Dear Gracie,
Thank you for being who you are, someone who is looked upon as a sweet girl. Someone dependable. Someone who will follow the rules and not cause trouble. Thank you for working so hard at school and keeping straight A's through your 6th grade year. We hope it continues, BUT we want you to know that our love for you doesn't depend on that...or on how many rules you follow. We love you because you're you and God chose you to be our daughter. Don't get me wrong...we love the A's and look forward to some scholarships one day! :)
I would say that your best friends right now are Krista, Emily, Sydney, & Reyna, with others being well loved & well liked as well. When I ask you, hypothetically, who your bridesmaids would be if you had to choose RIGHT NOW, just for fun, I love that you usually include Leigh Ann-your original best friend from Aiken that we moved away from when you were 7. Very sweet. I like that you were invited to 2 birthday parties of girls from school this summer who aren't in your usual small "bff" circle because it means you're expanding to meet other people. You tend to be quiet, so sometimes I wonder if you're leaving yourself open to creating new friendships, and apparently you are!
I would say your favorite class in school is orchestra. We look forward to seeing you play in the Symphony this year, the highest level of your school's orchestras. I remember the joy when you texted me to tell me you had made it! I knew you were so excited, and we were SO proud of you! You are looking forward to being in Art this year as well. You'll continue in PreAP math (1/2 of 7th & all of 8th grade math), which should prove to be quite the challenge as last year's math caused you some stress, but you kept your A, proving you're not afraid of hard work & a challenge. You'll have GT Language Arts & GT Science, along with PreAP Social Studies. A heavy load, but you're so self motivated & self disciplined, what a blessing. You've also decided to run track in the Spring which we're anxious to witness, and you've tried out for the Science Olympiad team. We'll find out if you make that after school starts. Today, you mentioned trying out for volleyball. Goodness....as much as I LOVE that you want to try so many things, we explained that you can't do it ALL, so I think volleyball won't be something you pursue this year. Let's stick with church, school, and your other extras...violin, perhaps Science Olympiad, & track. We'll see about volleyball another time.
You are such a beautiful example of a good big sister to Ellie. She adores you and cherishes the time you spend together. You're like a 2nd mom to her. Katie adores you too, BUT the 2 of you do tend to butt heads more often. :) We've started letting you stay home alone with them a little bit which you LOVE. This one is hard for me, but slowly it is getting easier.
Your daddy adores you...and does his best to embarrass you which...well, embarrasses you! lol I hope you realize how blessed you are with him as your daddy. You really couldn't get any better...even with all of the embarrassment he causes. :) I'm so proud to be your mommy. I love that you like to watch The Waltons & Little House on the Prairie with me. We also enjoy Secret Millionaire and Next Food Network Star. I just introduced you to Mr. Holland's Opus as well.
You got contacts this week, and you have amazed me with how well you put them in & take them out! You're doing much better than I did when I started!
Most of all, we are so proud of your decision in this last year to become a Christian. When you were baptized, it was the happiest moment of mine & your daddy's lives. I'll never forget you coming to me and saying that you thought you wanted to be baptized. After studying some more with Mr. Mike & then your daddy & me, we knew you were ready. It was amazing.
We love you, Gracie Madelyn Shanks!
Mommy & Daddy
Not to embarrass Gracie, but this blog is my family's journal, so here are her 12 year stats:
72 lbs (9th percentile) & 4'10 1/4" (31st percentile)
Below are pictures from her day. Grammer was still here, so she did the cooking that day! Yummy!
Ellie liked the cake!
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