Letter To Maylin - 10 Years

Dear Maylin,

You made it! The big 10! No matter how much we beg you to stop, you just keep getting older and continue to keep growing.

You started 4^th grade this year with the teacher that you really wanted – Mrs. Alestock. You also got Mrs. Stocker, who you didn't know much about, but you ended up loving her so much by the end of the school year.

You did a fun overnight trip with your Girl Scout Troop to Fossil Rim and earned a badge. Your troop also visited the Bedford Fire Department and took a tour of their living quarters and also the ambulance and fire engine. You also lead one of the meetings to obtain 2 badges in Health & Fitness.

Lucky you! You were the only one in the family NOT to get Covid this year. Your sister got it right before school started and then Dad got it about a month later and then Mom caught it a week after Dad. It ruined Dad's 50^th birthday party plans, but we were able to postpone and celebrate it at a later date.

You have continued to attend the Gutsy Girl Skateboard Clinics with Dad and you even did a big project in Mrs. Villagomez's class this year centered around learning how to do the Ollie trick on your skateboard.

This year you attended a Fall Basketball Clinic at LD Bell and you joined a basketball team. You were on a team with your friend Lily and her dad was the coach. Your team was called the Terriers and you played as #4. Unfortunately, your team didn't have a winning season, but you learned a lot. You got frustrated a lot when your team lost and you would also get frustrated with your team members, but hopefully as you continue to play and learn, you will find the positives in losing as well as winning.

You did some fun things in the Fall like attend a Stranger Things pop-up store at the Mall, celebrated your sister's birthday at Alley Cats, and you dressed up like Edward Tulane for Storybook Character Day at school. On Halloween, you dressed up like Max from Stranger Things and Skye, your BFF, was Eleven. You had fun trick or treating around the neighborhood again with Morgan and her friends and then once you all were back at the house, there was a lot of negotiating and swapping candy.

One amazing accomplishment that you made this year was achieving your Black Belt on the Recorder. You were so dedicated to completing it and you were one of the first ones in your grade to do it. You practiced almost every day, much to the chagrin of Dad and I some days (ha), but you did it!

Christmas season was filled with fun and music. You performed with the Tiger Choir at the Hurst Tree Lighting Ceremony, you performed with the Tiger Choir in a Christmas performance at school, you went with the Tiger Choir on a field trip to LD Bell and Itz and Mom was a chaperone, you attended Family Fun Day at school, you had a Girl Scout Christmas party and gift exchange, our family went to view the Christmas lights in the Diamond Loch neighborhood, you got to hold and cuddle Candi the Elf again this year on Christmas Eve, and we celebrated New Year's Eve with the Ramos family and friends again this year.

You had another great year of selling Girl Scout cookies, even though we hardly had any time to sell at the booths due to your basketball schedule. We sold at O'Reilly's when it worked with our schedule and that's what helped your sales a lot. Your Dad held up the sign on the corner, you danced (ha), and Mom sold at the table. We made a lot of sales that way and we're hoping that it works again next cookie season.

There were a few fun things that happened in the Winter/Spring time. You participated in APEX at school and it was the first year that Mom was in charge of it. Your Aunt Lu visited and while she was here, she had the cross stitch rainbow that she made for you framed at Michael's. You had a few surprise visitors show up at your events: Coach V showed up to one of your basketball games and Ms. King, your 3^rd grade teacher, showed up at a couple of your cookie booths.

You completed a fun project in Mrs. Villagomez's class where you had to reenact a famous Johannes Vermeer painting. You and your sister reenacted the painting “Mistress and Maid”. Mom was in charge of pulling the scene together and gathering the props and clothes. The funniest part of the whole thing was that you used the mullet wig as a proper lady's wig and it worked!

Another fun thing that you did this year was participate in the 4^th grade field trip to Austin. It was the first year that the school allowed this to happen and you had a blast! Mom was a chaperone, along with many other parents and teachers. You went to the State Capitol and to the Inner Space Caverns. Outside of the Caverns, you also got to play on the playground and mine for gold.

