32 - Music

Merit Badge:  Music
Counselor:  Cindy Larsen
Sponsor:  American Fork Fitness Center
Earned:  May 14, 2011



                        WEB: What did I have to do to earn this merit badge?

Cindy, Music Merit Badge Counselor,
taught us all the musical signs and
terms of a score as well as how
to lead music.

"Down, swing in, swing out, up"
This is the proper leading technique
for 4/4 time.

Cindy is teaching another one of the scouts in the music
class how to lead.

I bet if I beat this homemade drum
at home it would really annoy my mom!

For one of the requirements I attended the
musical, "Suessical", at Brigham Young University
with my mom and sisters.

The performance was held in the
De Jong Concert Hall on the BYU campus.

Here I am waiting patiently inside
the De Jong Concert Hall for
the musical to start.
(It started 15 minutes late.)

"Suessical" was worth the wait.
My sisters and I enjoyed the dancing
and music, but especially
the crazy Cat-in-the-Hat.

31 - Citizenship in the Community

Merit Badge:  Citizenship in the Community
Counselor:  Leena Harral
Sponsor:  American Fork Fitness Center
Earned:  May 11, 2011



                       WEB: What did I have to do to earn this merit badge?

On of the requirements for this merit
badge involved giving 8 hours of service
to a charitable organization in my community.
I choose Community Action, the local
food bank.

I delivered food donation bags to 119 homes
in my neighborhood. 

Only 45 of the 119 homes donated food.  Even though
I wished more people would have contributed and
my feet hurt...

...it felt good to collect SOOOOO
much food.

After I collected the food, I sorted it into
groups to help out the food bank.  Here I'm
making a pile of macaroni and cheese.

My mom's best friend, Kathy Jensen, helped me
sort the food into bags.  She gathered up several bags
of tomato products.

After the food was sorted and loaded into
our van we dropped it off at the
Community Action loading dock.
The guy to the left of me is one
of the food bank employees and he
told me that the bin holds about 1000 lbs
of food.  The food I brought filled up about
half of the bin.  That means that my
neighbors donated about 400-500 lbs
of food!

30 - Emergency Preparedness

Merit Badge:  Emergency Preparedness
Counselor:  Connie Packer
Sponsor:  Utah National Guard Youth Programs
Earned:  April 22, 2011

To prepare myself for an emergency
I assembled a Personal Emergency
Service Pack.  It wasn't too difficult to
put together because my dad is in the Army
and had all of the necessary items- like the
packs of MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) in
the center of the photo.

My little sister, Boo, wanted to get into the action.
I think she'll make a great Girl Scout someday.

As part of this merit badge I had to walk
through our entire home and check nearly
100 areas for safety.  Here I'm checking
off the box, "Emergency Water Supply."
This blue drum holds 50 gallons of water.

In the Emergency Preparedness class I had fun making
a few items.  I waterproofed these matches by dipping
 them into wax.  Now, if it rains during one of my
scout camps I'm prepared.

During the Emergency Preparedness class, I also made
this"fire starter".  I placed lint (from the dryer) and wood
shavings in an egg carton, then dipped the entire
thing into wax.  I'm actually going to use it tonight
(April 29th) on our scout camp to Chimney Rock, Utah.
I hope it works!  It's supposed to be 30 degrees tonight
and I know we are going to need a fire.

29 - Coin Collecting

Merit Badge:  Coin Collecting
Counselor:  Sam Lucero
Sponsor:  BYU Pow Wow
Earned:  March 19, 2011


                       WEB: What did I have to do to earn this merit badge?

I was pretty interested in the Coin Collecting
Merit Badge because when I was 8-years-old my dad
gave me this map so that I could collect all 50 state
quarters (1999-2008).

I'm only missing three quarters; Colorado, Delaware,
and North Carolina.  So, if you happen to come across
one of these quarters, PLEASE SEND IT TO ME!

For one of the requirements I had to collect a date set,
starting with the year of my birth (1998),
of a single type of coin.  

It didn't take too long to find all 13 years.

Since I don't live close to a U.S. Mint, I surfed around
on the web and found a virtual tour of the Denver Mint.
I like how they make a large clay model of each quarter
before it goes into production.

This is a close-up of Utah's state quarter.
Notice how the engraving is an illustration of
the Golden Spike Ceremony...pretty neat.

28 - Citizenship in the Nation

Merit Badge:  Citizenship in the Nation
Counselor:  Joseph Goodman
Sponsor:  BYU Pow Wow
Earned:  March 19, 2011


                       WEB: What did I have to do to earn this merit badge?

For this merit badge I was required to visit a
National Historic Landmark.  My mom had been wanting
to visit the Golden Spike National Historic Site
for years, so we drove 2 hours north of Provo, UT to the
MIDDLE OF NOWHERE.

On May 10th, 1869 the Union Pacific Railroad and the
Central Pacific Railroad joined right here!! A golden
spike (it really was made of gold) was driven into the final
 tie to celebrate the USA's first Transcontinental Railroad.
My sister and I were freezing.

I'm holding a replica of the Golden Spike in my hand,
but mine is made of chocolate...yum!
Don't expect to see the actual Golden Spike when you
come out here.  The original Golden Spike is on display
at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, CA.

If you visit during the winter months, be sure to ask for
a private tour of the Union and Central Pacific engines.
The engines are gigantic and awesome!
Our Park Ranger knew everything about each engine.

These are working replicas of the original steam engines
that touched on May 10th, 1869.  The original engines
were scrapped for metal.

See what I mean by
GIGANTIC?!!

Believe it or not, an engine full of
wood would only produce enough
steam to pull the train 15 miles.

In addition to visiting the Golden Spike
National Historic Site, I also toured the
Utah State Capital.  I'm standing on the
capital steps with my sisters,
Hailey and Abigael.

My sister Hailey and I are standing on the 2nd
floor of the capital across from the chandelier
hanging from the center of the capital rotunda.
The paintings in the background represent Utah's heritage.

Do any of you know who this is?
Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor extraordinare
of the technology critical to the development
of the first television.
A Utah native.

Abraham Lincoln is my 2nd favorite U.S. President.
I guess it is fitting to have a bust of Lincoln in the Utah
State Capitol- considering Utah is perhaps the
most Republican State in the U.S.

To top off our tour of the Utah State Capital, we stopped
by my neighbor, Becky Lockhart's office.  Madam Speaker
Lockart, is the the first woman to serve as
Utah's Speaker of the House.
Her son, Stephen, is in my scout troop.

27 - Snow Sports

Merit Badge:  Snow Sports
Counselor:  Greg King
Sponsor:  Sundance Resort
Earned:  March 16, 2011


                         WEB: What did I have to do to earn this merit badge?

Sundance Resort, founded by
Robert Redford, isn't too far from my house.
Even though my face doesn't show it
(I'm tired of my mom taking my picture.)
I was super excited to try snowboarding!

It all starts with the correct boot size.

A Sundance employee is adjusting the boot binding
for my "goofy foot".  That means I board with
my right foot forward.  Most people board with
their left foot forward.

Before I took to the slopes my mom snapped
a photo of me with the Director of Programs
(She put together the Snow Sports Merit Badge clinic.)
at Sundance Resort.

This is me after an awesome evening of
snowboarding.  I was soaking wet
from the March rains.

My ski passes.
 I like how Sundance considers anyone 12+ an adult.

Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of me actually
boarding.  The first night the camera was out of memory
and the second night it was too dark and rainy.
O'well, it was great to try a new sport and I hope
to snowboard again next week.