Surprise!!

AJ's friends through him a surprise going away party tonight! He didn't know anything about it until he was "kidnapped" from the neighborhood gas station. The problem is the kids waiting at the house didn't know he was on his way there until AJ and his "kidnapper" pulled up. They stood there shocked for a minute and then yelled "Surprise!"

They had pizza and played Minute to Win It games. Then they decided to take some photos of all of them holding up AJ. The problem is the girls were in the middle where the heaviest part of his body is so it didn't work out as well as they thought. 

These kids make me laugh. I'm so grateful for all of the wonderful friends that my kids have had here in Texas. I'm grateful that social media will make it easier to stay in touch. 

Junior Year

AJ's first day of his junior year of high school. As you can see he left early this morning for weight training and returned home late from football practice. Needless to say he was starving! He drove himself to school for the first time ever. He gives me lots of hugs and has stepped nicely into the "oldest child at home" role. Man, I really do love this kid! 

AJ's 14th Birthday

AJ turned 14 years old on the 20th. The other kids in our family always tease him about being the perfect child. In actuality, it's not that far from the truth. He is the best middle child. He hangs out with his older brothers and is still willing to be with his younger sisters. He does well in school and enjoys participating in sports. He is friendly and kind. He loves little kids. See, I'm telling you he really is the perfect child.

For his birthday he was able to get his braces off. Here is a before and after picture that I took at the orthodontist office.

I think that probably amounts to the most expensive birthday present EVER!!!

We enjoyed pizza and corn on the cob that night for dinner. After two long years, he was was eager to eat corn on the cob.

We had our friends come over for dinner, cupcakes and family home evening that night. The activity for the night was a game of backyard football/soccer.  It was really quite confusing because a game of football and a game of soccer was being played simultaneously, I think there were teams but I couldn't figure out who was on who's team. They all had a lot of fun.

AJ wanted Oreo cupcakes. They are chocolate cupcakes with an Oreo cookie baked inside with cookies and cream frosting. We set out 14 cupcakes so he could blow out the candles.

He did a have a few presents to open.  He claimed there wasn't anything that he wanted for his birthday (refer back to the opening paragraph about being the perfect child) so, I just bought him what I thought he wanted. A Star Wars Darth Maul light saber, Legos, and a Nerf  over the door basketball hoop for his room. What 14 year old boy wouldn't want those things?

We had lots of fun at his party. I am so happy that he is part of our family. I love this boy so much. No wonder his smile melts so many hearts. I love you, AJ.

The Best Losers

AJ just finished his middle school soccer season. His team lost every game. Most games were blowouts. In fact, they only scored 2 goals the entire season and one of them was a penalty kick. AJ told me this was the worst team he has ever played on. I agreed.

He also told me playing with this team was the most fun he has ever had playing soccer. The coach agreed. He said this was the most coachable team he has worked with, they were hard workers that never hung their heads, and a just a great group of kids.

In a moment of "ideal" parenting, I asked AJ, "What is the most important thing in life?" He replied, "Winning." That was not the answer I was looking for but, ok.  I simply told him, if your going to loose anyway, have some fun doing it. That's my parenting advice for the day.

AJ's Adventures

AJ decided to follow in his older brothers' footsteps and to play football this year. He spent a lot of time out in the backyard with his brothers in preparation. It was his first year ever playing football. In middle school here they have two teams per grade.There is an A team and a B team. This way, more boys get the experience of getting out on the field. It is also quite apparent that there is major differences in the size of boys his age.

AJ played on the B team. He didn't get a lot of playing time but he didn't seem to mind. He played hard every time he set foot on the field. He did great in practice as well. He even scored a few touchdowns at practice. I asked him what his coaches said about it. He said they just yelled at the defense for letting him through.

Here are a few photos of the AJ's adventure playing football. I love my #19.

Of course they have cheerleaders for middle school B team football. This is Texas after all.

The football season ended on high note with his team finally winning their last game. He loved it and can't wait for next season to start.

The same week that football ended, cross country started. AJ is a natural  runner. He is fast and he can run forever. We were really interested in how he would do in competition.

His first meet he wasn't familiar with the route and it kind of threw him off. He placed 39th out of 200+ runners.

The second meet he was better prepared and was astonished when he jumped up to 29th and placed 1st in his school. I think he will to improve as he continues to train and gain experience.

The problem is that in high school next year, football and cross country are at the same time. He will have to choose between the two. I asked him what he was going to do. He said he wanted to play football because cross country hurts. I said, "And football doesn't?" He replied that football hurts on the outside and cross country hurts on the inside. Being a runner myself, I know exactly what he is talking about.

He has a few more cross country meets to go. We'll see how he does. In the meantime, we'll just enjoy the run (pun intended).

