He can drive!

Sixteen years old...FINALLY! And not that we're trying to wish away his childhood or anything. But when you have been doing the gymnastics carpool drive back and forth to Bountiful every. single. day. for the past many years, the idea of a drivers license sounded pretty darn wonderful. And it wasn't just Brandon...there were many of us counting down and then doing a happy dance right along with him on this momentous day. (Me, Bryan, Julianne and Rebekah, Porter's parents, Porter's grandma, Coach Adam...just to name a few.)

So it seemed only appropriate that any and all birthday decor should revolve around driving. Brandon woke up to a little highway, complete with cars and road signs, leading him up to the kitchen where later in the day we had a celebratory birthday dinner and presents.

Brandon's gymnastics buddies texted me earlier in the day and asked if they could come kidnap him for a surprise party of sorts at the park. I love their friendship and thoughtfulness, and Brandon was absolutely delighted.

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The day after the birthday: IT'S OFFICIAL!!!

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The day before the birthday:

Rebekah's and Julianne's first dates after they turned 16 were with their Dad. Which meant that I got the opportunity to go on a date with Brandon. Seeing as his birthday was on a Sunday, and his schedule is mighty packed with gymnastics workouts most every other day, we decided to go out the night before. I took him to dinner at Marie Callendars and then to the nearby aquarium where we got fish pedicures. Have you ever had a bunch of fish nibble on your toes? It's a mighty strange feeling! Not quite ticklish...but sort of? We laughed a lot.

 Birthday snuggles from Oscar...

As per tradition, when our children turn 16 we take them on a vacation...just mom, dad and birthday kid. Usually those trips don't usually fall right on the birthday, which will be the case with Brandon as well. His birthday trip of choice is to Orlando during the Nationals Junior Olympic Meet. He told us if he qualified for Nationals, he'd compete...and then we'd go to Universal Studios. If he didn't, we'd go cheer on his team...and then we'd go to Universal Studios. Either way, he wanted to go. So we've booked our flights to Florida for the second week in May and we're looking forward to it! (Spoiler: he does indeed qualifies for Nationals and gets to compete!!!)