Stockton turned 16 on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. We've always told him he has the best day to have a birthday but I don't think he was convinced this year. He was anxious to turn 16 and get his license...it really felt like it took forever to get here. I told Justin that Stockton had to wait so much longer than Molly to get his license and he said, "actually, it took the exact same amount of time", which is factually true, it just felt a lot longer with Molly getting her license September of her sophomore year and Stockton not getting his until after sophomore year, before junior year. But, it did eventually arrive and we did our best to celebrate.
We did the family celebration the Sunday before, since it was Girl's Camp that week and Justin, Molly, and Brynn would all be gone on his actual birthday. We had his requested dinner, meatballs, and he opened his presents. He got his favorite treats (nerd clusters, sour patch watermelon, and cow tails) and a new bat that he had already picked out. It worked great for him because he got to use the new bat at his games Monday and Tuesday.
Gene and April and Brett came up that night. They gave him his gift which was a quilt that April had made. She did it in Braves colors with baseballs stitched on the front and back. Pretty cool. So much love and work went into it.
They stayed around for Stockton's birthday cake. He wanted the chocolate/caramel/heath cake which was delicious. We spent the rest of the night admiring Stockton's baseball bats he's had over the years, listening to Ivy practice her piano, and generally just visiting and enjoying our company.
Monday and Tuesday were regular days with baseball games both nights. First thing Wednesday morning, we were at the Driver's License Division to get the thing he was most excited for, and his favorite birthday present: his drivers license. He had been driving with the instructor the first week of summer, passed with a perfect score, and had just been waiting for this day. He was very happy.
We went home where breakfast was waiting. He wanted the same eggs benny that Justin had had for Father's Day the week before. He'd opened his presents already but Ivy had some homemade pictures for him and I had put together a car kit for his car. He was excited about it and went out to put it in the Kia right away. (He is getting the truck but Molly wanted to finish driving it for the summer. Molly bought the Kia from Justin and Justin got a Nissan. We are a 4-car family now. Crazy. And expensive.)
I brainstormed things he could do that day until I was blue in the face. I suggested a lot of different activities: Top Golf, movie, fishing, bowling, etc. He really wanted to drive somewhere but I wasn't ready for him to drive out of the valley quite yet. So he took himself to the batting cages and he and Payton met at the fishing pond in Midway (each drove separately since neither of them are allowed to drive friends yet). I had pizza waiting for them at home and then they {separately} drove to Draven's house to hang out that night as well. It was a quiet day for a birthday but Stockton seemed happy, mostly with his new-found freedom.
The day after his birthday, he was playing baseball at Bountiful High School. My parents, along with Ben and Spencer, met us there to watch his game and celebrate his birthday. It was a good game, close the entire time, but Bountiful beat us right at the end. It was a tie game, they had the bases loaded with one out, and a ground ball was hit right to Stockton. In his haste to turn a double play, he bobbled the ball and they got a run in to win the game. Stockton was so disappointed, he rarely makes defensive errors. But he had to put on a smile because we were going out to dinner for his birthday. It ended up being the best thing for him because, in different circumstances, he would have thought about it all the way home. It cheered him up. We went to Wingers, watched some more baseball, and he ate a whole plate of wings, one of his main food groups haha. My parents have him money and a Braves key chain for his birthday.
Happy Birthday to our favorite boy! We love this kid more than he knows!
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