will often go into her room while she is at school, and take her things and sometimes break them. Isabelle is incredibly patient with her, and when she buys something from a gift shop she will often ask if she can buy two, so she can give one to Olivia, so Olivia will leave hers alone! She takes time to play with her sisters, read to them, help them with various things throughout the day. She will teach them how to play certain games. She will wait for everyone to get out of the van and will make sure the sliding door gets closed all the way. We have learned that we can depend on Izzy to help with her sisters.
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| Good big sis |
-She LOVES babies! In the last 12 months she has gained 4 new baby cousins and she loves to hold and take care of all of them. She does a great job with tending them and keeping them happy. Her primary teachers have a little baby they bring with them to class and she will hold her often and take care of her too. She can't wait until she can babysit one day. She told me for family, she will do it for free!
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| Clockwise from the top right: Dexter, Jade, Meila, and Garrett. |
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| This one was taken with her own NEW camera! |
-She has a wonderful testimony of the Gospel and loves to go to church and Activity Days. Activity Days are the highlight of her month! She has learned so much, and made many wonderful friends going to them.
For one of the weeks in Feb, they made a "Heart Attack" kit they could do to anyone, and Izzy chose to do it to Lily. She stayed up late and taped the hearts onto Lily's door, and Lily was so surprised and happy when she woke up the next morning.
-She has completed her Faith In God book already! She still has two years left to go until it needs to be completed, but she just loved working on it so much that she finished all those goals already. She can now help Lily complete hers!
-She is very creative and loves to do art and crafts, drawing and painting. The walls in her room are filled with her masterpieces.
-She loves to play basketball, ride her bike, swim, ice skate, sled in the winter, and just be active!
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| Skating on the lake |
-She is a talented pianist. She is currently playing the songs Robots and If The Savior Stood Beside Me. She is getting stronger and stronger at playing, and sight reading. This is the first year where she will start practising the piano without me asking her to! She has learned to really love it. She loves to take piano pieces to school and play for her class in music class.
-She is practically fluent in Spanish. I am always so amazed at how much she knows. She has been learning Spanish for 6 years now! (including Preschool and kindergarten)
-She is in that spot between a teenager and a little girl. She loves to be grown up and wear nail polish and scrapbook and do her own hair, but then sometimes she still loves to cuddle her stuffed animals and play Lalaloopsies with her sisters. It is bittersweet for me! I love that she is growing up and maturing, but at the same time I wish she could stay little forever.
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| beautiful girl |
-Her friends at church are Libby, Sydney, Ethan and Cam and at school they are Cora, Jessica, Spencer, Jaida, Madison, Morgan and Nalia. She is a sweet girl and nice to others, and has always been able to make friends quite easily.
-Her favourite colour is still Aqua Blue.
-She taught Olivia how to print her name!
-Her all time favourite article of clothing is this Panda Sweater she got for Christmas. She LOVES it. She wears it all the time. We often have to tell her she can't wear it because it is dirty and needs to be washed from being worn so much.
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| Watching one of Emma's games in her panda sweater |
We love you Isabelle!
