We put Elijah in charge of inviting his friends. Most of them play football with him, so he just invited word of mouth. Amazingly only one mom called to confirm the 'rumors of a party!'
We'd also decided he would invite some girl friends, but that idea fell through, when the girl who had contact with all the friends wasn't available...turned out better as a boy party anyways. Elijah had about 8 friends show up. They came right after practice, which made it a little late for a party, but oh well. I did decide to give them substantial food, since this would technically be dinner for most of them, so we had bacon wrapped chicken, fries and tots,
veggies (notice how much was left of those....), cookies, etc. 
After the food, they jumped on the trampoline. 
Right away a few attempted to jump from the tramp onto the shed. It is something our kids do quite a bit. It became a challenge, and soon all were making the attempt. I loved how encouraging all the boys were...with those who were more timid. They all made it up but one boy. You can see there were spotters on the tramp, and those ready on top to help him up, but he finally decided he'd had enough. 
He'd made a valient effort though and was exhausted. 
Here were the victorious! you could tell they felt great, because it is a difficult thing.
Jeremy and Travis entertained the kids with a boxing match. It was pretty fun and funny! 
It ended in a draw...
Elijah wanted an ice cream cake for his birthday cake, and Lori showed us a great recipe, so we tried it. Basically, you layer ice cream sandwiches, cool whip, oreos, hot fudge...2 times. It was easy and yummy! I just made the mistake of cutting pieces too big. oops. ( they have also done it peanut buster parfait style, or hot fudge and caramel....whatever you like)
Present opening, and ice cream eating. By the door you can see his coach, who came to pick his boy up early so he could celebrate with the boys! cool!
His best friend, who knows him best, got him the machete he's been wanting all year!
isn't he cute!
The celebration continues!
Oh, we also played the truth or lie game...where you tell a story and everyone has to guess if it really happened or not. I first played this at Olivia's bridal shower, and have since used it in baby showers, birthday parties, RS events. I love it and think it works in any setting. Except, we heard some very sad stories about some of the events of the summer for some of the boys. J also took everyone around the property. I think they had fun.
I think everyone had a great time. I think they all enjoyed hanging out again after the summer apart. I am grateful Elijah has such a good group of friends. The night ended with travis against Kaleb, Elijah and Knolen. They were soo nice to let Travis win. Wouldn't want to bruise his ego or anything. (Travis works with J at the dept, and is the kids' adopted uncle.)
We sure love having Elijah in our family. I can't believe he is 13. I will tell you a few things about him:
After the party the boys in the family decided to sleep on the shed. We have a coyotee problem, and they wanted to see if they could spot it. As you can see, they didn't sleep well, due to sliding downward. They also never saw the coyotees. But did have a good time.
We sure love having Elijah in our family. I can't believe he is 13. I will tell you a few things about him:he is a sweetheart, and most of his younger cousins have a crush on him
along with the rest of our family, he is quite the cuddler
we've discovered he's got some athletic abilities he didn't inherit from his parents
he loves to play the trumpet
he has liked the same girl since 1st grade, even though she has moved and he rarely sees her
he has a sparkle in his eye that is pretty irresistible
he wants to be just like his dad
he doesn't like school work, but does a good job in it anyways
loves off road riding
can drive a stick shift already
loves the gospel and sharing it with his friends
he has a quiet confidence I love seeing
Elijah is an amazing guy, and we feel very blessed to have him in our family
After the party the boys in the family decided to sleep on the shed. We have a coyotee problem, and they wanted to see if they could spot it. As you can see, they didn't sleep well, due to sliding downward. They also never saw the coyotees. But did have a good time.
1 comment:
this is jeremy
i am a little offended at the comment my wife said about him not inheriting his physical abilities from his parents. speak for youurself woman!
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