Spring Break was a 2 day staycation. We went to Dallas and had lunch at Chet's and toured Dad's office, then went to Rainbow Vomit which was super cool, went to Klyde Warren Park, and finished the day with dinner at Chef Point where you experienced your first Monte Cristo. You LOVED it! The next day we went to the Museum of Illusions and had lunch at Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse, and then went bowling at Bowlero. You and sister finished your Spring Break vacation at Auntie's house.

You tried a new sport and attended a Volleyball Clinic at LD Bell with your friend Ana. You really liked it, but decided that you didn't want to join a team and would stick with basketball.

A very big thing happened this year, right around Easter. You kept talking about how you knew that the Easter Bunny wasn't real and that you suspected that the Tooth Fairy wasn't real either. You kept asking about Santa and whether or not he was real. You would mention how your friends said there wasn't a Santa. We would put it back on you and ask you what you thought and you would go back and forth. Eventually, you said that you wanted to know the truth once and for all and that's when I knew that it was time to give you the “Magic of Santa” letter. You read the letter and then had a lot of questions, but you took it like a champ, which means you were ready to know the truth. You did catch me crying afterwards in the office though, but I was crying because it was the end of another chapter. You and your sister are growing up and sometimes it hurts.

Easter was a little different this year. We attended church, you got an Easter Basket, but you only hunted for your golden egg this year, and then you and your sister were surprised with tickets to your first NBA game. You received a Mavs shirt in your basket, so you quickly put it on and off we went to watch the Mavs play the Spurs.

You attended the Fine Arts Night at school and were asked to perform with 5 other Recorder Karate Black Belts, alongside the Performing Ensemble.

A major success for you this year was auditioning and being accepted into the HEB Honor Choir for 5^th grade! You were so excited. You were even more excited to learn that you get to experience it with one of your best friends, Laurel.

There was more Girl Scout fun toward the end of the school year. You participated in the Pinewood Derby and created a custom made skateboard derby car. You had a lot of fun making it and deciding how it would look authentic. Mom and Dad helped with some of it, but you really made it look cool. It didn't win anything, but it got a lot of compliments from people at the race. Your troop also went to Girl Scout Day at Medieval Times and we ended up getting the bad Knight that offended the Queen, but our group didn't care, we continued to cheer him on!

You performed in the school play “GOAL!”, where you sang and had a speaking part. Originally, you were only supposed to sing, but Mrs. Alestock gave you a speaking part because she knew you could do it and you were great!

One of your big 4^th grade assignments this year was to write and illustrate a story based on Cinderella. Your story was titled “Cinder-Jello”. It was really cute and your classmates agreed because you won “Best Story”, voted on by your classmates.

The end of the year 4^th grade awards were wonderful. You acted like a ham up on the stage, which I expected nothing less (ha!) You received so many awards for all of your accomplishments and you should be so proud of yourself! I know that we are proud of you. You got perfect attendance and A-B Honor Roll, which really upset you because one B (an 89) prevented you from getting all A's for the year.

Summer was full of fun and you were busy for most of it! We started off by going to see Josh Gates at the Winspear Opera House. You stood in line to ask him a question and were the next in line, when they decided the close down the questions. You were disappointed, but you had a lot of fun at the show. We all did! You participated in another Scout Day with your Girl Scout Troop at Globe Life Stadium and got to walk to Rangers baseball field before the game. We all got a free Rangers shirt that day as well. You attended your third year of Basketball Camp at LD Bell and won the Hustle Award. You really enjoy doing this camp every year with your friend Lily. We took your friend Delaney to NRH2O with us, along with her sister and her mom. Your sister brought a friend as well, and you all had a blast riding the slides and playing in the water. You spent a week in Athens with the Newtons to attend their VBS this year. You loved it and thought it was a lot better than ours (ha!) They had big tents that each group visited every day and you were very impressed with this. You got a little homesick by the end of the week, but you still had a great time and said you want to go back next year. You attended your third year of camp at Glen Lake and once again, you loved it! I was a little concerned that you would get homesick because of how you were in Athens, but I didn't need to worry. Some other things that you did this summer was celebrate Wyatt's first birthday, attend VBS at our church, celebrate the 4^th of July with the Ramos family – we swam at their house and then watched the fireworks at Bedford Boys Ranch. You attended your first Camp Invention this summer with your friend Laurel. On the last day of camp, you came home with so much stuff that it covered the entire kitchen island! A couple of the cool things that you made were a robot that repeats what you say and a skateboard shop with an indoor skatepark that had LED lights.

