Last Tiger Cub Meeting

We finished getting the truck packed, the house cleaned and last Joe's BBQ meal eaten and we headed off for Christian's last Pack meeting in Arizona. He led the posting of the colors with the help of a scout leader. He stood at attention and was very grown-up about it. I guess this Boy Scout program does work...who knew. (wink, wink)
He led the pledge...

And the cub scout motto...he did an awesome job. If I hadn't been so exhausted and proud, I think I would have cried. I never was a crier before, but I think this whole motherhood thing has done a number on me for certain things.

Here we are with Christian during the advancement ceremony. He was all business.

He was so excited to get the powder Tiger paw print on his back. He was thrilled.

Dad putting on the award...

Getting their beads and other awards they had completed. They got blue and yellow paint on their faces. He was so proud of that he wouldn't wash it off for two days.

Because we were moving a month early, Christian got his Bobcat award and advanced to Wolf a month earlier than the scheduled time.

Dad switched the neckerchief. No more orange, he is onto yellow.

His Tiger Cub leader Necole was just awesome this year. She loved the boys and had so much energy and enthusiasm, not to say anything about patience...you have to with this age. We are going to miss her!
Proud of that paw print, which got smudged through the night of ceremonies.
Excited and exhausted, we left the pack meeting early to head up to Williams, the first leg of our move. Sleep is far from their minds.
A proud papa with his son. It was a good night. He has earned getting his Bobcat turned right side up by doing a good deed. Now if we can only find where dad put it safely for the trip...
Congratulations, Christian! We love you!

The Moving Birthday Parties

So, what does any sane person plan to do the weekend they are getting packed and moved? Have a Moving Birthday Party, of course. I had a few people express that it was a bit crazy to do, and so it was, but we just had to do it. We have been doing birthday parties every other year and this was the kids year to have their parties. Last year, I thought that this might be a problem, but Mike assured me we wouldn't get another job that quickly after our 3-year commitment was up. So we waited. I knew that they really would want to have parties with their friends that they had in Arizona so we did them a moved it up to the weekend of the move so that they could. However, we probably would have had a moving party anyway, so it was a two-for-one deal in the end. I was a little anxious that it go well, but it was just fine. I am not a detail oriented person, so I forced myself to put all the details on Excel so I would hopefully not forget anything with all that was going on. It worked out great.

Luckily, the kids were excited about doing their parties at the same time and wanted to do the same stuff, maybe I just really sold them on the ideas. In addition, over half of the kids that came for Christian were a brother or sister of a girl that came for Katie's party, to make it easy we did it together and they loved planning it. We had a water game themed party since it starts getting hot in April. We were really lucky as the weather was a little unpredictable that week. I was praying that we wouldn't fry and it wouldn't get cold and rain. We didn't get either of those, although it was really windy. But I would take that any day over the other options.

Katie wanted to play the game to see who could pop their balloons the fastest and here the kids were getting ready. The team that got them all popped first won. And if their balloon blew away, they had to chase it down and pop it. Just additional excitement added. They had a dead tie and it ended in laughter.

Then we played water balloon volleyball. Thanks to my friend Melanie who not only brought her badminton net, but also helped me fill and tie MANY water balloons for the day. She also became my camera woman...didn't she do fabulous? The kids loved it, even if they hardly volleyed. It was really about getting wet.

We had a water balloon toss...the oldest boys won, of course...

We had to have a water balloon fight and the kids loved it. I bought 1000 balloons. We still have at least half left. I think we will have to fill some up in July and do it again here with the neighbors.

The balloons went fast...

Then they played cold potato, which you get a water balloon, poke a few holes and you don't want it to pop or have it empty when it gets passed to you. The kids had a lot of fun. I popped a few on myself as I was poking them. It was great!

They were loving it...

I think their favorite game was splash tag. We had 4 sponges...there should have been more...and if you got hit, you were it. It was a great game.

They played this while we set up for the pinata and cake and ice cream. When everything was over, many went back out and played this until their parents arrived. Whoever said that tag was out of fashion? Okay, I never heard anyone say that either...just checking. :)

The pinata! I cannot tell you how excited Katie and Christian were that they had a pinata. This was one huge pinata too. They helped fill the pinata in the morning which was a huge help!

Just to be destroyed...

In the end, by this guy...Christian's favorite babysitter. Isn't that cool that he came? Christian really wanted him to come and this 14 year old boy did. He was great. And he helped out too when we needed it. Like putting up streamers because he could do it without a ladder...unlike me.

Christian picked out an Iron Man cake. Hey, I have my limits while moving. Making the cakes...not happening so much. Albertson's was great!

Katie is growing up. No pink on this cake allowed. Indigo blue was wanted and purple was allowed to be the accent color.

Can you see how windy it was? But it was warm...so it was okay.

