Terrific Twelve

Benjamin turned 12!  How can that be?  

He wanted to open his presents with everyone so he woke up super early!

When you turn 12 at our house, you get your first phone, so Benjamin was pretty excited to get his new phone.  He got a gift card to buy a new case for his phone, a cool big lego, silly socks and new tires for his bike (and the gift of Andrew putting them on for him).  He got pretty spoiled!

We had piano lessons so dinner was a bit later than normal, but we went to a new restaurant (to us), Black Bear Diner and enjoyed the yumminess of it!  

Twelve terrific things about Benjamin...

...he the tallest person in his class.

...he works SO hard in school!

...he loves electronics!

...he is a great helper around the house!

...he's really good at keeping his side of his room clean.

...he is a faithful dog walker to Rufus!

...he loves to do sports and will try anything.

...he LOVES to talk and talk and talk and talk!!!

  

...he's excited to be a Deacon and go to Scouts every week!

...he has a very kind heart!

....he loves to CRAZY socks!

...he faithfully reminds us to pray in the morning!  

Happiest of Birthdays, Benjamin!!  We love you so much!!

TEN

Benjamin hit the double digits this year as he turned 10! He got an iPod Nano, Splatoon Wii game, a ton of Infinity guys and money from grandparents, Nonnie and cousins. He asked for pancakes with buttermilk syrup and sausage for breakfast. Since his birthday was on a Sunday, it was a pretty relaxed and quiet day. He asked for soup for dinner and we were lucky enough to have the sister missionaries over. Benjamin requested a donut cake with cookie dough ice cream for dessert.









Ten terrific things about Benjamin...

...he loves electronics!!

...he has a kind soul!

...he talks all the time but we found out that he doesn't at school, so that's good!

...he loves listening to music!

...he is a hard worker! He always gets his Saturday chores done first.

...he LOVES any type of soup!

...he is a talented piano player!

...he is a great basketball and flag football player!

...he is SUPER tall!!

...he is ALWAYS happy!!!


Happy, Happy Birthday, Benjamin! We're so grateful you're a part of our family!

NINE

Happy Birthday, Benjamin! Benjamin was SO excited to open presents that he woke up at 5am on his birthday. We waited until 6:45 to wake up siblings and open presents. He got two Olaf's from Levi, legos from Spencer, Ogosport from Andrew, a basketball from Sarah, material for a new quilt and Beats from mom and dad. He also got money from Nonnie and Grandma and Grandpa. He enjoyed a yummy breakfast of pancakes, eggs and sausages and then we sent him off to school for the day. At school, he got to share M&M cookies with his classmates.








As a family, we went and saw Minions and afterwards ate gyros from the Gyro Shack and had Blizzards at Dairy Queen. Benjamin really wanted an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen but when we got there the freezer wasn't working and it was empty. Benjamin was feeling very flexible and decided that Blizzards were a great second choice. His friend Jackson went with us for the fun evening! (Sarah was babysitting.)



Nine nifty things about Benjamin...

...he's a great piano player.

...he is SUPER smart in Math. He can do mental math faster than almost anyone in our family!

...he loves playing outside with friends everyday!

...he is almost always happy and flexible!

...he does love to play on his iPad.

...he enjoys playing flag football and is playing basketball for the first time.

...he talks all the time!

...he remembers every scripture story that he's been taught.

...he loves to laugh and tell jokes!

Happiest of Birthdays, Benjamin! We love you so much!

It's GREAT to be EIGHT

In our family, we have a tradition that the eight days leading up to our children's baptism we celebrate them every day in a different way.

On the first day of Benjamin's "It's Great to be Eight", Benjamin got to go to his first Pack meeting as a new cub scout. Afterwards, we went to Dairy Queen for a yummy Blizzard to celebrate.







On the second day, we went to a movie, Dolphin Tale 2 and out for pizza as a family.



For the third day, mom and dad took Benjamin on a date. We stopped at Toys R Us for something and just happened to be there the same time the Marines were their with a tank. Benjamin was very excited that he got to actually go inside and stand on top of it. Then we went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. Benjamin and Nathan shared a Chinese Chicken salad and Macaroni and Cheese balls and then we all split the Oreo cookie cheesecake for dessert.









On the fourth day, Benjamin got a new set of scriptures from mom and dad. He was SUPER excited and had looked forward to getting them for quite some time.


The fifth day we celebrated Benjamin with a special Family Home Evening with talking about the importance of following our Savior and getting baptized like him. We played fun games for the activity and had a yummy treat. (Too bad we forgot to take any pictures!!)


On the sixth day of "It's Great to be Eight", Benjamin got a new lamp for his bed so he can read at night and so he can remember to be "The Light of the World".


For the seventh day, Nonnie gave Benjamin a special "comforter" for his bed so that he can remember how the Holy Ghost will always be a "comforter" for him.


