Anna Grace

This sweet girl turned sixteen the last day of January and I thought it would be nice to acknowledge that landmark with a blog post of her very own. 

She is officially driving on her own as she passed both the written and driving tests a few weeks ago.   It has been nice for us to have another driver in the family as she can take herself to school, organ practice/lessons, piano lessons, track practice, etc.  It was especially nice when Russ and I were in Florida for the Ligonier conference as she could taxi her siblings to the library and even to Culvers for a night eating out!  You have to understand that driving in busy Boise and Meridian traffic is no small feat for this non-aggressive, shy, introvert!  She has done awesome, and we love watching her gain confidence with each milestone of independence.

Although she has played the piano for years, Anna has found a new love with the organ.  She has had lessons just over a year and has played in church 3-4 times.  Currently, when she plays in church it is mainly for the prelude and offertory, but she has accompanied congregational singing a few times.  She is working towards taking the entire service, but hasn't quite gained the confidence for that yet!

Anna found another new love in the subject of accounting.  As some of the family may remember, Anna spent much of her Christmas break in Iowa working through an accounting book for Business Professionals of America (BPA).  BPA is a club at Cole Valley Christian that allows students to compete and gain experience in various aspects of the business world.  Nicolas was also a part of the club while at CVCS and participated in a group marketing competition.  Anna wanted to be part of another extracurricular and decided on BPA, but wasn't sure what area to participate in.  Since she loves all things numbers, we encouraged her to try accounting.  CVCS does not offer an accounting class, but the BPA supervisor found a CPA to mentor and advise Anna through an accounting book--basically completing a course in Fundamental Accounting via self-study.  In January Anna competed with a written test and finished first in the district/region.  A couple of weeks ago the state competition was held at BSU and Anna finished 6/30, just missing qualifying for Nationals (which are to be held in TX in May) by one place!  She is excited to move on to the next level of accounting next year.

 National Honor Society Induction

Other loves of Anna:  Math, snuggling her pets, playing games (especially any fast game that relies on pattern recognition--we are all toast if she is playing), yummy food, and books (especially biographies--her most recent favorite is Elisabeth Elliot).  Things she does not love:  Social media, ridiculous phone texts, cleaning and/or doing dishes (unless it's emptying the dishwasher because the dishes are clean and not gross), running long distances, Russ' dad jokes, her contact lenses, and driving on the interstate.