Christian's friends...one final picture. Memories are what we can take with us and that is what we made. His two best buddies Kristin and Reagan in the center with him.

Here is my little shy girl with all of her friends. It was the end, and I nearly started crying. I had to hold it together as I hoped that she would make friends quickly this time around and that she would be able to keep in touch with these special friends that she loves! I didn't know 9 years ago that my heart could ache that much for another person. (She is really doing well though, I have been happily surprised! And she is keeping in touch.)

A few more pictures as people were leaving. She loves them all, but just a few cute pictures that I wanted to comment on. Katie has proclaimed Maya as the funniest person she knows. They played basketball together at recess and were in class with each other every year of school.

Emily, her good friend that she met in Girl Scouts. I didn't want to do it at first when we moved to Arizona. It had been Mike's idea. They were never in the same class at school, so I don't think they would have ever met without Girl Scouts. I hate to think of the friendships we would have missed if we hadn't done it!

What can I say...look at that face. Christian got Luke and Leia action figures and is ready to play Star Wars with Kristin when they come to visit. She is Leia on the playground, people. Don't mess with her. She has been such a cute friend!

And my two DEAR friends, Melanie and Cindy...I could not have done this party without them. They volunteered to stay through the whole thing and helped me wrangle the kids and keep me organized and didn't mind me giving directions and usually anticipated what I or Mike needed before that. Thanks for helping me! You rock.

Thanks also to Terrie and Sonja who both "lent" their bathrooms to us for the party, as this park didn't have any. It would have been disastrous without that. You can't put a price on that!

Since I haven't found another place to put this, we have also had other dear friends that during our last days in town fed us, offered to help us pack and clean, and many who wanted to help in some way. What a wonderful place we called home for three years. All of my friends truly made it that and we love and miss you. Thank you for everything!

In the end, the kids had a great time celebrating while also getting closure to a wonderful chapter in their lives. They are adjusting well to the changes but are eager to see their friends again someday! Come visit...we have room!

Last Day of Work...for a week.

On Mike's last day of work they did a little send off for him. I got the kids out of school so they could be there for it. He loved working with his boss Larry and all of the staff in the Grand Canyon Council. Larry is a very generous person with his time, guidance and friendship. Mike will miss being around him. As a going away present, they got him a picture of the beautiful Arizonan desert so that when he is cold in Utah it would warm him.

Here Larry was waxing eloquent about Mike, and poking a little fun...they had fun together.

Here he is with his friend and co-worker Michael, who was promoted to Mike's job right after he left. He got married two weeks later. Lots of changes for everyone.

After it was over we jetted back to the kids school for their end of the year concert. Katie is at the top left corner. She was glad she made it back.

Christian made it back for the whole school numbers. Do you think he knew I was taking a picture? He is a ham.

When we got home, we had been heart-attacked. It was really sweet. We felt very loved. We left it up for a few days, until it started to blow away.

They even got the trees.

We will miss all of our friends. We felt very loved there!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles...oh, wait...just Planes and Tiger Cubs

Two weekends before we moved, we went out to the Arizona Wing Museum with Christian's Tiger Cub pack. We got to see a lot of really old planes that flew during different wars. Walking among history was a treat and it was a beautiful day. It was still not getting too horribly hot.
I think Mike has motor envy here. Look at thing. It is huge!
You wouldn't believe how the boys "fought" for a chance to get on the rocking airplane. They all loved it. Luckily, Christian was barely able to fit still.
Lots of planes to look at.
They didn't know this, but it is a cub scout plane. Look at the colors... This man was our tour guide. He worked on planes, I believe (I should have written this sooner), in WWII. He was so cute and loved the kids. In the bottom picture Christian took his hand. I think he was touched by that little act. All the men that worked there were veterans and you could tell they loved being there. They were cleaning up for a prom that night and they took such care with everything. Gotta love those guys. They were great!
Here Christian is under a wing. He is just too cute for me. I just want to pinch his cheeks. Please don't grow up, but if you do, you must still cuddle with me unconsciously like you do now...unless you are a smelly teenager before a shower...
Do you see the legs on that girl? They are not from me and she is going to be taller than me...which isn't that hard to do, but she still will be.
Very cool planes.
Of course, we find Mustang's wherever we go and this would not be an exception. It was a very pretty car. I think the license plate said something about P-51 Mustangs...
which we got to see also. This was just a few minutes before it took off. We got lucky to get up close and see one take off. It was a lot of fun. A great memory of one of our last activities with the Tiger Cubs. Everyone loved it.

We also got to go to the Helicopter plant that adjoins the property. It was really cool. They told us that we couldn't touch anything before we went in and had all the boys put there hands in their pockets. We entered and Mike wandered over to the first helicopter and knocked on the hull. I love my guy. It was a fun day that ended with slushies since it got a little warm near the end.