Feb. 14th & Kanyon's 15th

Kanyon's 15th birthday was on February 10th--which was the SAME night as the high school music department's Swing Night fundraiser, so we didn't celebrate Kanyon's birthday until later. It felt like his birthday and Valentine's Day were totally intertwined this year as a result!

I didn't love Swing Night last year because it was held the last week of school (due to COVID, Mr. A waited until crowds could gather) and it was in conjunction with their Spring Concert, and people were so noisy in the audience and kids were popping balloons that were laying all over (I have an irrational fear about popping balloons that stems from when I was in kindergarten!), and I felt the noise and the popping balloons and kids running all over was a distraction from the music presented by the students.  I was SO glad it was held in February again this year, and that it was separate from the Spring Concert. However, there used to be a fee at the door to get in (to pay for dinner and help the music department out--after all, it IS a fundraiser!), but this time it was "by donation" only, which meant tons of people and lots of kids were there (and a lot of them didn't contribute), and it was still noisy and kids were running around all over, and I missed the old feel of what it used to be: a celebration of the music with a polite crowd who enjoyed the dinner and dancing!

Thankfully, we had friends there to join us for the night. It was hard to get a table to eat, but we squeezed into the only one that I found abandoned. We ate a delicious dinner of Hawaiian Haystacks (they changed up the menu from the previous years' taco bar). After we ate, I was getting annoyed by all the noisy people around us, and could hardly hear the music that was being performed, so we moved to the chairs on the perimeter of the dance floor, and that was better. The high school Jazz Band (which Kanyon plays the tuba in) played lots of songs, and there were individual performers who sang and played music, too. In fact, Amanda wanted to sing with John & I since she was in town, as an ode to the old days when we would all get together on the weekends and sing karaoke, so she had John add us to the set list. We sang "All About the Bass" in a jazz style I'd never heard--we didn't even practice once before that performance and it wasn't our best show, but it was fun to perform with my friends nonethelesss. The set list was 2 pages long, and Josh and I had never stayed until the end before, but we stayed til the end that night, because we figured if Kanyon had to stay and play on his birthday, then we should too! It wasn't the way he wanted to spend his birthday evening, but he felt like it was the right thing to do, and we were so proud of his commitment and devotion!

We ate dinner with the Berube's, Hobbs', and Oswald's.

Micah helped serve dinner.

The birthday boy!

This was a band fundraiser, and since Jonah isn't
in band this year, he didn't have to perform at it
like these friends of his did!

We matched--we wore Valentines colors <3

We ate his requested birthday meal and he opened up gifts the following evening on Friday. His requested meal was steak, creamy potatoes, and biscuits (we also added mashed potatoes and gravy to the meal) and he wanted pumpkin fudge for dessert. Amanda and Ryan joined us for the evening, which was nice! Kanyon loves hanging around Ryan and Amanda! He got clothes, electronics, snacks, and a new plush pillow for his gifts, and he was pretty content with everything, despite having to wait an extra day to eat his favorite food and open his birthday presents!

Valentine's Day was on a Monday this year. I put a Valentine's chocolate and note on each of the boy's beds before school (I usually leave the house before they wake up). I took the ice cream buckets I'd saved all year to school, and the kids decorated them as their Valentine's containers. They exchanged the usual gifts, and we played Cupid's Arrow with dart guns (the only time I ever bring any type of gun to school), and the teams tied which was SO fun! We ended the school day with a root beer float party (as requested by the students). I brought the ice cream, and they all brought their own pop to pour in. It was a pretty fun afternoon! That evening, after dinner, I told the boys I wanted to play dominoes for Valentine's Day similar how I play it with my dominoes friends from Mud Lake: instead of keeping score, the winner of each round will get a prize. In Mud Lake, we all put a dollar in the pot each round and the winner takes the money--but instead of having the boys all pay in, I'd bought a stack of candy bars and whoever won that round got to pick a candy bar to keep. They were totally interested; we'd never played like that before, and it was appealing for them to have a prize to keep. I wanted to make Family Home Evening more special since it was Valentine's Day! We played several rounds until everyone (except for me) had at least one candy bar (I couldn't seem to win that night!).

The stacks of candy bars were at the far end of the table.

The boys rotate each year between having a family party or a friend party for their birthday. This year, it was Kanyon's family party. However, we still invited his friend Jaxson to come spend the weekend with us to make it more special for Kanyon. Jaxson was unable to come until President's Day weekend, so Kanyon first had to wait a day for his birthday meal and presents, and then he waited an extra week to have his party! However, I think it's fun to spread birthday celebrations out, so that instead of feeling special just one day, you feel special for an entire week, or in some cases, an entire month! When Jaxson was here, we went bowling, played outside, watched the Olympics, played video games, saw the movie "Uncharted" at the movie theater, and played more board games with candy bar prizes. We had a great time together! 

I just want to note that I WON!!! It's very rare that I beat both Josh
AND the boys at a game, let alone bowling, so it was worth documenting!

Kanyon is now 15. He's a fun addition to our family, and we love him! He's very intelligent, has an incredible memory, has a fantastic sense of humor, and he's a competitive gamer. 

15 of his favorites at age 15 are:

Color - Hot Pink

Number - 35

Dinner - Steak

Cereal - Reese's Puffs

Snack - graham crackers, Ritz crackers, Doritos

Sport - golf and discus/shotput

Movie - Deadpool

Video Game - Call of Duty

Card Game - Cover Your Assets

Board Game - Settlers of Catan

Possession - iPhone

Clothes - tank tops, shorts, long socks

Teacher - Mrs. Braswell

School Subject - Strength & Conditioning (which sadly he couldn't get in his schedule this year)

Friends - Jackson McDonald, Jaxson VanEps, Aidan Gunderson, and Gunner Capell