Our Family Vacation was so much fun this year! We went to West Virginia and Canada. We got up very early on the first day to catch our flight and by that evening, we were having dinner at Jim & Robin's house. You and your sister swam in their pool while we all sat around talked. The Family Reunion was the next day and you played on the playground with several of your cousins, mostly playing on what you were calling “the wheel of death” HA! We ate a lot of food and dessert and then went on the hayride all through the countryside. That evening we went to Pete and Cheryl's house for Pete's “famous hot dogs” and corn. You were in the pool most of the night and I finally had to tell you to get out so that we could leave. The next day was BIG DAY. You knocked a bucket list item off of your list! YOU FED A RED PANDA! We went to the Good Zoo at Oglebay and walked around for a bit before our appointment to feed the Red Pandas. Once inside, the two Red Pandas came down to eat with us. We got to feed Fia, the female, and Junjie, the male. You were a little nervous and scared at first, but once one of them ate out your hand, you were fine and realized that they weren't going to hurt you. It was such a cool experience and one that we will never forget! That same day, we had lunch at Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Nelson's house and then went to Greyson's birthday party at Tracy and Julie's house.

Our family vacation continued the next day as we drove to Niagara Falls. It was Mom's birthday so Dad upgraded our hotel room and it had an amazing view of the waterfalls! That evening we had Mom's birthday dinner at Table Rock with a great view of the falls and then went back to the room to watch the night lights and fireworks at the falls. You were so impressed with the lights and wanted to use my phone to take so many pictures! The next day was spent mostly getting wet in Niagara Falls! We started with the boat cruise to the falls, then we did the journey behind the falls, which was taking a tour under and behind the horseshoe falls. Then we did Niagara's Fury, which we weren't that impressed with, and then we went to the big Hershey Chocolate Store and filled two big bags full of various chocolates. Before leaving Niagara, we did one last attraction, the Whirlpool Aero Car, which we all enjoyed. Our next stop was a little town called Niagara on the Lake. We visited the floral clock and then ate dinner at the Olde Angel Inn, which is supposed to be haunted and the reason why Mom picked it as the place to eat. The waitress told us that she and some other staff had some experiences with the ghost. You were very interested in the story and got a pamphlet about it. At some point when we were walking around the town afterwards, you lost the pamphlet and were very upset. You would not let it go, even though I kept telling you that the story was online and I could print it for you when we got home. Needless to say, you and I walked back to the Inn to get another pamphlet.

We finally made our way to Toronto and arrived in time to walk around the hotel and take a few pictures. The next day we visited the CN Tower and it had two levels with a glass floor. You were okay with upper level glass floor, but not the bottom level (ha!) Mom wasn't okay with any of the glass floors. Dad and Morgan loved the glass floors and were jumping on them! We then went to the Hockey Hall of Fame and had our picture taken with a Stanley Cup. Dad was very superstitious and told us not to touch it, but we all did anyway. That evening, we did a walking Ghost Tour in downtown Toronto. It was interesting and our tour guide was great, but it wasn't scary. You enjoyed it and were glad that we didn't go inside anywhere. After we returned from the Ghost Tour, you lost a tooth! The “Tooth Fairy” couldn't decide whether to give you American or Canadian money, but ultimately American money won because the exchange rate was better. The next day we visit a castle called Casa Loma. It was huge! It has been used for a lot of different movies and there were lot of underground tunnels and secret rooms located throughout the castle. Apparently there is one secret room that still has not been found. We visited the Toronto Zoo for a short time trying to find the Red Pandas only to be disappointed. It was too hot that day and they weren't outside. We left the Zoo and headed back to our hotel so that we could make our Boat Cruise of Toronto Harbor. I don't think any of us were that impressed with the boat cruise only because we couldn't hear most of what the tour guide was saying and it was very hot inside the boat. The next day was a very long travel day for us. We drove from Toronto back to Pittsburgh, only to learn that our flight was delayed and continued to be delayed. Thankfully it wasn't canceled, but we didn't get home until 1:30 in the morning! Overall, you had a great vacation and a lot of fun with not only us, but with a lot of your cousins. You were very sad when our vacation ended and you were really sad when we left West Virginia. Who knows, maybe one day you will end up living in West Virginia.

