Carter's Baptism

Carter was baptized in February!!! I say this with great exclamation because I'm so proud of his choice. Sometimes we think of a child baptism as an automatic thing - that's not the case for Carter. We were worried about him for several years because he didn't seem to have the sensitivity to spiritual matters that his brother did. We took the approach of teaching him correct principles and letting him make his own choices. He really wanted to make this commitment himself without pressure from us - and that's what makes me so proud of him. It's been a privilege watching this smart boy grow in so many ways over the past few years. Congratulations, Carter!

Cub Scout Roundup

The scouting program year officially ends in three weeks, but I am already celebrating. I don't have to teach this month and the final pack meeting was a few weeks ago. Being a leader in Cub Scouts keeps me far busier than I care to admit. This is the first year that Jordan and Carter were both in Scouts and it's really difficult putting time into both of their goals and keeping track of a den of 8 boys all at the same time!!! Here are some of the year's highlights for our boys.

Jordan received his Arrow of Light in May! He now has 17 of the 20 activity badges in Webelos and he has a goal of getting all 20 by his birthday. By way of comparison, I think I earned 8 as a Webelos.

One of the most fun activity badges was "Outdoorsman". We built a fire pit in our back yard and cooked S'mores as part of the requirements. Cynthia really enjoyed this event and it was great early exposure for both Carter and Davis to the fun of scouting.

Jordan also earned his Webelos badge last Fall as well as the Cub Scout Religious Square Knot (which I hear is rare these days).

Carter started Cub Scouts in January and quickly earned his Bobcat badge. I feel a little bad that I haven't helped him complete his Wolf badge yet, but I guess I can't do everything.

Carter and Jordan also had a very successful Pinewood Derby. Carter earned 2nd place and Jordan had the 3rd fastest car overall, but was kicked out of the semi-finals as he was in the same heat as the eventual 1st and 2nd place winners. I polished the axles like normal but I also did the railriding technique this year. Very succesful. The 1st place winner didn't have BSA approved wheels so it's no wonder that he won every single race he had.

Finally, Before and After

The concept of  "Before and After" shots when losing weight is very strange to me. I have troubles defining when the "before" actually occurred and even more problems figuring out when the goal of "after" is actually complete.

My before picture is a definitive starting point, even in my mind. In May 2010, we took this photo at the Lan Su Chinese Gardens. I was at or near my largest weight of 250 lbs. When I put the photo on my computer, it was kind of shocking - like I never realized how big I had gotten over the years. This picture, in a negative way, became my motivation for everything that came afterward.

It's been exactly 4 years since that picture, and I still hesitate releasing an 'after' shot. I've hit so many goals but I still feel like there's more to be done. Sadly, I'm not sure that I'll ever have a healthy body image ever again. But as 185 lbs was the absolute lowest I could possibly fathom, it's time. I'm now at 182.5 (67.5 lbs down!), and I'm giving you my after picture. We went back to the Lan Su Gardens just to take this shot. This is the new me: