Court of Honor

I never thought of myself as much of a "scout parent", but I've enjoyed Liam being in the program. It's been a good way for him to get to know boys in our neighborhood as we've moved over the last couple of years. I think it helps him to see that he is good at things and he is able to feel good about accomplishing things.

The ward we just moved into is way behind Liam. He's been going but hasn't had a lot to do. He had a Court of Honor on March 21st and received 3 more merit badges (reading, scholarship, first aid). He has already earned another 3 for next time (space exploration, law, swimming). With the 3 he had before the Court of Honor (environmental science, forestry, geology) I would say that he is making good time on getting these done. Now he just needs to earn $100 for his scout camp in July. They want the boys to earn it on their own. We sure have a lot of yard work available....lucky for Liam.

I'm very proud of Liam and how hard he works. He really is a very good kid with a good heart. He likes to do well. We are glad he is getting Gavin excited for scouts already!

Skiing at Sundance

So, Liam and I were given free tickets to ski at Sundance this year!! I have not been on skis since before Liam was born. I have to say I was a little worried about how I might do. I was surprised at how easily it came back to me. Not that I'm a great skier, but I only fell one time. Unfortunately that one time was on a part of the mountain where everyone going up on the ski lift could watch. Falling isn't the hard part, getting up is.

Liam was able to take skiing lessons starting when he was about 5, but hasn't been up in over a year. He is much better than I am. He would just meet me at the bottom. Then, when I needed a little rest (and delicious cookie) he did a run on his own.

Here is our $100 pizza & $20 drinks....OK, I may be exaggerating a bit. Next time I will know not to eat at the cafe. Instead I'll be going to the building with the grill and buying from the little counter by the store. Their sandwiches aren't pre-made and they have a better variety. Just in case you are planning to go....

Here is the way Liam would go and leave me behind. He's a little tricky and went on little curvy paths. My knees can't take that.

It really was a fun day. I love spending time with Liam.

He's a good kid, even if he is better on skis than his mom.

I have to just say that it was snowing the first half of the day. That is why I look like this. No, I do not have goggles or a helmet. I just have to get my face and hair wet. Maybe if I can afford to ski more than once a decade I will invest in some nice ski equipment.

Birthdays

In our family we are lucky enough to have a birthday once a month for the first 4 months of the year. It helps us spread out our trips to Tucanos for our free meals. I realized that I had not updated the blog in a while and missed our first 2 birthdays of the year. With my birthday in just over a week, I think we'll try to skip that one all together and update again at Liam's birthday in April.

Anyway.....I made an awesome cake for Jim's birthday which was in January. Do you see how well I can decorate a cake?

Next, we celebrated Gavin's 3rd birthday in February. Gavin LOVES his birthday! We had a party with the Jim's family since Gavin and 2 of his cousin's have birthday close to one another. Gavin developed an excellent new smile for his birthday pictures!

Gavin developed an excellent new smile for his birthday pictures.

It looks like grandpa has developed the same smile.

On Gavin's actual birthday we had a small party with just our little family. Gavin got to open his presents.

Then the next night my family came over to celebrate. Gavin got a lot of birthday attention that month.

Apparently, Gavin doesn't love our singing!