It was a celebratory day for a really great kid. Brandt is kind, funny, interesting, bright, and a good time. He loves to read, watch silly TV, play video games, build Legos, and be outside. He's a willing adventure partner, and likes to try new things as long as they aren't edible. We love our happy birthday boy!
Brandt at 1.
Brandt at 2.
Brandt at 3.
Brandt at 4.
Brandt at 5.
Brandt at 6.
Brandt at 7.
Brandt at 8.
Brandt at 9.
Brandt at 11.
Brandt at nearly 12.
I have wanted to take Brandt to the temple on his birthday, but that required that he have the priesthood. In order to get the priesthood, he needed to meet a couple of times with the bishop and be presented to the ward. So the past two Sundays, Brandt and Kent have had an interview and discussion about the priesthood with the bishop. On Sunday he was presented to the ward as worthy to receive the Aaronic Priesthood and sustained. Numerous people said to me, "How can Brandt be twelve?!"
The presenting happened on Sunday, but the ordination couldn't happen until Brandt was actually twelve, so we planned that for first thing this morning. Well, second thing, after breakfast and seeing the Kisbys off. Kent did the ordination, of course, but we needed a member of the bishopric to be there. I gave Brandt the choice of who he would like to have join us, and he wanted Brother Lindberg. He was happy to come, as was Brother Passmore, our faithful ministering brother for lo these many years, like since Brandt was about six months old. Grandma Sue came too, and planned to go to the temple with us. Kent ordained Brandt and gave him a very sweet blessing along with it, and then Brother Lindberg went home to input all the necessaries in the computer. He returned about twenty minutes later with Brandt's temple recommend, and off we went to the temple.
The Provo Temple is closed for the semi-annual cleaning, so we went down to the City Center Temple. It turns out, we weren't the only ones who thought going to the temple on Friday morning was a good idea. The baptistry was packed. Every row was filled, there were people standing, and the wait was over two hours. Grandma Sue went home. Brandt wanted to see Ant-Man and Wasp for his birthday, we had to leave at 12:30 for the show, and we didn't have time to wait. So we stood and watched for a few minutes, then were told we could do some confirmations if we wanted. We did, so Kent confirmed Brandt three times and we called it good. It wasn't the most brilliant temple visit ever, but Brandt got to go, he did some work, and we were there together. Warms my heart.
Brandt has been super excited about see the movie. I was super excited that all he wanted to do for his birthday was see a movie. So easy. Kent and I drove the boys (Blythe was doing other things): Brandt, Jarom and Sam Oyler, Luke, Paul Moreland, Andrew Lund, and Houston Vergara, we all got treats, and enjoyed a very funny and exciting movie. I kept turning to Kent and saying things like, "There is no way this could happen," then realizing that we were watching a movie based on a comic book, and of course those things couldn't happen. We all liked it. We came home and did presents, then sent everyone home. Easiest birthday party ever.
Houston, Sam, Brandt, Paul, Andrew, Jarom, Luke
Kent and I sat three rows behind the boys so as not to cramp their style.
Throughout the day, Brandt kept asking if he could open his presents from the family. Blythe wasn't home when we got home, so he had to wait and wait. Finally, she got back. I had made him wait long enough, so I gave him his present. For three months I have been secretly planning a trip to Universal Studios Florida so he could go to Harry Potter World, something he's been talking about for over a year. I had our neighbor, Justine Banks, make us some Florida themed cookies, and then put a picture inside the box of cookies. I figured, when he opened the box and saw the cookies and that we were going in like four days, he would be ecstatic!
Nope. I got hardly any reaction at all. I think he must have found out somehow, before hand, probably snooping around on my phone. Blythe was more excited than he was. He wanted a drone, and he didn't get one. Instead, he got a ten day trip to Florida, but that seemed to pale in comparison to a drone. Boo hoo. At least the cookies were delicious.
Brandt wanted to go to Green Panda for his birthday, and we had orange and sesame chicken for dinner. Mikayla and Grandma Sue knew about the surprise and wondered how it had gone. They were as disappointed as I was about the lack of reaction. To give Brandt a bit of a break, he was up super late last night, as he and Spencer slept in the tent and talked and talked until after 11:00pm. He was just tired. Or so he said. It was a great day to celebrate our great boy. We love him and are excited to see what this new year holds.
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