Eagle Court of Honor

 William had his Eagle Board of Review back in January 2020.  We planned to have his Court of Honor a few months later when our neighbor, Jace Bishop, had finished up his last few requirements.  And then COVID hit the world and changed everything.  It delayed Jace from finishing up and then there were strict regulations in place that would have limited our gathering (gatherings were limited to 50 people, we couldn't use the church building, and the heat was unbearable to hold it outside).  When the governor allowed gatherings of 250 people (and the weather was cooling down) we jumped at the chance to finally honor these boys and their hard work.

We were crazy enough to do it on Lydia's birthday (but that was the day that the park and pavilion were available.) Lydia didn't mind though because we all sang her "Happy birthday" at the very beginning and she got to hang out with her friend, Kora.

The evening turned out so nice!

Kes Andersen (the Teacher's Quorum advisor) drove out 2 1/2 hours to be there and speak.  He gave an awesome analogy of a Golden Eagle that he once found who had severely damaged his feathers by going after a small rabbit. One bad decision had prevented this eagle from behaving like an eagle.  Kes challenged the boys to always make choices that will enable them to be the Eagles that they are.  It was a great talk!

(The Eagle's Nest)

Jerry Weise (a local judge and Jace's most recent scout leader) did a great job conducting the meeting and presenting the boys with their Eagles.

William presented his mentor pin to Tyler Darrington who was one of his first scout leaders as a Deacon. (Tyler was working that night but William walked over to his house a few days later to present the pin).

I wish I had taken more pictures afterward but I was too busy chatting with everyone.  I'm grateful to all those who came out to support William!

Eagle Board of Review

On January 21, 2020 William passed his Board of Review and is now officially an Eagle Scout.  We are so proud of him and the hard work he did to accomplish such a worthy goal!

Lydia and I took him out to lunch a few days later to celebrate his big accomplishment!  He chose to eat at The Habit.

William's Eagle Project

On Friday December 6 we started the construction part of William's Eagle Project.  We spent the afternoon sanding all the boards that we needed.  William decided that we didn't need outside help so it was a whole family effort.

Saturday (the 7th) we painted and assembled.

And, of course, we had to try it out!

We even invited the neighbors over for a few games to see if it could withstand some rough play.

William asked if I would add the school logo to one of the panels.

And I added a little extra as well.

On December 13th William, James, and I delivered and assembled the finished gaga ball pit to Ms. Brock.  She was so excited to have it!  She even invited James, William, (and Colton Mathewson who happened to be walking by) to play the first official game with her!

This was a really great project for William!  We are all glad that it is finished now though!  We are proud of his hard work... now to finish up his paperwork!

William's Arrow of Light

Even though William earned his Arrow of Light award before he turned 11 (in November) our ward didn't hold a ceremony until our pack meeting in January.  Three of his friends also received their Arrow of Light that night.

The boys are always so funny about getting their faces painted!

We are so proud of William for earning this most important cub scout award.

I forgot my little ribbon... so William pinned  me on my shirt.

He then got to cross the bridge over into Boy Scouts, shook hands with each of the boys and recited the Scout Oath.

It was a fantastic night.  We have such a wonderful ward and great leaders and do a great job with our scouts!