Arrow of Light

Tonight was a very special Cub Scout Pack Meeting for Garhett. Garhett has turned 11 and advanced from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. In honor of completing all the requirements, his Weblos leader presented him and a couple other boys in his group with a special presentation. Unfortunately I had to miss it, I was still in the hospital, so Scott and my parents took the kids and here is there recap.


Garhett's leader Brother Davis stood at the front with a bridge between him and the boys' new Cub Scout leader and shared some of these words.


As a Cub Scout, you have been guided through the Cub Scout Trail with the help of many people. Soon, when you become a Boy Scout, you will find that, while there are still many people willing to help, you take on more and more responsibility for blazing your own trail to Eagle. 

Garhett  - you have been called before the Pack because you have satisfied the requirements for Cub Scouting's highest rank: The Arrow of Light. 

The first band of color is to remind you of the lessons you learned as a Cub Scout.

Blue represents the spirit of Cub Scouting : the spirit of giving goodwill and doing your best. Do you promise to fulfill the Cub Scout Promise and the Cub Scout motto, Do Your Best, when you receive the Arrow of Light badge?

Webelos Scouts have faithfully promised always to keep the spirit of Cub Scouting. As their parents, we also promise to continue to help Garhett in his Scouting adventures.

The second band of color, white, represents the Scout Law. Youth and adult leaders will cheerfully show you the skills you need, but it will be up to you to live up to the 12 points of the Scout Law. Daily you will be faced with decisions and, at times, the trail will seem most difficult to follow. Make your choices by always remembering the Scout Law. In all you do, do you promise to be forever Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent?

The third band of color, yellow, stands for the Arrow of Light. Within the teepees of many braves, the Arrow of Light has an honored place. Its shaft is straight and narrow : just as is the path that you Scouts should follow throughout your life. Its tip points the way : the way to success in all that you do. It is pointing to the right : a symbol that nothing should be left undone; if it is within your power to do it, see that it is done. And lastly, this is the symbol of the seven rays of the sun, one for each day of the week; this is to remind you that every day is a new day : a day to Do Your Best in everything: 

A day to honor your God and Country,
to do your Good Turn,
a new chance to follow the Scout Law
and to remember these words: On My Honor

Each boy has blazed his own trail toward the Arrow of Light award, and now the Arrow of Light will help them remember their promise to keep the Spirit of Cub Scouting alive. 

You are now full-fledged Arrow of Light holders!

Next, they asked the Webelos to pin upon their mom a miniature Arrow of Light, but since I wasn't there Scott received in place of me.

The last band of color, is Green; it symbolizes the beginning of your path toward Eagle as a Boy Scout. Then Brother Davis  lead Garhett to the bridge that connects Cub Scouting with Boy Scouting. Garhett crossed over the bridge where his new Boy Scout leader Brother Patton was waiting to welcome him into their troop.

What a special evening for Garhett. As my mother and Garhett told me of the evening it brought tears to my eyes. One because I missed it and two because of how special Brother Davis made it for each of the boys advancing. Brother Davis took the time to engrave a personalized plaque to each of the boys advancing. Brother Davis really went above and beyond to make this advancement a night to remember. This year of Weblos has been Garhett's best year in Cub Scouts. Here's a big THANK YOU to Brother Davis who came in mid-year as a leader to the boys and rocked it! Brother Davis came in, took notice of where the boys were lacking in completing the requirements and helped each one of them progress and had fun while doing it. So thank you Brother Davis.


Now to my dear sweet Garhett, I am so proud of you. You worked hard to complete the requirements, sometimes you and I both in tears, but the job got done. I'm sorry that I missed your special evening, but I want you to know that this is a great honor to have achieved your Arrow of Light and my heart is full of love for you. This is a stepping stone for you as you continue on with scouting and earn your Eagle.

Great job Garhett! We love you!

Happy Birthday Garhett!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GARHETT!

Eleven years ago today you joined our family. It was a rough go at first whether your dad and I were going to be able to have our own children, but then the blessed day arrived! You were born!

Garhett you have been such a good boy from the day you arrived. You slept through the night from the beginning - which was heaven on earth since mom worked full time.  Garhett you are very smart, tender hearted and kind. Dad and I feel very blessed to have you in our family. You bring us great joy!

Today is Garhett's birthday and school picture day. So mom had to torture Garhett and make him wear a collared shirt for pictures. As soon as pictures were over, he could change his shirt.

We decided a couple of years ago that a party every year for the kids was over kill, so we decided on their even year of birth they could have a party. So this year being an odd year for Garhett - no party!

