The boys are back in town

The brothers are together. The Cubs are playing the Royals this weekend and so they have been doing nothing but play golf, eat good food, and watch baseball together. We haven't seen any of them at all. Which means they are just too busy having a great time!

 

THEE Brocation

Speaking as one that did not attend the first ever Brocation, I can only offer my impressions of the event. 

From what I can gather, it involved:

Lots of custom brocation swag:

so much golfing

at courses both expensive and stunning

sometimes unfavorable terrain and weather 

nightly punishments for the losing team, courtesy of a freezing pool

ceremonial bestowal of "The Jacket"

and plenty of man food. 

The Brocation will live on. This I know. 

Of Golf and Gardens

Happiness for Mark this week is a golfing trip with the Brothers...A Brocation, if you will.

Beautiful vistas in St. George, Utah

Happiness for me is turning these 6 old gardens into 8 new gardens. Each one will go from 4x8 to 4x10 and needs to fit with within the pre-existing sprinkler system. 

Complicated a bit by trying to save my asparagus and its impressive root system.

Trying to separate it into usable and viable sections took a shovel as well as a saw.  It hurt my heart. 

 And my back...

But I have a highly skilled crew:

And we welcomed Mark back from golfing with open arms and gratitude for his ample upper body strength. 

There are few things in the world I love more than fresh dark compost. 

And I've got the tootsies to prove it.

 

Mathew...patience rewarded

I'm a natural procrastinator...it's one of my spiritual gifts. 

But even this was going a bit far. 

Mathew completed his Eagle Board of Review on December 19, 2019. 

That was almost 10 months ago!!! 10 Months! Three hundred and twenty-four days.

My land, that's got to be a record or something. 

In my defense, we did witness the rise of a global pandemic. And if it had started a bit sooner, I'd be running with that. But as it is, I can only claim that this one almost got away from me. As we were driving to church last Sunday, it occurred to me that if we didn't get our ducks in a row,  the weather would turn cold, then it would be December (it's not allowed to plan additional events in December), then Mathew would graduate and then he'd be off to school.....driving away, crying tears of sadness that his lam-o parents never even bothered to make a batch of cupcakes in honor of his hard earned Eagle award. 

I think these thoughts all the time. 

Well, dang. 

We needed to get our buns in gear and make it happen. 

The weather looked like perfection for the very next Saturday...we can do it!

We contacted old scoutmasters and invited our close friends. I took a trip to the Eagle scout store and found a plaque to have engraved with his name. The friendly man at the shop even convinced my to buy the gold plated eagle scout pen. 

We planned a menu...Mathew's main request (besides a hard push for pizza rolls) was that it not resemble Ethan's refreshments at his court of honor. As a fourth child, I understand the primal need younger siblings have to break free of all things "hand me down". Not that that stopped me from digging Lara's sweaters out of the trash on a regular basis.

Anywho....

The day arrived! 

We set everything up in the backyard, so as to mitigate the spread of possible killer viruses. (Have I mentioned how much I hate the coronavirus?? It's a total butt.)

Mark arranged the water bottles into a patriotic star...pretty cute, yeah?

And how about this easy peasy flag tray? That's WAY yummier that tomatoes and string cheese, or red peppers and cauliflower, or strawberry jam and alfredo sauce. (I'm not wrong.)

 

Alisa Wada offered to make the cupcakes. And every single person there was glad she did because that girl is truly gifted. 

Martin Guenther did the welcome, all while keeping that flag from being blown over....again. 

Mathew gave the scout oath and law

Mark pinning on his eagle award:

Bruce Hurst, replacing his old scarf with his new, niftier one....while trying not to accidentally punch him in the face. (It happens more than you'd think!)

Mom pin time! Look at my cute tall boy!

And a very well-deserved dad pin. He's the one that really he helped push him over that finish line!

Mathew shared his gratitude for everyone there and took the opportunity to recognize several people that really kept him going when his motivation started to run thin. He was so well spoken and gracious! I was so proud of him!

He even gave Ethan a shout-out for helping him over the years...especially letting him borrow his socks, lol.

Now, look at that great photo! That's a keeper!

What a happy day! I think he felted loved a special. It was just his style and I'm so glad we stopped to recognize what a great kid he is and how proud we are of him.

Our two Eagle Scouts!

He's cool. 

Eagle Scout Cool.

 

Down By the Banks

As the kids have grown...so has their desire to win down by the banks....

AT ALL COSTS

We descend upon the dentist

I don't remember making a dentist appointment for the kids over Christmas break. That doesn't sound like something I'd want to do. But then again, if we're on Christmas break, I don't have to take them all out of school and we don't have to worry about all the work they're missing. 

Seems like a pretty good idea to me.

And for some strange reason, the boys get along when sitting in itty bitty chairs and playing on the old video game consoles in the waiting room. 

And Megan is obsessed with photo bombing. Even if its just a foot. (I can hear her delighted giggle now).

And just because I don't want to forget it, but can't bring myself to tell anyone in my immediate circle, here's the story of the day:

The hygienist was cleaning Ethan's teeth and said, "Do you bite your fingernails?"

Ethan: "I little, I guess. Why?"

Hygienist: "I just dug a fingernail out of your teeth"

Ethan: "Are you sure it wasn't a toenail?"

Hygienist: "I'm going home" lol

Mom: Trying to find a hole to crawl into.

Through the Blinds

Don't look now, but the boys are playing catch in the backyard....

Voluntarily.

No one is being bribed or threatened.

No one is bleeding.

Momentary peace

These boys haven't gotten along for a pretty long time. I kinda feels like forever. Every look is a threat, ever comment is and invitation to bicker. They are oil and water.

So you can understand why I'd want to capture this brotherly cease fire....

The Eye of the Tiger.

Best song EVER.