brandon becomes a life scout!

Brandon earned his next rank in scouting.  He is now officially a Life Scout!  Next stop...Eagle Scout!  He also finished 8 merit badges since the last Court of Honor in April.  He only needs to complete 4 more merit badges (one of which he only needs to finish one requirement) and do his Eagle project.  Not bad for a boy who just turned 13 years old!  We are so proud of Brandon and are so thankful for such amazing, dedicated scout leaders in our ward.  It truly makes all the difference.

And you'll notice Kevin is wearing a scout shirt also!  He was released from the spanish ward and called as the Scout Committee Chairman for our ward.  That should make things a little easier!

happy 13th birthday brandon!

Brandon turned 13!  I can't believe we officially have a teenager! We still have our moments, but Brandon is such a good kid most of the time.  He is very responsible and helpful. We are so proud of him and love him so much!

Instead of asking him the questions for his interview, he even typed them himself! 

Favorite Color: Yellow

Favorite Number: Pi (3.14..)

Favorite Drink: Mountain Dew

Favorite Food: Shells and Cheese

Favorite Game: Need 4 Speed

Favorite Animal: Shark

I feel sad when: I don't enough time to do the things I want to do

I feel mad when: Mom talks to me (unless it about money)

I like it when my friends: Hang out with me

I like it when I get to: Have Mountain Dew

I wish I could: solve a Rubiks cube faster

Who is your best friend? Jacob

Why? Because he is like me and we have many similarities

What makes you laugh? Cat videos

What is your favorite movie? Avengers

What are you most afraid of? Books coming to life

What is your favorite song? The Monsters University movie theme song

What is your favorite activity? Building things

What do you want to be when you grow up? An architect

Do you think it would be hard to be a mom or a dad? No

Why? Because you could use your kids as slaves

If you could have a magical power, what would you choose? Telekinesis (moving objects with your mind)

What three things are you are good at? Rubiks cubes, video games, and building things


What is the best thing about being 13?  PG-13 movies (he actually could watch them when he was 12)

What is your favorite memory? Going to Knotts Berry Farm

What is your favorite thing about mom? She can help me with homework and reminds me of things

What is your favorite thing about dad? I can talk with him and he is pretty chill and doesn't get angry a whole lot

What makes you special? No else is like me

brandon's birthday party

It's tough to think of birthday party ideas for a 13 year old boy that are "cool" (not only socially, but also temperature-wise since it's August in Arizona).  We finally settled on having a bunch of friends over for pizza dinner, a video game tournament, and ice cream sundaes.  Because that's what 13 year old boys live to do...eat junk food and play video games.

And yes, I did make them eat outside in 108 degrees.  Don't feel too bad for them...they eat freakishly fast.

They played All-Stars Battle Royale and Kevin created a tournament.  None of the boys besides my boys had played it before, and most hadn't played on a PlayStation 3 either.  Next time we should probably do either a game that everyone has played or get a new game that no one has played so no one has an unfair advantage.  But they still had fun and they could play 4 people at a time.

I made them take pictures for me with ice cream sundaes as incentive after they cooperated. In the back (L to R):  Jordi, Evan C., Ethan, Tyler, Jacob.  In the front (L to R):  Connor, Jameson, Brandon, Evan D.

They were really fun boys and extremely well-behaved.  We feel so blessed that Brandon has such a great group of friends.