I love birthdays! I wanted to Garhett to feel extra special on his special day. So for breakfast he chose crepes. Granted the very first time we had crepes was on our visit to Oregon with our friends the Lowes. Today was going to be my first time making crepes and hopefully wasn't going to ruin Garhett's birthday breakfast. SUCCESS!!!!

 Emmett wanted his picture taken like Garhett

Before heading off to school, Garhett begged to open a birthday present, so I let him open two one from his siblings and one from Grandma and Grandpa.

A pack of Webkinz

DS Pokemon game Heart of Gold

Garhett was so happy with his gifts so far, I can't wait for him to experience the rest of the day! So many more surprises for our Garhett Man!

After putting the boys on the bus, I rushed over to their school so I could put a love note on Garhett's desk to welcome him to school.

It's been a great day so far. We continued the festivities, by going to Garhett's choice for dinner Primos. All you can eat pizza - Garhett was going strictly for the cookie dough dessert pizza! After dinner we came home, had cake and opened presents.  Garhett wanted an ice cream cake with Reese's peanut butter cup ice cream. Ok, so here I go again, trying my hand at making an ice cream cake and hoping not to ruin Garhett's birthday.

I did it! Wasn't very pretty, but tasted good.

 Garhett opening another present from Grandma and Grandpa - MONEY!!!!!

 This is the present that Garhett was secretly hoping for but knew forsure that he would not be getting it! But we surprised him and got him the iPod Touch! Garhett was so excited!!!! He wrote down a list of games and songs that he wanted us to load for him. I can't believe how grown up Garhett is.

Happy Birthday Garhett! You are such a shining light in our family. We hope you had a great birthday! WE LOVE YOU!

First Day of School

Today is the first day of school. Garhett is in 5th grade and the top dog at school, he is so excited! He was ready after the 6 week summer break to get back to school. Garhett has great teacher, Mrs. Morse, she teaches the kids responsibility with money, actions, and choices. It's going to be a great year for Garhett.

Garhett in Mrs. Morse's Class

Waiting for the bus

Trent was a little excited but more apprehensive of what the year is going to bring. Trent is not our social kid, he would rather just do his own thing.  The funny thing with that is everyone wants to be Trent’s friend. Everyone wants Trent around and to play with him. I find it interesting that Trent will agree to play and then 10 – 15 minutes into it, the kids are all playing together and Trent has migrated somewhere off to play on his own. Then some time later, the kids are back playing with Trent. It is quite comical.

Trent has Mrs. McClanahan this year, she is a seasoned teacher.  Trent is going to be a great 2nd grader! He is looking forward to teaching his little sister the rules of school.

Trent in Mrs. Clanahan's Class

Now for the Girl! 

Paige is starting kindergarten this year. She has been counting the days since preschool ended in May. Now that night before school starts, Paige asks the questions, "Mom, how many days until school?"  I said, "Paige school starts tomorrow". She answered hesitantly, "Oh". During the night, Paige kept coming into my room, "Mom, I don't feel good, my tummy hurts. Mom, I had a headache". Paige's nerves finally caught up to her months of excitement. I finally got her to settle down around 3am. 

As the morning arrived, everyone was excited to start school. The tradition is everyone takes the bus to school and mom drives and meets everyone at school. So I can take supplies and take pictures of them arriving at school and checking into their classrooms. The boys are pros. Since it's Paige's first time with school and the bus, here are a few more pictures of Paige.

A side note on Paige. Paige is so over mom's opinion on clothes and what to where. So here is Paige's first day of school outfit - put together by Paige herself.

First Day of School Outfit

Before heading to the bus and to school, Paige lost her 4 tooth. So Paige is starting kindergarten missing her front teeth and bottom teeth. Poor Trent, but that's another post.

Look another tooth gone on the first day of school!

Paige arriving at school

Paige and the bus driver Fred

Paige and Aubrey

Paige and her BFF Aubrey

Paige in Mrs. Longpre's Class

Everyone had a great first day of school. To wind up the kids' first school day, I greeted them with warm chocolate chip walnut cookies. We sat around the table, ate cookies, and talked about their first day of school. What a great day!!!!

Can't see...

Garhett's been complaining of headaches lately. He suggested he may need glasses. So I responded back with a question, "Do you want glasses?" Garhett answered, "Yea! Glasses are so cool".  So off to the eye doctor we went. Guess what Garhett was right, he did need glasses. I am not surprised that he needs them because both Scott and I wore glasses. What I was surprised with was that he needed them at 10, I started wearing glasses when I was 16 and Scott was older too.

I took a moment and let go of my controlling mothering style and let Garhett work with the eye glass technician on his own to choose which glasses would look the "coolest". He did a great job, he asked for my help on deciding between the final two! Here is our handsome Garhett with his new glasses.















