Jake Becomes a Boy Scout

The highlight for Jake this week came on Saturday.  Jake joined cub scouts in first grade and

another mom and I became his den leaders. We've had a great group of boys we've been working with over the past five years as they've worked their way up the ranks. Their cub scout journey ended on Saturday when they became boy scouts.

When Jake ended up in hospital, we weren't sure if he was going to be able to finish what needed to be done to earn his Arrow of Light. (Arrow of Light is an honor that can be earned as a Webelow II by completing a set of requirements.) He had a handful of things planned to complete over the summer which obviously wasn't able to happen. The boys can become boy scouts without earning the Arrow of Light, but it's what he's been working towards the past year and a half. And, come on, you get an arrow! In January, he finished the last of his requirements and was so excited. When we were going through his book, he realized how little he had left to do to also earn the Super Achiever which is completing all 20 activity pins (you only need 8 of the 20 for Arrow of Light). He decided he wanted to do that too and was able to get everything finished.

On Saturday, we had our Blue and Gold banquet. It's a really cool ceremony for the boys and their families, Jake was grinning ear to ear all night. We have dinner, a cake contest (the "pizza" in the bottom right was our submission this year) and the ceremony itself. There is a story teller who talks about the boys journey as a new tiger scout working towards becoming an eagle scout. He's very entertaining and even lights a scarf on fire. The boys who earned their Super Achiever Award are recognized and then the Arrow of Light is awarded. (It was pretty cool when the storyteller selected Luke to help him distribute the arrows, he took his job very seriously.)  The boys thank their leaders, then crossover a bridge with their parents and are welcomed by the boy scout troop they are joining. I tried really hard to keep it together but finally just gave in to the tears. I was so proud to see Jake up on the stage receiving not only his Arrow but also his Super Achiever. Scouts has been such a big part of our life for the past five years and it was the first group of kids he saw once he got out of the hospital. He went to a scout meeting even before he went back to school. Our scout family has been so incredibly supportive of Jake and the rest of us...I'm really going to miss them. Luke still has two more years, but all the older boys are now moving on.

Jake was pretty wiped out by the end of the night, but also really happy which was great to see.

P.S. If you want to see the pictures bigger, you can do so here https://plus.google.com/photos/113131787883990698606/albums/5978617672967725745?authkey=COCv1YbHrJzh9AE