Lisa and John

After posting about Cal’s Arrow of Light I realized that I never posted about Ivan’s bobcat.  (The pictures were in a different folder on my computer and I forgot about them!)  Ivan became a Cub Scout when he turned eight in December.  At the February pack night he received his BOBCAT rank.  In our pack, if you advance to the next rank you get to wear the BOBCAT hat.  It is from a real bobcat that Brother Pappas (our Cub Master) trapped.  His wife made it into a cool hat.  The boys just LOVE getting a chance to wear it.

It’s GREAT to be a CUB!!

Calvin has moved through all his Cub Scout ranks.  The highest award that a Cub Scout can achieve is the Arrow of Light.  Calvin earned this award and it was presented at a special pack night in June.

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Bro. Pappas is our wonderful Cub Master and he brought his gun for a special Arrow of Light ceremony.  There were two boys that received the award that night.  He spoke about the early hunters in America who cherished their guns.  This particular gun is a Hawkins Rifle.  50 caliber.  Muzzle loader.  Black powder rifle.  It was a great gun.  (Still is–he has taken down deer with this rifle.)

As part of the ceremony, both boys were able to go into the church parking lot and shoot this awesome gun.

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Here is a picture of the Pappas’.  These are their mountain man outfits.  Sister Pappas makes most of their stuff by hand.  Very cool!

Spring is here and our neighbor’s trees are blossoming and they look like pink popcorn everywhere.  So fun!  Avy is blossoming into the cutest little girl.  I wish I could capture some of the fun stuff she says on video.  One of her latest sentences is:

“My pinky… hurt…bad!”

and I was telling her that we were going to Emily and Natalie’s house today for Aunt Mary’s birthday party and she said,

“Me…go………….fun!”

Then, I was rubbing an itch on my eye this morning she said, very concerned…

“Eye…hurt….bad?”

So sweet!  She loves to say Papa and Reed, but can’t figure out “Calvin” and “Ivan” yet.  So, she has taken to calling them “guys”.

“Guys…home!”

And, since we are going to Mary’s house tonight for her birthday, I get to make the cake and I’ve been working on it.  She is so excited and keeps saying,

“Happy Cake!”  (She can’t wait to eat it.  And neither can I!)

Here is a fun video (below) of Avy “singing” popcorn.  It is one of her favorite songs.  We took this video last Sunday before church.

This picture slideshow generated with Smilebox

I am trying to instill in my children a love of service.  Helping others is really what life is all about, right?  And, it feels so good.  At least, to me, it does.  My children are not quite so sure yet.  I think, though, as we go along my children will look forward to opportunities to help others.

Here are a few things we have been up to lately…..

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Early in November, some home schooling friends and their families met up at Maple Dell and we did a service project.  We sanded the benches in the scout camp’s chapel.  It was a lot of fun.

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Calvin and I took one evening and went to the LDS Home Storage Center.  We canned some food for ourselves and for a sister in our ward.  Calvin had a blast!

Here is a picture of Brenna who is expecting her second child next month.

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I don’t have any pictures, but we also spent an hour at the LDS Bishop’s storehouse.  We bagged oranges and grapefruit into 5lb. bags.  We got to go into the warehouse and see where they store all the food.  The boys weren’t so sure they wanted to be there, and Avy had a fit in the baby backpack, but I figure it will take time for them to get used to the idea.  I had a wonderful time.

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We attempted to make some soft pretzels for some of our neighbors for Christmas.  The recipe wasn’t that great, so we didn’t give very many away.  We did something else instead.  But, it was fun to make these for others, even if they didn’t receive them.

This is the one Reed (5 years) made of Baby Jesus.  He did it all on his own.   Wow!  Doesn’t it look great?  We did give this one to our neighbor, Sister Nelson.  She is the only one who got one, though.

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We also had the opportunity to “help others” by watching our neighbor’s children while they packed up their house to move.  Lulu, Bubba, and their new baby sister were a delight to watch.  We will miss them!

Avalon loved holding the baby and feeding the baby.  She can’t get enough!

She also enjoyed being the “baby” and getting into the baby’s car-seat.  Too funny!

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We did a little cousin gift exchange for Christmas and the boys made some beaded necklaces for their girl cousins.  They turned out very cute!

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Well, that is all I have for now.  If you need service rendered or can think of good ideas for children’s service activities, please let me know!  Helping Others is fun!  Right?…..Boys?…… Right!

