The day arrived! It was long anticipated. James didn't want to wish the summer away but he wanted to be 16 so bad! Cross country practice was in the mornings through the summer. Then the week of his birthday it changed to afternoons. That was perfect because it freed him up to go to the DLD first thing in the morning. I scheduled the earliest appointment I could.
When he first got his permit he drove an old white Toyota Tundra from Lowry Doors. It was quite the truck. I'm pretty sure I posted it on the blog earlier in the year. It was missing the front bumper. The back tail gate was rust color until James and Marshall spray painted it black. Anyways, that truck ended up getting sold to a Lowry Door's employee. The Toyota Tundra he will be driving is blue even though in the picture it looks gray. It has both bumpers, not as much rust, and more roomy inside. He drove me down to the DLD.
I took all of the required documentation but ended up not needing it because I took it all when he got his permit. I'm guessing that it why I didn't have to show any of it this time. The whole process was very fast. We were in and out in less than 15 minutes.
We woke everyone up when we got home and had crepes, scrambled eggs, bacon and juice. His trip to San Diego was his birthday present but he also got some things for his truck.
His siblings were really cute and each gave him a gift. Lynnlee croquet a narwhal. Kade got him fun socks, Tag gave him money and Sienna is getting him something still.
Sienna insisted he wear her birthday tiara and sash.
James gave his siblings coupons to take them to McDonalds once he could drive them. At lunch time he took Lynnlee, Kade and Sienna. Tag was at a soccer team lunch so he will have to go another time.
They went to McDonalds and had lunch. Then they went to a few other places so James could cash in on free birthday treats. He shared every treat with his siblings...Crumbl, ice cream, etc.
James wanted lasagna, salad and garlic bread for dinner and homemade oreo cookies for dessert. Random side note, a crazy storm rolled in right when we were about to sit down for dinner. We were all staring out the windows in awe of the large hail, amount of moisture, high wind speeds, and noise. We had some water come in through the west wall of the court but not too bad. We heard of a lot of neighbors with flooding problems.
Anyways, we had dinner and sang to James.
Later that night James and Kade both had their birthday movie. It was too busy around Kade's birthday for him to have his birthday movie. Lynnlee got to go too. They saw Twisters. They said it was really good!
James has grown a couple of inches since his last birthday, he is thriving in school with straight As. He's enjoying running and soccer. He has a good group of friends that he has fun with in his free time. He is kind and nice to his siblings most of the time. He definitely teases them here and there but what oldest brother doesn't. He's thoughtful and aware of others and he's friendly. He loves going to the temple and goes at least every month. For the first few months of the year he went every week.
