It's Great to be Eight!

I find it absolutely hard to believe but Brandt turned eight yesterday.  Eight!  Where has the time gone?  How can our wee lad be eight?  I look at him and know I've been with him since the beginning, and his growth hasn't exactly sneaked up on me, but still.  It doesn't seem like that long ago that he was small and snuggable and little.  Now he's big.  I'm happy to say, however, that he is still snuggable and he still likes it.  Brandt is reading well, he's pleasant, and he's funny.  He doesn't take teasing very well (he is the oldest) but he's patient and relatively tolerant.  He's very aware of others and makes an effort to help people be comfortable.  He is very good at seeing a need and doing his part of meet it.  On Saturday when Kent was working in the yard, Brandt got him a big cup of ice water and volunteered to refill it when Kent needed more.  He is kind and a great leader among his peers.  He wants to do what's right and is super excited to be baptized next month.  That will be a wonderful moment we are all looking forward to.

As Brandt's actual birthday was yesterday and it was Sunday, we had quiet, family celebrations.  I spent most of Saturday (after the very exhausting Fourth) shopping and making party preparations.  Brandt knew I had been present shopping and was desperate to open things.  We told him he could open one present in the morning before church, but he had to wait for the others until afterwards.  Blythe told him we had bought him three Lego sets, and he asked and asked if he could open one of those before church.  We had also purchased scriptures and a case to carry them in and that was what we intended to give him before, but Kent agreed that one Lego set would be fine.  So Saturday night I wrapped scriptures and a small set and left them on the kitchen table.

Brandt had a very hard time getting to sleep on Saturday because he was so excited about his birthday.  He tossed and turned and had to have Kent come in and lull him to sleep.  He was up bright and early, came into our room for birthday hugs and kisses, then went downstairs to find the goods.  By the time Kent and I came down, he had already put together the Lego Star Wars V-Wing Fighter and was asking about the other sets.

We did make Brandt hold off on the other gifts until after church.  Blythe helped me wrap them up, and Brandt was very excited to receive a Lego City Arctic something or other, the Lego Movie Trash Chomper set, and the Lego Star Wars Millennial Falcon.  He also got a couple of t-shirts, some small whiffle balls, the Lego Movie, and a skateboard.  He and I spent a couple of hours working on the Millennial Falcon but didn't get quite finished.  In fact, we still had two bags worth of construction when I had to get up and make dinner.  It is a big set.

I had asked Brandt what he wanted to have for his birthday dinner and he selected orange chicken.  We had Lee and Aaron, Craig, Richard Ledford, and David Davies all come for dinner.  In addition to the orange chicken, I made broccoli salad, edamame, pot stickers, and fruit.  It was a meal fit for a birthday boy.  And best of all, after dinner we went out into the backyard and lit fireworks, all the rest we had.  Brandt stuck two packets of sparklers together in the end of a pipe and lit them all at once.  It burned incredibly brightly and incredibly quickly.  It was a lovely evening outside, and swell to be celebrating our boy.

This afternoon we had a party for Brandt.  Unlike Blythe who wanted to invite everyone she knew and one or two other people she didn't really know, Brandt wanted to have his cousins and Jarom and Sam Oyler from across the street come to his party.  That's all.  Fortunately, everyone was available.  He had also wanted an army cake, so to go along with that, we had a quasi Army party.  We played several games with an army related theme: they peeled potatoes, bandaged and transported a wounded comrade, did calisthenics of various sorts, played Sargent Says, and then hunted for army guys hidden around the house.  We had cake and ice cream, then went outside and did the slip-n-slide just like we did at Blythe's party.  I also got firework tanks and parachutes, smoke and sparkly bombs that the boys LOVED lighting off.  I think all in all it was a good party and a happy birthday for Brandt.

Legos, scriptures, and a scripture case

A Birthday Boy with his stack of presents

The army cake.

That tank is a transformer.

Furious potato peeling. 

Wounded soldiers 

Brick was mad he didn't get to be on the stretcher.

I had the big kids carry him.

A picture of party goers (attenders?)

Back row: Collin, Luke, Lyla, Sam, Griffin, Brandt

Front row: Blake, Brick, Makenna, Ava, Blythe, Jarom, Crew

 

With the exception of Lyla, the girls did not come out and do the slip-n-slide.  They stayed inside and played with Barbies.  I tried to entice them out, but I was unsuccessful.  As a result, all these outside pictures are without them.

Brandt didn't get wet but chose, instead, to do the watering.

Those of us not getting wet sat in the shade and chatted as we watched the action.