Maxwell Tyler

My firstborn son.  Man, I love him.

He plays basketball now, you know.  Dribbles like a champ.  He's the shortest (by a LOT) and youngest kid on the team, but is totally unphased by those facts.  He gives his all and feels like a huge contributor to the team's success.  His excitement about playing the game and being on a team cannot be overstated.  I picked him up from practice one night and as we were walking to the van he let out a deep sigh and said, "I love being on a basketball team."  Sweet boy.  So I mentioned the height and age discrepancy...there's also an experience discrepancy.  He is THRILLED to be out there and has gotten pretty darn good at the game of basketball, but when he's actually playing in a game it's a little harder for him to perform.  You know, people all over the place, many of them taller, and the need to look excitedly at mom and dad every time something good happens.  There are also tall boys on his team who have played before who like to score and don't really like to pass.  I wasn't sure that making a basket was in the cards for Max this year.  He REALLY wanted to, but seemed okay if it didn't happen.  WELL.  A few weeks ago, at the dinner table before the game, Max said the prayer.  He prayed to make a shot in his game that night.  I added a prayer in my heart for my little boy's prayer to be answered.  Max's sweet coaches have made it their mission for everyone on the team to make a shot during the season and at this particular game they were really working on it being Max.  One of the tall boys passed to Max toward the end of the game.  He got the ball, took a quick look, and shot.  Nothin' but net, baby!  It was beautiful.  The gym erupted in a cheer because everyone from our team knew what a big deal it was for Mr. Max.  And I WISH I would have been videotaping.  Brother gets over-the-top excited about every shot that his team makes...so just imagine his reaction when he was the one who made the basket.  We had to remind him to get his head back in the game. :)  And then Coach Marcel brought him across the gym during the next little break just so we could hug and congratulate him.  It was a sweet moment.  I am so thankful for his coaches and for my boy who has a whole lotta heart in his scrawny little body.  I am thankful that his tiny arms got the ball up there for that basket.  I am thankful for a little boy's answered prayer.  *Below is a picture of him after the shot-making game.*

Friday night our ward had a service auction.  It's a night where anybody in our congregation can offer some type of service or bring some goods for everyone to bid on using fake money.  It's always so fun and we usually score some free babysitting, dinner, and other great stuff.  Last Sunday we were signing up for what we were going to contribute and Max was sitting next to me and asked what I was doing.  I explained it to him and asked if he wanted to do something for it.  He decided that he would draw a picture of the church (after I suggested he make it a picture of something other than ninjas).  He spent a good amount of time on his drawing with lots of little details (it ended up being construction workers building the church), we glued a placard to it and were off.  I love our ward.  There was a little bidding war for Maxwell T's drawing. :)  So sweet of our friends.  Our next-door neighbor Ryan Linton, the dad of Max's best friend Reyes, ended up winning it.  I snapped a picture of them together with the drawing and then Max explained what all of the people were doing/working on.  After he was finished with his explanation he said to Ryan, in all seriousness, with his hands on his hips, "Well...have fun with that."  Ha.

You know, Max has his moments.  He throws fits, he's not always the best listener, but he really is SUCH a great kid.  He keeps us laughing (usually without meaning to) and is a very good brother.  He loves to pretend to be a tough ninja, but will also play barbies with his sister and tell his friends its cool to do that when they say that only girls play with dolls.  He has so much personality packed into his 35 lb. body.  I feel privileged to be his mom.