Highest Honors

Mar-Kay has served for over 30 years

in the Scouting program.

He has been awarded the

District Award of Merit

which is the highest award in Scouting

that a council can present.

And the Winner is...

Shantell won First Place in the

Civic Orchestra of Tucson

Young Artists Competition 2011

performing Beethoven's Concerto No. 3

She will be the featured soloist with the orchestra in November.

I am BACK to STAY!

My life has been out of control and I have been beyond busy. But finally, I can see a light at the end of the tunnel and can begin to enjoy some of the things that I have missed doing, like blogging. So bare with me as I try and catch everyone up on our lives.

One of my loves continues to be gardening.

Here is today's pick!

My artichokes are unbelievable. At last count

we have 45!!! We have already harvested 12 of them

and will share some of our favorite recipes over

the next few weeks.

The plant alone is over 5 feet wide.

The Eagle Has Landed!!!

Kendrick is an EAGLE SCOUT

He passed his Board of Review on

December 8th, 2010.

On Saturday, April 30th, 2011

he was awarded his Eagle at a Court of Honor.

These Eagles were made by Shantell and I and were
part of his refreshments. My sister Melanie gave me the idea.

Here are a few pictures that capture the moment

of the evening, taken my Nan Cowley.

I ran out of memory on my camera and missed a very important picture of Kendrick and his older brothers, Mar-Kell and Cameron who are also Eagle Scouts. Tyrone could not be in attendance because he now lives in Idaho.

We are so pleased with Kendrick's accomplishments. He set a goal and worked very hard and diligently to accomplish it. He earned his Eagle at age 13 and 1/2 and has 71 merit badges. He has several more that he is working on and plans to continue to earn as many as he can. He was also awarded a Bronze Palm at his Court of Honor in recognition of his going above and beyond the required 21 Merit Badges.

It is a great feeling to have five

Eagle Scouts in the family!

As a mother, my heart leaped for joy because

I AM FINISHED WITH SCOUTING!!!

That is until my grandsons begin their

journey towards Eagle.

SNOW in TUCSON

UNBELIEVABLE

So much for my gardens!

Perfect Ending

The main reason for our "Snow Trip" was to have one final family gathering before my son Tyrone and his family move. I have not even dared to say this out loud for fear that it would really come true. But alas it is true, He and his little family are really moving. I have been a total basket case for the past two weeks. One minute I am happy and the next, I am sobbing uncontrollably. My children just look at me and don't know what to do or say. The good thing about this is that they have been extra obedient to try and cheer me up. I have always known that this day would come, but what I did not expect was the pain that accompanies it. Thank goodness for modern technology that will enable us to keep in touch.

Our perfect ending for the day consisted of a campfire dinner as the family huddled near the fire to get warm.

We had invited a good friend who was called into work at the last minute to join our family. Since he was unable to make it, we packed snow in a large cooler and took it to him.

Once down from the mountain, the snowball fight began. Much to my dismay, the memory in my camera was too full to capture all of the fun.

FAMILY FUN in the SNOW