Layton played football for the first time ever and we discovered that he is really good at it! It was so much fun to watch him learn and get better and better with each game! He played on the SnowflakeTaylor League for 5th and 6th graders. He was the fastest kid on the team.

 These next few shots are my favorites. The ball was kicked over his head back to the 5 yard line and Layton scooped it up and ran it 95 yards for a touchdown! He had amazing blockers and he outran all his defenders. It was very exciting!

 Layton was one of the team captains.

 These three boys were the 3 fastest runners on the team.

Its not very polite to brag but I am such a proud mom! He scored more touchdowns than anyone else all season. Our team made it to the Championship Game, where we lost to Round Valley. They were the only team that beat us all season. In the Championship Game, we only scored one touchdown and Layton did it. That boy can run! It was so exciting! We lost our voices cheering and screaming for him. He had a lot of fun and can't wait to do it again next season in Junior High.



 I'm finally getting around to posting the pictures from Josh's Eagle Court of Honor. It was back in September and it was down in Mesa in our old ward. It was fun for him to be there with all his old friends, where he actually did his Eagle Project.

 Chris Strong was his Scout Master and was a really great leader in Josh's life. Josh gave him a mentor's pin that night and Chris cried and told everyone that Josh and Alex were his favorites.

 I pinned his eagle award over his Life patch.

 He pinned a mother's pin on me.

 And Vance got a father's pin.

 Josh pinning his Mentor Pin onto Chris Strong.

 The Eagles nest is where everyone in the room who has achieved their Eagle Rank sits. It was a really big nest!

 One of the highlights of the night was that there was an actual live eagle there.

 I made josh pose behind his display table.

 Josh and the live eagle.

 Josh's display table consisted of his Cub Scout shirt and awards, a photo board of pictures from his project, a picture of him as a baby, a current picture, Uncle Lloyd's wooden eagle, his Eagle Project Book, and my laptop showing a video of his project. I also put his name on a wooden board so people would know it was his table since there were 6 tables that night.

 Granny and Poppy came down for the Court of Honor.They gave him a knife with his name engraved on it.

 We ahd a lot of support there that night. We didn't get pictures with everyone but this is Carlie, Grandma, and Eliza:

 Misty brought Cooper:

 The Menloves came and this is Mathew:

 Josh's best friend down in the valley is Alex:

 And Josh's favorite gift of the night was from Kevin:

I am so proud of Josh for earning his eagle and for doing it whle he was 14 years old. He's a good boy and I love him so much!!!

Adventures In Cake Decorating

Josh had his Eagle Court of Honor this past weekend and I am going to post all the pictures once I have them all, but for now, these are the cakes I made and decorated for the other 5 boys who also got their Eagles that night. I let each boy choose what flavor cake he wanted and how he wanted it decorated. MaryAnn made Josh's cake. Vance's sister helped me. I made all the cakes at home in Taylor and froze them. Then took them down to Gilbert where I had one day to frost and decorate them. I couldn't have done it without Monica's help!

Roosevelt Lake Tubing with Friends

Early in the summer we took the boat to Roosevelt Lake and let the boys invite friends to come with us. Josh brought his friend, Brian Hanlin and Layton brought Coy Owens. I took the picture below because I thought it was funny they both had the same swim suit. Totally unplanned.

My boys are very tall for their age. Both their friends are shorter than they are but both their friends are also older than they are. I don't know how my kids got to be so big!

 

I don't know what it is about the water, but I can't get enough of it. Any time Vance has had a day off or the kids have a school break, my instant thought is, "Let's go to the lake!" This trip to Roosevelt is the only time we went all summer. We tried to make time to go more but life was crazy busy this summer. We got to do other fun things that kept us closer to home, but all I wanted was to be near the water! I have dreams all the time about being in Rocky Point and about floating down the Salt River. I even dream about swimming in our old pool. I think I'm definitely a water girl!