Confused

AJ sent me a text before his football game last week to let me know he would be #83 at the game.

You can see why we were a little confused when the game started....this kid is clearly several inches taller than AJ.

Turns out, there is another #83 on the team.

Stay tuned for a post regarding AJ's inaugural football season.....

Positive Peer Pressure

Last week we noticed that all the young men in our new ward wear suits to church except for our three boys. Which means that part of our moving expenses now include suits for the boys.

The boys noticed that all the young men in our new ward have short hair. They each requested shorter hair when they had their hair cut this week.

I am happy to say they are no longer the shaggy slackers from Utah. That is what I call positive peer pressure.

End of Summer

We spent the last few of days of summer at a soccer tournament for AJ and Savanah. I LOVED sitting out in the sunshine knowing it was all going to come to an end soon. I will take the heat and sunshine any day!

AJ's team did well. It was AJ's first tournament and he was new to the team so it took some time to get his feet on the ground. It is hard to start with a new team at his age but he did great and played his heart out.

Savanah also had a new team and at this age they start playing positions. She loves playing goalie. I have no idea why. I feel great stress when she is the goalie and the ball even gets on that side of the field. She doesn't mind the pressure. She has a lot to learn about the position but it was a good start.

She has a fun team and the girls work hard and play hard. The best part is that they have fun together and often laugh and joke out on the field.

Their hard work paid off in the fact that they won first place and received gold medals.

With both AJ and Savanah playing, it was  a great way to end the summer.

Fun Run

When I received my finisher's medal after the half marathon, Savanah said to me, "I want one of those." I told her she could have anything she wanted and was willing to work for. Both her and AJ decided they wanted to do a race with me. We started training shortly after that. We first ran one mile, than two, and slowly added distance. We started out walking a lot and slowly added more time running and less time walking. Vanessa would ride her bike along side of us as we trained.

We woke up early on Labor Day and while the rest of the family slept in we ran in a local 5K. AJ did awesome and finished just behind the main pack of the winners. Savanah found several of her soccer teammates also running the race. The distraction was a blessing and she enjoyed running with her friends. By the last mile she was getting tired. She ended up walking part of the race but when we rounded the last corner, she took off and I couldn't catch her. We all had fun together and look forward to another race in the future.

Exploration

On the Sunday afternoon of our weekend getaway, we left our hotel room and did some exploring in Snow Canyon State Park. Savanah was on the rebound with antibiotics flowing through her veins and we were all ready to get out. It had rained part of the time we were in St. George and we knew it was still snowy and cold back home so we all really looked forward to being outside.

Can you tell they were ready to explore?

 I finally had them all come back together for a group photo.

 Aaron took the kids up to the top of a hill and they enjoyed being on top of the world. Although not a single kid has a smile on their face.

 Savanah wasn't up for the steep climb so we stayed below and explored the area around us.

Savanah finally summoned the strength to climb to the top of a hill and wanted to show off her strength. Look at the smile on her face!

AJ enjoyed exploring the rock formations

 The rocks and the views were amazing!

 The scenery was gorgeous and we all enjoyed the afternoon outside.

Sit Back and Enjoy The Party

AJ and his friend Josh were born one day apart but these two boys could seriously be twins. Talk about two peas in a pod! They had a joint birthday party this year complete with synchronized opening of the presents.

I tried not to be the "nerd mom" taking pictures of everything but I did manage to get a few shots of eating cake without too much fuss.

As usual, AJ tried to avoid the camera, but you know that never stops me.

Yes, those are girls at the party. So far nobody has told any of them that they should be avoiding each other at this age. They are sweet girls so I hope they never change their friendship status with the guys.



I love throwing parties for kids at this age. All I have to do is have some food (lots and lots of food) on hand then I sit back and enjoy the party. I just have to be there to make sure they don't start anything on fire. I'm telling you, with AJ and Josh around, that is always a concern.

Superstar!

Oh, how I love this kid!

 AJ took swimming lessons a few months ago. His goal was to pass the scout swim test. He stopped swimming lessons as soon as me met his goal. I think he had fun and I know he is a good swimmer but, he decided not to pursue a career as an Olympic swimmer. That' s just fine. It's his choice.

He also spent some of the winter months playing basketball. He is obviously not the tallest player on the court but, he hustled and played hard. He won't be in the NBA. That's just fine. It's life.

He is currently ripping up the soccer field. He is fun to watch. Again, he works hard and has a good time. He may never play for MLS. That's just fine. It's all just for fun.

AJ may never choose to be a superstar in sports but, he is a superstar in our family. He is the peacemaker. He is the comic relief. He hangs out with his older brothers and his younger sisters. He comes home everyday from school and asks me if I need help with anything. He is a blessing to all of us.  I want him to do whatever in the world he wants to do. I hope he never changes. I love him just the way he is.