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.

 

Advent Day 19 - Dogs and Eagles

Oh Sophie!

You're so in tune with what is happening in our lives! Oh, what a nice new sweater you have there....

Laney is off on her special trip with Dad! They are flying to Colorado today to go on a dogsled adventure with the Mountain Mushers. (Laney was feeling so sick last night and even threw up. We were so worried that she had caught Everly's stomach bug and the whole trip would get cancelled. We prayed hard and she slept through the night and felt much better in the morning. We sent a bunch of Zofran with Dad, just in case. Nothing is going to keep this girl from running with the wolves!)

Smiles don't get bigger than this!

First time on a plane!

Ah, bummer...no window...and still crazy ecstatic.

Then some kind people in some nearby seats were willing to swap so she could get the full experience. People are awesome.

The day was spent finding yummy food to eat.

 And shopping for super cool sunglasses.

Then off to bed at the hotel. Waking up bright and early to make all of Laney's dreams come true!

Back in Kansas we were having some pretty epic adventures of our own. Mathew was going through his Eagle board of review! It was sheer torture! I was so nervous and literally nothing was required of me!  But he did it! He presented and answered all the questions and he passed!

He's an Eagle Scout, folks.

And I'm so proud of him. What a great day this turned out to be!

Mathew's Eagle Project

It's go time!! Bright and early set up at Azria Health to get this gazebo looking charming by the end of the day. 

First things first: the donut station

Setting up supplies and attempting to save the concrete from paint spillage.

Here's a pretty good before shot. There was a lot of scraping and sanding to do before we could start the fun part.

The little girls chipped in on the garden while they were waiting for the painting to begin.

Finally! I love fresh paint! Mathew was great at delegating assignments and giving everybody a job that they could work at.

Emily came and worked so hard!

The Taylors, Isaac Garcia, Ruthie Osa and the Tiafau's helped us get a great start!

Ross can always be counted on the bring tools that speed up the process.

Ruthie is an artist and meticulously checked for missed spots.

Flynns came to pitch in!

Ethan had to work most of the day, but dropped in to lend a hand for a bit. It's pretty cool that these two had a hand in getting this gazebo repaired and looking spiffy!

It's getting there!!

I knew it was going to be bad...but I still underestimated how awful painting the ceiling would be. There were so many nails and it was torture on my arms and neck.

But Ross saved the day with his paint sprayer!! It went so much faster...and looked SOOOO much better.

 Look at that beauty!

There are the folds still standing at the end of the day. And so many wonderful friends came at different times to pitch in and contribute. It was a great project.

We are so proud of you, Mathew! You did it!!! Now for all the paperwork!