Eagle Project

 

Brandon did his eagle project in June.  He built a trail in the Blanca Vista Park right along the pond.  I didn't go out there until the day we met the trucks that were dumping the rock for the trail.  It is really a beautiful spot, and it will make such a nice place for people to walk.

He raised $850 to pay for the rock, but when he met with Rocky from Southway Construction, he found out that they wanted to donate all the materials.  It was incredible!  So.....he is using the money to put benches along the trail instead.

 

Brandon was so good about organizing the day.  He worked really hard to get things ready.  He looks good out there and is a natural leader.

The city crews were kind enough to use their equipment to dump rock along the trail, so they didn't have to move it all in wheelbarrows.  That helped a lot to speed up the day.

The scouts still had plenty of work moving, raking and finishing the trail. 

We ended up having some extra rock.  They used that to put in the picnic/barbeque areas.  It made the two picnic spots look much better.  There were people waiting to use it as soon as we were finished.

The boys all worked so hard, and we made sure they were well-fed with pizza, and rootbeer.

There are lots of nice trees along the trail.  It is a pretty spot.  We also had perfect weather that day.  It wasn't too hot, and there was a nice breeze.

Now more people in the community can enjoy the gorgeous view of the pond and Mt. Blanca.  I am proud of my Brandon boy!  He is growing up so fast into an amazing  young man!  Today he finished typing up the application to become an eagle scout.  Job well done!

A Cluttered Mind

 One of my favorite artists is James Christensen.  The name of my blog came from one of his paintings.  We recently learned that one of his prints was for sale.  The print entitled, "Balancing Act" is similar to the themes of The Burden of the Responsible Man and The Responsible Woman.  Nathan and I both fell in love with it and the price of a print was pretty good, so we now own our first real piece of art.  I had it opened up in our room and was staring at the different images.  I really liked what Christensen said about the piece, "This is a very autobiographical piece.  I just didn't know how I could balance another thing in my life, and then, bingo, this idea came into my head.  Life is a balance between fun and work, spiritual qualities, education, nutrition....our lives are continuous balancing acts.  Of course, some of us make it a little more complex by putting our only balancing foot on the back of a moving turtle.  why are there three clocks in the image?  Because we're always balancing time."  After I stared at it for a while, I went around the house taking pictures of images in my house that I found very symbolic of the balance I am working toward achieving.

My white board was maxed out, and I needed to redo it every day just to stay on top of everything.

This was Brandon's pile by the back door.  This was not posed, but it fit his summer perfectly.  There is a paint can for the rest of the deck that he needed to finish painting.  His eagle form is there along with his basketball bag, and his trek cowboy hat.  Also, his book that he was trying to squeeze in was balanced on top of everything else.  That boy has had a BUSY summer.  I'm sure it's just the beginning.

This piano was used for piano lessons, piano practice, and my organ music is on top of it, as I had to get ready for another Sunday of playing.  There were wipes sitting on the piano, and my group counseling textbook that I had to read in 3 weeks and then take a test on was in process of being read.  Somehow it all got done.

We got Danielle a cool bike, and I'm afraid it is still sitting mostly unused.  We will get there hopefully.

The boys have been writing a book together.  Connor is the author, and Andrew is the editor.  They have also discovered computer programming. 

I wish that was the explanation to the unmade bed and the trashed room, but I don't think it honestly is.

My pile of trek clothes, church bag and books take up one corner of the room.

My school books and laptop take another.  I should have taken a picture of our main computer, since it died for about a month, before we got a new motherboard. 

A pile of laundry was sitting in my bathroom waiting to be brought to the laundry room for three days, before I finally got it there.

Our Family Home Evening lesson was sitting where we left it when we finished it, but it was a good lesson.

I read in one of my textbooks this summer that our environment is a reflection of where we are currently in our life.  If that is true then my life is close to chaos.  Someday we will get our picture framed, and I will enjoy looking at it and continue to ponder the idea of balance, but it may be in two years.  Still, I have no regrets, and though the balance is precarious it is working for the time being.