16--Sweet!

Hard to believe it has been 16 years since first becoming a mom.  McKay has been a great first kid and we have learned a lot together.  We had a good time celebrated McKay's 16th birthday together as a family.  McKay decided he wanted to do some surfing so we all headed on down to Provo Beach Resort:

The boys all had a great time--including Jeremy.  McKay got to be quite the surfer, Kayden liked riding on his belly as did Josh.  Jaxon and Jeremy liked knee boarding best as they didn't like the way their head felt when they wiped out surfing.

After surfing McKay wanted to go to Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  We let the waitress know we were there to celebrate McKay's 16th birthday.  The saddled him up:

 "Let's give this birthday boy a "Yee-Haw!"  Do you think he looks sufficiently embarrassed?

Josh decided to spend some of his own money and buy McKay a few of his favorite things to give him for his birthday.

We went home after dinner and had some ice cream cake and sang Happy Birthday to him.  I think he is happy to be 16.

16 Things We Love About McKay

1. He is always making me laugh.  He knows my humor and is always cracking jokes or showing me things on social media he knows would make me laugh.
2. He is an awesome brother.  Jaxon and McKay have become best friends more and more.  I love hearing them laughing together down in the basement or listening to them have a sing-off when one of them is blasting music in the shower.  He always watching out for his younger brothers and has a lot of patience for them.
3. He is still an excellent student and works really hard in school.  He worked really hard through all of Jr. High and got straight A's all three years.  He also took and passed the AP Geography test with an above average score.
4. I loved watching him play basketball on his Jr High School team last year.  He has excellent sportsmanship and played hard.
5. He is a hard worker.  Over the course of the last 4 years we have put in our landscaping.  It has been a lot of hard work and he was always good to pitch in and help out--with payment of course.  He does a job well done.
6. He is a good friend.  I also appreciate that he has good friends.
7. His abilities in the kitchen.  He can whip up a mean batch of muffins with a crumble and drizzle on top as well as make a great batch of cookies.
8. He started writing in his journal every night at the beginning of the summer.  He has been very diligent.
9. He is self driven.  He gets himself up in the morning, does it homework without being asked and exercises every night before a shower.
10. He served as the Teachers Quorum secretary the last few months.  He was on the phone every Friday or Saturday to make sure sacrament meeting assignments were being fulfilled.
11. He is a good example to his brothers and friends.
12. His competitive nature.  He has to be the first of his friends to get his drivers license.
13. He is a cautious driver.  And since we are the ones that will be paying the insurance rates I really appreciate that!
14. His love for Spanish.  He has taken Spanish every year since 7th grade.  He is always coming up with Spanish phrases to call himself "El Jefe" (The Boss) and "El Gran Jugador de Baloncesto" (The Great Basketball Player).
15. He still thinks I am a great cook.
16. His desire to always be better and do his best in all areas of his life.

Happy birthday McKay.  We couldn't imagine the last 16 years without you!