Catching our breath!

 Wow, it has been a whirlwind of activity!  First, Ashton completed his freshman year at Linganore High School.  Overall, I think he had a great year, made some good friends, and did well in most of his classes.  Unfortunately, due to the chaotic nature of the last days of school, I did not get an end-of-year picture of Ashton. He has grown so tall and is showing signs of maturity more and more!

Ashton missed the last day of school to go on the first of our summer family trips to South Dakota.  Like anything a teenager has to do with their parents, Ashton has a love-hate relationship with it.  He did not want to fly (he mentioned anxiety about it), and he did not want to be away from his girlfriend, which is understandable, but overall we had a really great trip!!!!  Ashton camped in his tent; we rented him an e-bike so he could explore the area; he went to Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore, hiked Black Elk Peak,  saw wild bison, prairie dogs, burros, and Lake Sylvan in Custer State Park, and the Needles Highway and the Badlands and our course hung out with my biological father, my step mom and her kids and their spouses.

My biological father and his family

Our home away from home for the week!

Visiting Mt. Rushmore

Pondering the secret room at Mt. Rushmore

Climbing Black Elk Peak

A view on the hike

Family joy!

Crazy Horse Monument in the background

Custer Wildlife Loop with Bison and their calves

Exploring the prairie and seeing the prairie dogs in the Custer State Park Wildlife Loop

My personal favorite memory with Ashton was the day we went to the Badlands.  It was towards the end of the trip, and we were all feeling weary.  Ashton was interested in the Badlands because they are also in the Minecraft game.  We drove a scenic loop which included several pull-offs, and after a few, Ashton was done and wanted to stay in the car.  Towards the end there was this infamous hiking trail called the Notch Trail; we all were exhausted, and at any point any one of us could have said we didn't want to go, and all of us would have said okay!  We decided we would get some caffeine and then make a decision.  So we found a store nearby, and I bought Ashton a Monster (which I never do!) and Lily a Celicus, both of which are energy drinks, and I had a Coke.  We had the best hike ever!  We had so much fun!!!  We were laughing, and everyone was getting along.  Not to mention it wasn't crowded because the weather was overcast, so it felt like we had the place to ourselves.  As soon as we finished the hike and got in the car, it started to rain.  Such a wonderful memory!

Preparing to hike the Notch Trail

                                                

Enjoying the Notch Trail

                                                            

Classic Ashton

My mom made me take this stupid picture!

In between, we got a surprise visit from Frederik!  Ashton humored me and allowed me to take the obligatory photo!

After South Dakota, we were home for 7 days before we repacked and headed for Norway for Olav's family reunion and his brother Bjonar's 70th birthday party. For a kid who hates flying, over the course of the two family trips, he was on 9 different planes!  He really did amazingly!  Again, Norway was a love-hate experience as well.  Bjornar (Olav's brother) lent Ashton a bike, and Ashton had a great time exploring with the bike as well as making friends at the local skate parks.  He biked all over Risor, at all hours of the day and night (especially since it never really got dark there and it's much safer than here since it's a small town).  I am sure Ashton learned a lot of the ways in and around the town! Probably the highlight for Ashton was the day he and I went to Urehia Fortress and Bunkers high in the town of Risor near where Olav grew up.    Apparently, German troops were stationed there during the occupation of  Norway during WWII.  Ashton was so happy exploring the bunkers and trenches!  He was so funny; he wanted to explore some of the ones that went underground but insisted I go first because he saw spiders and he is terrified of spiders!  I wasn't worried about spiders, but I sure was hoping a mouse or rat didn't come scurrying across.  We really enjoyed our time exploring the bunkers and I am sure Ashton returned to that spot many times on his bike throughout the trip.

Exploring downtown Risor with the family

Exploring an underground bunker

Trapped?

More exploring

Dodging spiders!

Above ground exploration

Testing the water before the jump

Psyching himself up to jump in the cold lake water

Out on Magne's boat to Magne's summer house

Hanging out at Magne's Summer Cabin
 

Fishing with his cousin

Summer Cabin Crew

Paddleboarding at a local swimming lake

A last afternoon dip in the lake with the family

Hanging with Tante Clara

Ready to be home!

Now we are back home, and Monday starts reality.  Ashton will be volunteering at the Buddy Project in Frederick, where he will be working with his peers to re-image and reprogram old computers.  I hope he doesn't hate it and hopefully makes a new friend or two!

Camping and Hershey Park

 We went on one of our annual camping trips this weekend with all our friends, including Ashton's biological grandmother, mother, and all his maternal side siblings except Annabelle.  While Ashton didn't engage with any of them except Ms. Jo (his maternal grandmother), it was still nice to see everyone growing up!  

Noelle and Eli

Paisley

Ariana and Noelle

Also, this past Friday, Ashton went with his schoolmates on a science field trip to Hershey Park.  Apparently, he had a good time and went on several of the roller coasters, which was a first for him. He had always flirted with the idea of riding them (small ones at Adventure Park), but then, when push came to shove, he didn't want to go on them; however, I guess with a little positive peer pressure, he was golden.  I just wish I could have seen his face!

