12 Year Old Ben

Ben turned 12 years old on Saturday.  He had “the best birthday ever!”  The fun started on Friday night.  The girls watched movies in our bedroom while Nate and I watched The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers with Ben.  He loved the movie and we loved having some one-on-one time with him.  We kept up our birthday balloon tradition, but Ben was still awake at 11:30 when we snuck in his room to hang the balloons so they weren’t really a surprise in the morning.  Oh well.  It’s the thought that counts.  Since his birthday fell on Saturday, he got to open his presents first thing in the morning.  He got everything on his list.  We gave him a new Nerf gun, Nerf darts, a bathrobe, the LOTR Attack on Weathertop Lego set, LOTR piano music, and the Lego LOTR Wii game.  He got a new scooter from Grandpa and Grandma Nelson and the Shelob Attacks Lego set and a framed “Put on the Armor of God” picture from Grandma Reatha.  He couldn’t have been happier with his gifts.  He spent most of the day building Legos and playing his new game on the Wii.  We headed out for linner at Arby’s and then went to Toad’s for some laser tag.  Toad’s was super crowded, but we got in a couple of games of laser tag and some arcade time before heading home.  We finished the night with white chocolate macadamia nut FH’zookies with eggnog ice cream (a repeat of Ben’s birthday treat from last year) and the kids watched Despicable Me and had a slumber party in the movie room.  Ben was a little disappointed that we hadn’t worked any friend time into the schedule, but he got over it.  Sometimes I forget that it is normal for kids to think that spending time with friends is lots better than spending time with family.

Ben was ordained a deacon after church on Sunday.  He invited Nate’s parents and my mom and brother and sisters to come to his ordination.  There were six people in the circle . . . Nate, Bishop Briggs, Bishop Foulger (Ben’s scout leader/inspiration), Grandpa Nelson, Uncle Karl, and Uncle Shane.  We were going to have everyone over for dinner after, but with sickness and other commitments it didn’t work out.  We settled for a nice, low effort evening with our little family.  It was a big day for Ben.  He’s super excited to get to pass the sacrament on Sunday and to go do baptisms for the dead next week.  I’m looking forward to seeing him learn and grow as he takes on more responsibility.  I’m glad that he has Nate as a role model. 

We finished up birthday celebrations with dinner at Firehouse Pizzeria on Tuesday.  Logan is a long way to go for a birthday dinner, but the food was so yummy.  We had a great time and left completely stuffed.  We listened to a talk (Tour De Family) by John Bytheway on the way up and back.  It was a good way to pass the time and the whole family enjoyed/learned from it.

We sure love our Ben.  He is certainly never boring and he keeps us on our toes, but he is a good kid with a good heart.  We’re hoping he’ll be patient with us as we stumble through this new territory of raising an almost-teenager.