Saturday, March 3, 2012

Um... yeah, It's been a while

Well, Oakli finally lost her first top tooth. (Apparently it was make your own freckles day too). Loosing teeth is significant because she IS loosing teeth, and Chase, ISN'T. He is older and 7 years old. He is starting to think he will be the only kid who makes it out of 2nd grade without loosing a tooth. Maybe. Here's the cheezy, hope-your-teeth-are-clean-and-no-pepper-in-the-cracks up close picture. Just a few days later this happened: (Maybe it was more than a few days. I'd like to think that it was because the lighting is so different, but I'm sure it was probably just a few.)

And here's a more normal picture of the situation:

In other happy news, our yard flooded. BIG TIME. This is a picture from the upstairs window looking down at the backyard. We've never had water up this high before. Usually if it does flood, the trampoline and play set are on their own deserted island. Not so much this year. The water got up to the top of the trampoline. Crazy! We were fortunate to have no flooding damage.

The bus wouldn't come pick the kids up for 2 days, because the water was too high. (We still were able to drive them though.) As we started to drive around to see how all the neighbors fared with the water, we came across this. It is a chunk of road that got washed up onto the other section of road. Lots of water still coming across the road here.


Feb 3, 2012 Bryce had his Eagle Scout Court of Honor. Wahoo! It was such a great night. We had a lot of family come. Bryce had a lot of his uncles there that are also eagle scouts. There are 9 all together (dad makes 10). The actual ceremony was nice too. Uncle Tyler did an awesome slide show for Bryce that can now be seen on YouTube: http://youtu.be/DwRBiM6rSW8

This is a picture of all of the Boy Scouts that were at the Eagle Court. Bryce has a few merit badges now. His total is up to 83. Only 48 more to go (unless they add more).

Taking the Eagle Oath:

Receiving the Eagle pin:

Let there be cake: I wanted to show close ups of these cool medallions, but the picture just isn't good enough. Maybe when I get better pictures back. The lady who did the cake actually made merit badges and stuck them in the cupcakes.

Bryce worked very hard to earn his eagle so young. He was 12 when he earned it. He has the goal to get every merit badge, and 20 eagle palms. He had his first BoR last week for his first Eagle Palm.

Each winter we have tried to do some skiing with the kids. This year we have finally made it! All 4 kids can ski on their own. No more crying and whining. No more tears from mom and dad. No more screaming. No more holding up kids as we attempt to ski down the hill. No more holding onto mom and dad's poles. No more forgetting to get off the lift. Oh wait, that still happens (Chase). Kids can get up on their own when they fall (except for one). No more threats. What does that mean? Dad is finally happy! (I'll admit it, we gave in and put Chase and Oakli in Ski Camp. That made all the difference.)


Bryce and Ambri on the chair lift.


Here is Oakli. Love that helmet. Personalized and all!


In other news (too bad I can't put that in newsprint type)... Ambri tried out for High School Musical with her BFF. She came home from school on Monday and asked to try out. Of coarse I said yes. She said she had to sing a song. Uh, yeah. So she whipped out a Taylor Swift song. Good ol' Taylor. Then they had to do dancing. Uh, yeah. I mean, Ambri has lots of rhythm and can hold her own, she just hasn't had any dance classes. They taught them a small routine there. Ambri went dressed to kill, not for functionality. She wore her big Ugg-like boots. They had try-outs 2 days in a row. The 2nd day she didn't really have to do much. I looked at the rehearsal schedule and it is M-Th, 7-9pm. That right there made me wish she didn't make it. Does that make me a bad mom? Ambri was only trying out to be a cheerleader. Seriously. Between piano, guitar, Achievement Days, and soccer, now potentially play practice too? Well, needless to say, she made it. She was so excited! Me, not so much. Practices start tomorrow and go like, every day until the day of opening, which is like the end of May. Just make my life more complicated, why don't ya?


Saturday, February 25, 2012

It's not your day...

I've been wanting to do a post for a long time, but I've been having serious issues with the new updated blogger interface. Maybe it is new computer syndrome. I don't think it's that. My new computer seems to be working just fine, but needless to say, I'm back to the old one for this. I can't find the button that says "new post" with the update, on the new computer. Good thing I didn't click on the "Try the updated Blogger interface" on this old computer. If you haven't done that yet, don't give in to the dark side! Maybe I'm just totally missing something. I don't think so. I've been dealing with crummy ear issues (which I think I got fixed, and may be having a re-lapse), and now eye infection in both eyes, which is forcing me to wear my glasses. Not a happy momma! This about sums it up for me:


Then I saw this and found the logic to be extremely awesome!

And lastly, this one just made me laugh out loud, and think of my brothers. I don't know why, but for some reason it just did.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

I'm thinking about it... (I'll be back!)

Friday, June 3, 2011

Star for Life (not on your Life), going on 39

Today is the day I brag on my son. He is great. Sometimes a little cranky, but what pre-teen isn't, right? (Or any of us, for that matter.)

Bryce is a Boy Scout, and a very determined one at that. He is 12 (and a half, that part is very important for this brag post). He is a very determined Boy Scout. So this is already very confusing. This post has 2 parts to it. It is most definitely all about Bryce, but I'll just get right to it. First off, Bryce had a court of honor on June 1st, and was awarded his Life rank, which he earned on April 27th. That makes him eligible to earn his Eagle Scout rank as early as October 27, 2011. (Eligible, is the key word.) He could quite possible pull it off! Now the 12 and 1/2 part that I told you was so important... Bryce won't turn 13 until December. So, if he does pull off earning his Eagle at his eligibility date, he will EARN (I am a firm believer the term earn, versus given... another rant for another day) his Eagle Scout Rank before he turns 13. So early you ask??? (You are not the first...) We'll get to that in a bit.

