Jonathan is Such a Stud

Quite often, it seems that Jonathan gets left out of my blog posts. I really love him, so it's not intentional. Today I decided to give him his very own post.

Jonathan is one of the most amazing people in the world! He is so talented in so many areas. We've known (since about five minutes after he was born) that he is brilliant. He just wrapped up his first quarter of his freshman year with STRAIGHT A's. To be expected, right? Well, maybe... he's taking an incredibly difficult course load and is really busy with afterschool activites on top of that. Jonathan starts school everyday at 6:30 a.m. with Jazz band or Percussion ensemble. He is the Principle Saxophonist in Jazz band and has lots of solos to play! He is also in Symphonic band where he is the second chair clarinetist, but more recently, he's been asked to play special parts on the sax in there. I think he's missing his clari a bit, but he really is shining on the sax (usually, saxophones are not allowed in Miss Ugaki's non-jazz bands). In addition to 3 band classes (all which require practicing at home), Jonathan is taking Spanish 3, 2 honors classes, and AP class (as a Freshman), and woodshop. He tends to have an impressive amount of homework to tackle nightly. So, it would seem that school rules his life, but no... he's takes private clarinet and saxophone lessons, an afterschool woodshop class, a tennis class, and goes to mutual as well. His life makes me tired!

Jonathan is also in seminary. He has taken his teacher's challenges to heart and makes sure he reads scriptures every night, no matter how late it is. He even took his scriptures to his Science Demo team training overnighter (oh, I forgot, he's also on his school's science demonstration team--- Science with an Attitude is their motto) so he wouldn't miss a night of reading. He recently had a seminary assignment where he needed to take notes on 4 general conference speakers. The assignment was worth 400 points, 100 points per talk. Jonathan took notes on all 31 speakers and got 3100/400 on that assignment.

Another amazing thing about Jonathan is that while he is in the midst of the so called "self-centered, "all about me" years, Jonathan understands the concept of service. He is always volunteering to help out. Last night was the ward Halloween Party and Jonathan signed up to run one of the game booths. He plays the piano almost everytime in seminary. He plays the piano for mutual opening exercises. He even, on the spot, played for a court of honor. Jonathan volunteered to help out the scouts and help them collect for Friends of Scouting. He helps the deacons out with fast offerings. He is always willing to usher. Last week he was ready early for church. I asked him what the deal was. He said that he thought he might have to help with the sacrament prep and he was ready to go if needed. Wow! He's a great example to me.

More Jonathan things... he loves classical music and wanders the house with his MP3 player on (which drives me nuts because he can't hear me!) listening to classical music. He doesn't get why classical music isn't "cool"! He loves to read the Civil War books by Jeff and Michael Shaara. He also loves to read the Darwin Awards books. He is beyond amused at the stupidity of some humans. Foodwise, he hasn't changed much... mac and cheese is still #1. Pasta, rice, and ramen are right up there. He has discovered that he really likes deli turkey meat (with cheese, lettuce, and cucumbers! Nearly everyday at school, he has pizza, a rolls, a fruit, and chocolate milk. He likes his mountain bike and is really looking forward to another ski season. Nascar his one interest that I do not understand, but he finds it exciting!

Jonathan is an amazing kid with so many abilities and so much potential. It is fun to watch him grow and discover who he is. It is an honor to be his mother.