Court of Honor

We had Danny and Jake's first Court of Honor together. It sure is fun to see them grow up and accomplish the things they have set out to do. We are so proud of our boys and the choices they have to make every day. Life sure is a lot harder than it used to be and I don't envy them having to deal with what they deal with every day. Keep up the awesome work boys!

Danny being awarded all the merit badges he earned before, during and after camp

Jake being awarded his Scout badge (1st Court of Honor)

First Day of Freedom...I mean School!

There are many reasons to love September. The trees turning brilliant colors, the cool mornings and nights, the smells of new school supplies, new school clothes, but my favorite is the first day of school! Now don't get me wrong, I love my children, but I love to send them away to school to learn many new things and when the time comes to have them come home, I can feel a sense of accomplishment for what I did that day and no one is behind me making another mess. Oh wait, I still have 4 years for that to happen! =) Anyway, I still love the first day of school so I can take pictures of the kids before they go to the bus. Since Danny started Kindergarten, I have taken a picture at the same spot so I can see how much they have grown. This is a great tradition that the kids actually look forward to.

Championship Games

Well after a fun and quick season of baseball. Danny and Jacob's team was undefeated and even won the championship. Danny had a chance to show us what he has to offer as a pitcher and he did extremely well. Jake is doing a fantastic job as well. Bless his heart, he is not the natural that his brother is, but he gives it his all. GO DODGERS! This is the last year that many of the players can stay on this league. Next year will be quite interesting since Danny and Jake will be the older boys on the team. We might even switch to another team since we know the other coach. Only time will tell what happens.

Boy Scout Camp

Danny had so much fun at Boy Scout Camp. I was nervous that he would be gone for a whole week, but he was ready to go and earn some merit badges. I have to laugh, before he left he had signed up for 6 merit badges to earn while he was at camp. Several leaders approached Matt and I and told us they thought he was taking on too much as a first year. Boy, did he prove them wrong! He not only achieved them, but he ranked at the top or close to the top in the rankings for archery and rifle shooting.


Danny actually had a pretty interesting thing happen on the archery range. He was shooting an arrow at the same time as an older scout. Their arrows crossed paths and Danny's arrow went through the middle of the other scouts arrow and Danny still hit the target!

When Danny returned home, he was so excited to tell us about everything and had a big hug for me and a big Thank You for his dad for all the time spent target practing while we are up North.

I think this was a fun way to see that his dad really does do things with him that will benefit him in the future.

Danny is so excited about next year!

Troop 210 Welcome Gate- They won an award for!

"Rump Bumping"

Wilderness Survival "Hut" built with all the boys trying to earn that Merit Badge

Award Ceremony

Danny's 12th Birthday Party

We had Danny's birthday party back on June 13th. We had to quickly squeeze it in since our month seemed to be getting crazier every day. With Scout Camp a couple days later and Cub Scout Day camp right after that and then our vacation to follow we knew that we needed to have the party sooner than later.

All I have to say is that having ten boys between 12-13 year olds is CRAZY!! I think most of them had a good time, but Matt and I were glad when it was over. We had told Danny that he would need to plan all the games since our life was pretty busy. He set up some yard games to play and had the boys come ready to get wet for some water games. He decided on pizza, soda and ice cream sandwiches for food.

Okay, the boys he invited over are great boys, but when you put them all together, they spell O-V-E-R-A-C-T-I-V-E!! HELP!

I love the surprise water picture at the end. Matt decided to pull one over on the boys and as you can tell some of them loved it! They all laughed about it anyway.

Danny's Officially Twelve

What a great day today was! At church, Danny was ordained a Deacon. He is so excited to finally be in Young Men's and start passing the sacrament at church. It is so fun to watch him watch the older boys do the job. You can almost hear the gears turning inside his head. Danny is such a great example to his friends and brothers. Yes, we have our day when we wonder if he really is the oldest one by the things he does, but doesn't everyone have those days?

We love you Danny and are so proud of you!

