Crossing Over and Arrow of Light

We have come to the end of our Cub Scout journey.  Made our last pinewood derby car and had our final Blue and Gold Blanket.  With only one boy in our family, we will have to wait for grandsons before we do it again (or callings as den leaders!)  Kanyon had his “Crossing Over” ceremony this week and will now be known as an 11-year-old scout.  There were several boys that had met the criteria for this and so they had a big party.  It was themed Renaissance and there was a castle, a round table, and a knighting ceremony involved.  It was amazing to see all the hard work that was done.  The boys loved it. 

Six of them received their arrow of light award.  The highest award a cub scout can receive and the only badge allowed on their new scout uniform.

See the cool castle on the stage!!  Yes, that is my cute baby trying to climb the stairs, and Friar Tuck sitting and enjoying his meal  

Kanyon’s arrow now hangs in his room to remind him of all his hard work. The boys then prepared to “cross over” by walking across the bridge and into the castle where the Boy Scouts were waiting for them to help them into their new uniform. 

They said goodbye to their old troup….

Helped across the bridge by their “family” or mothers in this case….

Then waited for the Scouts to put their new uniform on. 

It was a fun night.  I am pretty proud of this boy and the person he is becoming.  Congratulations Kanyon!  You are awesome.

Miranda’s 7th Birthday

I can’t believe this little girl has grown so fast!  She is so beautiful.  I remember when I was pregnant with her, we didn’t know if she was a boy or a girl and I honestly didn’t care which it was BUT….. I really wanted a baby with dark eyes and dark hair….like me.  I got more then I asked for, because she looks just like I did as a kid.  Sometimes, when I am doing her hair in the morning, I have this weird feeling because I remember looking in the mirror when I was her age, and seeing the same face.  Especially her eyes.  She definitely has my eyes (although she was lucky enough to get her Dad’s long eyelashes!)  I have a feeling that we are going to be in trouble when she is a teenager.  She is beautiful inside and out and I am so blessed to be her mom.  Some things to know about Miranda….

• She loves to get dressy.  She loves lace and frills and all things princess.  But she doesn’t want to come across as “girly”.  She can’t wait to go hunting with her dad.
• She is very determined and gets upset if you tell her she is too little to do something.  She doesn’t care if she is too little or too young, if she wants to do it, she will do it.
• She can be talked into doing scary things.  She is very trusting of me and if I tell her she can do something. She almost always believes me and does it.  For example, she was terrified to ride the Tower of Terror at California Adventure.  But she stuck it out because I told her she would like it, and it was her favorite ride.
• She loves competition.  She doesn’t really understand her desire to compete at this time, but I can see it in her.  She wants to win and will do everything she can to make sure she is doing her best.
• She loves her family.  She really wants to be loved by her family and gets very sad if her feelings are hurt.  She is very kind and soft hearted.
• She has a hard time reading at this age.  She is a rule follower and so the English language has been difficult for her because there are so many “rule breakers”.  She is working really hard at it though and improving everyday.

For her birthday, Miranda wanted to go to Skate Plaza.  It was a holiday weekend so we didn’t have much time to get out invitations to the party, but one little girl, Danielle, from her 1st grade class was able to come.  And we had invited the Carpenters there too.   We have plenty of people to party with just our two families, so it turned out pretty good.  She was a happy little girl.  She wanted an Oreo cake with spots and that’s what she got.  Doesn’t get much better then that!

She also wanted only two things for her birthday.  She wanted her ears pierced and she wanted red high heels (there’s the dressy thing!)  We took her the next weekend to get her ears pierced at the mall and she spent her birthday money from Grandma Fuller on some new earrings and some new red high heels. 

I tell you, this girl will cause me some trouble!  I can hardly wait for the ride.

Love you Mandy May.  Happy Birthday sweet girl!