Happy Birthday, Jase!!

It was nice to have everyone here to celebrate Jase's birthday (turning 22)!! A few months ago I overheard Jenna talking with Josh. She said, "Would you rather have $50.00...or spend the whole day with Jase?" I think Josh opted for the $50.00, but Jenna said, "Not me, I would rather spend the whole day with Jase!" She loves her big brother!!

Jase's birthday is actually tomorrow, but we celebrated it today since we won't see him tomorrow. We had turkey casserole for lunch with martinellis and dessert and sang caroler songs. Then Janika and Brandon and Grandma headed back home! It was lovely having them here for several days!

Ellen sent me a few pictures from Jase's birthday. I am glad that he had someone to make a birthday cake for him! 

Jase's 18th Birthday!!

Today was Jase's birthday -- 18!!!!  He didn't ask for anything for his birthday and so I just gave him money.  I brought Jaiden to the Dicken's Festival for her dance performance and Rick met me there right after work. Tonight we got Papa Murphy's pizza.  There was a 50% off your entire order special on Monday and so we ordered it then and planned the pickup for today.  Jase, Jared, and Janelle went to Young Mens/Womens and then we had cake and ice-cream for Jase! (Here is a picture of Jase taken a couple of weeks after his birthday for Sterling Scholar). 

Happy Birthday, Jase!!!

 Jase just turned 17.  This past year he got his driver's license, starting dating, and got a job at Arctic Circle.  He does a remarkable job juggling school, work, friends, cross country, and track -- all while continuing to earn straight A's.  He was adventurous on our cruise and decided to try some new cuisine such as frog legs and escargot (below).  The same adventurous attitude has also allowed him to meet LOTS of new female friends.  When they seem interested in his looks / personality / drive / ambition, he quickly hands them a card with his credentials and information on it.  Oh how lucky we are to have a young man who learned from scouting days the true meaning of "be prepared!"

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Jase!!

Jase is 16 today!!  He can now drive (well, almost) and date!  He is still working on getting his driving hours in but now that Caroler season is starting he will be performing everyday and so we won't be able to finish up the hours until January.  I also told him that I wanted to be his "first date" and so I took him out to eat at Golden Corral.  When I asked Jase what he wanted for his birthday he said "Chicken Noodle Soup and Money" and so that is exactly what he got!  We will have to postpone his "Sweet Sixteen" Birthday Party until after Caroling Season is over! 

 

Happy Birthday, Jase!!

Jase is 15 years old today!!  It is a little bit of a bummer for a teenage boy with an insatiable appetite to have his birthday on a Fast Sunday, but he was cool with it.  Yesterday after the ward party Jase and the young men from the branch got pizza and went to Anti-Gravity.  He said that this didn't count as his birthday part though (which coincidentally will consist of pizza and Anti-Gravity).  So he will be going again during Christmas break.  After their activity Jase performed with the carolers all evening.  Since Jase's favorite food is Pizza I picked up a few Papa Murphy's pizzas to have after our fast today.  Then we had cake and ice cream.

The only thing Jase wanted for his birthday was a bow tie.  Apparently his friend wore one to the Stake dance and it was sort of a chick magnet.  But with his busy schedule we weren't able to get one and so I gave him an "I owe you" for him to pick one out.  Then his friend (a girl) gave him a nice looking bright orange one.  He also got several pair of jeans, some basketball pants, $20.00 in cash, some food storage (his favorite kind of stew which will be gone within a couple of days I'm sure), and some candy and snacks.  He got money from both Grandmas too and so I am sure he is feeling pretty loaded!

Jase is really starting to get tall and passed up Janika a few months ago (which wasn't too difficult as she is only 5'2".)  He does such a great job in carolers.  He has a nice voice and is confident both on and off stage.  Jase is a 4.0 student and recently earned his Eagle Scout.   Jase always tells me fibs because I am gullible and fall for them.  He likes to see me get all anxious.  He also likes to try and pull me into an argument which can be exasperating!  He is a great kid though and I am proud to call him my son!  Happy Birthday, Jase -- We love you!

