Seth in YM

Seth has LOVED going into Young Men! He has some really awesome boys to look up to (which I am so grateful for) and some great leaders who really go above and beyond. I feel so much gratitude for the leaders of the youth--I know how much time, effort, and prayers go into the youth programs. It's very humbling. 

Seth's first temple trip was on Valentine's Day. Sometimes I get a little jealous/angry when I see friends out west who do things like "Mom & Dad take their new 12-year-old to the temple for the first time together as a family!" With the distance to Philadelphia combined with a nursing baby, I knew it wouldn't really be an option for me to go with Seth (although I had some sweet friends offer to watch him outside the temple). Thankfully Jon was able to go with him! 

Seth & Jon outside the temple (courtesy of Emma)

Seth was able to be baptized & confirmed for some family names (thanks, Mom!) which made it even more special. It was a crazy late night, but he had a great experience and is looking forward to going again. 

Every year our ward has the most AMAZING fundraising dinner for the Scouts. Seriously amazing. I dream about that food for the next year. With the church moving away from Scouting, I wasn't sure it was going to happen. But apparently it's still a go, and Seth gets to make a fancy dessert option to serve!

Practicing piping on the icing

Seth's lemon cake with lemon curd and lemon cream cheese icing!

He did almost all of the work by himself.

Because our YM leaders are awesome, they scheduled a full-day Book of Mormon activity for the boys. There was hiking involved, plus shooting arrows (which is always awesome). Jon also sent me this great shot of Seth on the King Benjamin tower:

Despite the instances of skewy ties and other deacon nonsense, it's been really neat watching Seth pass the sacrament every Sunday. With how goofy Seth & his buddies are at other times, I was expecting it to be hard for them to be appropriately reverent. That hasn't been the case at all. Grateful for the good examples of the older boys!