How I Came to Believe Scouts was Great

Olaf has been in Scouts since the day I met him. He's been on endless camp-outs. Summer and Winter. He's worked with all ages of boys. He loves it. I endure it. I'm glad he loves it. And most times I don't mind it.

As our boys got old enough they also joined Scouts. They worked on rank advancements. They went to Pack nights and Court of Honors and many camp-outs. They loved it for the most part.

I knew it was a good program. I knew the boys were learning things that were helping them to grow into good adults and responsible citizens. But I never thought it was a program my boys could live without. I really felt like we were teaching them most of these things anyway. And maybe we were.

And then Calvin went to Timberline Training Camp the summer of 2008. He grew up a lot that summer. I just assumed he was growing up. Olaf felt that Timberline had been a big help in that growing up.

Then Calvin died that October. When we came into the cemetery after the funeral, the cemetery road was lined with Scouts holding American Flags. It was unexpected. It was wonderful. It was a tribute from the Scouts he'd been with at Timberline. They were honoring a brother of theirs.

Over time Olaf ran into and talked to several of the parents of those boys. They told Olaf how this event was so important to their boys.

After that small but important event I realized that Scouts isn't helping the boys to become better adults and responsible citizens, it's also helping them today. Right now. Helping them mature as responsible teenagers. I realized that if these boys who hadn't had much contact outside of Timberline camp could care about each other this much, then this was something Great, not just Good.

And that was how Scouting went from Good to Great in my Book.

Glorious Spring Break

This year, Spring Break landed on Easter weekend. We've never had any days off around Easter. So this year we headed to Sunny Las Vegas. And I'm so glad we did because at home they woke up to several inches of snow on Easter and for several days afterwards.

While everyone at home was wrapped up in their flannel jammies, we were eating Easter Dinner on the patio.

The Eater Bunny even thought about hiding eggs in the yard, but decided there were too many thorns in the yard. So the Easter bunny just hid them at Grandma and Grandpa's house. The kids had a good time finding them all over.

The day after Easter was Olaf's 40th birthday. Since we weren't home and I couldn't throw him a big party with all his friends, I took him on a Mob Tour of Las Vegas. Lesson learned: The Mob is really Mean and Violent, don't join. But a monument was placed behind the Flamingo hotel and it's the only monument to a Mobster in the whole US.

Earlier that day we went to the International Boy Scout Museum, also in Vegas. I told Baby to pose like he was looking at stuff and he struck this pose. While I'm sure he thinks it's akin to The Thinker, I think it makes him look like a monkey.

Here's the whole family including my Mom. And Flat Stanley. He's going back to California in a few days so he went on vacation with us.

Then we headed to Arizona to visit my Bestest Friend and family. I've never been in Arizona, other than the airport, which doesn't really count. So I enjoyed watching the countryside.

Loved the numerous Joshua trees and Saguaro cactuses.

My friend has a pool. So my boys didn't waste any time jumping in the water even though it wasn't quite 80 outside. The Arizonans still feel like it's too cold to swim, but my boys, still in the throes of Winter back home, thought it was plenty warm.

We headed to Tombstone. The Rowdiest town in the West!

Here's my and my Friend with a Man from the Past. I think he was headed to the Bird Cage Theater to cause a ruckus.

We stopped at the Boot Hill Graveyard. The graves were all covered with rocks. Once I explained to the kids what was under the rocks they quit trying to climb all over the rocks.

There were a few tombstones with entertaining epitaphs.

And we finally found the Birdcage Theater. The most Haunted Building in the US. Next time I come to town I'm taking the Haunted Tour of Tombstone. Plenty of people died here, I should see at least one ghost.

Then we headed to Kartchner Caverns. They found the bones to a sloth so we had to get a picture of the fake sloth at the visitor's center. Love extinct beasts.

Here's the kids climbing all over one of the stalagmites. But this one isn't real, it's fake and in the visitor's center. They are very careful inside the cave to keep it living. Yes, Mother Earth is real.

We have been having so much fun on our trip. It'll be sad to go home in a few days. But Tank will be glad to see us!

Headstone

The headstone is finished. It was put in today. The base has been in for a while and we've been driving by for weeks waiting for the headstone. It would have taken a lot less time and effort to call and just ask, but not really.




