The Seven of Us

Since I'm on vacation, I'm trying to catch up on old posts.  This is a photo of Caleb receiving his Star  Scout award in the fall.  He was able to go toPeaceful Valley scout camp in Elbert in July, and he earned several merit badges and was able to advance. Caleb had mixed feelings about going to scout camp, but he ended up kind of enjoying himself.  There were a couple of problems with camp:  it was scheduled so that it overlapped with an all-star baseball tournament that Caleb had dreamed of being invited to for years, and he was the only scout from our ward  to attend, so he was all alone:  no friends, no leader--just Caleb.  Luckily, Caleb is social & confident and was unfazed by the situation.  His scout camp began on Monday, July 9 and ended on Fri. (or Sat) . It was in Elbert, CO (not for from CO springs, smack in the middle of CO) and his tournament was in Lamar, about 325 miles southwest....

One Saturday morning in Febraury Caleb and I went to the MacGregor Apartments in Sterling to attend a meeting of the Daughters of the American Revolution.   We were there because Caleb had won an essay contest, which had actually been a school assignment. The subject was Paul Revere. The contest was for all sixth graders in the "greater" Sterling area (if there is such a thing).  Caleb really was not excited to attend the DAR meeting.  I could relate to his feelings; I remembered attending American Legion meetings and ceremonies when I particpated in the Oratoracle  Contest in high school. I was always uncomfortable.  Caleb was simply bored.  I encouraged him to smile and talk to everyone, which he did.  He survived--and he won $50.  Not a bad reward for talking with nice old ladies for an hour on a Saturday morning. On March 1st Caleb was inducted into Haxtun's NJHS (National Junior Honor Societ...

WEll....Caleb has earned his Webelos award! To do this, he had to complete four Webelos badges. He earned his fitness badge, citizen badge, readyman badge, and traveler badge. He learned how to wear his scout uniform (granted, he doesn't HAVE a uniform, but we're working on it)& memorized all twelve points of the scout law. Here is a sample from the "safety notebook" he made: From the section titled "HOw Can I Be Safe at HOme?" Caleb's answers: 1-Make goody 2 shoes choices 2-Obey the laws of the house! 3-Don't tell people I'm home alone. 4-Know the right phone # 5-Don't drink candles--I did! :-) (#5 happened when he was a baby; we spent a long night at the hospital) Sometime I will try to post some pictures of Caleb in his scout attire.