River Boat Cruise

I had the fun of being in charge of our last ward activity.  It was a river boat cruise down the Mississippi with a stop in New Orleans for dinner, entertainment, and fun in the Bayou.  You can see a full post on my craft blog by clicking here.  But, my favorite part of the evening was Hyrum and his friends performing to Yankee Doodle Dandy.  They were adorable!

Cub Scouting

Now that Hyrum is eight, he is officially in the scouting program.  He loves the weekly activities and had a blast at the pinewood derby!  His car featured himself holding a sword and shield on a skateboard and weighed in right at 5 ounces.  (Hyrum has really been in to working with Fimo clay lately.  I can't count how many clay figures and accessories there are around our house now!)

Hyrum's Baptism

Hyrum is eight years old already and was baptized with his friend, Dylan, on Friday night.  It was a great baptism.  He was soooo excited!  The family all pitched in with Dad doing the baptism and confirmation, Moroni and Grandpa Mel being witnesses, McKay giving a prayer, and Mom giving a talk on the Holy Ghost.  It was a very special evening.  Afterwards, Hyrum was so excited that he got baptized that he was telling everyone...even the clerk at the store.  The conversation went something like this:

Hyrum to the clerk:  "Guess what, I'm eight years old and I got baptized tonight!"
Clerk:  "Why would you want to do that?"
Hyrum:  "So I could get the Gift of the Holy Ghost!"

He had a similar conversation with the person at the ticket office of the movie theater.  He's a missionary already!  Speaking of missionaries, through the magic of photoshop, Ammon was able to attend the baptism also!

The boys enjoy doing a pose they call "The Barney Stinson."  Silly boys!

Mega Man

 This year Hyrum wanted to be Mega Man for Halloween.  I had the perfect colored stretch lycra material already in my stash.  I picked up the rest of the supplies at a thrift store.  I used a basketball for the helmet.  It worked perfect because it was soft and pliable and I was able to cut the shape with scissors.  I used a football for the mega blaster.  These were both covered with the lycra and glued in place with the glue gun.  I cut a hole at one end of the football and wedged a flashlight in it.  It serves two purposes.  One, to use as a handle to hold the blaster, and two, as a cool light-up power source.  I covered the lens with transparent red tape.  The boots were made using thick plastic/foam placemats.  They were also covered with the fabric.  Hyrum LOVES it so I'd say it was a success!

 

A Week of Firsts!

Is there anything this kid can't do?  First off, he learned to operate the excavator....

Then we went camping at Diamond Lake and he caught his first Rainbow trout on Uncle Rick's fishing boat.  He pulled in three on the first day. Then, on the second day, he pulled in two—including one that measured 17 1/2"!!

What a whopper!!

(Of course, he was hoping to catch a Barred Knifejaw because they sell on Animal Crossing for 5000 bells!)

And while he was at it, he learned to be captain of the fishing boat!  Thanks Uncle Rick for taking us out in your boat!

Posing with Dad to show off the haul from the first day...

Next on the list was to become a Junior Ranger for Crater Lake National Park. 

He studied hard...

Had all the right answers...

And earned his patch from Ranger Brian....

Pretty cool, don't you think?

Notice the "Master Sword" tucked into the back of his t-shirt?  No self respecting ranger goes anywhere without one!  (He would bring his sword on our walk to the restroom to "protect" me.  One time a car came along.  He said, "Watch out, Mom!  I've got to stay alert for those!"  What kind of a seven year-old uses the term "stay alert!?")

And last, but not least, on his week of firsts...the crowning event...drum roll please....

He learned how to ride his bike!!  His dad worked with him a lot before he had to leave and meet up with the boys on their fifty-miler.  He pretty much had it, and could go about 50 feet without his dad holding on, but wasn't completely confident.    It took a lot of convincing to get him to practice.  One conversation went something like this...

Hyrum:  Mom, who's the boss, you or Dad?  Because Dad says I can't play video games until I ride my bike...and I don't think Dad should boss me around like that?  (He was hoping that I was the boss and could boss Dad around!)

Mom:  Dad's not bossing you around, he just knows you'll have fun once you learn to ride your bike.  Its fun to ride a bike.  Once you learn how, you'll love it.

Hyrum:  How do you know I'll love it?  I don't think it will be fun.  I'm okay with not riding a bike.

Mom:  You know, to be a missionary, you'll have to learn to ride a bike.

Hyrum:  No I won't.  I can be a walking missionary.

Anyway, this went on and on.  But, finally....

SUCCESS!!
And, BTW, as soon as he learned to ride his bike he said, "Okay, I was wrong, it is fun to ride a bike!"  And from that moment on, he announced to EVERYONE that went by our campsite that he could ride his bike!  All in all, I'd say it was a pretty eventful week!

Jammin'!

The other day I went into the band room to find this....it was pretty sweet!

Then, they changed venues and opted for ukeleles on the stairs....

Nothing more fun than a brother's jam session!

Hyrum's Craziness Repeat

So I played around a little bit on iMovie and came up with this...enjoy!

Hyrum Craziness!

Who says it has to be a nice day to jump on the trampoline?  Hyrum proves otherwise!  Although, he had to completely change his clothes (because they were SOAKED!) and he had to have a big cup of hot chocolate when he came in!

Happy Mother's Day

Below is the heart-shaped card that I got from Hyrum on Sunday. 

I know it's dark and hard to read, so I will translate...

"Mom, I love how you make me top ramen every day."

"Thank you for not being LAZY."

"Thanks for not being LAME."

Then he drew several Link characters, including a master sword!

You gotta' love him!

He's a Reading Machine!

Hyrum received a certificate of achievement today at school for reading.  I credit it to reading scriptures.  Instead of reading words like "Run, Spot, Run,"  he's reading words like commandments, inheritance, genealogy, obedience, wilderness, Jerusalem, etc.  Now, you just don't get those words in your typical first grade book!

And the victory bow...

Easter Fun!

Yesterday we had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard.  Ben's two little nieces came over, which made it more fun for Hyrum.  It was a beautiful day and they had lots of fun.

  

As you can see, this was a fairly easy egg hunt!

I know these are weeds, put they are kind of pretty!

And they're off!!

Some eggs were even hidden under the trampoline.

Hyrum was quite the gentleman and even retrieved some of the eggs for the girls.

This is usually where we hear one of Hyrum's signature sayings...

"Uh, people, could I get a little help here!"  (Seriously, he says this quite often!)

It's a good thing all those weeds are growing well in the flower beds.

Otherwise, is would have been hard to hide the eggs!

Hyrum + Camera = Silliness!

I was going through some old pictures today when I came across these pictures taken by Hyrum at age six.  You might ask, "What does a six year-old take pictures of?"  Well, let me show you...

Three pictures of the floor.  (I guess that stain on the carpet was pretty cool!)

Four pictures of the bed.

One picture of the remote (of which has mysteriously vanished....haven't seen it anywhere!)

One picture of the contact lens case.

One picture of the lightbulb.

Six pictures of the spinning ceiling fan.

Forty-seven pictures of the TV show you were watching!

Yep, that's right, forty-seven!

One picture of your hand.

One awesome picture of your eyeball....really close-up!

And seven really goofy pictures of your face!