Emmett wanted to get in on the picture action. So here's Emmett being a little more photogenic than Garhett!

Pinewood Derby

Well it's that time of year in Scouts, where dads and sons get to work together to create the fastest, coolest, most unique pinewood derby car. This is Garhett's last year to participate in the derby. :o( He really likes it. Scott and him work so well together when creating a car and getting it ready for the race. Garhett has complete creativity control, and Scott helps with the cutting and weights.

This year Garhett wanted to make a limo for his derby car. He placed real well in the races and in his Weblos den he came in third. Great job Garhett!!!

Blue & Gold

Well tonight was the annual Blue & Gold dinner for cub scouts. Every year they boys are to work with their fathers to create a cake for dessert. This year's theme was the 100th birthday of BSA. Unfortunately Scott is traveling (usually every year at this time), so Garhett was stuck with me to work with on his cake. He definitely wasn't excited about that. Lucky for Garhett my parents were passing through town before heading on their next trip. So Grandpa was nice enough to step into dad's position and help Garhett with the cake. Here is the step by step process Grandpa and Garhett took in making his cake.

Step 1: The ingredients for the cake (chasing Emmett so no pictures)

Step 2: Mixing the cake (getting Emmett out of the oven, so again no pictures)

Step 3: Pouring the cake into the pans

Step 4: Putting the cake into the oven to bake (well actually taking it out after it was cooked)

Step 5: Cooling the cake

Step 6: creating the 100 out of the cake: I am so proud of Garhett for cutting the #1 out of the loaf pan free hand. He did an awesome job. The center of the zeros were made by turning a glass upside down and pushing it through the cakes. 

Step 7: Frosting the cakes

Step 8: Presenting his 100 cake at Blue & Gold - Great job Garhett!!!!

Tonight during the award ceremony, Garhett earned 8 badges. He's been working very hard over the past few months. Garhett was awarded the following awards:

• Artist
• Music academic pin
• Reading & Writing pin
• Readyman
• Scholar
• Snowman
• Swimming sport pin

The best of all awards, I can't believe that scouting has finally given into the times....he was awarded the

• Video game academic pin

We are so proud of you Garhett, you are always working so hard at scouts and enjoying it at the same time. Keep up the great work! We love you.

Garhett's Solo

Today was a significant day for Garhett. Garhett had his first solo in his grade school concerts. Today was the 4th/5th grade concerts. Garhett tried out on his own and had a call back. He was so excited to have a solo. The sad thing is Scott and I weren't able to be at Garhett's solo today. As luck would have it, our trip to Utah to meet with the surgeon was today as well as Garhett's solo. So Grandma and Grandpa to the rescue again. Grandpa recorded Garhett's whole program for us. Thanks Grandpa.

Introducing Garhett Morgan in his first solo!!! Great job Garhett!

Idaho Native Americans

was the theme for Garhett's 4th grade project. For this project, Garhett had to choose a group of Idaho Native Americans to report on, draw or copy a map, create a diorama of an Indian Village, make a model of an Indian Home, and paint pictographs on rocks.

Garhett chose the Shoshone Indians. He started early on researching, figuring out what was going to be in his diorama, and putting the report together. Garhett did an awesome job. Here is the final product. Garhett earned an A. Good job Garhett!!!!

Primary Program

This year the theme for the Primary Program was Eternal Family. There was quite a few unusuals this year. Usually I sit in the audience with Scott & my parents and watch the kids say their speaking parts and sing. This year, I was on the stage with the CTR 5's, I am a teacher now. Usually only Garhett has a speaking part during the program due to having over 200 kids in the Primary. This year, Garhett, Trent and Paige all had speaking parts. Garhett, Trent and Paige all stood tall at the mircrophone and said their parts with conviction. No shyness in our household. :O)
Garhett sang in an all boys chorus. He did such a great job. Garhett really enjoys singing.

Great job kids, Dad and I are so proud of you.

Double Digits

Ten years ago today, we became parents. A day that Scott and I thought would never happen. Today we were blessed with a boy who is so loving, kind hearted, and very funny. At age 3, Garhett was on stage at the Primary talent show doing stand up comedy. Garhett is our performer, he loves to entertain us. Garhett is a great big brother to all his siblings. Garhett and Emmett have a special bond though. Garhett is able to calm Emmett and make him laugh and that is truly a blessing. We love you Garhett, thanks for blessing our family with your presence.














Sorry for the blurry picture. This is Garhett doing stand up at the Primary Talent Show. He was 5 years old and we had only been in Boise for a month.















This is my favorite picture of Garhett and his dad. This was Garhett's first time fishing and he had to use dad's pole, so he traded poles with Scott.