The Trail to Eagle

 Martin back in 2005 when he was a brand new Cub Scout. He actually started Cub Scouts in 2004 when he was 8 years old.  He was so excited about being a cub scout and getting to participate in the Pinewood Derby!!  He had so many wonderful Scout leaders over the years!  He has been able to learn all kinds of cool things because of scouting: learning about service, wilderness survival, first aid, camping, white water rafting, horsemanship, and welding, just to name a few things.   He always said he wanted to be an Eagle Scout, and Martin (with the help of his leaders and, ok, some pushing from ZooKeeper) fulfilled that dream a couple of months before his 18th birthday.  I am so very thankful for all of the great leaders Martin has had from Cub Scout Days through Venture Scouts.  They have all had a profound influence on him and his buddies.  Thank you for all of your service!!!  Congrats Martin!  I am so proud of you!!!

Family Photo Time!

My cousin Jenny, (actually she's a first cousin once removed, but whose keeping track?) is a fantastic photographer and I have dreamed of her taking our family pictures.  Jenny lives in Nebraska so I never thought the stars would align just right for her to be able to take our family pictures.  However, those stars did align and here are some of the results!!  (stars that had to align:  Jenny be in the area, most of our children be present, Hunter be willing to get pictures taken, (I know, HUGE, right?) and find a time that everyone could make this happen!!!)

Yak was the pickle for this photo shoot.   He did like the swing so we got some good shots of him, but he was a turkey butt for the family photos.  Jenny was so cute and fun with him that she ended up getting quite a few good family shots.




Monkey was sporting a pink cast... and you can't even tell!!!



We were glad Porcupine was here for this momentous occasion!!

Martin - heading into his Senior year!!



I love this sweet picture of Lemur and Yak.  They really are pretty good buddies and play really good together!

Lemur - such a sweet picture!!


And here's a pretty good one of Hunter and I.

Then this beautiful shot of Bee.  I sure have a good looking family!!  And THANK YOU JENNY! for helping to make this happen!!