We Have a Teenager, Here!

Dallin is now officially a teeager, although he says it feels no different than being 12. Dallin is a good kid and a big help to the family. He survived junior high and I asked him to rate his 7th grade year on a scale of 1-10, 10 being "super, fantastic, best-thing-in-the-world" He gave it a rating of 7 - not too bad for school, eh? Let's just hope that his next 6 years are as good as his last.

Leon thought it would be fun/cool to get Dallin a "real" R/C truck for his birthday - not those "cheap Tyco" things. Since they are a bit pricy for our birthday budget, Dallin helped pay for half of his own gift with money he had saved for over a year. Father and son had fun getting it all set up and couldn't wait for the 8 hours of charging before it's inaugural run. Here they are before, all smiles:

And, here's the underside of the truck after: (notice the broken piece - one of many obliterated parts).

I don't think either of them would have appreciated my taking their picture since there weren't a whole lot of smiles AFTER the inaugural run. Let's just say this sucker was FAST and the curb came up a little sooner than Dallin had expected. Needless to say it was a pretty expensive first run (a few of Dallin's uncles will know exactly how much it costs to repair these "real" R/C's). I just have to look at it as preparation for when he turns 16 and runs his "real" truck into a curb - a much more expensive fix, for sure.

Happy 13th Birthday, Dallin!

Cameron's Baptism

Cameron had been counting down the days to his baptism. It was a good day full of joy, family and friends. Cameron is such a sweet boy, the peacemaker in our home, and has a lot of love to give. (Sorry, kinda' sounds like a "Wednesday's Child", but Cameron IS a sweet kid - most of the time.) It's always touching for me to see Leon exercise his Priesthood to bless our family. I love the way the Gospel is centered around families and allows fathers and other family members to have a direct hand in ordinances like these.

After the baptism we had a backyard family barbecue - what fun!
Grandma and Grandpa came down again the next day for his confirmation. Cameron loved being the center of attention for two whole days - something a middle child doesn't get all that much.
Okay, so this picture just cracks me up! Uncle Jeff was so great to treck it all the way down from Logan, traffic and all. This picture was taken in the middle of a Nerf ambush - can you see the ammo flying?

Thanks, everyone, for helping make this a special day for Cameron.