Averigo, El Magnifico!

I remember being 13 years old.  And, as I recall, I was a bit dopey and stupid, kind of ugly, and certainly awkward.  Which is nothing like the wonderful new 13-year-old we have in our house...our most magnificent Avery!

Three years old on the left...and 13 years old on the right!  My, how this boy has grown!  But to me, he is still the same fun little dude with the crazy hair and contagious giggle.  Love this boy!

One of Avery's favorite things is to watch Utah Jazz basketball.  What can I say?  It's in his DNA!  They didn't play a game on his birthday, but when they do, we share lots of high fives with this cute guy!

We celebrated Avery's 13th birthday last Friday.  We woke up to discover that Mother Nature was celebrating with us by sending a late snowstorm in honor of the day Avery was born in 2003!  Of course, it was nothing like the storm of his birth, but the snow covering the ground after a few weeks of spring-like weather seemed like a good way to commemorate Avery's entrance into mortality.  The snow did pile up a bit and required some shoveling, but was mostly gone within the next day or two.

Opening a homemade gift (a mini-chess set made from salt dough) from little sis, Coco.

Otherwise, it was a regular Friday in March!  One of the things about growing older is that you realize that life doesn't just stop for your special day; there is still work to be done.  We had fun in the morning watching Avery open presents, but then we spent the bulk of the day doing schoolwork as usual.  However, Courtney helped me to make a yummy birthday cake, and Daddy came home early so that we could enjoy Avery's favorite dinner together (of course it was teriyaki flank steak, roasted red potatoes, and broccoli!).  Then we did the cake and candles and singing and ice cream routine.  Avery chose a chocolate decadence cake with cookie dough ice cream this year.  Oh, yum!

Avery got to eat his dinner on the "special" plate!  And although there was snow on the ground outside, I still ventured out to grill the steak because that is the way he likes it best.  This guy appreciates good food!  Oh, and because Avery is such a fan of a good photobomb...Nate did an epic one in the background while slicing the flank steak.  Ha!

Another photobomb by Coco as we sang the birthday song before cake and ice cream.  Notice the Jazz basketball theme on the paper goods.  He loved it!

But soon real life interrupted the celebrations when Chase and Avery had to put on their dress clothes so we could head out for another piano competition audition!  They had to perform their pieces for a judge to see whether they will be able to compete in TASHCO in April.  Avery played beautifully...and as a great birthday present, was selected to compete in the Junior division on April 14th (which, you will note, is another special birthday in our household!).  Chase also advanced and will be competing on April 13th.  Hooray!

Anyway, for this birthday Avery got his first cell phone.  As was the case for Chase, we felt this was the right time for him to have a phone to reach us when he is away from home, and also to use it responsibly.  I think his favorite thing, however, is the texting feature.  You might ask why I say that?  Well, judging from the fact that I got a running play-by-play of Avery's day in the form of text messages that day, I kind of jumped to that conclusion.  He's wicked fast with the emoji's, I tell you.  Ha!

Oh, and I think he likes the new books he got, too.  When Avery gets a new book, we don't really see much of him except the top of his head for the next day or two.  And we occasionally hear a muffled giggle from behind the book.  These are good signs that he likes it.  So, I'd say we scored a win on that front as well!

One last thing we did to celebrate this birthday was to take Avery out for dinner at our favorite pizza place, Infinitus Pie, on Monday.  We waited until Monday because it was also the day of the fundraiser for the Broomfield Piano Festival, which we also wanted to support.  Unfortunately that meant we had to go without Daddy, since he was in Utah on business.  But it was still delicious!  And I noticed that Avery, who usually leaves leftovers when we eat iPie, ate his entire pizza in one sitting.  Wow!  Now that he is a teenager, he thinks he needs to eat like one?  Ha!

The cutest and best four kids in all the world, IMHO!  And who doesn't love those purple walls?  iPie is such a fun place to eat!  We ran into our friends, the Rogers (their daughter Emily is so sweet to Courtney and Courtney just loves her), and the Reeders (our piano teacher and her husband), who were all there to support the fundraiser.  Pizza is even more fun with friends! 

A hug for my birthday boy! 

My pizza.  I always do a custom Mediterranean. Sometimes I go meatless, but this time I had it topped with bacon.  And I have no regrets about that.  SO GOOD!

Oh, that darling face!  Trey just loves Avery because he is a willing a loving playmate.  They are just the best of buddies!  One funny story about Trey from this dinner out.  I guess Chase was touching/tickling/pinching Trey in the car on the way home, and Trey objected by saying, "Chase!  Stop!  You're pulling on my cells!"  Ha!  Yes, Trey has learned that the human body is composed of animal cells.  What a funny little dude!

Incidentally, I am perfectly delighted to have two teenagers in the house now.  They are some of the most pleasant, hard-working, helpful young men you could ever hope to meet.  Who says teenagers have to be trouble?  NOT ME!

We sure love our Avery!  He's a great young man, so talented and smart and fun!  I'm thankful, as always, that he came to our family and that we can celebrate him on his birthday.  Here's hoping that 13 is a great year for Avery!