Ian's 18th Birthday

Ian is a legal adult, and his birthday came smack in the middle of all of the hustle and bustle of high school graduation, Memorial Day, and all the end-of-the-year stuff, such as track and prom.  It was a crazy time.

We decided to go to the cabin in Island Park, and the Martineau family was camping nearby.  Since none of them could make it to the graduation, we decided to have a little celebration for Ian, and we busted open a piñata.

Donuts for birthday breakfast!

We concluded the birthday celebrations at the cabin, trying to get in all the cabin time we could before Ian left for his mission.

10 Things To Know About Ian

1. He is very funny.  He keeps us all laughing, not just with the funny things he says, but with his facial expressions and funny dances.

2. Music is his favorite thing in the world.  Ever since he was a little boy, he has always needed to have music going.  A popular gift for Ian is renewed subscriptions to Spotify.  He has quite an eclectic taste in music as well.  He loves every style of music and listens to a wide variety of genres.  He loves to be our DJ for road trips.

3. He loves surfing and was the first one to figure it out without the rope on our boat.  He also loves to winter ski and snowboard and is great at both.

4.. He loves to golf and has gotten quite good at it as he went with friends a bunch his Senior year.

5. He set several spiritual goals this year and hit them all.  He wanted to read the entire Book of Mormon and in addition to reading it on his own, he also kept us reading it as a family.  He also set a goal to go to the temple every month and even got together with a group of seniors, and they would go before school early in the mornings.  He wanted to be very prepared for his mission and took temple and mission prep classes.  We had many great gospel discussions together.

6. He is incredibly excited to serve his mission in Brazil.  He had secretly had Brazil on his mission wish list.  He can't wait to get started. 

7. He was awesome at football and was a force to be reckoned with at center.

8. He got very into lifting weights and got very strong this year, pushing himself to his limits and getting huge biceps.

9. He was the MVP of the Wicked Wombats basketball team.  He loved his time playing basketball with a group of friends on a community team.  The last game they played was against the faculty of Snake River High School.  The team was down until Ian got the ball and made shot after shot and play after play.  The student section started chanting MVP every time he got the ball.

10. Ian is my buddy.  I love and look forward to when he comes home for lunch every day, and we eat lunch together.  He worries about me and takes on the jobs that he knows are hard for me to do, like hooking up trailers or moving heavy objects, and does them without being asked because he loves me.  He shares songs he knows I will love with me and shares his favorite jokes.  He tells me everything about his day, his hopes and dreams, and shares his testimony with me.

We love Ian so much, and we are going to miss him terribly when he leaves for his mission!