I'm a GRANDMA!!! (again)

Missy and Mike had #2 on Sunday!! Lily James Hancock was born on June 29th at 4:39 pm (PST). She weighed 7 lb. 13 oz., and was 20.5 inches long. Mom and baby are doing great - everyone's home and adjusting to life as a family of 4. If you would like to take a look at this beauty, click HERE

Colorado is nice this time of year

Finally, all of my boys are home! Brad got back on Saturday from Camp Alexander in Colorado (near Colorado Springs). The scout troop has gone there for the last few years, but this was the first time that Brad got to go on his own. He had a great time, and earned 4 merit badges (camping, archery, life saving, and wilderness survival). There were rumors that a black bear walked through their camp with a fawn in its mouth, and also that a bear had rummaged through one of the tents!

For the wilderness survival merit badge, the boys have to go (in groups of 3) into the forest, and spend the night. They have a tarp, water, knife, and a rope, and must build a shelter for overnight. Brad's group did well - he said that they only slept about 20 minutes. I don't think that was because they were scared, but more because there wasn't anyone telling them to go to bed!


This is a picture of the group that went this year. It took me a minute to find Brad (front row, left side) - it was a big group - but he looks like he's having fun!

They survived!

The boys are back in town, and they had a great trip. I've heard amazing stories of things such as brushing their teeth with charcoal, seeing bald eagles in the wild, how loons make awful noises, and peeing on Canada. They both had literally hundreds of mosquito bites on their legs (ouch!) but are starting to get better.

This is a picture of their crew - the guy in red was the "tour guide." Interestingly, the man on the top left, Tom Hulcy, worked for my dad YEARS ago at the Boy Scouts corporate headquarters. His grandson, JT (front, brown hair) is now in the same troop as Drew, Nick & Brad. What a small world!!

...and then there were two

I am down to just 2 children this week. :( Saturday morning, Drew & Nick got on a plane to Minnesota to participate in the Northern Tier trek with their fellow Boy Scouts. They will be out on the water for the week, canoeing. They'll carry their packs and food with them, going through the lakes in the boundary waters between the U.S. and Canada, portaging the canoes where necessary. From what we've heard, of the big 3 Scout treks, (Northern Tier, Philmont, and Sea Base) this one is, by far, the most remote. There are 3 crews, and each crew has 5 boys, 3 adults, and 1 guide. Drew & Nick are in the same crew, and Nick is the crew leader.

We've spent months, little by little gathering the gear that they needed. The big thing was having to take synthetic clothes; t-shirts, shorts, pants, socks, even underwear (eww.). That's so that everything will dry quickly. We got new hiking boots (yea!) then brought them home and drilled holes all through the soles (huh?) so that when the entire foot gets submerged, the water can eventually drain out. Sort of like do-it-yourself jungle boots! Packing was interesting - everything had to be in dry-sacks or in large ziploc bags. The boys were very good about it - they packed everything (more than once!), made sure they had everything on the list, and even knew what things they could actually do without.

I am so proud of them, but at the same time, I worry. I'm sure everyone has seen the story of the 4 young men that died last week at the scout camp in Iowa. This is a very different situation than my boys will be in, but nonetheless, it still comes to mind way too often. That said, I'm sure that they'll be having the time of their lives, and making wonderful memories.

Go Mr. Cruz!

One of our karate instructors, Mr. Cruz, had a cage fight in Lubbock last weekend. He won in the first round with an arm bar. woo hoo! As Brad says, "He ROCKS!" The week before the fight, we got to take turns working him over during class (to improve endurance, of course) and he went for ten 5-minute rounds! It obviously paid off, and he did great. In the video, he's the one in the Puerto Rico flag shorts.