the beck family: Somebody turns 11!!!

These kids just grow up way too fast. I can't believe I have a 13 year old let alone an 11 year old now. Tanner is such a great kid. He is self-motivated, fun to play with, kind, very athletic, funny, a friend to all, loves math and reading, tells the best jokes and the list could go on.

Recently Tanner wrote a paper at school about his favorite time of year. I loved reading it because I learned so much about him. Here are a few things he listed: "My favorite thing about fall is when you rake up all the leaves and then jump in them. I like to get the days off school. I like family reunions and to get to see family that I rarely see. When I go to reunions I play football a lot or just play sports. What I like least about reunions is when everyone just talks and there is nothing to do. The things I hate most about the winter is it is boring. Everyday we always watch t.v. or play video games. The only fun thing about winter is sledding and having snowball fights. I also don't like not going outside. When you stay inside it feels like you are trapped and you want to get out. I also hate when we go shopping and go to the mall - all you ever do is walk around. I also hate when everyone in my family is mad and cranky - I just hate it. I hate doing chores because, well I just hate it - I don't know why. I hate when there is nothing to do." So there is my sweet Tanner in a nutshell. As you can tell from what he said, Tanner loves to stay active and hates not having something to do at all times.

This year for birthdays, we are forgoing a friend party and the birthday child gets to have dinner at a nice restaurant with Byron & I instead. The kids actually look forward to this where they get to eat at somewhere they wouldn't normally get to go. Tanner's birthday fell on a Thursday. We were going to have a family party on the following Sunday and then the next day take Tanner out to eat at Rodizio Grill (yes he has expensive tastes thanks to an uncle that told him about it:). So he was able to celebrate his birthday for 3 days - lucky boy!

TANNER'S BIRTHDAY - We woke up on his birthday and were able to get in singing to him along with opening his presents from Byron & I before the kids headed to school. I took Tanner out of school for lunch and went to one of his favorite places to eat, "Panda Express." Tanner was very excited because he didn't know I can coming. I love those one on one times with each child.

After school Byron took Tanner to Boondocks to have a couple of hours of fun together. Tanner had fun doing the slick track and spending time with his dad. He came home with a fake camera that squirts water and a fun bird that "squawks" when you push a button. Tanner had a great time teasing his siblings and mom with the camera.

Funny story- Tanner took this camera to school without me knowing. He played this trick on one of his friends at school. The part that squirts can be twisted around to squirt either the person with the camera or the person across from the camera. So Tanner gets his friend wet and his friend takes the camera away from Tanner to squirt Tanner. Tanner secretly turned the squirting part around and this poor boy got squirted twice.

Tanner is with his cinnamon roll and candle on his birthday.

Panda Express - yum!

Carter came home that morning with a bad cough so he joined in our fun. Here Carter & Bradley are enjoying the lunch they were sharing.

Tanner with his fake camera & bird.

FAMILY PARTY - Tanner's family party was on Sunday. He has been into skateboards lately, so I decided to make one for his cake. It was quite a process, but I was impressed with how it turned out.

Each month we have a get-together with the Becks where we have a potluck dinner and lesson. We were in charge of it in February and so we had Tanner's birthday party at the same time. Thankfully Tanner was fine with this since we weren't able to play any games for lack of time. He did get some amazing gifts, though, and enjoyed the cake and ice-cream.

Tanner's skateboard cake

RODIZIO GRILL - Monday was the day Tanner had been waiting for to go out with Byron & I. None of us had ever been, so this was a fun experience for us all. The food was delicious. We started out with the salad bar then were able to eat all of the food we wanted as the waiters brought it out. Tanner was really good to try most of the things, but he turned down the chicken hearts - along with Byron & I. Tanner is a pretty big eater. It was fun to see him actually get full where he couldn't eat anything else.

Some waiters came and sang "Happy Birthday" to Tanner in Portuguese while playing hand instruments - pretty impressive! They also gave Tanner some yummy pie with a candle in it.

We had so much fun, even though we ate way too much!