Happy 16th Birthday Caleb!!

You are close to 5'5" and still growing.
You finished 10th grade, and continued to rock it, excelling in a very challenging set of classes! You passed three more AP classes and several dual enrollment courses as well.
You were in the SAIL (AP Program), AP Capstone Club, Mu Alpha Theta (Math honor society), ASL Honor Society, Science National Honor Society, Beta Club, and marching band.
You placed third in the state for the Beta Convention Math Competition.
You started a countywide club called BAM (Bay Area Mathematicians).
You are in your 11th year of playing piano and were accepted into the University of Florida International Piano Festival with partial scholarship and the FSU Piano Institute. You chose FSU for the third year. You were part of a masterclass with the Gulf Coast College Professors. You were chosen to perform at the Bay Education Foundation Arts Alive fundraiser dinner. You were selected as the pianist for the all county band and received High Honors at the Student Day adjudication. You received a superior at district solo and ensemble and a superior with distinction at state solo and ensemble.
You attend youth group at our church (Abide UMC) once a month and occasionally go with a friend to First UMC. You helped lead worship for the first time at church this summer and attended church camp at Blue Lake with our youth group. Daily devotions are an important part of your routine.
You earned the President's Volunteer Service gold award this year which meant that this year you did over 100 hours of volunteer work. You did a lot of data entry for the Pearl Project, math tutoring, and also transcribing historical documents for the Smithsonian.
You continue to be interested in majoring in applied mathematics but have added an interest recently in neuroscience. You recently scored high enough on the SAT with a perfect math score (!) to begin to really pursue your dreams of going to a selective college and we're looking forward to touring those schools this year.
You love hanging out with your friends as much as possible. You guys like going to the beach, paddle boarding, playing pickleball, going downtown to the arcade or to wander around, and meeting up online to play games.
You love chips, snack mix, and most any crunchy/salty snack. You love spaghetti, tacos, fried shrimp, and chicken fettuccini alfredo (especially from Ferruccis).
We went on a cruise the week of Christmas and visited Mexico, Belize, and Honduras. We snorkeled, went to a place where we could see monkeys and sloths, went ziplining and cave tubing, and went on a submarine. We had such a great time!
We also took a trip to NY state to visit great-grandma- it was good to see her and celebrate Easter with her.
There's no question that you are extremely smart and talented as evidenced by your accomplishments, but more importantly you're just a really great guy. You care deeply about God, family, and friends. You are one of the most hard working, disciplined people I've ever known- you are so determined to reach your goals! But you also have so much fun- I love how you have been able to balance academics, piano, and friendships. It's not easy but you've worked really hard this year to find the right balance and it's a joy to see you having so much fun. People sometimes might think you're quiet and serious when they first meet you but it doesn't take long for them to hear the humor that comes out of you- you had the counselors at Blue Lake camp in tears from laughing so much. I cannot imagine our family without you- you are such an incredible gift. I am so excited to tour M.I.T. and the Ivies with you this year- we don't know yet where God will take you next but I am so proud of you for dreaming big and doing the work it takes to get there!!!!

Cruise pic by the piano