J is for Jeffrey

And last in our lineup of children is Jeffrey.  For his previous highlights, check out 2009 and 2010.  Jeffrey will turn 10 next month.  Which means he is more than halfway to 18, and his childhood is half over!

Jeffrey and Sheralie in Manila (2010)

The last two seasons Jeffrey has been a college football fanatic.  With BYU’s new independent status, we have been able to watch most of the games, and lots of others too.  It’s great to have a knowledgeable fan to watch the games with.

Jeffrey shoveling snow in Virginia (winter 2010-2011)

Jeffrey is the primary pianist and he does a great job.  He practices almost an hour a day and he really sounds good.  We have also recently started practicing Jeffrey accompanying me playing the trumpet (notwithstanding my rusty skills on the trumpet).

Jeffrey loves cub scouts.  Once we moved to Virginia, he got involved in a pack and fortunately there is also an organized pack here in San Salvador.  His favorite Christmas gift this year was a pocketknife, which have greatly increased the amount of whittled sticks and burnt leaves in our backyard.

Jeffrey at cub scout activity in Virginia (2011)

One of Jeffrey’s favorite activities is going to the beach and using the boogey board.  The rest of the kids are a bit intimated by the strength of the waves, and tend to stay in the sand or pool, but Jeffrey is always headed for the waves – much to the delight of his surfer grandfather, Grandpa Keith.

Jeffrey and his good friend Abe at the beach in El Salvador (Nov 2011)

Jeffrey is a great and attentive student, regularly at the top of his class.  In fact, recently for Sheralie’s birthday, she offered to take them out of school to go somewhere fun like a museum.  Laird was very enthusiastic, but Jeffrey didn’t join – he didn’t want to jeopardize his prefect attendance record for the quarter at school.   

Charlotte and Jeffrey at school following awards assembly

I love to practice football with Jeffrey.  His sights are set on being a wide receiver, and I think he will have the size to do it (there are tall genes in both the Monroes and Broadbents, I just didn’t get many of them).  Hopefully we can work on the speed.  I’m hoping he’ll be a real Wes Welker.  We often practice at the park, the Embassy or in the backyard.  If I’m not home, he will jump on the trampoline and practice making difficult catches. 

Jeffrey showing off his moves

Jeffrey really likes to read.  He burned through the entire Harry Potter series pretty quickly and he regularly checks them out of the school library to refresh himself.  Last year I also read him the Lord of the Rings series, which was a lot of fun.  He is currently working on the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series.

Jeffrey turns 9 in Virginia (Mar 2011)

Jeffrey’s wardrobe continues to be dominated by BYU apparel.  While he has had to pass some shirts down to Laird, he currently enjoys 3 jerseys (two Jimmers), 3 regular shirts and basketball shorts.  It’s a good thing he wears a uniform to school – it breaks up the BYU ware.

Go Cougars! Lego displays accompanied most football viewings

Jeffrey is a terrific older brother with a big heart and (usually) patient soul.  He will often read James stories at night and he regularly helps Lucy and Laird with things.  He always looks out for Laird at school and Laird really looks up to him.

Lucy and Jeffrey panning for gold in San Diego (Apr 2011)

With the cub scouts, we have recently been on a couple of campouts.  Jeffrey has really enjoyed almost all aspects of the campout – the outdoors, the fires, the s’mores, the tent, the sleeping bags and the staying up late.

Jeffrey and Pete at Nationals game - September 2010 (Nationals were shut out)

Jeffrey’s favorite foods include Swedish oatmeal (a frequent breakfast request), pumpkin pie (one of my favorites when I was his age) and chocolate.  Still not eating a lot of fruit.

First day of school, El Salvador, August 2011

Even though Jeffrey and Laird leave for school super early (6:15 am) I almost never have to wake Jeffrey up.  He is usually showered and ready to go at 5:30 am.  Sometimes he wakes up too early and is bored waiting for the rest of us to get up.  