Finding the rainbow

Ashton has made so much growth over the years, but sometimes you can't always recognize it when you're in the midst of raising kids.  I recently started going to therapy to help me deal with the stress of parenting, and when I shared with the therapist how much growth Ashton has made, I was really proud of him and embarrassed that I haven't recognized it.

1. Most days, Ashton gets himself out of bed, completes his morning routine, and gets out the door with very little to no parental support.

2.  When Ashton is angry, most of the time, he has learned to regulate his emotions.  He no longer destroys things, threatens to hurt himself or others, and lets people know when he needs space to process his emotions.

3. For the most part, Ashton has managed his schoolwork, making sure to stay on top of late or missing assignments.

Ashton continues to be "in love" with Adie and looks forward to spending time with her most weekends.

15th birthday and Easter

Birthday and Easter were pretty low-key this year! Basically, small Easter baskets and an Oreo Blizzard ice cream cake. Ashton has a new girlfriend named Adie, and he loves spending time with her. Ashton's moods have been up and down, so it's been hard to get a read on him.  He spends a lot of time downstairs or in his room texting or talking to Adie.  He started playing basketball on a team, but he doesn't want us to come and watch, so we don't really know how it is going.  School seems okay.  He has been struggling a little bit in math, but it's hard to know if it's because he doesn't understand or if he just tunes out once he figures he's got it.  He has a tutor, and she has expressed how polite and mature he is!  That is always so encouraging to hear.  Also, I was super impressed when I dropped him off for basketball practice for the first time. He went up to the coach, shook his hand, and introduced himself.  For everything we feel like we are doing wrong, we must be doing something, hopefully right!   He's been proudly wearing a silver cross necklace and the fruits of the spirit bracelet.  Not sure where he is in his relationship with Christ, but it's encouraging to see some outward signs of faith even if he hasn't fully internalized it yet.  Lastly, like many teenage boys, Ashton has been obsessed with cars.  We can't drive down the road without him exclaiming, "Check out that...." 

Thrilled for Easter

Celebrating 15 with friends and family

Living his best teen life ever!

 Ashton has officially hit the teen milestone of friends, friends, and more friends!  The weekend before last, he had the weekend of his life.  Sleepover on Friday, date with girlfriend on Saturday, lots of friends over on Sunday, and skiing with friends on Monday.  The funny thing is, he has been to the movies and watched them with his friends, and we haven't been able to get him to go to one in years!  We always assumed it was sensory overload. He has even watched scary movies with his friends and girlfriend.  I guess making out and peer pressure win! Also, he and his girlfriend exchanged initial bracelets for valentines day.  So super cute!

This weekend, he had much more of the same, including getting his first hickey from his girlfriend.  The poor girl's mom was mortified when she noticed. I tried hard to burst out laughing. Although I don't think my poker face was very good.  Oh my goodness, a true rite of passage, and Ashton seemed proud, like it was a badge of honor.  Hopefully his friends didn't rag on him too hard!

Growing and Changing

 Age 14 has been full of growth and changes for Ashton, from growing physically taller to growing a little facial mustache.  From not caring about girls last year, to being obsessed with young ladies.

First, the stache....

Next, the young ladies...Ashton has been chatting with many young girls since his experience at sleep-away camp, but he finally found a girl whom he has been able to meet in person! LOL.  Her name is Grace, and last weekend we drove down to Rockville (she lives in Washington DC) to meet halfway at a trampoline park.  They were so cute. They even planned to match their red and black pajama pants. Her parents were lovely, and we had several things in common, including adoption and faith. It definitely makes me nervous, but I am thankful that she lives a comfortable distance away, her parents are also older and were on the same page, and neither kid can drive yet.

Ashton the player!

Lately, Ashton had discovered girls!  He spends hours a day snap chatting multiple girls and talking to girls on the phone.  I can't keep all the girls straight, and sometimes I don't think he can either LOL.  The other day I was suggesting that he could invite "Madison" to go sledding with us next week, and he corrected me that he was no longer into Madison and was onto someone new. When I asked what her name was he had to look on his phone to remember her name.  LOL.  By the way it was Hailey!  Not sure if Hailey is still in the running or not as of press time, as there appeared to be many young ladies he was chatting with.

As a typical 14-year-old boy, Ashton spends hours hidden away from us playing video games, working on his bike, or talking to friends or girls. Needless to say he wants to spend the least amount of time with us as possible.

We had a nice Christmas. Christmas Eve, Mr. Rick and his family stopped by briefly to drop off Ashton's gift and visit for a short while.  It is always fun to see him and his family.

That evening, we went to church with my dad, and Ashton was very respectful and engaged.

Christmas morning, we enjoyed opening gifts, and Ashton was thrilled to receive lots of new bike parts.  He has spent many happy hours taking about his bikes (cue crying mom).  In the evening we enjoyed our disgusting Chinese buffett with our friends.

Ashton and Daddy went skiing/snowboarding last week for the first time this season.  They are hoping to go again next week.

As we close up this year, Ashton has matured in so many ways.  We look forward to seeing what 2026 has in store.