A Memorable Day

Time to be serious. But only for a minute.

My son, John, turned 12 on July 26th and received the Aaronic priesthood on Sunday, July 27th. He was ordained by his Grandpa Done and Bertrand got to stand in the circle, as well as Grandpa Poulsen. John was so excited to have his family on all sides there. Some of them had to travel quite a distance (1 1/2 hours), but we were so happy to have everyone there on his special day.

(John with Grandma and Grandpa Done)

(John with Grandma and Grandpa Poulsen...and Sylvie because she wouldn't let go of Grandma's hand.)

I am so proud of my son. He's my oldest. I always wanted a boy first because I envied friends who had a big brother. I wanted a big brother to be an example to his younger siblings. And a protector. He has proven to be both. His little sisters on our side and little brothers on his dad's side look up to him and love him to death! He's so great with his little brothers and sisters.

On our end, I can say he's a HUGE help at home. I often say, "I couldn't do this without you, John". He's my right hand man. He keeps the ladies in order and aids in getting drinks and helping them out of predicaments. Most of all, he loves to chase them and wrestle them and also jump out at them and make them scream in fright, which sometimes gives me that psychotic twitch in my eye, but as long as they're all having fun, I guess I can deal with it.

John got a full weekend of birthday fun.

On Thursday we met up with Aunt Sonia, Ashton, Dalton, Sutton and Peyton at Chuck E. Cheese for 2 1/2 hours of pizza and fun! Whew! It was fun to see the cousins all running around together- having a blast. The only downer was Sylvie-Faye asking non-stop, all the way there, "Chuck E. Cheese not bite me, huh mommy? He nice, huh mommy?" After the 20th time and John John sighing and rolling his eyes and holding his head in his hands and moaning, and me responding with "He won't bite you" (20 times), I answered, "YES, SYLVIE-FAYE - HE'S NICE! OKAY!?!?!?!" Luckily he did not make an appearance. Thank you, Chuck E. Cheese, for saving me from insanity.

On Friday night he and I met up with some Queen Creek friends, including his friend, Nate, who turns 12 four days after him. We watched the new Batman movie at the IMAX...and had to take potty breaks - some of us more than once (not me). Then we went for dinner at Chili's afterwards, which was followed by a trip to the bathroom to purge because we ate WAY too much. On top of free large popcorns at the IMAX, we ate a full meal afterwards. YUCK!

THEN came night number two - Batman at the IMAX with John, me and Bert. Again - free large popcorns all around and large drinks to accompany. And yes - bathroom breaks AGAIN! (Hey, it's a 2 1/2-hour movie!) We presented John with a pocket watch with his initials engraved on the front and a little message on the back. He's been begging for this for two years. I'm not kidding. It was pricey and could be a family heirloom for him, so I told him he had to wait until he turned 12 and received the priesthood. I was excited to finally present him with it.

Oh, it's not over! SUNDAY morning, he woke up to a room full of balloons. It's become a tradition. I stay up until 1:30 AM the night before blowing up as many balloons as I can until I break my first blister and then I stop. This time I made it to 47! Pretty impressive. A little better than last year's numbers. Then, he got to go with his dad and the Done family after church and have cake and presents.

I love my boy, John. He's a good kid. Very smart. Very handsome (Duh! He looks like me!). Very kind. Very obedient. Almost perfect, except for the fact that sometimes when I want to spank him for encouraging Sylvie to spit, he won't let me and he's stronger than me and he won't let me win, which he should because I'm the mom. Anyway, it's fine. I'm working out and kick box training, so things will change one of these days.

Happy Birthday, John!