Twelve- are you kidding me?

Happy Birthday, Bubba!

When did you grow up? And 12 years old! I feel like you are growing faster and faster by the day. 

I love who you are and all the great qualities you have. You are kind, tender hearted, giving, loving, compassionate, give our all, try hard, love with all your heart and reflect the light of our Savior. 

You knew money was really tight this year. Your response was, "Mom, I have all I need for Christmas. There is nothing that I need for want. I have everything just being with you and dad."

My heart melted. You would have been happy with no gifts. Just love. You don't need things or gifts to bring you joy. You have a wonderful way of just being content and happy. 

You should also know that your mom will always try my hardest to figure out a way to get you the things you really want or need. I am your mom. Bringing you joy, brings me joy. To see you smile makes my heart smile. To see you pleasantly surprised makes me so happy. 

So although we had to get creative this year, we figured it out. And since you won't read this anytime soon, I will tell you how we pulled it off with no extra money. I hope you are never in the same boat with your children, but you may find yourself here some day. And it is ok. It doesn't make you a bad dad. It doesn't mean you are a failure. It doesn't reflect you in any way. Life just happens. And, it is years like these that defines character and stretches you. 

So, I will let you know how we got creative and pulled this off. 

Hiking boots for scouting. While I was selling a lot of our belongings on the online garage sale groups, I was blessed to come across some items that you needed/wanted. 

The boots were from a boy who's feet grow as quickly as yours. So although the boots are used, they looked new. You were none the wiser. I paid less than $10. 

The video games also came from the online garage sales. However, Ultimate Alliance was my favorite find as someone showed up to purchase one of your smaller hoodies. They came to the door with the used games and asked if we would be interested in a trade. Absolutely. So I bought 2 of the 3 for the price of a used hoodie. But the trade worked for both of us. The other game $6 used.

You absolutely loved all of the Book of Mormon, Old and New Testament timelines and information on the priesthood that I printed for you. You loved it as much as anything. I love that you know who you are and love all things spiritual. 

We were even able to score two brand new shirts, with tags, for you at $3 each. 

You were ecstatic when you opened Skylanders Swap Force. You squealed with excitement. You kept muttering....how? How? What? 

You then said, "did you know how much I wanted this? I didn't even want to ask because it was so much money. How did you know?" Oh Hayden. We know you. We know all that you love. We couldn't be more thrilled with how happy you were. 

Dad hit Walmart at midnight, the week before Thanksgiving. The video game was price dropped from $75 to $37. Then, we bought 4 extra and sold them for a $10 profit on each. Making yours essentially free. 

When you have your own family and are trying to make your money stretch, think outside of the box. 

Remember always... The Lord is in the details of our lives. 

He cares about our happiness. Even on our birthdays. Even on Christmas. He takes what we have and turns it into enough. 

The Savior took what dad and I had. A couple of used items. Money that had to be replaced in 30 days. A total of $30 to spend on your birthday and made it work. You had a perfect birthday, that exceeded your dreams, and we kept it within our budget. 

The Lord answers prayers. Even of a boy that wants a birthday present. He answers the prayer of a mom that wants to give her boy a good birthday. He answers the prayer of a dad that please with help for a plan to get his son something special for all he has been through. 

You are loved. We love who you are and who you are becoming.  Happy birthday, Bubba! You are our world! We love you.