Officially I have an Eagle in the House!!!

Well...mission complete! Now all we have to do is plan the Court of Honor. Blake attended his Eagle board of review last night, along with his parents and Scout Master John Pryor. He was a bit nervous.....but Brother Pryor put him at ease. I think Kevin was definitely the most nervous in the bunch. We had the chance to meet the board and they were very impressed with his project and his answers. A Escondido City Council woman asked him a difficult question. She said if there were a value you would take out of the scout motto, what would it be and why? Blake responded with....."Bravery"....because if you possess all of the other standards in the motto, you will naturally have courage and become brave. Something like that!!!!

So we are told by the board to take him to Dairy queen....he laughs at that thought and we head home. Once we get home Blake proceeds to tell Brinley that he is an Eagle Scout!!!! She reacts, just like she always does with a swift shoulder shrug like she is in a street gang, and says...."well, I am a Girl Scout"! Brinley just became a Daisy scout, and is loving every minute of it. She gets to wear a darling tunic and earn daisy pedals along the way. I think it is cute how she feels very proud of the fact that she belongs to a great organization.

All and all....we are happy that he was able to complete this process. It may have been delayed...as the paper work sat for a long time, but he did a great job and learned a lot about leadership and delegation. He might not see the profound benefits of it yet, but once and Eagle, always and Eagle!!!!

President's Day Service Project

I am lucky to now be more exposed to more service projects in my calling as young women's president and encourage the youth to help our fellow man. I was really impressed by our youth. I thought for sure no hands would go up....when I asked for assistance. Instead, about 90% of the Young Women raised their hands high and said they would be available. I brought almost an instant tear to my eye. I thought for sure it was their day off of school, which means they could sleep in, be lazy, etc.

I drove up and was more impressed to find families and their little toddlers pulling weeds. Brinely joined the group and started raking one handed since she has a cast on the other hand. The Kunze's in our ward....were so overwhelmed by the response of help. Phaedra's yard work was getting to be overwhelming for her, so it was great for us to show up and take care of it.

So glad to be part of this great church, where we have the opportunity to serve one another, and feel the blessings of service!!!!!

Sunday Morning (Cover/Remix)

Blake really had fun with his Showtime buddies, Evan, Jacob Clingo, and Miles!!!! They practiced and practiced. SPHS had their 3rd annual ASB talent show and performed to their peers yesterday. Before the performance, Blake came over and gave me a hug and said he was going to give it his all. They did great. They got a standing ovation and and encore was requested. They threw together the song, "Sweet Pea". I am so pleased with their efforts!!!!

In the evening they performed to parents and family for the actual talent show. They took first place and had the chance again to perform a second song. Way to go boys!!!

I return to a find a broken arm!!!!

I had the opportunity to go to Arizona and be with my mom and dad in the hospital. My father suffered a mild stroke and scared me to death....so off I went to be with my family. It was good to have my brother and his wife so close and able to respond. It is hard being away from your folks when you are miles away. As a side note....grandpa is now back home and doing fantastic. He had almost a 2 week stay in the hospital. Not fun, so he his so glad to be back home.

When I left Arizona on Sunday and the plane was just pushing back from the gate, Kevin texts me and tells me he thinks Brinley arm is broken. I quickly text back and tell him he better bring he to the airport and we will go to urgent care after that.

To make a long, long story short. After three hours in the ER and an eye opening experience int the ER for Brinley. She had x-rays, was splinted and slinged and two days later was casted at Childrens. She will be in a cast for 1 month. It was fun to have the attention and bright new shinning cast...and a day and a half later, she was complaining as to when she would get it off.

It will be fun to see how we will keep it from getting wet. All they do is paint and glue in Kindergarten, so we will see. A box of wet wipes on her desk should do the trick.

Music Day at SPU!!!

At Brinley's little school they have spirit days!!!! On this particular day, it was Music Day. Our dear friend Rita Schroeder, who started up the amazing Rancho Bernardo Children's chorus, was battling cancer and very ill after the holidays. Brinley, and our whole family had been keeping Rita in our prayers daily. The big day was fast approaching, and she very much thought wearing her Children's Chorus outfit was what personified music. I do agree!!!!

Having music in our home has been so very special. I love that Rita has been a part of our lives ever since we were introduced to music in RB. We so very much love the Schroeder Family and are so sad that Rita lost her battle to cancer on January 24th. Rita will always hold a special place in my heart. We have been so very blessed by her influence.

Wacky Tacky Fashion Show

I am sooo lucky to have been asked to serve as our YW's President. The bishop grabbed me after sacrament meeting just after the holidays. I was so surprised and scared...beacause once I sat down I knew it meant a new calling. He asked me if there was anywhere I would want to serve where would it be. I could not speak. I then said.....please....I need to be with the youth. I then was extended the call. I feel soooo very humbled and blessed to be able to work with YW of the San Pasqual Ward. In my opinion.....they are the best of the best!!! I am overwhelmed at he responsibility, but look forward to the challenge and the call.

I so love having the chance to act goofy and get dressed up. Our first combined activity that our new board fell into...was this awesome night of coming dressed for a Wacky Fashion Show.
As you can see by the outfits....it was a fun, fun night. The kids all were divided into teams and in the end, created news paper fashions. I was very impressed.

It was the perfect eve for us to get to know the youth. My board is the the best and we all look forward to loving our YW.

What Brinley thinks about being an Aunt!

The cutest conversation took place just a little bit after Brit and Scott shared the news with us. Considering...This new grandchild of ours and Brinley will practically be contemporaries....Brinley leans over to me and Brit and says "So what exactly does an Aunt do?"....we just explained that...all you have to do is love her, just like her Aunts do.

She is so thrilled that Brit is expecting. Our Stake President Haynie challenged us to write letters of gratitude and thankfulness to someone and Brinley chose her Sister.