Happy Birthday Jase!!

Jase is now 14!  His birthday was yesterday (Friday).  Now he will move up from being the only Deacon in our Branch to being the only Teacher! I hardly saw him on his birthday.  When he got home from school I was with Jenna at her friend's birthday party.  Then he left with the Carolers to sing for the evening.  Part of their caroling was done at the Dicken's Festival and so Jaiden and I went to watch them.  It was 9:00 at night before Jase got a chance to open his presents.  He was really excited to get a Perplexus Epic. A guy in our branch sells them and had given the kids the original version of the Perplexus a year ago, which is quite a bit easier than this one.  The kids really liked it but Jase wanted something more challenging and requested this one.  

Saturday I took Jase, Jared, and Jase's two best friends, Marshall Schmutz and Ky Phillips, to Anti-Gravity for his birthday party.  They had a great time doing flips and tricks and playing dodge ball.  We picked up four pizzas on the way home.  I called Janika to see if she could start some brownies cooking since we hadn't had time to get a cake.

As soon as Jase's party was over I hurriedly started making a Dixie Salad to bring to our Branch Christmas Party which started an hour later. More about that later!

Jase is a teenager!! Happy Birthday, Jase!!

Jase's Birthday

Well, Jase's 12th birthday was on Wednesday.  He opened his presents before he left for school at 7:00 a.m.  He got what he wanted -- a remote control helicopter.  He was so excited to fly it as soon as he walked in the door from school but unfortunately it was busted before nightfall.  It was expensive, but it did look pretty flimsy.  Of course he was too impatient to read the instructions and broke about every rule while attempting to fly it.  I felt bad about his disappointment though and offered to take him shopping that night with his birthday money to get something else instead.  We brought the helicopter back later.

First he went to the church with his Dad to receive his Priesthood worthiness interview and then the rest of us met them there for tithing settlement.  Then Rick took everyone back home and I took Jase shopping.  So what did he get?  Another remote control helicopter.  This one was about the same price but came with both a helicopter and a plane with a quick charge.  I think it only lasted a couple of days as well.  Perhaps he should try something a little more sturdy in the future.

We had his birthday party Friday night.  The past couple of years he agreed to just invite one friend and we went somewhere fun like Pirate Island Pizza.   Janika has done this for the past several years as well -- just one friend out on the town.  It much prefer it over the ensuing chaos that this year's party brought.  But both Jase and Janika wanted a group friend party this year at the house.  (Janika's is next week).  But I don't know if I will ever do this again!

For Jase's party we had about ten 11 and 12 year old boys over to the house Friday night for a late night party.  If I had known exactly how much energy this group would have (and judging from my own boys I should have known better) then I would have had the party in the afternoon so that they could run around and play games outside.  Instead, I decided to have the party at night indoors -- bad idea.  Within ten minutes the boys were wrestling each other in the basement.  Perhaps I should have just turned around and walked upstairs and let them go at it, but I don't particularly get into wrestling -- especially in my house. 

So I gathered them in a circle and taught them a group game called "Vroom, Vroom Errr!!"  This game actually went pretty well.  After that I tried another group game which was obviously beyond them and so I gave up on that one.  Then we tried Mafia.  This was one of my favorites as a young single adult.  Janika played it at a recent birthday of teenage girls and had a blast.  But pre-teen boys are obviously not quite as mature and so it didn't go over quite as well.  We had to keep telling them to quiet down and pay attention.  They were too loud and rambunctious to play the game the way it needs to be played.  Janika was the moderator and at one point she asked the group, "So who do you think is the murderer?"  Someone yelled "I think it is Caeden!"  And then a bunch of boys yelled "Yeah!!"  And tackled him.  Umm, that is not really the way the game is supposed to be played. 

