Benjamin is 14 now :)

I seem to be writing these late, lately.  Please forgive me... I have two busy birthday seasons... 5 in March-April (if you count Tom) and 3 in November.  Though why that has anything to do with my one October birthday boy I don't know...

Benjamin turned 14 during the General Conference/Stake Conference break from Church and so did not get ordained to a Teacher (in the Aaronic Priesthood, see here) until nearly the end of October, however, this is all done now and he's advanced and we have two Teachers for another few weeks.

We are very proud of Benjamin.  While he still likes to NOT do schoolwork, he is learning leaps and bounds in his 8th grade year, working on Latin as well as Spanish, Algebra 2, and all the other stuff we ask him to do.  He's advancing in Scouting, having earned his 1st class and now working on his Star.  He earned a lot of merit badges over the summer including swimming and others and has just been working super hard.

He's great with younger kids, especially babies and toddlers, and can always be counted on to help with them either in his own family or others.  Yes, he changes diapers.  

He reads like his parents, meaning, if a book isn't part of a series it's almost not worth picking up because that's just one or two nights of reading...   he loves Redwall, Harry Potter, anything by Rick Riordan (for teens- Percy Jackson, etc) and almost anything else.  I think he's starting Lord of the Rings as well as C.S. Lewis books now.

He's had quite a year between Scout Camp, the temple dedication (and Cultural Celebration) and school.  He's now been to his first stake dance.  He's teaching himself songs on the piano as our lessons are on hiatus at the moment but still doing well.

With the missionary announcement at General Conference he realized he only has 4 years to go until he can go on a mission for the church, but knows he has a long way to go.  He studies the scriptures and Preach My Gospel.  When he remembers :)  However, he DOES need to finish high school first, which he starts next fall.

Here are pictures of his birthday and the past year... enjoy this glimpse of our second son.  We love having him as part of our family!

This was breakfast time... I flew to Nevada for my grandmother's funeral right after this...

He had to blow out 7 candles twice... 

Powdered sugar blew across the table...

Happy Benjamin.

Birthday dinner, the night before.  Yes, 3 lasagnas.

 Looking sharp in a new suit.

At the zoo helping Liberty.

Feeding Juliana, who doesn't like to be fed by her mother.  At least not solids.

The Phantom of the Opera

At the Royals game.

Happy Birthday, Benjamin!