Cooper's Eagle

We zipped down to SLC on Sunday to be a part of Cooper's Eagle Court of Honor. So cool. His mom did a great display. She had about seven of his school pictures, showing from when he was really little to his senior picture (I think). He is a very handsome man. Just this past week, he got his mission call to Peru, Trujillo. So excited for him.

Here are a few pictures:

I'm not sure how this picture came in first, but I will go with it instead of trying to get it back in place at number 2. Cooper's Mom and his Scout Master.

Red (stawberries), white (whipped cream) and blue (blue berries) to go with yummy pound cake. You can see the black frames of the pictures. Such a cute idea.

Meg pinning his award on while Carl looked on.

That is a whole boat load of merit badges on his sash. :)

 Cooper gave his brother a mentoring pin. One of the coolest parts of the program. Ethan had part of the program. He gave a wonderful tribute to his brother and said everything short of the "I love you, man." When Cooper gave him the pin, he did say "I love you" and added that Ethan was his best friend. I got a bit teary at that.

Cooper giving his dad the father's pin.

The family. I'm not sure where Carl is looking. Meg either for that matter. But they are beautiful. :)

Happy Valentines Day

What a surprise to open the door to these.

Debbie's quilt

Normally I post my own quilts here, but I have been involved in this one also. This quilt is the most advanced quilt that Deb has done. She did such a great job on it. I thought I would post a picture so I can remember it.

I love the colors. Her stars are exquisite. I love the fabric choices. Just a wonderful quilt.

Cody's Eagle

After we celebrated with the Oswalds, we headed to SLC to celebrate with the Harrises.

Cody earned his Eagle Scout award, and we were able to attend his Court of Honor. Amazing.

My sister has three boys, and they all have earned their Eagle. How amazing is that?!?

Just a few pictures:

How cute are these people? :) I love them. I hurried and stitched on the last merit badge so his sash would be complete. Deb was doing the table and other stuff.

Cody and Raven with Grandma Nympha.

The gang. Brittney and Nicko, Deb, Cody, Nympha, Raven and Ariel. There ended up being quite a crew that came. Us, the Knights, the Harrises, lots of friends. I was very happy to see the support.

And I was happy that Josh could see what could happen for him also. That is a bonus -- him being able to see the good examples of his cousins.

Brandon is home

Brandon served his mission in Ohio -- a Spanish speaking mission. Recently he gave his welcome home address. We were happy to attend. He is amazing.

He spoke the majority of the time. It was fun to watch him and hear the stories from him that I had read about in his emails home. He tied each story to a principle of the gospel. He was polished and sincere.

He is currently attending school. In fact, he flew home on a Friday and was in class the following Monday morning. An abrupt transition, but he is directing his focus to an equally challenging and important phase of life.

I left my camera in the car. It doesn't do any good there. So I begged some pictures from Kim. She is great and this is what she sent. :)

Craig.

Dawn, LuRose, and Tony

Cousins: back row -- Nichole (sister to Brandon), Maddie, Tyson, Jeff, Brandon, Ashlyn, Kim, Jessica, Josh and Boaz in the middle, Taivan, Bowen, Bridger and Shalisa (sister to Brandon).

Another picture of cousins. Brandon is in the coat, Jeff is in the white shirt and tie. Jeff just left for the MTC for his mission to Mexico.

Returned missionaries and future missionaries. I love taking my boys to these gatherings. Apart from the pure family fun, it is so great for them to see the wonderful examples of their cousins as they go and come home from missions.

A little shot of the dudes watching football.

Don't ask why I am the only girl in this shot of great guys. I should have left the area. My boys, Craig, Mark, Alan, and Zach.

Two returned missionaries and one waiting to leave for the MTC. All do, or will, speak Spanish.

 Dawn and her kids lined up the stairs. From the top, Dawn, Brad, LuRose, Ronda, Craig, Mark and Sandy. You gotta love these family reunions.

A very good family. I am lucky to have joined them.

The outlaws. Tony, Cyri, Zach, Kris, me and Alan. I deserved the bunny ears. I got a bit fiesty about the Niners.

Dawn and Ronda. Ronda is the mother of Brandon. She was having a fabulous day.

 Ronda and Sandy.

Kim wanted a picture of the girls. Back row: Maddie, me, Kris, Ronda, Whitney, Cyri, Dawn, Brandon, Sandy. Front row: Kim, Nichole, Ashlyn and Jessica.

Good food and good family. A great reunion celebrating a missionary who returned with honor.

Pine Wood Derby

I am still catching up.

Boaz had his first official Pine Wood Derby.

It has been freezing here. Not very fun to go out to the garage and build a car. But, the deadline was approaching and Craig and Boaz came up with a plan.

Boaz on the cub scout side of the line.

The car: made into a wedge, stained and varnished.

I tried to get a picture of all the scouts. When I looked at them all, I thought it was going to be a long night. They had it computerized -- or at least the results were. It made it go faster than I thought.

Boaz's car in lane three. The weights were distributed all along the bottom. The two winning cars had most of the weight based over the rear axle. A lesson for next year.

He didn't come in last, but he didn't win a race either.

Still a fun activity.

Joy

Craig was preparing for his Sunday School lesson today. He read about all things were created to bring us joy.

He saw Josh and said, "Josh bring me joy!"

Josh said, "The chocolate is in the other room. Get your own joy."