Your 10^th birthday started with a BIG surprise. You got your first phone! You were so excited and shocked. After the shock wore off, you got everybody's phone number and started texting them HA! We went to see the movie Elemental for your birthday and then went to dinner at BJ's. You had your birthday party at Classic Gymnastics and your theme was Wicked, which made Mom really happy.

You have had such a great year and have made some new friends. You started hanging out with Avery, Baileigh, Delaney, and Laurel. Unfortunately, your relationship with Skye seemed to drift this year. She made a friend that didn't like you and that caused a rift, but by the end of the year you both seemed to have worked it out.

You have found a love for Ramen, so much so that your Christmas ornament this year was Ramen Noodles. You also got a Ramen cooker for Christmas. You still love Mac & Cheese, Spaghetti O's, Kraves Cereal, Grilled Cheese, Plain M&Ms, and Chocolate. You love Red Pandas (duh), Ellie Mae, Sookie, your family, basketball, ghost stories, video games, and play dates with friends.

Trying to control your anger in a healthy way has been a struggle for you this year. You have a tendency to storm off in the middle of a conversation when you're getting into trouble and you don't like to be told no. You have a tendency to throw things when your mad and you take things very personally. I reached out to the school counselor to see if visiting with her might help and she started meeting with you at the end of the school year. You said that you enjoyed your weekly visits with her and felt like she helped you.

On the flip-side, you are the funniest and wittiest kid I know! You are so entertaining and you make us laugh a lot. You are always dancing, singing, joking, and telling a story. If you're awake, then you're talking, HA! You've got so much to say and can't wait to tell us. One thing that I continue to hear from your teachers is how entertaining and funny you are. It seemed like every time I saw Mrs. Alestock, she had a funny story to share with me about something that you did or said in class. I love your funny personality and I hope it never changes.

We love you so much, Maylin, and we can't wait to see what great things await you in the coming year!

Love,

Mom, Dad, and Morgan

Letter to Morgan - 13 Years

Dear Morgan,

You're officially a teenager! How can that be? The saying goes that “time is a thief” and it's true. My oldest is no longer a baby. You have grown both in mind and body exponentially this year. It's been amazing to see the difference in you, but if I'm honest, also heartbreaking. I don't like watching my baby grow up. You'll understand one day.

We are finally coming out of the strict guidelines of Covid and that's partly because the vaccines are more widely available to everyone of all ages. We had you vaccinated and thankfully you didn't have any side effects other than a sore arm.

You attended your first Dallas Stars game and we were lucky enough to get to sit in box seats. You had a good time and loved getting to eat as many cookies as you wanted!

During the Christmas season, you performed with the Tiger Choir at the Hurst Tree Lighting and you also sang and performed on the drums and xylophone with the Performance Ensemble for the Holiday Show at school. You also volunteered to be a face painter at Family Fun Day and you had a line of kids waiting to get their faces painted. You also performed with the Honor Choir competing at Epic Water Park and achieving a Superior Rating and performing the Winter Concert at Trinity High School. You also went with the Tiger Choir and Performing Ensemble and competed at Epic Water Park and achieved another Superior Rating. Lastly, you participated in the Christmas Eve service at church.

Your Girl Scout troop bridged from Juniors to Cadettes during the holiday season and celebrated at a restaurant. You received a necklace in addition to a new vest.

We finished the year off flying high at iFly and celebrating the new year at the Ramos family's New Years Eve party.

Spring Break this year was in Fort Worth. You went to your first rodeo and we also visited the water gardens, and went down to the stockyards, watched the cattle drive, a re-enacted gun fight, walked through the maze, went to the Ft. Worth Zoo, and then you and your sister went to stay at your Auntie's house.

