Happiest of birthdays Billy! Wow, I cant believe you are 14 years old! The time is just flying by and its so fun to see your personality continue to develop and your interests expand. You are still a deep thinker and man of few words and we are so so so glad you are part of our family.
When we celebrated last night every said 2 good things about you and they were dead on...
Smart, kind, funny, calm, loves animals, caring, a good friend, curious ....
I would also add that you …
- love to know how things work
- enjoy music (you really like the 2nd seat in violin and I caught you playing guitar for fun the other night)
- really enjoy your ALM class (a class where its self directed learning and you get to "make" stuff)
- are a big reader, I love that you always are reading at least 1 book
- and are a gamer, you play online with friends and they all seem to games where there is a puzzle to be solved
- are patient
- see the big picture and don't let too many things bother you
- are having growing pains (hoping this is the big growth spurt!)
- are about to turn into a full fledge teenager, I just got my 1st eye roll and getting you to take off your headphones to actually talk to me is a miracle some days
We are so very lucky and blessed that your birth parents and foster parents were loving and had your best interests in mind. We hope we are living up to their expectations and we KNOW that they'd be proud of you. You are an amazing human being.
We love you.
You LOVE to dig holes in the sand and can do that for hours (still!)
The 3 musketeers - you are all such amazing friends and amazing athletes
You are so tough too! Smiling through the 1st bloody nose in sparring at the US Open this year
And smart! You regularly beat Tom and Jimmy at chess (I suspect that's because you actually play with a bit of strategy and they both play with gut instinct)
And funny - you aren't afraid to laugh at yourself too, this trait will serve you well your whole life. 
