On June 9th my first born turned 8 years old.
More on that later, I fully intend on getting his birthday letter out to him soon, cause well 8 is huge.
8 means his baptism is coming up real soon.
8 to me means beginning to lose that little boy and coming into his preteen years.
Oh my yup I better get that letter out real soon...so much to say to this wonderful boy of mine.
But today we will focus on his birthday celebrations because they were so great and he had such a wonderful weekend.
His birthday fell on a Sunday this year which meant it was the perfect day for a big family birthday party...but not so great at spoiling him rotten and giving him a day to pick what he would like to do. So naturally we gave him two days.
Saturday to play out on the town.
And Sunday to party with family.
First thing we did was head to the movie theater to see The Croods....cute cute show we liked it a lot.
Well all of us except Katelynn, she didn't think it was so great. No princesses, that's a criteria for her!
We rushed from the theater to head over to Logan Rec Center where his birthday surprise was waiting for him.
Now you must know this boy is a lover of basketball.
Like it's his thing, big time.
He will head outside for hours on end shooting baskets on our hoop.
He wins games of HORSE against his dad and uncles.
He comes alive out there on that court and it is so wonderful watching him do something he loves.
He is the most avid Utah Jazz fan.
He knows all the players, he follows every game and begs to accompany his dad to Jazz games when we have tickets.
Eric found out that Jeremy Evans from the Utah Jazz would be in Logan that day at at the rec center where he would be signing autographs, taking pictures and even holding a few drills with the kids that came out to see him.
Looking back I wish we had told Lance beforehand what we were up to.
We thought the surprise would be fun for him but I should have remembered this little guy gets a little nervous in new situations and it takes him some time to warm up to new ideas.
Even new awesome ideas.
He enjoyed the question and answer part of the afternoon and sat on the edge of his seat watching this real life Jazz player right in front of his very eyes.
And yeah he was tall!
But when it came time to head out onto the court for a few fun drills and a quick game, he got a little nervous.
My heart aches for him at moments like these I know he so badly wants to be out there but at times gets just a bit nervous to make that jump and do something out of his comfort zone.
He sat next to us for so long just watching and I could see his little mind wrestling with the idea of going out there.
I was so proud of him when with about ten minutes left he got up said "I think I would like to play now" and had the time of his life for the remainder of the game.
I wish he could have enjoyed all of it but I was so proud that he decided to do something hard and headed out into the unknown to have an experience he will never forget.
Picture time with Mr. Jeremy Evans.
He autographed these two's Jazz balls although Luke himself is a Heat fan and is not afraid of letting that fact known:)
I was so glad we did this and it's something Lance has talked about ever since saying "it was the best day of his life".
His birthday dinner of choice was Golden Corral.
Which we were fine with and happy he wasn't choosing McDonald's like years past.
Seven long years...of McDonald birthday dinners.
June 9th he was up bright and early ready to begin the next day of celebrations.
I convinced him to let everyone sleep just a bit longer while he lay in bed with us doing his other favorite hobby besides basketball.....reading.
He always has a book or two going....just like his momma!
Happy 8th baby boy.
We got ready for church and he got to pick out one present to open before the birthday party later on that night.
He choose Luke's gift which was a Transformer he had been wanting.
8 looks good on him, that's for sure.
Later that night we headed down to Layton where Grandma and Grandpa Smith where nice enough to let us use there backyard to throw a big birthday celebration with all of our family.
We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and the birthday boy got to run around with all of his cousins for the night.
Kel and Miss K, oh these ladies are crazy but cute!
Present time is always a crowd pleaser for the kids in the crowd.
And the boy continued on with his Lego loving stage.
I have never seen so many Lego sets he managed four on this birthday and had every single one set up the very next day....not without tears mind you.
The best moment for me was hearing Luke read Lance the birthday card he made for him.
Happy birthday Lance.
I hope you have fun.
You are cute.
Love, Luke
Oh my and the best part was Lance had already read it that morning but wanted everyone to hear what Luke had done so he asked him to read it again and smiled at his brother with pride.
There are those precious moments in life when you realize how much your kids really do care about each other.
This was one of those moments.
Let's talk about this cake he wanted Harry Potter.
$47.00 later with a half sheet cake he got his Harry Potter.
Hope you enjoyed it fella next year we are sticking with Costco -- half the price and twice as good.
Have I mentioned I love this boy?
Well I do, thanks for making me a momma 8 years ago Lancey boy.
We adore you.
