Cub Scouts in Space

July 12, 2013

Posting the colors and flag raising ceremony, Spencer's Cub Twighlight Camp Den # 4, Atlantis. 

Making Star Constellations

Camping Skills and Obstacle Course

Running the course, you can do it Spencer!

Making NASA Space paper planes, there's Joe (Den #4's Junior Den Leader.)

Look at that cool space ship!

Archery

Strength Skills and BB Shooting.

 I had a great time with the Spencer and the boys and Cub Scout Day (well Twilight) camp this year! The parents were required to help out this year at least one day. It was so cute that Spencer really enjoyed having his mom come too, makes a mother feel good.  He wanted to make sure he sat next to me on the bus ride and was always happy I was there by his side.  I guess it's still cool to have your mom tag along...not sure how long that will last so I'll take it and soak it all in while it lasts!  As the pics on the first day above show, you can see how much fun the boys had, tons of opportunities to learn new skills and earn Cub Scout awards.

Rain Gutter Regatta Time and Monkey Bread for Spencer

July 2013

Spencer and his races...

Being a busy day and evening with summer activities, the process of getting the boat put together was a scramble but as you can see it didn't stop Spencer form winning one race after another.

After baseball practice, Spencer arrived just as the races had started so he checked his boat in and off to the starting blocks. He took first overall and was one happy kid!

Aren't all of the sail boat refreshments the cutest?

Monkey Bread was always a kid favorite when I was younger. Spencer had a fun time making monkey bread for him and his siblings and neighbor friends one afternoon.  It's as easy as 1-2-3 too, Pillsbury biscuits, butter and cinnamon and sugar!  mmm, mmm, good.

Temple Date Night

I found these pics on my phone, we went to the temple and out to eat with Marianne and Chris Fox back in June and I was happy to see the fountain going and it still light outside being the summer months so we took the opportunity to take couples pics in front of the beautiful fountain...it's been 16 years now since we got our first pics taken in front of the fountain on our wedding date!

Girls Camp

Before Camp

After Camp

Bre's before and after pics at the Girls Camp thing.  Bre isn't a camper but with a bit of coaxing from her mom she went to Girls Camp this year (even though all of her good friends and fellow dancers would be performing at Silverwood the same week.)  Bre was sad to miss her performance in Idaho but she went in with a positive attitude set to make the best of her camping experience.  I was certain she would come back with a sense of accomplishment and with a week under her belt of great bonding friendships built with the rest of the 2nd year girls in our stake along with the spiritual aspect of girls camp that I felt would be great for her.  Bre and I have excellent communication which I can only pray will continue to last as she continues to blossom into a woman.  I'm thinking no one who attended camp knew Bre wasn't having the time of her life since Bre will typically wear a smile on her face but she can be honest with me and the truth of the matter is that she did not enjoy camp in the least.  So sad she didn't have a better experience...she said she did meet and gain one really good friend in her unit which happened to be her junior counselor who was 16 named Sierra. As a standard, Bre pretty much stays neutral in the chaos of her same aged girls silliness and pettiness and she has learned from experience to choose close friends that don't thrive on unneeded drama so it's something that she's not used to being around or having to be in the middle of for a long duration of time. In a nut shell, I will spare the crazy details but in Bre's words there was constant drama, fighting, back-stabbing, tears and emotional break downs with the 2nd year girls.  She felt like she was the middle mediator-listening ear that would try to maintain the peace between the girls, even when at times girls would even try to bring Bre down or blame her for things. I guess it's just me wanting Bre to establish close friends who are LDS with the same standards as her so it's sad when it's the LDS girls that are the ones thriving on the unneeded drama and commotion. I try to instill in Bre that it's just the insecurities and jealousy issues in the other girls that causes them to act and say the things they do possibly from self worth issues or other problems that come from their home life.  I guess as I look back at my youth, my best friend Wendy wasn't a Mormon (at the time) but she did have many of the same standards as myself.  She was and still is a genuine true friend. A true friend will be there through the good times and the bad, when you excel they will be happy for you and when you cry their shoulder is there for you to cry on and vise versa.  I've just told Bre to be nice and try to be the example and everyone's friend, she doesn't have to be their best friend but I do hope she continues to take the higher road. I know she is still young and we are all far from perfect but I do take her granted at times. Bre confides in me alot and I hear and see through her the trials, temptations and peer pressures that the youth are facing today. I am very blessed to have such a wonderful mature daughter who isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes in to let her light and beauty shine through her standards.

Dance Buddies

July 10, 2013

Aren't these the cutest dance buddies ever?!  What a fun first year of dance these girls had!  Marianne, thanks for these darling pics as great memories for the girls...they turned out GREAT!