Landon's Baptism

Landon turned 8 back in April, but chose to wait to be baptized in July so that Dallin could baptize him.  It was crazy to think that we were already to this point.  It seemed so far away when Landon was a baby and we talked about Dallin being 16 when Landon turned 8 and able to baptize him.

 Dallin took his responsibility very seriously and the two of them looked forward to the day.

 Leon was a bit sad to relinquish the job since Landon is his last son.  But, he couldn't deny Dallin the opportunity.  Leon did a great job with the Confirmation, though.

 Landon is a pretty happy, smiley guy, and his baptism day was no exception.

 Anyone in the Windsor Stake can attest that every family has a few pictures with this same rock wall background - gotta' do it.

 We had a lot of great family support with aunts and uncles participating in the program and everyone coming over to the house for food afterward.

 The Knowlton clan:

 The Eddington clan:

 The ice cream scooping clan: (Thanks, Bronte and Savanah for rescuing that ice cream!)

 Landon was also blessed to receive such nice, thoughtful gifts.  He was excited to finally have his own journal and tie tacks like his brothers.

 Grandma and Grandpa were even thoughtful enough halfway across the world to get Landon started on his own scriptures.  Unfortunately, he'll have to wait a few weeks until the new 2013 edition comes out.  I guess being 8 is all about waiting - waiting an extra 2 months to be baptized and now waiting another month for scriptures.  He is sure anxious to get them, which I think is really cute.

What a great day.

Jayden's Baseball Season!

Jayden had such a great experience playing for the Royals last year and I had so much fun watching them play, that when baseball season came around again this year, I got all giddy and just had to take a picture of Jayden in his cute uniform.  

And, wouldn't you know it, he got to be on the Royals again this year - just a different group of boys this time.

 Being just barely 13 and short, he was dwarfed by some of the kids in the league.  He got questioned about his age a couple of times.  It was cute to watch him among the "big" boys.

 This year's Royals team wasn't as "successful' as last year's.  But, Jayden had a good time, which is all that matters.

Landon's Baseball Debut

 Since we had such a good time last year with Jayden's baseball, Landon decided he wanted to try it, too.  We put him in the Orem Owlz, which he loved.  He was even brave enough to play "catcher", which can be kinda' scary with that pitching machine spitting balls at you.  But, he did a great job stopping the balls with no fear.

 What a great "catchers" pose, huh?

 None of the kids were all that great at fielding, but to their defense, those machine pitch balls are really bouncy.  One of Landon's best plays got a girl out at first.  He was so proud of himself until he realized that she was upset and crying for getting out.  It was hard to celebrate Landon's good play with a girl crying.

 Landon held his own with that pitching machine, too.

 In the dugout with his friends.

Scouts

Now that Landon is 8 years old, we officially have every boy in Scouts.  Landon has been SO excited to be a Cub Scout.  He took his role in the flag ceremony very seriously.

This particular Pack Meeting was Cameron's last one.  He earned his last Webelos pins, 

the Arrow of Light

and his "Heavy Shoulders" award for earning all 20 Webelos pins.

Since Leon is the 11-year-old Scout leader, he got to welcome Cameron into Boy Scouts over the "fire".

One boy in - one boy out.

Cascade Springs

On Memorial Day we felt compelled to DO something, so we went along with Laurel and Doug's plan and headed up the canyon to Cascade Springs.  

Here we are at an outlook, killing time since Laurel and Doug missed the turn and ended up in Heber - oops.

In an effort to "protect" the area, picnic-ing isn't allowed.  We showed them and picnic-ed in the car.  How's that for following the rules?

At the top of the trail is the actual springs.  It's always amazing to me to think that this is the source of a pretty raging river not too far away. 

 How can a kid resist dipping something in the water?

There were plenty of signs to read and things to learn.

 Looking for fish....

 ...finding some fish...

...scaring some fish.  This picture just cracks me up - probably because it's not MY kid being pushed into the water, OR doing the pushing.  Mine are posing.  Ha!

 What a nice hike.

Landon's Soccer

Landon had a lot of fun playing soccer (aka "Cluster Ball") this year.  Even if he wasn't all that great at it, the smile on his face the entire game was an indication that he was having fun - win or lose.

\

When he saw me with the camera, he thought he should stop and pose.  Don't worry - the game hadn't started yet, so no cluster of players is headed his way.

Resting on the sidelines.

 Last team chant - "Go, Wildcats!"

 EVERY player on EVERY team gets a medal.  Really?  Hmm - celebrating mediocrity, are we?

 Now, ice cream is a much better way to "celebrate."

End of the Year Stuff

With the end of the school year comes a lot of programs and concerts.  

This year Jayden played percussion in the Beginning Band.  He got to play the synthesizer for the final concert - cool. 

Not so cool is when you are the shortest 7th Grader in the bunch and also a percussionist - hard to see over the tops of heads.  If you can spot Jayden, then you've got a good eye.

Landon's class performed some Spanish plays where he played a cat.  Even though I couldn't understand 90% of it, he did a great job - remembered his lines and smiled through the whole thing.

Here's the cast of the play - apparently there was a cheese, sausage, marshmallow, cat, and a mouse - you try to figure out which was which.

Dallin got to participate in the High School Jazz Band this year, which was a great experience for him.  Their numbers are small, but they had a big sound.

The end of the school year also means the Awards Assembly.  Now, this isn't my favorite event - by far - but as parents we have to be supportive, right?  This was Leon's first one ever to attend, and he was bored beyond belief.  The large stack of "awards" was a bit daunting to see.

Landon and Cameron both got "Top Academic Awards" - I think - hard to remember when just about every kid got something.