Conner is turning 12!

Tomorrow, March 9th Conner will be turning 12 years old. I'm having a hard time believing my baby is out of primary! He will become a deacon next Sunday. Conner talked to me a month ago and reminded me that his birthday was coming up. When he asked what we would do for his birthday, I said that because it fell on a Monday, we would have to do a Family Night party. Conner acted disappointed, but didn't say anything else.

Well, a week ago, I sent out invitations for a surprise birthday party on the Saturday before Conner's birthday. I'm not sure if you realize how hard it is for 12 twelve year old boys to keep a secret for a week, but some of the moms told me it was pretty comical what their kids said. One boy said he was just going to tell Conner that he knew a surprise Conner was getting on Saturday, but he wouldn't say what it was. His mom threatened him with his life if he even said the word surprise to Conner.

Steve took Conner to Tooele to pick up some pizza for a BYU game that was going to be on. They hung out, eating hamburgers, and after several calls to check-in they finally made their way home. I think Conner was really surprised!

We started the party off with a wii boxing tournament. They really got into it. Conner is fighting with his cousin Bridger. This is a picture of Jeff and Ryan, a couple of Conner's friends from the neighborhood. Jeff (in black) had a really great right hook, and almost won the whole tournament. But the award for the lightweight boxer of the day was Skyler Snarr.

Skyler is in the lower picture on the far right. He could really pack a punch. After the boxing, Dad took the boys over to the church for some basketball. He wore them out for about an hour. Then they came back for pizza, pop, cake and ice cream.

The boys who attended are, clockwise from the top left side: Tyson Elfors, Landon Stice, Cade Coon, Dylan Rowley, Ben Rigby, Mason Curtis, Bridger Collings, Skyler Snarr, Ryan Egan, Conner Collings, and Jeff Tuckett.

Conner lit his own candles. We actually had 13, because you can't spell Happy Birthday with only 12 letters, but we never could get all 12 lit at once.

The boys played a short game of football out front, and then came back to watch a movie. I think Conner had a great time, and really appreciated all of his friends being there. On the way home from dropping off the boys I asked him if he was surprised, he said yes, he thought we would just go out to dinner on family night and maybe have some cake. He really liked this a lot more.

Next Sunday, Conner will be ordained (possibly by his big brother...Steve Jr. is still deciding if he's up for the challenge). This Tuesday, he'll start coming to Young Mens. It's so weird, but nice too, since I'm at the church already, I can look out for him. This has been a fun weekend.