Jackson's Court of Honor

My nephew, Jackson, completed all of the requirements to become an Eagle Scout! Tonight we attended his Court of Honor to see him get his award.

My sister Amy had gone to alot of work to make the night very special. The decor, the food, and the program were all fabulous. Jackson's scout leader spoke very highly of him. He mentioned that Jackson is always watching out for the younger scouts making sure everyone is taken care of and no one is left behind. That made me feel so proud of Jack. I'm sure the younger scouts look up to him and appreciate Jackson taking them under his wing. I'm very proud of Jackson; I know he went to alot of hard work to get this award.

The Roper Family

Jackson with his brother, Keaton and Hayden

Jackson and his parents, Jason and Amy

Jackson and Amy

Jason and Jackson

The cupcakes, oh my. Amy had made red velvet, chocolate chip cream cheese filled cupcakes that were frosted with cream cheese frosting. They were super sweet but oh so delish!

The candy buffet--it was a patriotic theme. Amy had made star shaped sugar cookies and the cupcakes. My mom made cream cheese frosted brownies. Then there was all sorts of different candy--red vines, mints, red cinnamon bears, M&M's that were red, white, and blue, gumballs that had red, white, and blue sprinkles, and the cutest flag wrapped tootsie rolls. OH, and there was sprite with strawberries and blueberries in it to drink. There were bags on the table so you could take a bag of candy home. Everything was so good. I have to admit--I had a sugar headache the rest of the night. Yes I, the sweet tooth queen, had too much sugar, haha.

The podium with all the decor looked so nice.

The greeters--Hayden and Cade. They handed out programs and made sure everyone that attended signed the guest book.

There was quite the crowd that came to support Jackson. I would say there was about 50+ people there.

He had my brother say a few words.

Jackson's scout master Barry explaining the pinning process.

Amy pinning Jackson.

Jackson pinned Amy. She is now the proud mother of an Eagle Scout.

And Jason is the proud father of an Eagle Scout.

Giving his mom a hug.

He gave out mentor pins. Nobody knows who he will choose to give the mentor pins out to until that night. Jackson chose the scout master's wife. I guess she truly helped Jackson out a lot and encouraged him to get his Eagle.

Jackson also gave Barry a mentor pin.

Pinning Barry...

And giving him a hug.

He then gave out several other mentor pins to those that helped him along the way.

The Eagles Nest--anyone in the crowd that also has their Eagle Scout was invited to sit in the Eagles Nest.

More mentor pinning...

Jackson getting his Eagle neckerchief.

Afterwards with two of his mentors.

The display table.

Everyone mingling and having refreshments after the program.

Barry, Charlie, and Jackson chatting.

Ethan loved the treats :)

Nick was having a hard night. Poor guy :(

Grandpa M. and Jackson

Jackson with Grandpa and Grandma Mangelson

Jackson with Grandma and Grandpa Roper

Jackson with all of his grandparents

Jackson with Grandma J--isn't she the cutest :)

Jim and Jake enjoying the party. I didn't get a picture of Ryan running around like a wild man, but he had a good time playing with his cousins. He talked about it, well talked in his jibberish, to us when we got home. It was pretty cute.

Congratulations Jackson!

We're proud of you and your accomplishment!!

Touchdown!

We watched the Utah vs. BYU game this afternoon. Jim taught him how to do the signal for a touchdown. Ryan thought it was tons of fun to do, too. Anytime Jim would say, "Touchdown!" Ryan would throw his hands in the air and then clap afterwards. Too funny :)

This is the touchdown that BYU made to win the ball game, ugh. Jim yelled "Touchdown!" so Ryan threw his hands up in the air.

I love his devious grin :)

And clapping afterwards. Jim says he is clapping for BYU but he is DEFINITELY clapping for the UTES even though they lost this year, darn it :(

I thought it would be fun to post pictures from last years game. Look how little Ryan was--he was 8 months old. Notice Jim's fingers in the pic. I didn't notice when I took the pic LAST YEAR!! He just pointed it out to me today when I was looking at the pics so I could post one.

When a soldier is a POW and makes a statement or takes a picture under duress, he crosses his fingers. That way the authorities know that he is making the statement against his will. Jim claims I MADE him and Ryan root for the Utes so he was under duress. Seriously. Ryan always crosses his fingers like that now, too. So Jim says Ryan is always under duress, haha.

Fingers are still crossed...

This picture will not turn (it's turned the right way on my computer but when I upload it looks like this, ugh). Anyway, it's just proof that Jim really does like the Utes :)