Remember Kelsey?  Well, she was blessed in November.  It was a quiet, beautiful service.  Here is Avy admiring the “bebe” afterward, but she didn’t want to smile for the camera.

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Here are the kids having fun with Papa!

I have no idea what Reed was doing here, but I thought it was a cute photo.  He is a fun, happy kid!

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Grandma Pratt came over one day a few months ago and brought the boys these spinning top things.  They were somewhat complicated to figure out how to operate.  We looked to the packaging for help in knowing what to do….

Say what???

Can we say “MADE IN CHINA”???  (The boys did figure it out and enjoyed the tops for about 1.1 day until they broke.)

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Here is Avy at the Cablelas hunting/outdoor fun store.  She loved all the fishes.

Another cute pic of Avy.

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This is how Calvin can be found just about every waking hour.

Ivan was baptized this past weekend.  My folks came from Oregon for the special occasion.  So did some other Pratt family members.  We had a lovely weekend and the baptismal service was beautiful.

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Ivan and John are all dressed in white for the ordinance.  The spirit was strong at the baptism and I’m so glad that Ivan has taken this important step in his eternal progression.  Baptism is the first step toward living with our Father in Heaven.  He also now has the gift of the Holy Ghost to guide him throughout his life.  What a beautiful gift from God.

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Here are most of us.  We took some more pics after the baptism, but I haven’t got any of those on my camera.  Oops!  Maybe someone can send me a couple?

I made a smilebox slide show of a few of the goings on:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I taught my last “Healthy Cooking with Your Food Storage” class in November.  This has been a monthly class that I have taught in my church for the women.  We have done lots of fun stuff and our last class was on PIZZA.  Who doesn’t love pizza?  We made some fun gourmet pizzas along with a couple traditional kinds.  We all just brought lots of toppings and then played around with the sauce and toppings.  A sister in my ward even brought some home-made mozzarella and feta cheeses.  We used a %100 whole wheat crust which teaches us how to eat food from our home storage.  It was so yummy!  I think we all left a little over-stuffed.

We had an early morning flag raising at the Laney’s home.  I took a picture of the flag and there happened to be a bird flying by.  I thought that was patriotic.  I doubt it was a bald eagle, but Calvin has spotted a golden eagle in the area.

Calvin was the one to raise the flag to the top of the pole.  That’s my boy!

Not the most flattering picture of John and I, but we are both scouters now!  John works with the 11 year old scouts and I am with the wolves (8yrs) now.  Very fun!

She was ticked because I was trying to take her picture when she wanted a piece of waffle.  I thought this picture was too cute.  Oh, and that is a rug burn on her forehead from an unfortunate spill while I was visiting teaching.  She did a head plant on the sister’s front porch.  Luckily, a rug protected her slightly from the cement.

When fathers and sons get together to prepare for the pivotal moment, the most exciting race, to know who’s the best, and who’s not.  Yes, it’s Pinewood Derby time.  And, Calvin and John spent many hours getting Cal’s car juuuuuust right.

We have to weigh the car to make sure it is no heavier than 5 ounces….

Popcorn makes the experience more fun for everyone.  Yes, there is sawdust on my table.  That is nothing compared to the permanent graphite stains that are now on my white vinyl tablecloth.

This great evening was made even greater with Calvin receiving his BEAR rank.

Our ward has a fun face painting ceremony when the boys achieve their next rank.

(I am Calvin’s Bear Den Leader, hence the yellow scout shirt.  Don’t I look cute?  Ha!)

Really, John should be putting this on.  He has worked consistently with Cal to make this possible.  I love, you, honey!

Number 57.  The “Rainbow Racer”.  A beautiful masterpiece!

Here is our cute little neighbor, Sister Nelson (Maurene), who came with her husband to watch and support Calvin.

Here is Calvin very excited to win his award.

The Award.

(P.S.  I created these certificates.  Don’t they look snazzy!)

Here is one of the refreshments.  Isn’t this the cutest?! (I swiped this pic from my Assistant Leader’s blog.  Thanks, Brittany!)

I have made a little video, but I cannot get it to work here, so I may have to wait for another day…  Perhaps John can help…

We had a great evening and Ivan is excited for next year.  So is John when he gets to help make TWO pinewood derby cars.  Woo Hoo!