Avery's First Boy Scout Campout

Avery decided he wanted to continue his scouting so we signed him up with a troop that Washington Heights Baptist church supports.  He went on his first campout last weekended. This troop is run really well. There are enough boys to have 4 different patrols, and the boys actually lead. One example is when they went to leave the Scoutmaster said only, "Organize the boys," and the Sr Patrol Leader had them lined up in patrols, heads counted, and car assignments made. While they were up there, without any instruction from the Scoutmaster the patrol leaders took the boys who were newer and started teaching them the fire and knife safety rules. THIS is how Boy Scouts should be run.

Avery is Eleven

Avery is eleven, I feel old. I like to joke with him every now and again about how he only has a few years left before I give him a swift kick out the door  to adulthood. He is a great big brother to Logan and Aurora. But I can tell he is getting closer to being a teenager sometimes and that scares me. We are sure grateful to have him in our home.

What I Found On The Camera

Aurora has been using the computer to watch and listen to Taylor Swift. Apparently she has also been taking a few pictures.

Webelos

Avery's last time in his Webelos uniform. We are so proud of the young man he is becoming. He has been a great cub scout and has earned many awards for all of his hard work.

Father's Day

Super Dad with 2 of his super kids.

Logan didn't want to get in the picture. We deal with this often when it comes to taking pictures. When it is his idea it is fine.

Joseph wanted to spend Father's Day seeing the new Man of Steel movie and swimming at Lorin Farr Pool. This pool is where they filmed the pool scene in the movie The Sandlot. 

Brownie Day Camp

Aurora's Brownie troop went to Camp Fife for the day. She had a great time doing all sorts of activities.

Baseball

Avery has enjoyed playing baseball for the passed 6 years. He loves the sport. I will post more pictures when we get the ones we ordered.

Splash Pad Fun

Part 2 The Way Home

We decided to be a little adventurous and we took a different route home. We ended up seeing this monument on the side of the road. You may read more about it here if you would like. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Meadows_massacre

All the kids passed out. We had a wonderful trip but were happy to be home in our own beds again.

St George/ Zion/ Pine Valley Part 1

Avery and his new cousin Elizabeth. My brother Mark is next to them.

Me and my newest niece. She is an absolute cutie.

Four of the six children with my parents. Our oldest brother and youngest brother were not able to be with us. I hope to see them sooner than later. It has been years since we have all been together.

We started our summer off with a trip to St George to visit some of my family. My brother Mark was able to fly in for the weekend. We all had a great visit.

This person did the hike barefoot.

The kids and I stopped at Scouts Lookout and Joseph did the remaining part. I think we will do this hike again in 5 or so years when Logan is old enough to hike the last part without a lot of assistance.

After spending a couple of days in St George we headed to Zion to do the Angel's Landing hike. It was a great hike with beautiful scenery. This is a picture of part of the hike up.

After our hike we headed to Pine Valley to camp for a night before heading home.