Second. Bryce also EARNED 16 more merit badges. This brings his total up to 39 now. (A Boy Scout only needs 21 to be eligible for Eagle.) Bryce has put in A LOT of hard work for each of these merit badges. He has earned 3 with his troop and all the rest on his own. He has not been to scout camp yet. Bryce has set the goal for himself to earn all of the merit badges that are currently offered. Right now he can earn 130, so we'll see where he is at when he turns 18. So that kind of brings me back why would he want to get his Eagle so young? If he can get his Eagle when he is still 12, AND he stays active in his troop until he is 18 (among other things), then he would be eligible to earn 20 Eagle Palms. There is a time requirement for each Eagle Palm, thus the time crunch. At this point he seems committed, we just have to keep him on the right path, so we'll see how long it lasts!

This is a list of the Merit Badges that Bryce has earned so far (in the order that he has earned them):

First Aid*
Swimming*
Tracking (2010 only)
Pathfinding (2010 only)
Cycling*
Music
Communications*
Signaling (2010 only)
Carpentry (2010 only
Lifesaving*
Law
Family Life*
Personal Management*
Fingerprinting
Electricity
Citizenship in the Nation*
Reading
Leatherwork
Basketry
Snow Sports
Aviation
Insect Study
Space Exploration
Scholarship
Sports
Computers
Genealogy
Citizenship in the Community*
Citizenship in the World*
Astronomy
Salesmanship
Golf
Soil and Water Conservation
Environmental Science*
Oceanography
Automotive Maintenance
Art
Coin Collecting
Public Health

With all of that out of the way, he has a few more merit badges that are in the completion stages and then he'll be taking a break for a while. Bryce has 3 more required MB's that he has to do before he can qualify for Eagle (one almost finished, one that he'll be doing in July, and one that he won't finish up until after Scout Camp). Right now he is focusing on his Eagle Project which he is in the final stages of approval on. He is a great kid with lots of ambition. Way to go Bryce!

Here is a picture from the Court of Honor:

3rd Annual Super-Duper-Cooper-Looper Marathon

On Saturday May 28th, 2011, we had the 3rd annual Super-Duper-Cooper-Looper Half Marathon. What a smashing success! Thanks to everyone who helped out this year. We had a great time, and thanks to everyone who came out and participated. We had 54 recorded finishers. Great job everyone. A special thanks to Doug and Connie Asay who came out just to help, and Dave Burton to helped with the aid stations as well. We couldn't have done it without your help! Now, I only have one picture to post, sorry! That is what happens when I participate. It is of the wisest of the bunch who finished (way to go Grandma!) and one of the youngest (almost), great job as well, Chase!

I am not going to take the time to sort the times by first to last, so just scan down the list to find your number (if you remember it) and your time. Just remember, these were bikers, walkers, and runners mixed in. Next year I'll try to keep track of who did what.

301 Oakli Burton 1:49:08
302 Chase Burton 2:00:15
303 Bryce Burton 1:16:54
304 Ambri Burton 1:29:55
305 Kari Burton 1:48::45
306 Mike Dedera 1:55:55
307 Jodi Dedera 1:29:58
308 Maddi Dedera 1:23:55
309 Mya Dedera 1:28:58
310 Danny Dedera 1:57:53
311 Angie Dedera 1:29:13
312 Josiah Dedera 1:24:00
313 Lilly Dedera 1:29:13
314 Steve Farrar 1:54:12
315 Kris Farrar 3:04:16
316 Kraig Farrar 1:42:25
317 Joe Phair 1:42:10
318 Katie McGowan 1:58:28
319 Kyle Latimer 1:39:10
320 Goldie Burton 2:00:23
321 Jamie Stover 3:26:51
322 Raine Morris 3:26:47
323 Debi Burton 2:15:43
324 Jamie Pierce 51:36
325 Cody Bush 1:16:50
326 Garrett Burton 1:17:03
327 Jenna Burton 1:29:46
328 Sam Burton 1:39:28
329 Kelly Merrill 2:11:08
330 Sarah Merrill 2:11:08
332 Maria Burton 1:39:28
334 Tom Burton 1:39:30
335 Nathan Tolman 1:40:22
336 Nick Tolman 1:17:06
337 Satina Tolman 2:10:19
338 Tatiana Tolman 1:40:22
339 TJ Hafner 51:36
340 Heather Clark 2:05:42
341 Jason Hawthorne 1:28:09
342 Angela Smith 2:07:07
343 Bethany Marteeny 1:29:54
344 Doug Marteeny 2:28:39
345 Hannah Marteeny 1:11:08
348 Allison Parmenter 3:04:17
349 Jennifer Madsen 2:06:28
350 Rachel Madsen 1:21:01
351 Larry Sykes 1:18:57
355 Teresa Gardner 2:17:21
356 Rob Simmons 55:22
357 Andrea Simmons 55:22
360 Crystal Sublett 1:57:32
361 Paul Tappana 1:27:57
364 Brady Tappana 1:32:57
365 Ryann Tappana 1:27:57

If I have made any typo-s or left anyone off the list, please, Please, PLEASE, let me know. The list was very long this year (a good thing) and I could have made any number of mistakes. Feel free to pass the good news along to everyone who is on the list so they can check out their good work! I'd be happy to post pictures as well, if you would like to email them to me as well.



This is the logo that Bryce designed for this year's race. It was also on all of the finisher's medals. He did the design this year for his Art Merit Badge that he successfully completed after the race was over. Bryce is a Boy Scout and is now working on his Eagle Project. Awesome job Bryce!




Great job everyone, and thanks for coming out. We'll see you next year!