Saturday, April 1, 2023

Kanyon's Sweet Sixteen

Kanyon turned 16 in February. Turning 16 is different now from what it used to be. I looked forward to turning 16 so I could drive and date. In Idaho, drivers can get their license when they're 15, and Kanyon already has his. As for dating, he doesn't seem too interested currently on wasting his money on girls! At church, young men become priests when they turn 16 and can bless the sacrament--but the policy changed a few years ago that they can become priests in January of the year they turn 16, rather than waiting until their actual birthday, so he'd already been set apart as a priest before his birthday, too (even though he didn't have a chance to bless the sacrament for his first time with Josh until Sunday, Feb. 26 due to sickness & wrestling schedules). So really, turning 16 for him didn't seem too special of a number and it didn't feel much different than turning 15 last year!


He told me on his birthday that it didn't really feel like his birthday--it was definitely different for him this year! Since it was his "friend" celebration year, he just wanted to go to his friend Gunner Capell's house in Roberts to hang out for the weekend. West J had a formal dance on Saturday night, and I thought it would be fun if he joined a group and went to the dance now that he's 16, but I couldn't ever convince him to go even though his friend Jaxson took a date to it. After Josh got off work on Friday (Kanyon's birthday), we drove down to southeast Idaho. We dropped Kanyon off at Gunner's house to stay for 2 nights while we continued on to Pocatello, our destination for the weekend. Gunner had 2 more friends come over to his house on Friday for a birthday sleepover. Kanyon said they played online games and watched movies and ate all weekend. Basically he was just living his best life! He went to church with Gunner's family on Sunday, and then Josh & I picked him up around noon on our way back home to Salmon. He opened his gifts after we got home, which consisted of a new gaming chair (it looks like an office chair with a swivel base, levers to raise/lower and recline, and a fold out footstool), a giant bag of gummy bears, and a large flash drive (with 2 terabytes for gaming storage which is the only gift he asked for). We finally had his requested birthday meal of BBQ ribs (his favorite!) and pumpkin bars on Monday night. Although we didn't get to celebrate his birthday with him on his actual birthdate, and I have no photos of his time at Gunner's, he was pretty content with how it all turned out in the end, even though it felt different at the beginning. He's a pretty easygoing kid who doesn't ask for much, so I'm glad he got what he wanted and was happy with it, since that's how it should be when it's your birthday!   



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