Arrow of Light Award at the Blue and Gold Banquet

What can I say....I love cub scouts!!  In the first part of the year it's traditionally Blue and Gold Banquet time.  Families are welcome at all monthly pack meetings, but the Blue and Gold is a special time when we have a dinner and make it a really fun night for the whole family.  This year we decided to also invite the three boys and their families who will be joining our pack during this year.  This banquet was especially cool because we had two Webelos who were "graduating" into 11-year-old scouts.  Traditionally they do a bridging ceremony to commemorate the occasion.  What made the evening even more special was that each of our bridging cubs had earned his Arrow of Light Award.  And what made it even more special for our family was that Evan was one of the graduating cub scouts.  :)  Here are some photos of our fun night.

Some of the cupcakes for dessert in the shape of the Arrow of Light symbol

Our cool, invented Cub Scout - Boy Scout bridge.  It's amazing what you can do with a palette, some blue paint, two ladder ball standards, and some crepe paper.  Turned out pretty good, I thought!!

Our blue and gold decorations complete with balloons, of course

For our activity, our cub master, Brother Scheimreif, had people write down scenarios that cub scouts might find themselves in.  Then he put all the ideas in a hat and had the different families act out the scenes.  Some of them were pretty funny!!!  This one shows the Wright family doing their acting.  Jonathon will be joining our pack this coming year.

Our family shared a table with the Lonegans.  Kevin is also one of our up and coming cubs.

A photo from the evening

The Malone family taking their acting turn.....

....and also the Penrods.

Jacob Clay (assistant Webelos leader) joined in with the Scheimreifs

The Lonegans give it a go

Payson Chapman receives some "progress toward rank" beads

Tennyson received one, too.

Carter, receiving his Bear award

Ayden Malone receives his Arrow of Light

Evan, receiving his Arrow of Light....

..and giving mom the obligatory hug.  :)

Ayden crossing the bridge with cub leaders on the far side and boy scout leaders at the near side to welcome him.  The cub scout leaders took off the boy's Webelos neckerchiefs before the boys crossed and then the boy scout leaders put the new black scout neckerchiefs on the boys as the crossed over.

Evan was just a little excited to cross over!!

There he is, our new boys scout.  Great job, Evan and have a great time going forward!!.  

Welcoming Lorelei Elizabeth!!!

I wanted to travel to Utah to help Em when her little girl was born.  We weren't sure of the exact date, but made our best guess and booked a flight on Feb. 10th.  She wasn't due until February 17th, but since she had gone early with Jimmie, we booked early and figured if Emily lasted until the 10th, she could be induced on the 11th.  Her doctor was on board with that plan, so we went with it.  And Lorelei decided to hold out for us so that I could be there to help take care of this sweet little guy when Mommy and Daddy went to the hospital.  I got there after midnight and since Em and Jim left early, I was there to greet Jimmie in the morning.  He was a little unsure at first, but once he got up and we got him some breakfast, we got along just great.

Here's Jimmie eating his breakfast that morning

The view of the mountains out of the front window

At 2:14 on Feb.11, little Lorelei Elizabeth Young was born.  She has a lot of dark hair, really long fingers and toes, and the sweetest little smoochy cheeks.  We are so excited to have her join our family!!!  

Jimmie wanted to make his new sister feel welcome!!

We were so happy to hear about Lorelei's arrival that we decided to take

 a little trip to the park to do some swinging

Aunt Megan came down from Rexburg and was the first family member 

other than Mommy and Daddy to meet sweet Lorelei

Jim came home to spend some time at the house with Jimmie and Grandma headed to the hospital to meet her newest granddaughter.

My very favorite thing to do in the whole wide world!!  Isn't she beautiful!!!

Jimmie demonstrating his amazing multitasking skills

Lorelei sporting her first little headband

Grandma and Jimmie just after getting a fun bath

When Emily and Lorelei came home from the hospital, Jimmie was excited to say "Hi".

We suggested that he could kiss her toe.  I think he might have bitten her toe in his excitement, but she took it in stride...no worries.  

Eventually he was smooching her cheek....

Cousin Abby came to visit, too

More snuggles for Grandma

Look at those cheeks!!

Here she is getting her first sponge bath...not quite a fan, yet.  :)

Lorelei meeting her Great-Grandma Tucker

Mom and Dad drove down from Idaho to meet Lorelei.  It was really fun to see them and spend some time with them and with some other family members.  We had lunch with Bruce and his family, Rebecca and Spencer, and Lauren and Matt.  Megan had made arrangements to get a ride back with a friend in Draper so Grandma and Grandpa offered to drive us up there.  Unfortunately, on our way up, we got a flat tire and had to pull into the median to change it.  We were very grateful to a nice stranger that stopped and helped Grandpa and Megan with the tire.  We got Megan to her ride just a little late and Dad was able to take the car to a place to get the tire repaired.  

Emily and Lorelei having a little mommy-daughter visit....there is just nothing like a new little baby.  Welcome Baby Lorelei!!

Happy Birthday, Steve!!!

Well, the old man turned 55 this year.  We were supposed to go celebrate with a trip to the DC Temple, but with my bad ankle and the weather turning questionable, we ended up spending some time at home with the fam.  Low key and great!!

Happy Birthday to one of the nicest old guys I know.  :)  Love you!!!

Helping Out On MLK Day

Shout out to the scouts of Troop 110 and their leaders.  They did a service project at the Dr. Still property in Medford.  They joined with a lot of other volunteers to clean up the property around the historical home/office of the "Black Doctor of the Pines".  Great job, guys!!!

Jason and Jesse Scheimreif with Randy Reeve help in the yard

Jesse Scheimreif, Nathan, and Sam Wright working hard

Can you spot our crew?  Look just to the right and under the small roof extension.  

Way to represent, Troop 110!!

OOPS!!

Well, this year started out a little unexpectedly, for me anyway.  I came downstairs early morning mid January and somehow managed to slip on or miss one of the steps going down to our laundry room.  I ended up in a heap on the laundry room floor.  Pretty painful and really annoying.  I stayed off it for a few days, but when it started swelling a few days later, we decided to get an x-ray.

 It wasn't broken - just a really bad sprain, so I ended up doing a lot of things I could do sitting down that month.  I had to take the advice to stay off it seriously because I knew I was headed to Utah in a month to hopefully be helpful to Emily with her new baby.  :)  I am so thankful for Steve and the boys and their patience as I have healed from the injury.  Thanks, guys!!