This year you went to Confirmation classes for most of the school year. At the end of the Confirmation classes in April, the church had a dinner for all of the Confirmands and their families and Pastor Holly had asked you if you would be willing to do the opening prayer for the dinner. I was so proud of you and I hope that you felt proud of yourself that she had picked you to do the honors. You had a faith partner named Courtney, who was your guide through most of the classes and I think you really enjoyed learning more about the Methodist Church and developing a closer relationship with God. On the day of Confirmation, we invited all of the family to come and then we celebrated at home afterwards with food and cake. Dad and I gave you a James Avery charm bracelet with a Confirmation charm that has the date engraved on it.

Field Day looked a little different this year. The 6^th graders were helpers vs. participants and you loved it! You were given a whistle and a game to cover and you had so much fun “bossing” the other kids around. I received so many compliments from various teachers about what a great job you did!

You had some final choir performances before the end of school. You had an Honor Choir performance at LD Bell High School, which totally made me cry! You also had a Performing Ensemble performance where you played several instruments. You've always been musically inclined, but I was so impressed with your ability to be able to play so many different instruments.

You participated in a couple of Girl Scout events before school let out. You went to an iFly event and you also went to an overnight excursion with your sister to NASA in Houston. You had a great time, but you both were so tired when you got back.

You attended the 6^th grade end-of-year dance and I was a chaperone at the event. It looked like you had a good time with your friends and I watched you dance a couple of times. I even convinced you to take some pictures with me in the photo booth.

6^th grade ended with the clap-out and we were there clapping really loudly because we were so super proud of you. You received so many awards that day, including receiving straight A's. It was a great day! You were hugging teachers and friends and saying your goodbyes. It was bittersweet, as you were also saying goodbye to your elementary school.

Summer fun started immediately with a beach trip to Rockport with Grammy, Aunt Robin, and Gracie. We had so much fun exploring the cute town, shopping, eating, and of course enjoying the beach. There were so many other fun things you did this summer including Scout Day at the Rangers Game where you got to walk the field with the Girl Scouts. You attended Digital Anime Camp at Art Castle and made a mug and a button and a lot of digital art. You also went to Glen Lake Camp, which is your favorite thing to do during the summer! You had a blast as usual and even cried with your new friends when you had to leave. You also got braces this summer on June 29^th! You were not excited at all and your teeth hurt for several days. You were living on yogurt and soup for a while.

Our family summer trip this year was to visit Grandma Muriel in Montreal, Canada. We did so many things in the week that we were there. We started with a tour of Montreal, we had many dinners with Grandma Muriel, we attended the International Fireworks Competition and Canada did not disappoint! We did some shopping, we visited Olympic Park, we also got to meet your cousin Christine, we visited the Biodome and the Vans Skatepark, we went to the Barbie Expo, and we went to the Notre Dame Basilica and watched the Aura light show, we went to Old Port and rode the Ferris Wheel and visited the Science Museum, we then took a day tour to Quebec City and saw the Montmorency Falls, and took a cruise on the St. Lawrence river, and walked around the city.

Summer was almost over and Hurst Junior High was hosting Raider Camp for all of the incoming 7^th graders. You and I attended the camp together and they had a big pep rally to start it off and get everyone excited. After the pep rally, they split the students from the parents and each of us learned more about the school. At the end, we toured the school and you got an idea of where all of your classes were going to be so that you weren't completely lost on the first day.

Shortly after Raider Camp, you started feeling sick and tested positive for Covid. We had you quarantined up in your room, which you loved and I hated. From the time we had returned from Canada I felt like something had changed with you. I felt like you were pulling away from me, which made me want to reach for you more. I don't know if it was actually happening, but it felt that way and it was making me really sad. I tried to tell you how I felt, but I don't think really understood. You kept telling me nothing was different. Looking back, I realize now that you were slowly changing into a teenager and when I realized that you were entering Junior High, it hit me like a ton of bricks and made me very emotional. It had everything to do with me and almost nothing to do with you. You were still Morgan and just being a teenager, I was just having a really hard time adjusting to it. I cried A LOT for about a month after you started Junior High just trying to accept things and even now I'm still trying to accept it.

You recovered from Covid and were able to start school without a problem. The school hosted an Open House and we were able to visit with all of your teachers and we found out that your Math teacher had put your name on the wall because you were at 100%.

