Sail on silver bird

Tom received his Eagle yesterday afternoon. We are very proud of his accomplishment. After four misfires on his project, he finally found a good one and completed it. He made children's picnic tables for two homes for pregnant women that our Stake was helping. They were thrilled to get the tables, and we were excited to finally finish a project. As Crew 1 Committee Chairman, I conducted. I was also his first Scoutmaster. Tom's other Scoutmaster, Craig Rees (Eagle Class of '92) spoke, and his other Scoutmaster, Rich Skeate, presented Tom his Eagle. Here you see the Eagles' Nest repeating the Eagle Scout Oath. Dad and Mom prayed, Cathy led the music, and Cathy and Heidi sang "America the Beautiful." My good friend Joe Doyle, a Silver Beaver, (who was Craig Rees' Scoutmaster) was Tom's escort.



Here is the proud Eagle family. John and Eliza are away at BYU and were unable to join us. Tom joins me (Eagle Class of '74) and his brother John (Eagle Class of '03), as well as numerous uncles and cousins in the family Eagles' Nest.

We had had a nice lunch before the Court of Honor. Special thanks to Heidi for her efforts in encouraging the project and setting up the Court of Honor. She truly earned her mother's pin. Also to Dad and Mom for coming out to spend the afternoon with us. There were many others who played important roles in Tom's Scouting career, especially those in Tribe of Tahquitz who were both mentors and tormentors. This caps Tom's career as a Young Man, which included his Eagle, the On My Honor Award, induction into Tribe of Tahquitz along with two eventful summers on staff, and two two-week missions. He has had many great opportunities as a young man.
Heidi pins the Eagle Scout Medal on Tom (actually on his uniform!).

Tom just returned from three weeks in Nauvoo, where he served as a missionary on the stage crew for the Nauvoo Pageant. He had a great time there, and really didn't want to come home.
He also made the Dean's List in the College of Business at Cal State San Bernardino. We are proud of our Tommy!

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right . . .

Cathy is visiting with us this week, and we've had a busy week. She made a trip to the dentist, then we saw The Wizard of Oz at the Redlands Bowl. It was an excellent community theater production.

Today, we all traveled to Anaheim to see the circus. We had great seats, and we all enjoyed it. The show was awesome. The 21st century circus is not the same as the circuses we saw as kids. The clowns don't clown like they used to, and there were no tightrope walkers. That's progress for you. But the acrobatics were great, and the elephants and tigers (and the dog and pony show) were lots of fun. Christy's last circus was 10 years ago, and she slept through that one, so she was excited to see it today.

Best of all, when we go to see the circus, we all become children again. Even the adults look at the spectacle in wide-eyed amazement. That is what is special about the circus. How many things in this world bring out the child in everyone? We need more of that in this old world. It would make it a much better place. From where we sat, there was just pure enjoyment all around us (along with popcorn and cotton candy).

Happy Independence Day!
We are grateful to live in this great nation with all its freedoms. Especially the freedom to worship as we choose. Without this freedom, the gospel could not have been restored. Even with freedom to worship, the Church had rough start. We should all be thankful.