Happy Birthday Nathan

Two fabulous events take place on this date, August 8th. The first is my anniversary of 16 years. And second is the birth date of my oldest child, Nathan Lane. He celebrated his 13th birthday today. It seems that no matter how we try to plan it one of those events somehow gets over shadowed by the other. This year we figured out a way to give equal attention to both (I hope).

The day began early with a birthday party/breakfast for Nathan 10 of his friends. After loads of sugar from breakfast we sent the kids outside for water games. After an hour of that, we came in the house so Alyssa could hide Nathan's gifts for a scavenger hunt. While we were in the house we let each of the friends tell something they liked about Nathan or something embarrassing they wanted to share. It was fun and we learned some things we didn't know! Then Nathan took his turn to tell what he liked about each of his friends.

Everyone had a good time and Nathan was spoiled with gifts by his friends. A tradition that we have had for sometime is a sleepover with Rylee Chilcote on the weekend of Nathan's birthday. Rylee is an awesome kids and we look forward to this yearly tradition.

13 things I love about Nathan

(these are not in any special order)

1. He has a HUGE heart. He seems to always be looking out for others, especially his family.

2. He loves the gospel! He loves to read scriptures as a family and is always full of questions.

3. He is SUPER creative. I guess that is why he loves the Marvel characters so much! Because he is SUPER too!

4. He is a great cook! He is always so willing to give me a helping hand in the kitchen!

5. He is a great Deacon. It makes me so happy to see him play such an important role in the church as he upholds his priesthood responsibilities.

6. He is my friend. Nathan is not afraid to talk to me. I am so thankful for the close relationship we share.

7. He is an awesome "BIG" brother. Being the first born brings a lot of added responsibilities. Nathan's best friends are his family. He does a great job of looking out for his siblings and being their friend.

8. He is amazing at drawing. He loves to draw and takes pen and paper almost everywhere we go.

9. He is still tells me he loves me and gives me a hug every day, even in front of his friends!

10. He loves to read scripture as a family and he is very a tuned to the our discussions. He asks great questions and I can tell it really interest him.

11. He makes the best out of any situation. (Which makes it almost impossible to punish him, grr).

12. Nathan is very fun to be around. He has a great sense of humor and is very enjoyable to be with.

13. Even though it is sometimes inconvenient to have Nathan's birthday on my anniversary, on the day he was born and every year since then, he continues to be one of the very best anniversary gifts a girl could ask for. (Just don't tell Lane because I love the gifts he gives me too).