Darren's 13th Bday

I am still in shock that Darren is now a teenager. Yikes! We had a fun couple days of celebrating. His birthday was on a Friday. His first birthday gift was a surprise. I tricked him by leaving his lunchbox empty except for a note that told him to meet me at the front gate of the school. When he got there, Allison & I had a large pepperoni pizza, soda, gum & licorice waiting for him to share with his friends. I could see the excitement and surprise on his face when he walked up. Score one for "cool Mom!"


After school, Darren opened his presents and checked out his Snickers cake. (not one of my better accomplishments) There weren't many gifts, as he only wanted CASH, to save up for an airsoft gun he wants. We got him a couple outfits, and saved the cash for last. I tried to think of a fun way to jazz up the cash gift... I think I succeeded:

I taped one dollar bills together, end to end, and rolled them up. I made a slit in a box and he had to keep pulling until they all came out. This was fun for all the kids!



A family tradition of ours is that the birthday kid gets to pick the restaurant of their choice for dinner. Darren chose Wood Ranch. Yum! His friend Michael shares the same birthday so we invited him along. After Wood Ranch, Jason took the boys to an indoor go-cart raceway (MB2) for a couple races. Score one for "cool Dad!" The boys had a blast and I think Darren had a pretty cool 13th birthday!



The next morning, Grammy came to visit Darren. She brought a couple cousins along with her and we all went bowling.



We thought this was a pretty funny picture... I haven't ever seen a 3-way split of the pins like this. Nice shot Darren!


I'm so proud of Darren. He is a great kid and I feel so blessed to have him in our family. Although we have our moments, I am truly impressed with the young man he is turning out to be. He is kind, thoughtful, repentant, compassionate, fun.... the list goes on. I appreciate Darren's dedication to his priesthood responsibilities and am proud of him for developing his testimony in Jesus Christ. He sets a good example for his younger siblings in doing so. I love you Darren! Happy Birthday my teenager! Please don't make our next few years together TORTURE!! ha ha