At San Antonio Zoo, May 2011

We are very lucky to have Jeffrey in our family.  He is a special part of our family and we love him.

Feeding the monkeys, January 2012

Standing Four foot four from Brigham Young University...

And the final spotlight is on our oldest, Jeffrey. For a look back one year ago, click here. Jeffrey loves basketball. He started taking basketball classes after school at the beginning of the school year. Then, he saw Pistol Pete, Birth of a Legend and he was hooked. We also got a basketball hoop and put it on the side of our house and he spends hours on hours shooting hoops. He can easily beat either Sheralie or me at HORSE or and can usually beat us playing one-on-one (unless I just decide to dunk it every time).

Jeffrey showing off his new New York Knicks jersey.  While we generally don't regard Stefon Marbury as a role model, my parents did get a good deal on the jersey.  He wears it a lot.  For Laird's birthday, we got him a little Celtics jersey with the number 5.  So when we see these teams on TV, they cheer for them.

We now have adjusted the bed time routines so I usually put Lucy to bed, then I read to Jeffrey while Sheralie puts Laird to bed. Jeffrey and I have read all kinds of great books, including the entire Chronicles of Narnia, Hatchet, Old Yeller and more.  Jeffrey is a very good listener.

For this birthday, Jeffrey took in a circuit kit that he received at Christmas and showed it off to his classmates. Although his school has a minimal homework policy, he often can be found reading. He also has a keen mind for numbers and the bigger the better. He can remember numbers for days - even months, which is especially helpful in retelling exciting sports games.

 Jeffrey at our local Children's Museum

Jeffrey still doesn't eat fruit, but he is eating it more. We now require that at every meal, he has to take a bite of every offered course. For the first couple weeks he made some great faces while eating fruit, but he is now eating fruit with ease.

Jeffrey loves watching sports on TV with his dad. Especially basketball, but college football works too. We watched the entire NCAA basketball final and a recent Celtics-Heat game that Paul Pierce won at the buzzer.

Jeffrey plays the piano rather well. He has come a long way in the last year and will soon finish Piano Adventures level 2B by Faber. His repertoire from this last year includes "Menuet in G" by JS Bach, "A Soldier's March" by Robert Schumann and "A Little Joke" by Dmitri Kabelevsky. He is now starting to work on his first hymn.

At Pagsanjan Falls

In our family scripture study, we have been taking turns presenting a topic each evening. Jeffrey does it every Saturday, and this last Saturday he took the initiative to prepare all by himself his own topic. It was very interesting to see what he highlighted, adventures of Captain Moroni.  It was very cute.

Jeffrey is a very considerate big brother and really enjoys feeding James a bottle.

Jeffrey and Laird play very together very well, though, perhaps because they are Broadbents, they do tend to get competitive. We have been working on making playtime less competitive and thus, more enjoyable.

I really appreciate that Jeffrey rarely complains about hard work. For example, on our recent hike up Mt. Taal, it was very dusty, hot and it was a pretty arduous climb and Jeffrey did not complain one bit. In stark contract to his two talking siblings who were being carried.

Jeffrey has a fantastic sense of humor. Obviously he takes after his father. There are few things as delightful as being nearby when something tickles Jeffrey's funny bone. He has a great laugh and loves telling jokes. He enjoys knock-knock jokes, puns, star wars jokes, comics and most anything silly. And just in case you miss the punch line, he will be sure to explain it too.

Jeffrey has three very similar BYU shirts - two are BYU football and one is BYU basketball.  He wears a BYU shirt every Saturday since he wears a uniform to school Monday through Friday and church clothes on Sunday. He does has a closet full of other clothing, but it has been hard to document!

It must be Saturday.  Also, check out the awesome mini-golf here.  One the one hand, it is cheap (about $1 per person per game.  On the other hand, it is pretty low tech.

Reviewing this post, it kind of looks like we are just bragging about Jeffrey the whole time, and I guess we are in a way. We are very lucky to have such a great kid as an example for his siblings.