Daylon's Arrow of Light

After spending almost a week up at Fish Lake, my parents were gracious enough to stay another few extra days to stick around for Daylon's Arrow of Light ceremony. In fact, when Daylon joined Cub Scouts, my dad offered to do Daylon's Arrow of Light ceremony when and if he earned it. I was not about to let that opportunity fall between my fingers. So when i found out that Daylon was going to receive his Arrow Of Light, i snagged my dad and made sure that he he still wanted to do it. I've seen dad do several Arrow Of Lights while growing up and was pretty thick in the scouting thing. Nothing pleased me more than to have the honor of Dad sharing that milestone with Daylon.

Getting ready for things to start

Before the ceremony started, all the boys had to get their awards. Daylon and I worked our tail ends off and ended up earning ALL of his merit badges, a belt full of belt loops and several other awards. I'm quite proud of the little guy. I'm sure he did most of it to make mom happy but he sure did look pretty slick up there all decked out in his awards!

Getting the mother's pin for earning his Webelos award

The begining of the Arrow of Light ceremony.

Dad had all the kids gather up in front of him while he told them a story...

Dad was right on the ground interacting with them. They had a cool "campfire" going with indian music in the background and a teepee backdrop.

The three boys, Kyle, Daylon & Tyson, who received their Arrow of Light awards that evening, pinning on their mother pins
... and the big hugs (and kisses?) that go with it

The Weblos leader talking with the boys about what a great honor it is to receive this award.

... and being welcomed into the Boy Scouts

Our family and dad

(don't mind our faces... all part of the ceremony... although i'll never understand why Daylon thought it was so funny to put a green mustache on me LOL)

Thank you dad for making this such a special night for the boys.

It was special for not only us but also for the parents of the other boys.

Fish Lake - Day 2

The actual start of Vacation!

Everyone was up bright and early that morning to get packed up and off to Fish Lake. It's super nice that it only takes a hour tops pulling campers to get there from my house. Since i had to work, Kaye decided to give the kids a taste of country life and joined me at work. I'm guessing it was a bit of culture shock for them with all the comments LOL. After work we headed up to Fish Lake to meet up with the rest of the family. We spent the afternoon setting up camp, fishing at the beach for yellow perch and roasting hotdogs and smores over the fire. Later that night, I took Kaye and her kids down to my house for the night. They had to be on the road back home the next morning.

Tattoos galore... my mom has always got something great for the kids. Last year it was butterfly nets. VERY cool Grandma!

Kaye behind the camera... always. Howerver, not complaining at all

Uncle Gary and his one eyed wookey dog

my dad teaching sam on how to pull apart worms...

...and Sam NOT liking it one bit!

Uncle Gary showing Daylon where fish are supposed to go

... showing Sam where worms should go

... and how to properly kiss a fish

The evening fishing for yellow perch with the kids... absolutely priceless

Fish Lake - Day 1...

...which turns out isn't even the first day of vacation for us

The biggest thing in July is our annual vacation/family reunion type of thing that gets planned every year in advance. Every year my Uncle Jim and Aunt Connie reserve the big Doctor Creek campground and we go out and camp for 5 days. It's always during July and it's always nice to get away and still be close to home (i really love that part). This year it was over the 24th of July which made for and especially busy week for us.

But before the big camp out at Fish Lake, my parents and my grandparents, and every once in a while my Uncle Gary and Aunt Becky come to stay at my house for a day before going up. Everyone parks their camper trailers in front of the house for the night and we have a day of catching up and relaxing before the big week of R&R. This year was a special year. My oldest sister decided to come out for a visit during the same time as the family get together. She showed up with her two youngest just as my parents and grandparents pulled up. I spent as much time as i could catching up with my big sis (that i miss SO much), letting cousins get to know each other over again, and, more importantly, reconnecting with my grandparents that i never get to see except for these few days in July every year. The day was full of pizza, swimming, laughing, reminiscing, and just plain wishing i lived closer to my family.

A few of my favorite shots from the day, that my sister took. Did i mention that i loved that she has such a GREAT camera and she's not afraid to use it????

My Dad's Mom. I love this woman. I don't think I've ever really heard her say anything REALLY bad about anyone. Most times this woman has nothing but nice to say about everyone.

My dad and his dad. It's amazing how much they are alike. I love watching the two together. I can see so much of my dad in his dad from the way they talk to the way they hold their hands. My grandfather... he rocks. He's a great man and he's hilarious in his grandpa kinda way.

My dad... i can see him getting to be more and more like my grandfather. It's weird seeing him through other peoples eyes. It totally gives me a new appreciation for him. Makes me love him even more and more.

My mom. She hides from the camera way too much, and when you do get a picture, she's never smiling. This is my mom... and how i always think of her, with her smile. The smile may be hard to find sometimes, but it's there. And she puts up with so much of her kids crap! And yet she doesn't call us on it... what a woman.

This is my Sam. He's a spitting image of his dad. It's not often that i get him to myself when he's calm and wanting to snuggle. He's a daddy's boy all the way. Thank you Kaye for getting this... it just didn't last long enough.

The two girls, BobbyJo and Rianne. The kids, i swear they were twins separated at birth. They are so much alike it's unreal! I love that Kaye got his picture of the two girls with the horses. Oddly enough, i hardly seen either of the girls the whole time. They were off doing their own things together. Amazing how much calmer Rianne was with another girl around. Apparently all the boys around here makes life tough on a little girl.

and who could forget the two older boys? or well... three older boys.

Lets face it, DarRell is just as much a boy (with responsibilities) and they two youngers are. Hunter and Daylon got along great. I love that the kids think that DarRell is so cool. Someday Daylon will appreciate having a dad that's cool. The two younger boys ran wild and loved every minute of it. I love it when my family visits... i wish it would happen more often. I'm missing out on some very serious family bonding time and so are my kids.