Cub Camp Pics

Peter took a few Ipod pics from Cub Camp so I wanted to make sure to get those on here.

Friends

Dallin's best friend lives 2 houses down from us, so they take every chance they get to play together.  It has been fun to see Dallin have a close friend.  They were in the same class last year at school too.  What a fortunate blessing to find a good friend that lives so close. His younger sister comes to play a lot too so our kids and their friends make a great little pack of playmates. Dallin asked me to take a picture of him and his buddy, isn't that so sweet?


Water play with friends (not all pictured).   They had all kinds of things going on here.  Our sand boxes have turned into swimming pools.

Rain Gutter Regatta

For his second pack meeting Dallin got to do a Raingutter Regatta.  It is kinda like a pinewood derby with boats.  So it is no surprise that Peter and Dallin (and visiting uncles) made a pirate ship. 

Dallin also received his first award, the Bobcat!  I have already decided that hand sewing patches on is not for me as I see a lot of this coming in the future with 4 boys and plan to buy iron on adhesive as soon as possible!

These boats are designed to be raced in gutters with the kids blowing the sails, so the creek action was a little disappointing but Dallin was still proud of his boat.

A Budding Testimony

Dallin's spiritual maturity has really shown since his baptism.  He takes the gospel very seriously and loves to learn from the scriptures.   This morning before church, he was watching a lot of the illustrated scripture stories on lds.org and learning about everything from Joseph Smith and the Gold Plates to Moses.  I love how he just has the drive to do that without any encouragement from us.  It has been really beneficial for our family to only watch church movies and use the church website on Sundays.  The kids seem to be more drawn to the church materials that way so that helps.

I think that is what got the spirit going in his little heart.  When we got to church, we only had about 5 minutes before it started so Peter dropped Dallin and I off at the door to go save a bench for the family.  We sat down together and I could tell that Dallin was feeling extra reverent.  Then he leaned over to me and said, "Mom, I KNOW that the church is true."   followed by, "If there were 5 million bad guys trying to get me to do bad things, I wouldn't do them."  I thanked him for sharing his testimony with me, and told him that because it was fast Sunday, there would be an opportunity for people to go up to the podium to share their testimonies.  I told him that if the spirit made him feel it in his heart to go up and share, he could.  During the songs, Dallin followed along with the words and started singing with gusto, which he has only just started doing the last couple of weeks.  It makes me smile to hear him sing the Hymns. 

During the meeting I was out with Lily most of the time, but Dallin whispered to Peter that he wanted to write a song.  Peter got paper out and dictated for Dallin and what came out was a very mature little page long testimony of Jesus and the gospel.  Peter told Dallin that if he wanted to get up and share his testimony, he would go with him.  Dallin decided to go for it.

So they went up and sat in the stand to wait their turn.  Dallin started to cry a little bit and told Peter he didn't know why he was crying because he wasn't sad.  Then he said his heart was beeping (beating) really fast.  Peter told him that it was because he was feeling the spirit and because he was nervous.

When it was his turn, Dallin very reverently stood at the microphone and said very simply that he knows the church is true and that he was so glad that he got to be baptized and closed with that.  It was a perfect little testimony from his heart. 

I wish so much that I could have heard him instead of dealing with an hour long tantrum, although Peter did a good job in relaying it to me afterward.  I got choked up just hearing about it.  I am so proud of this little man and who he has become.  He will be a great spiritual leader for his siblings and to those around him.  He is a very special little boy.  As his mother, it is an amazing feeling to watch his spirituality grow. Joy would be the best way to describe it.

To Meet a Stake President

We had our Ward conference last night and today.  Peter took the chance to talk to President Dalton about Dallin and his recent baptism.  Peter arranged to introduce Dallin to him today after Sacrament meeting.  During the Sacrament meeting, when President Dalton got up to speak, we pointed it out and Dallin put his book that he was looking at down and sat up tall so that he could see and listen.  It was cute to see him getting so excited.  Then, later after the meeting, Peter brought Dallin to the President and he said "Oh, this must be Dallin." and shook his hand.  He commented on Dallin's new suit and said, "Wow, you look like a prophet!"  Dallin really thought that was great.  What a neat moment.

