Eagle Court of Honor

Spencer's Eagle Court of Honor was a long time coming. We were finally able to get the schedules of family, friends, and church to coincide on January 29, 2010.

Granny and Grandpa flew in that morning and Granny got to spend some time playing "Just Dance" on the Wii with Spencer before we had to get busy with preparations.

We were all amazed at the special surprise she had made for Spencer to honor the special day. A quilt, of course!


The foyer display was ready with framed photos, programs, Eagle decor, photo book, and Eagle project book to welcome our guests. Spencer was so excited to greet everyone.


Nana and Papa ordered a beautiful cake imprinted with the Eagle pin and Spencer's name. It tasted yummy, too!


Noah, Isaac, and Calvin loved the decorations that had been
set up inside, especially the fake fire!

Jeremy did a great job as the Master of Ceremonies.

And Spencer's friends and fellow quorum members presented a fine flag ceremony to start the evening.

Spencer's Scoutmaster, Chris Strong, presented him with a nice knife to honor him as "Top Scout."

We invited the local Order of the Arrow members to do the actual Eagle presentation ceremony. It was stunning and so meaningful.

Jeremy, Brother Strong, and Brother Chapman (one of Spencer's quorum advisors) made up the Eagle's nest.

During the special ceremony, Spencer made commitments to continue to honor the Scout Oath and the Scout Law.

Chris Chatwin, Spencer's Varsity coach, made an emotional presentation.

Granny Paula was asked to bring forward the Eagle award.

Nana read a poem that made us all cry, "This Uniformed Little Boy."

It was such a special moment for me to pin on Spencer's Eagle badge. We have been through the many up's and down's of the Eagle project together and I was so proud of him for seeing it through.

Jeremy put Spencer's Eagle neckerchief around his neck.

And then we all applauded and cheered for Spencer!

Spencer gave mentor pins to Brother Strong, Brother Chatwin, and Brother Craig Nielsen for their support. They each gave so much time and hard work to the project and have been great examples and leaders for Spencer over his years of Scouting.

I received my FIRST Eagle pin on my Scouting "mother's bling" ribbon.

This is my favorite photo of the night. So sweet!

One of the coolest things the OA did for Spencer was this Eagle dance. The Eagle dropped one of its feathers during the dance and it was presented to Spencer. Neat!

This is a cute picture, too. Spencer loves his Nana and Papa.

The Eagle Feather.

Granny and Grandpa always tell the kids to "Soar High" like an eagle and not to be a turkey. They can always be seen doing the soar high salute as we drive away from visiting them.

Some of Spencer's long-time friends from school came to his court of honor. This is Sarah Jordan and LeAnne Heslop.

Spencer's awesome Scout Leaders.

Bishop Cowgur came to support Spencer, too. We teased him about his "stiff-neckedness" because he was wearing his brace after a surgery.

John, Jenna, and Amaya Garrard.

Spencer with Uncle Jared, Aunt Emily, and his cousins Calvin, Ethan, Austin, and Eliza. We were blessed to have so many of our friends and family attend the Court of Honor.

"This Uniformed Little Boy"

by Mike Wood

It seems like only yesterday, his eyes were lit with joy,

As we watched with admiration, this uniformed little boy.

Campouts, picnics, pinewood cars, the years slipped quickly by,

The colors changed from blue to green, in the twinkling of an eye.

Soon came ranks of Tenderfoot, Second, First, and Star,

Each leading him toward that final quest, once visioned from afar.

And then the rank of Life, and as life can often do,

The goal so close within his grasp, was dimming from his view.

Yet from within he found the strength to reach that final quest,

Remembering words from years gone by: I Will Do My Best.

It seems like only yesterday, his eyes were lit with joy,

As we watched with admiration, this uniformed little boy.

Now with an eagle upon his chest, he soars where once he ran,

No longer that uniformed little boy; our Son...An Eagle...A Man.

Snow Day

Yes, we know. All of you who actually get snow in the wintertime will laugh that we PAID to play in the snow.

The local water park offered a day to play in the snow (man-made, of course) in their parking lot. It was really cool (literally) to watch them put the ice in their machine and make the snow.

We invited our friends, the Heslops, to join us and everyone from young to old had a blast trying to cream each other (this is Jake and Spencer)!

Spencer was a little bit vicious in his snowball-throwing, so I sneaked up and gave him a cold surprise.

The biggest kid of all! Jon was merciful to Jacob and said he'd be on his team.

Luckily there was an area for smaller children (and moms who wanted to be safe from their snowball-throwing big kids).

Here are the Isaacs: King and Heslop.

Elizabeth was so cute. She couldn't make snowballs so she threw little bits of snow and would laugh and laugh.

Noah and Sam making a stand.

Jacob and Josh.

All of us, soaking wet and cold! What a great time!

Gilbert Temple

We were so mad at ourselves for not going to the Gilbert temple groundbreaking (in our defense, there just wasn't a spare minute that day)! So,we decided we would go every few months and document the progress of the temple construction. It's so exciting to be in a new temple district and we look forward with anticipation to the dedication of another House of the Lord.

Children's Museum of Phoenix

Yes, I am aware I am two months behind on my blog posts. Trying to catch up. Anyway, while Nana and Papa and Jon were here in December we took them to the Children's Museum. We got free tickets for donating to a food drive so we just couldn't pass up the chance to go. Spencer wanted to show off his Eagle project and the rest of us just wanted to HAVE FUN! You can see for yourself that we achieved both objectives.

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Christmas Night

What better place to spend Christmas night than the temple grounds? The music was beautiful, the lights were stunning, the Christmas spirit abundant. After the craziness of Christmas morning it was nice to feel the peace and joy of the real reason we celebrate. We love to share "our" temple with visitors!