Sweet 16

 It was a big birthday for Elizabeth this year--16! We couldn't believe it. It was a pretty quiet one but she is easy to please. We'll have to have a party for her next year. She wanted eggs and hashbrowns for breakfast and bread bowl soup for dinner. We had Costco cheesecake for her dessert so that was easy. It was a big birthday for her since she got my old iphone and also a laptop to write on. She also got a ukulele:

She also finished her driver's training but the DMVs were closed for driving tests so she couldn't get her license yet. We ended up getting an appointment a couple months later. Unfortunately, she didn't pass her first one because she was relying on the back up cam instead of looking behind her. I think it would have helped her if she had had her lessons closer to when she took the test. But, she was able to pass the second time when she took it in May. It was so nice to have her start running errands for us!

It was a tough year for Lizzie, too. She also suffered from missing the end of her freshmen year and not getting to say goodbye to friends in Fremont. She was able to keep in touch with her friend, Isabelle, and that has continued on. I was always glad to hear her talking to her from inside her room--getting a little bit of social contact at least. Elizabeth was actually called to be the YW president of the older class in Clovis so that forced her to socialize a bit more, too. She did a good job getting out of her comfort zone and reaching out even though she was new. She had a tough year of classes--including AP Euro history, Chemistry and Pre-Calculus but she did great in all of them. She even ended up getting a 5 on her AP test! She started taking piano lessons with a tough teacher in Clovis and improved a lot. She also managed to teach herself how to play the ukulele. She still loves to read as much as possible and branched out to a lot of our classics with libraries closed. She loves to read and write poetry, too, and wrote some amazing stuff. She took French 3 and improved a ton. She has an amazing French accent! She loves to make and eat simple meals like black beans, eggs, or ritz pizzas. She can also be found eating celery plain and mangoes, if we have them. She likes to go on walks to a local park and loves to read outside under a big tree. She would often take Eve with her, which she loved. She could sometimes be talked into swimming, playing games and watching TV with us and never understands why we force her to do those things. It's because we love spending time with her so much! :) Quarantine might have exacerbated some of her introvert qualities a bit but she did still wish for friends and a more normal high school experience so it was tough at times. But, as she always does, she pushed through and managed to thrive despite tough circumstances. She is such an ideal first child for us--always setting a good example and caring for her siblings and we're so thankful for Lizzie!