The eighth day of "It's Great to be Eight' is always the most special because that's the day you get baptized. Benjamin had a lot of family members and friends come for his special day. Nathan conducted the baptism, Alexa (his cousin) gave the talk on Baptism, I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost, Sarah and Andrew played a duet for the musical number, Sarah played the piano for the other songs, Palmer (his cousin) led the music, Grandma Smith and Aunt Angie offered prayers and Grandpa Smith and Uncle Jon were the witnesses and stood in the circle during the blessing. It was an absolutely wonderful service and we hope Benjamin will remember it forever. We are so proud of his choice to be baptized!! We love you, Benjamin!!

EIGHT

Benjamin had a birthday and turned EIGHT! He woke up early (like every morning) so he could open his presents before Dad and Sarah left for work and early-morning Seminary.



He got an iTunes card, Nerf gun, ping-pong set, hover craft, mini scooter, scout book, shirt and scarf and money from grandparents.
He got really spoiled!!



For dinner he wanted chicken nuggets and tatortots and mom thought it would be good to have a salad, too. Benjamin wanted brownies and ice cream for his birthday treat and then we broke the "no electronics during the week" rule and watched Maleficent. It was a fun day!





Eight things about Benjamin...

1. He is our most "techy" kiddo. He loves anything electronic and from a very young age has excelled in electronics.

2. He is SO easy going. Not much will faze him and he is always willing to "go with the flow".

3. He still wakes up early every morning.

4. He loves to snuggle with his mom.

5. He is super smart in Math!

6. He started taking piano lessons at the beginning of the school year and can't understand why he doesn't sound like the Piano Guys yet.

7. He always has a smile on his face!

8. He is VERY excited about getting baptized later this month.

We love you very much, Benjamin! Happiest of Birthdays!!


(He did get to bring in one of his favorite treats of Krispy Kreme donuts for his classmates at school - the teacher was sick so I didn't get to go in and get a picture.)

SEVEN

Benjamin had a birthday. I can't believe he is seven already! He opened presents early in the morning and asked for pancakes that spell his name.





He got a new Wii game from Andrew, Itunes card from Sarah, cool sand from Spencer, a Swap Force game from Levi, money from Nonnie, money from Grandma and Grandpa and a basketball hoop from mom and dad.





He was able to celebrate his birthday with his classmates. His class sang Happy Birthday Cha Cha Cha to him and then enjoyed eating Krispy Kreme donuts.



Taking the first bite...


Yum!!


Later that night, we had soup and bread for dinner (his request) and then had a rice krispy BSU cake (also, his request).





Seven things about Benjamin...

Benjamin is always happy.

He talks the most of anyone in our family.

We think he might be a doctor when he grows up because he loves to look at blood and at anyone's wounds.

He loves the Piano Guys!

He's amazingly talented at electronics.

He is always the first kid awake in the morning and he's always happy about it.

He gives GREAT hugs!!

We love you so much, Benjamin!!

SIX

It was Benjamin's GOLDEN birthday, he turned SIX on the SIXTH of this month! He opened presents and got so many fun things. He got a fuzzy blanket from Nonnie, money from Grandma and Grandpa, a light up Penguin from Spencer, the movie Madagascar 3 from Sarah, Andrew gave him a Mario Galaxy Wii game, Levi gave him Giants to go with the Wii game mom and dad gave him, Skylanders - Giants.




Benjamin got to bring treats to school to share with his classmates.



Benjamin had a friend's party this year. We took five friends to the Zoo and had a GREAT time!!




We sure do love this fun and energetic boy!!!!

OUCH

This is what happens when you're riding your bike and you tell your big brother to try to hit you with a soccer ball. Then you crash - BIG TIME!!! Then, the next morning you wake up and your eye is swollen closed. OUCH!!!

SUPER fun

SUPER fun is how Benjamin summed up his first day of Preschool. He loved spending his morning with teacher April and his friend, Jack.

Benjamin's Birthday

On Saturday, Benjamin celebrated his birthday. We have been talking to Benjamin for days about his birthday and that he would soon be 4. But, he doesn't want to be 4....he is 3 1/2 and that is that! No amount of talking could persuade him to be 4....so, Happy 3 1/2 Birthday Benjamin!!

He opened presents with the family in the morning and chose donuts for breakfast.

His preschool teacher made his headband...I love it, but he's not too fond of the 4 on it.

In the afternoon we had his friends over for cake and ice cream. We sang to him and then told him to make a wish and blow out the candles. He closed his eyes (I think he made a wish) and then blew. We told him he better open his eyes if he really wants to blow out the candles.


Then we all went to Bounce which is a big warehouse full of bounce houses and obstacle courses! EVERYONE had fun!!







yep...that's nathan!!




We hardly saw the kids as they were so busy going from one bounce thing to another. It made me laugh that they were all SO sweaty, but they had a GREAT time!

Even Levi loved it!

Happy, Happy Birthday Benjamin! We love you so much and you add so much fun to our family!!!