14

So yet again the time is here where my oldest has his birthday. What can I say about the boy, he has always been such an awesome example to his brothers and cousins on how to be a great kid. He has a strong work ethic and high standards. I don't think we could've picked a better son to have as a first child. Chili always chooses the right path even when we as parents step aside and let him choose for himself. He has a great sense of humor and never takes himself too seriously. I know that he will always be a strong leader in our family. So again we say... HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHILI!!!

The Predator

On the 21st Mason and Chili Wrestled in a tournament called The Predator World Championships which was held in Monroe which was nice since we didn't have to travel too great of a distance for a large national competition. The boys each had about 12 boys in their brackets, Chili's group is ages 13-15, and they aren't supposed to be sophmores in high school yet, however the sophmore thing is in the very fine print and is often ignored which makes the competition pretty unfair actually. Now that I'm done complaining, I can say that Chili did very well. He worked very hard and got all the way to the finals and then lost to a sophmore and then had to wrestle for 2nd & 3rd against another sophmore and lost again taking a 3rd overall. He wrestled very well and if the rule had been enforced he would likely have taken 1st place. Mason's age group is made up of 9 & 10 year olds and he is still 9... that being said, Mason went into this tournament looking for nothing short of a 1st place trophy. He wrestled better and stronger than he ever had before and not only won every match but completely dominated every match. He pinned 3 of the kids and won the other 2 by 9 & 10 points!!! Mason came home with his very first 1st place trophy, from a large tournament!! We are so proud of our boys!!

Chili and His Wheels

Anyone who has known Chili for awhile knows that he is a phenom on wheels... Beginning with his self taught bicycle lessons at 2 and BMX racing at 3 not to mention the dirt bike he got and rode on his 3rd birthday... he has always loved being on wheels, doing tricks, and showing off... Last summer he saved up some money and bought himself a motorcycle called a 'Pit Bike' which is basically a small almost kid-sized motorcycle with an adult-sized motor and he loves it... he has been asking me for a while to video his wheelies so for your viewing pleasure I present Chili...

Ok so maybe that one wasn't his best... or maybe I thought it would be funny to show him messing up when he was trying to show off : )

Why Chili Now Hates Sledding

Chili Pins Aylen

So if you were wondering what a pin looks like... and for those keeping score... he has 3 pins in his last 3 matches... the time of all three matches combined equal less than 1 minute... nice quick pins!!(ps a normal match is 3-one & a half minute rounds)

Chili -vs- Stahl

Chili's Jr. High team lost the dual meet but Chili as you can see didn't have any trouble at all against their 110lb Varsity wrestler : )

13

Well it has finally happened! We now have an official teenager living in our home!! Chili is now 13! We are so very thankful to have him in our home. He is the best older brother that anyone could ever ask for. Chili has a very caring nature. In wrestling last week another parent pulled me aside to share with me how impressed he was with how patient and sweet Chili is as he helps and mentors the younger kids. Many of the younger wrestlers look up to him and want to be just like him. We have also noticed that he does everything he can to lead, guide, and direct his quorum at church. We are thankful to know that he is living up to his Priesthood duties. Chili is great leader wherever he goes. Even when he was younger he was always the one to gather all the kids a show them how to play this 'great new game' he had just invented. He is also very physically gifted. He taught himself how to ride a bicycle when he was only 2! Then moved on to a motorcycle at 3! He loves sports and competition of any kind and he is great at them. This was his first year in football and he was a starting quarterback for his team. His only downfall with sports is that he doesn't settle for 2nd best. I remember a few hard fought battles in wrestling where he had gone into a competition and came out sad because he only got 2nd place. I had to quickly remind him at one of the tournaments that yeah he got 2nd.... IN THE STATE!! I want to say again how thankful we are to have him in our home as a fabulous leader, brother, and son! Happy Birthday Baby!!

Happy Birthday Chili!!