A Boy Scout, a Birthday and a Baptism

My little Dallin just insists on growing up.  This birthday came with some big changes.  When you turn 8 in our church, you can choose to get baptised.  Also, you can start cub scouts.   We went to our first Pack Meeting the day before his birthday and toured the firehouse.  That was a fun start.  Peter ran out and bought Dallin his uniform because we found out that his school had asked the scouts to perform a flag ceremony.  So, the next morning on Dallin's birthday, he got to perform his first duty as a scout.  It was too cute to see him in his uniform.  It was also hat day, so after this he got to wear a birthday cake hat with candles coming out of the top. Perfect timing.  

Dallin wanted to have Pop Tarts for his birthday breakfast.  I was equally grossed out and glad for such   and easy task.  For dinner he chose Pot Stickers and Ramen Noodles.  Fancy!  I guess he misses some of the stuff I no longer buy.  To top it off, we let him invite his best friend over for dinner.  He really loved that.  He opened several gifts including a Lego set, Erector set, Star projector and of course what he loves most, cold hard cash.   Dallin got started right away on his lego set and because it was Friday night, and his birthday, we let him stay up to work on it.  Slowly everyone else went to bed and it was just him.  I waited up with him since the house was dark and quiet and I didn't want him to feel alone.  He was focused and determined to get a certain part done (Sponge Bob's pineapple house to be exact). We finally went to bed at 11:00pm.  WAYYYY past both of our bedtimes. 
  The next day on Saturday, the 4th of June 2011 Dallin was baptised a member of the church.  This was such a sweet day for our family.  Dallin was so cute about the whole thing.  I could tell he was feeling very spiritual about it.  A lot of family and friends came, it was such a wonderful feeling.


The girls








One of my favorite things of the whole day was taking his picture.  He usually gives me big goofy grins, but not this day.  He had the most angelic countenance like this the whole day.  I just loved seeing his face.  Since Dallin was born, I have always love the sweet expression in his eyebrows.

Dallin did very well during his baptism and confirmation.  He was so reverent and serious.  Afterward he came up and gave me a big hug.   He loved the idea of being made perfect.  Since then, he feels compelled to stay on top of his sins and I have heard him repenting for certain offenses towards his siblings a couple of times. On Sunday in primary, he was asked to come up and talk about his baptism.  They said he pretty much gave a talk on it and explained all the details in such a cute way. Dallin has a strong testimony and loves the gospel.  He has a very special spirit.



Even his Great Grandpa H. came out just for his baptism.


Attempt and fail at family pictures afterward.





After the Baptism, we had our whole group of people over for a barbecue.  The weather was perfect and there were kids all over the backyard playing. It was a great sample of summer.  We had a birthday cake for Dallin and had fun relaxing and eating.


Very happy.


I am so amazed by this special boy and love him so much.  Dallin, I hope you will always remember this wonderful birthday and baptism weekend and how very special you are.

Growing Up

Dallin seems to be going through a growing up phase lately.  He just seems older to me.  He isn't really a little boy anymore, more like just a boy.  A few things have really stood out to us lately. At church he started Senior Primary this year.  I think that has been great for him. One big difference though is that it is during the 3rd hour of church instead of the 2nd so afterward, the chairs all need to be folded and put away.  Right away, Dallin saw the need to help and every week he spends a few minutes getting them all put away.  Many of the Primary workers have told me what a gentlemen he is about it.

Then when we go to leave the building, Dallin will hold the door open for EVERYONE while they come out.  We commonly have all the kids loaded and the car running before Dallin will leave the door holding and come home with us.

On Saturday Peter went to help a family move and Dallin wanted to come so he said okay.  Peter told me that Dallin worked the whole time without stopping. He helped load everything into the moving van.  He was dirty when he got home from working so hard.  People couldn't believe what a hard workder Dallin was and Peter got lots of comments about him.

Dallin really likes this kind of stuff. It is built into him. As a mother it is sweet to see him so eager to help people.  Now if I could just get him to do his chores...