After several rounds of Mafia, Jase opened his presents.  The gift givers were quite generous with their gifts, which of course made for a happy tween.  He also got a load of surgary sweets.  Rick and I had just gone to a class this very evening on the evils of sugar.  Of course that didn't stop us from serving cake and ice-cream at the party.  I asked Jase if he wanted me to go get a movie (that is nice and quiet, right?) but he didn't want to watch a movie.  The kids decided to come upstairs to play the Wii instead.  I had discouraged Wii play since only a few boys would be able to play at a time and I was afraid the others would be sitting around bored.  But they actually seemed quite content to play (and watch others play) and take turns.  I was happy because they were more calm and no longer running around the house with me worrying that the Christmas tree would get knocked over.

Janika had helped prepare for the party by making the invitations and also the cake.  She had her friend over and she asked the group, "Would anyone like a makeover?"  To my surprise one of the boys shouted, "Sure!"  So they totally made him up like a girl and he loved every minute of it.  Now just for the record, I had no part of this.  The boys' parents may never let them over to our house again if they see these pictures.  So the one came down and posed and all of the boys had a good laugh and then there were several more volunteers.  I thought, "You have got to be kidding me."  But they were having fun so I didn't interfere.  It just goes to show that my five year old daughter is not the only one who likes to play dress-up around here.

Then Janika started teaching the Macarena dance in the kitchen and several of the boys joined in.  So the boys went from wrestling in the basement to cross dressing and dancing in our kitchen.   I just don't know what to say -- should I still let Janika help with a boy party in the future?   I think everyone had fun though and after my first few attempts at games I mostly just tried to stay out of the way and breathed a sigh of relief when 10:00 finally rolled around!

Happy Birthday Jase!

Jase just turned 11 today! He is a fifth grader at Arrowhead Elementary -- here he is with his Reflections Entry in Photography. We didn't do too much today for his birthday, but we have a fun evening planned for him this weekend. Here is just a little bit about Jase. The poor kid probably always feels like he is being picked on. Janika is always giving him a hard time about certain habits such as: popping out his chin, wearing shoes without socks, popping gum all over his face, and forgetting to brush his teeth or take a shower. But they are still great friends. Jase collects Capri-Sun wrappers everyday at recess for the bags that she makes and picks her up from the bus stop (on his roller-blades) whenever he gets out before she does. Janika is always excited to tell him funny things that happened at school.

I give Jase a hard time too when he talks in a LOUD voice right next to me, or when he rides around in circles in the kitchen on his Heelys instead of cleaning the kitchen or when he wipes all of the food onto the floor when washing the table. Jase really is a great kid though. He always gets himself up on time and ready for school without any prodding. Janika says that if he doesn’t get up she just tells him that the toilet is overflowing. He bolts right up. When the younger kids wake up early he is good about getting them breakfast and turning on a show for them. He often tends the kids for me in the morning while I go for a walk. Jase is responsible and remembers when he has an obligation – like going to scouts, or taking out the garbage.

Jase is really bright in all of his subjects and is part of the Excel Learning Program at school which is an accelerated program for some of the advanced kids. He almost always gets his homework done without me having to remind him and he gets excellent grades in school. (Even if he does complain about too much homework).

Jase has an incredible memory (I remember him beating me at memory when he was only three years old). He is good at chess and other games of strategy and last year he was the top Fourth Grader in the Geography Challenge and went on to compete at District. He was a great Cub Scout and earned pretty much everything you can earn -- including the Arrow of Light. Now that he is eleven, he will be going on to Boy Scouts. I am sure he will go on to get his Eagle Scout and he will be a great missionary someday. He is a good leader and is confident and perfectly at ease with himself. His usual school attire is a t-shirt and either basketball shorts (most of the year) or levies when it is cold (although he doesn’t get cold very often).

Jase plays the piano and sings with the school choir. He is well-rounded and likes to try new things. He is good at sports – especially roller-blading. We are grateful for Jase. He is an awesome kid and we love him very much. Happy Birthday Jase!!