Stockton has loved having his license. He enjoys his independence immensely and does not take it for granted, probably because he had to wait for so long. He takes care of his truck, inside and out. He is always willing to run errands for me or take/pick up his sisters when I need him to. He tries to take back roads whenever he can-good thing you can get most anywhere in Heber on back roads.
This summer his love for cars has really amped up. He said he's always loved cars but he has just been noticing and talking about them more and more. He will point out a "cool car" whenever we are in the car and has a lot of knowledge about all the different features of the different cars. He has a dream car (can't remember which one) but also knows which color he would get in each of the different kinds of sports cars. He has slowly been buying sports car Lego sets with his birthday money, putting them together, and displaying them in his room. It's fun to see how excited he gets over them, almost like a little kid.
His love of baseball runs deep and remains strong. He enjoys practicing and playing with the high school team. He mostly plays second base but has become a strong pitcher as well. I get so nervous when he is pitching but he loves it and doesn't get too nervous. He has struggled through the summer with hitting and has been in a slump so hopefully that will improve this fall.
I don't really know what to say about Stockton's friends. He definitely has friends but I kind of feel like he is a floater. He'll hang out with "the gang", a group of kids from our ward, or he'll hang out with Kelton or Payton or Tim (also from our ward and the priest quorum), or he'll hang out with Draven and Ethan from school, or he has Parker from baseball who he'll go lift or hit with. So this is all great and they are all good kids but he doesn't seem to have his "people". Molly just definitely had a couple of people who she leaned on through all of high school and I'm not sure Stockton has that. I'm sure I'm overthinking though, because he seems happy.
But, good news!! He has three sisters. He and Molly really became close this past year and he has missed her. He does not get overly emotional, like ever, but he cried legit tears the night before she was moving out. They have a solid relationship and I think he opens up to her when he needs someone to talk to. He and Brynn have the same group they they hang out with occasionally ("the gang") and he's always happy to drive her places. I also feel like being in high school together for the next two years will form a bond between them. And, Ivy. Stockton has a special relationship with her...he teases her mercilessly but he also will do anything for her. He makes games for her and will play with her as well. So he's a lucky boy to have these three sisters.
Stockton enjoys his priest quorum and being in there with Justin. I know they will look back on this time of their lives fondly. He is serving as the secretary with his friend, Payton, the first assistant and he does a good job with the calling. He is in charge of making sure all the boys are assigned home sacrament and sacrament each week and who is teaching when. I never have to remind him to do anything and seems to stay pretty on top of things.
If Stockton is home for the night, he will go to bed when he is tired. No staying up late for him. He might stay up and do stuff after he goes to bed but he calls it a night fairly early for a teenager (in my opinion). His curfew is 11 on the weekends if he is out with friends. He has been really good at getting up for school this year which hasn't always been the case in the past but which I very much appreciate.
Stockton does not like to show his emotions. We tease him about not liking to hug or show any emotion and he doesn't like it when we tease him. I have to assure him it is okay that he doesn't like to be outwardly emotional and that we all feel emotions in our own way.
Stockton is not a fan of school. He goes mostly without complaint but would almost rather be anywhere else. His classes this year include History, Seminary, English 1010 (UVU course), Natural Resources, Math 1010 (UVU course), Woods 2, and Financial Literacy (concurrent enrollment course). He also has a Math Lab period which is a sort of study hall class to help with the college-level math class. His favorites are Woods, Seminary, and he likes the Financial Lit class as well. I am always stuck in this battle with him/myself over how much leniency to give him when it comes to grades and whether I monitor/enforce or whether I step back and let it be what it is. Right now I am hopefully somewhere in the middle where I don't expect perfection but do expect a good amount of effort, haha. I do check his grades each week and expect a certain standard before he is allowed to hang out with friends.
Stockton had a few odd jobs this summer. He umped rec league baseball. He mowed lawns a handful of times. Justin has a house that he does property management for so he paid Stockton to help him with that this summer. But as far as a "real job" goes, he hasn't managed to find one yet and has been fairly indifferent to getting one. He has turned in a couple of applications but they haven't yielded anything. I do wish he would find a job but I am not going to go out and find one for him. He still has some money in his savings account from the last few things he did so I figure once that runs out, he'll be more motivated to find something! He is pretty helpful at home and is good to do what I ask him without complaining so I'll take a good attitude from him all day and any day.
Stockton's birthday interview:
Favorite song: any Tom Petty song
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