Calvin used to call Lucky Charms, Charly Chams. He always had a goofy smile on his face. I can't tell you how many people remarked that he was always smiling. Plenty of people referred to his "Goofy Grin." It was just part of him. And we couldn't leave out Boomer the Basset Hound. He was meant for Calvin. I know he's still chasing Calvin around up in Heaven. Maybe up in Heaven he doesn't run away. And if he does I bet the Mean Dog Cather doesn't put him in the Pound.

Memorial Day

I thought Memorial Day was a vacationing holiday until I moved to Utah. Having never lived around family much less buried family members I had rarely visited a graveyard during my childhood. When I did it was usually treated as a beautiful park to walk through, as were golf courses. And the reason I thought it was a vacationing holiday was because my Dad was so adamant about NOT going anywhere on Memorial Day. Memorial Day and Labor Day were, according to him, the most traveled holidays of the year which in his opinion equaled most car accident holidays of the whole year. Cars on the road always equaled a car accident waiting to happen. We didn't travel on busy holidays on account of the possibility of a car accident.

When I moved to Utah and was around for my first Memorial Day I was shocked at the number of people at the cemeteries. By this time I knew it was a time to remember people who had passed on but I thought it was for people who had served in the military. When we drove by a cemetery on Memorial Day and I saw the roads inside and out choked with cars and people everywhere I was surprised. But I learned that Memorial Day is for remembering anyone who has passed on and left us all behind.

This was our first Memorial Day. We are lucky to live in a small town where they spend the extra money on lawn care in order to allow people to do almost anything they want in the cemetery for their loved ones. This weekend we went and bought some things to decorate Calvin's grave; flower basket, bird feeder, and wind chime. On Sunday Baby wrote Calvin a sweet note to put on his grave.
Sunday evening we went down to the cemetery to set things up. Baby taped his note to Calvin's plaque. We should be getting a headstone in the next month or two.
Then Olaf pounded the shepherds hook into the hard ground while Middle Child held it in place. We put it between Olaf's Dad's and Calvin's spots. We figured they can share it.
Then we hung the things we bought and Olaf wrapped them with lots of wire in hopes of not losing things to the wind or teenagers.

Olaf's Mom brought down a gorgeous arrangement of Red, White, and Blue flowers earlier this week. And I don't know where the orange flowers came from. My Easter decorations are still up, lilies and Easter eggs since he couldn't join in the hunt this year.
We went back down Monday evening. Olaf had put up some flags. And throughout the day several of Calvin's friends dropped things off. My neighbor told me that while at the store her son (Baby's age) was specifically looking for flowers for Calvin's grave. He kept looking for a bunch of flowers with a ribbon that said "Friend". He misses Calvin too.
As Olaf was driving away after putting the flags away (there is a US flag, Troop flag, and another homemade troop flag (I made that one) he saw a cute girl hop out of a car and put a rose down by Calvin. Several of our neighbors told us they saw cute girls bringing things to Calvin's grave throughout the day.
The charm in the flower says "I Love You." So sweet of all his friends.
Another good friend of Calvin's brought down some flowers with a nice note. It says "Friends Forever." I hope so.
It amazes me that the kids still remember him and talk about him. I never had someone close to me die when I was younger and I didn't know what to expect of his friends. I'm glad they still remember him. I know some of his friends have made a few changes in their lives because they have seen how fragile life is, not something many teenagers experience. I know he was a teenager and far from perfect, but he was still such a good kid and so likeable. I decided I'd come down before they clean everything up and plant the flowers that his friends had left. Since we can't plant them there I'll bring them home and plant them where I can see them and be reminded of Calvin and his great friends. I'm thankful for the awesome friends he made in 7th and 8th grade. Knowing he had a bunch of good friends makes me feel better.

Calvin's Plaque

This week Olaf had a plaque made to put on Calvin's grave. He then had his friend weld together a stand so we could put it in the ground. We did this because we wanted something to be at Calvin's gravesite until we decide what we want to put on a headstone and then have it made. And picking out a headstone for your child is something no parent should ever have to do but far too many parents have done. Just thinking about it creates chaos in my head and I can't concentrate and even think about what would be perfect for Calvin. When we get something picked out I will post it so everyone can see it. In the bottom picture you can see some of the things that others have left at his grave. I think it's neat that others come to see him. I'm glad that he touched so many other people's lives.