Soren’s Birthday Party

 To celebrate his birthday, Soren asked for a sports night with pizza and drinks at Memorial park. It finally cooled off to a semi tolerable temperature, so last night I texted around 10 parents of boys Soren’s age and invited the boys to come play ultimate frisbee and nukem at the park. A few friends brought friends (there were two that Soren didn’t even know!) and 24 boys ended up at the courts to play, including a handful of buddies Corbin’s age. Soren has an old soul. For this many boys from age 12-19 to just show  up (on little notice) is so his style. He is so easy going. Soren just wants to play. That was the case for all these guys. They were all so kind and inclusive and it didn’t matter if they were a 7th grade cross country pal, a teacher’s quorum mate from church, or one of Corbin’s crodies (who brought such good hype for his little brother) who’s already graduated high school.

They just played and played. 

(L-R) Barret (a new friend of Corbin’s from ignite), Corbin, Dean S, Chase W, Marcus (Metfield Ward, Soren helped fellowship this buddy and attended his baptism a couple years ago), Neal R, Kellan W, Noah H, Dallin G, Lucas G, Tanner F, Mason F, Sawyer H, Bruce B, Soren, Tommy B, Emerson W, Trace B, Clark B, Jarom D, Titus G, Lucas A. Not pictured: Spencer O and Daniel S. 

They started with Nukem, ate pizza and cupcakes and tossed frisbees and footballs, then walked over to the basketball courts. I stayed back with all the random phones, Nikes, Invisalign retainers, and shirts/hoodies left on the bleachers, and cleaned up. 

At 9, the guys Corbin’s age left for hoops at the stake center, and the came back for a 2nd round of water and soda, then moved the party to the baseball diamond for kickball…which they hopped a fence to do. (My fave pic of the night is “Spence on the Fence”). Only one parent was semi upset about this. 16 boys playing kickball on a Saturday night until the lights shut off at 10 is so wholesome. There was a great amount of cheerleading and dog piles for days. It was such a mixed bag of kids, but with the camaraderie you’d think they’d all been best friends since birth. A great night. 

Happy Birthday King Saunch! You are loved mucho!