Dallin's Eagle Project

This morning we spent a few hours completing Dallin's Eagle Scout project! Most people joke that it is really the mom who earns the Eagle Scout award for all she does to make it happen. Well I can say that isn't true in this case! Jeff has helped Dallin spearhead the whole thing. Before I left for Arizona, I mentioned a possible project opportunity that I had become aware of at a LDS trek site on the other side of West Mountain. Jeff and Dallin called the missionaries who run the site, met with them, chose a project (pouring two concrete pads so that trek participants can wash off the handcarts at the end of their treks), and got it approved by the Eagle Scout board all while I was in Arizona. When I returned from my trip, I only provided minor assistance when Dallin called neighbors to raise funds for the concrete, took pictures on the day of the project, and have since provided minimal editing help with the write-up. This project truly has been all Dallin and Jeff (and in some aspects probably a little more Jeff than Dallin). I'm proud of both of them. Jeff now jokes that he can say he finally earned an Eagle (since his mom provided so much help with his Eagle project). In any case, Jeff and Dallin (along with Danny and several of the other Southwick boys) went out to the trek site on Thursday to do the prep work so that just the concrete could be poured on Saturday. On Saturday, several scouts met at our house in the morning and we headed to the trek site. We arrived earlier than the concrete truck so the missionaries had the boys cleaning fire pits, grills, and shoveling sand while we waited.

Finally the tuck arrived. There were still limited tools to work the concrete, but all of the boys took turns helping. It only took us a couple hours to get the concrete in the forms, smooth it all out, and clean up all the tools. Dallin even got to write his name in the concrete. I was really proud of both of my boys. Danny is always ready to jump in and help. He is such a curious and quick learner. He always wants to know how and why things work. Dallin is also not afraid of hard work. He is a natural leader. I think the other boys respect him because he knows when to let them have fun and when to take a leadership role. I loved hearing all the compliments about my boys from the missionaries that were there. It was definitely a proud mama moment!