Danny's 12th Birthday

I can't believe that Danny is already 12 years old. Boy, where does the time go?

If you remember, we celebrated Danny's birthday earlier in May when Tom and Michele were here. With the craziness of the month, Danny will have his party at a later date...to be determined. But here are some fun pictures of him on the day we celebrated.

I am so blessed to have kids that are flexible!!

Honor Society Awards Ceremony

This year Danny has done a wonderful job adapting to life in the Middle School. It has always been a very detailed and goal oriented child.

With that said, Danny achieved A+'s in all of his classes. Lincoln does not recognize anything above an A so his GPA is an even 4.0. Regardless, Matt and I are so proud of him. All the hard work paid off. With doing after school sports, scouts and baseball he still was able to keep his grades at the highest is amazing in itself. We had to laugh after the ceremony because Danny was a little disappointed that he didn't get the 100 percent attendance award too. He missed one day because he chose to go with his dad and brothers to "Take your Child to Work" day at Ford. We kept telling him that he probably learned more going to work with his dad then he would've at school, but that didn't help. He told us that he probably won't go to work next year with Matt and the boys. Only time can tell what he decides to do. I personally hope he goes with Matt because that will be more of a memory than a pin that tells him he had 100 percent attendance for a year. =)

Danny, we are so proud of you and love you for who you are. Keep on this track for the rest of your schooling and great things will come your way! We love ya!

Danny's First Choir Concert

Danny was invited to join the 6th grade choir. They only met 3 days a week at school once they arrive before school begins. I know, that is confusing. The kids get off the bus about 7:30 and school starts at 7:50 so that gives the kids a few minutes to put bags in lockers and off to the choir room they quickly go for a 15minute practice. When it came time for the concert, I was surprised to how well they did with that little bit of practice time. I think Danny enjoyed being in the choir. It was fun to hear him practice around the house. It has been really fun to see Danny grow this year in middle school. He has had a lot of opportunities to grow and have fun.

Court of Honor

This quarter at Court of Honor, Danny earned his Second Class and First Class ranks and also three merit badges, Coin Collecting, Personal Management & Personal Fitness. He was told that he was one of the first to earn this many ranks while still an 11-yr old scout. He really enjoys Scouts and is doing really well to reach his goals. Great Job, Danny! Keep up the good work.

Danny's Track Meets

This year at school, Danny was invited to join the Lincoln Middle School Track team. We are so glad that he had this opportunity. He did he very best and enjoyed the season. His coach thinks he would be a good cross-country runner next year. We will see what happens in the fall.

Danny's Band Concert

On May 6th, Danny had his final band concert of the year. This was the first concert he had with the 7thand 8th grade bands. I was a lot of fun to hear how well they improved since the winter concert. Our family really enjoyed listening to the older band play too. There sure was a lot of energy in all the songs.
(Thank you to Nicole for the awesome digital scrapbook page.)

5th and 6th Grade Band Concert

On Thursday, Danny & Jake had a band concert. I was surprised how well the 5th grade band played. I remember when I was in a beginning band and we had a concert. There were lots of squeaks and wrong notes played. From my viewpoint this band did a great job.


It was equally amazing to hear the 6th grade advanced band. It was really fun to hear them play with this being only their second year. In the sixth grade, they teach them to play in parts. It was neat to see the difference between the two bands.



It has been fun for Jake to have his friend, Keslie Egbert in his band. She is the flute player in the pictures. We have enjoyed being able to carpool with them twice a week in the morning for band. Her family will be moving away in a couple of weeks and we will miss them in more ways than one. As a side note, I wanted to thank Jake Egbert for taking all the wonderful pictures at the concert.

Court of Honor

Danny has been working really hard to advance in Scouts. On Friday, he was awarded his Scout and Tenderfoot rank and two merit badges, Citizenship in the Nation and Forestry. Danny is continuing to set the goals high for his brothers to follow. I am sure that he will achieve the goals that he has set for himself.