We celebrated your 13^th birthday at Alley Cats this year with a fun group of friends. You bowled, played laser tag, and played in the arcade.

Letter To Maylin - 9 Years

Dear Maylin,

How are you already nine years old? You've grown so much over the past year and have had so many fun things happen over the year. You started 3^rd grade with Ms. Owens and Ms. King and it was finally a “normal” school year after suffering through a year and a half of the pandemic. You couldn't wait to get started and see your friends again.

They did come out with a vaccine for kids your age, so you were able to get your two vaccine shots before the end of the year and you didn't have any side effects, thank goodness.

This year you showed an interest in skateboarding so Dad started taking you to Gutsy Girls clinics and you have really enjoyed learning some skateboarding skills. You even got a new skateboard and your Halloween costume this year was an injured skateboarder.

You attended your first Dallas Stars game and we were lucky enough to be in box seats, which were awesome! You were up and out of your seat every time a song came on hoping to get on TV. Your Christmas list was packed with Stars stuff after that game!

One special thing at Christmas that you were excited about this year is that you got to hold Candi the Elf for the first time on Christmas Eve. Her letter at the beginning of the season said that Santa was now allowing you and your sister to hold her on her final day before he took her home to the North Pole. You were so excited and couldn't wait for Christmas Eve. You carried her around all day and barely let your sister hold her.

You ended the year on New Years Eve 'flying high' at iFly for the first time and loved it! After that, you spend the rest of the evening with your BFF, Skye, ringing in the New Year at her house.

Mom had surgery in February and you were very worried We tried to reassure you that everything was going to be OK, but until I was finally home and you could see me, you didn't stop worrying – so sweet.

You finally saw the movie “Turning Red”. We had been waiting for a long time for it to finally come out. The main character shared your name and she turned into a Red Panda. It seemed like this movie was made for you! We all really liked the movie and you started calling yourself Maylin Lee, and your friends did too.

Spring Break was a stay-cation this year in Fort Worth. We had a good time exploring the water gardens, going to your first rodeo, exploring the stockyards, watching the cattle drive, going through the maze, watching cowboys re-enact a gun fight, and going to the Zoo. You were even daring enough to ride the mechanical bull!

You did some fun Girl Scout things this year as well. In addition to selling a ton of cookies, your troop took a trip to the Water Gardens, and walked around downtown Ft. Worth to learn about some of the history of the city. You even saw the big, glittery cowboy hat in the square. You and your sister also went on an overnight GS trip to NASA! At the end of the year, your troop bridged from Brownies to Juniors. In the summer, you participated in Scout Day at the Ranger Game and got to walk the field!

You finished 3^rd grade with all A's and your multiplication license! You worked so hard on getting that license and we're so proud of all your accomplishments this year!

Summer was full of so many fun things! We started summer with going to the beach with Grammy, Aunt Robin, and Gracie to Rockport, TX. We had so much fun and you collected some really cool shells. You attended basketball camp again this year and learned more skills and drills and had a lot of fun. You went to Glen Lake Camp for the whole week this year. This was your first time being away from home this long and I was very nervous about it, but you were totally fine. You had a blast and can't wait to go back next year! Your cousin Wyatt was finally born – he was late, but he finally came on June 27.

We took our family vacation to Montreal, Canada to visit Grandma Muriel. We did so many fun things including: a tour of Montreal, the International Fireworks Competition, lots of shopping, the Olympic Park, met and hung out with cousin Christine, visited the Biodome, checked out the Vans Skatepark, went to the Barbie Expo, went to the Notre Dame Basilica and watched Aura (the light show), went to Old Port and rode the Ferris Wheel, went to the Science Museum, took a day tour to Quebec City and visited the Montmorency Falls, took a cruise on the St. Lawrence river, and walked around the city.

It's been a very busy year! I think we have been making up for all of the stuff that we couldn't do during the pandemic.

You still love to be active and moving and you are always dancing! You love hanging out with your friends and cracking jokes. You talk A LOT and have a hard time letting others talk sometimes, but it's only because you have so much to say! We love your funny and witty personality and we love watching you grow into the young lady that you are becoming.

We love you, Sweet Pea!

Love, Mommy, Daddy, and Morgan