Happy Birthday Tanner

This was an exciting birthday for Tanner. He turned twelve years old. In our church that is a big milestone because it is when young men have the opportunity of receiving the Aaronic Priesthood. Tanner was excited, but nervous.

The morning started off with a big delicious breakfast. It had all the breakfast foods Tanner loves - french toast, bacon, eggs, sausage, strawberries and kiwi. We invited the Taylors to come over and celebrate with us. We all ate our fill, but we still had tons left over.

After breakfast Ie Mei and I took the kids to the movies. Our movie theatre has a summer family movie series. This particular day they were playing Nanny McPhea 2. We hadn't seen it before, but it turned out to be pretty good. The kids all enjoyed it.

When the movie was over we had to say goodbye to the Taylors, they had a plane to catch. I was glad they were able to spend part of Tanner's birthday with him. Tanner didn't have a friend birthday party this year, so it was nice for him to have them here.

Saying goodbye would have been a bigger bummer had it not been for the fact that my parents were heading to our house. Nana and Papa arrived just in time for dinner. They made the trip especially for Tanner. They wanted to be here when Tanner was ordained to the priesthood. We are really grateful they were able to come. I know it meant a lot to Tanner.

After dinner, we retired to the family room to watch Tanner open his presents. He received a lot of really nice gifts. All the things he loves. He got some books he has really been wanting, a pocketknife, some clothes and a BYU snuggie!

Chad showing Tanner how the knife works.

This year I didn't have much time to make a cake, so I decided to do something simple. Tanner really likes legos and in the past he has commented how cool lego cakes are, so I decided to make a lego cake. The cake was probably a little juvenile, but Tanner loved it. He flashed an excited face when he saw it and that made it worth it.

Kaden lit the candles, we turned out the lights and Tanner blew out the candles!

Then Tanner decided to serve everyone birthday cake. I was very impressed. Usually we serve the birthday boy first, but Tanner was serving us. What a great young man!

It's hard to believe Tanner is already twelve years old. He's becoming such a wonderful young man. He is a really good kid. I really appreciate all the work he does. It's not easy being the oldest. He often gets more put on him, which he doesn't always like, but he does what he is asked anyway. He is a great older brother. Happy birthday Tanner, we love you!