October Part 1: Michael's Birthday

In October, Michael turned 16. This was probably his most anticipated birthday since he was born, rivaled only by his actual birth day. So many similar feelings on both days--both looked to with excitement and both looked to with absolute terror. As per tradition, we took a final picture of him as a 15 year old. It seems very appropriate that our final shot of 15 year old Michael is of him driving with me in the front seat. That would no longer be standard 24 hours later. 

We all got up just a little earlier so that he could open some presents before heading to school. We let him skip his early morning seminary class. 

He texted us a list of what he wanted for his birthday; here's what the text said:

Ok so this is random and i dont know what you would do with this info but for my birthday i want in this order of priority:

1: license 

2: lathe

3: random hand tools

4: airsoft gun

5: underwear

6: peanuts

7: the Rosetta Stone 

8: a broken vacuum 

9: a beachfront property in Nebraska 

So, here he is with his underwear. 

A Rosetta Stone

A sweater (not on his list)

Another present in the back of the Mazda...what is it?

It's a broken vacuum! 

(Thank you, Katie Bachman, for coming through for us on this one!)

After school, we headed to the Drivers License division in Draper, and he got his license! 

I rode in the backseat on the way home, just so he could have the satisfaction of not having someone in the passenger seat (since the only way he could drive over the last year is if a licensed driver over 21 was in the passenger seat). 

He was so so excited, making comments the whole time about how nice it was to not have anyone in the passenger seat. 

We came back home so he could drop me off, and then with my heart in my throat, I watched one of my most precious people in my life head off in a car all by himself. 

I was so grateful for the entire year we spent driving around with him so I felt better about watching him drive away. 

He asked if he could pick up Rachel from school, and then he picked up Gabe. I loved being able to keep an eye on him through the Life 360 App. He took them all over Highland! 

We forgot a couple of other presents. 

Basically, this little mini cupholder trash can. 

And after we gave him the vacuum, we showed him the second-hand lathe that we got for him. I didn't have a good picture from the morning, but here he is with it all set up after school. 

I made him cheesecake with berry sauce, and we all sang "Happy Birthday," Saville style. 

He wanted to have a party for his birthday. He used his invitation from his sixth birthday as the visual to invite all of his friends. Brian and I got to work cleaning our patio up for them. It was a great excuse to wash all of our cushion covers, sweep up, and wipe down all the chairs. This is the only picture we took related to his party. We ordered pizza, had a soda bar, lots of candy and chips, and basically just tried to keep a low profile the entire night. 

He really loves his lathe. It made up for us not being able to get beachfront property in Nebraska. 

I made this balloon arch for his party, and he was gracious enough to pose in front of it after his party. 

My dear handsome Michael, how grateful I am for you. You have brought so much joy into our lives. We love you so much. Thanks for being a good brother, son, and all around good, kind person.