Voices from the Front

Kyle has been working so hard on his Eagle Scout project, it has become almost like a part time job, sometimes full time. But he is loving every minute of it! He is promoting his website and gathering as many veterans stories as possible. He is organizing a team of volunteers who are helping him interview, write, and edit the interviews and getting them posted to his website. It is quite an undertaking but one he really believes in. Last week at Boy Scouts the Columbus Dispatch photographer came and took his picture for an article that they were doing on Kyle's project. The reporter has been so supportive of Kyle's relationship with the veterans and has been a great help in getting him publicity.

We are so proud of the work Kyle is doing. Once again I am humbled to be his mom.

At the end of the week, after this article was published the following editorial appeared. It totally took us by surprise, how neat that was for him!

From the Columbus Dispatch, Friday -

ONE REQUIREMENT for Boy Scouts wishing to reach the highest rank of Eagle Scout is to plan, develop and provide leadership in a project that will benefit a religious institution, a school or a community.

Many scouts opt for practical projects such as building bird houses for a park or installing playground equipment, and those are worthwhile. But 15-year-old Kyle Miller of Pickerington has devised a more-weighty project.
Kyle plans to interview 1,000 veterans of World War II and the Korean War, and he will preserve their stories on the website voicesfromthefront.org, “so that their experiences, their memories, and their deeds can be heard even after the men have passed on.”
Indeed, hundreds of veterans of the Korean War and World War II die every day. Kyle knows this —he’s delivered eulogies at two funerals for veterans of the Battle of the Bulge.
These members of what has been dubbed The Greatest Generation have stories that the rest of us can learn from — stories that might be lost to history, if not for a 15-year-old Pickerington boy willing to take the time to listen.

Picture of the Day

You know you are the Scout Master's wife when you pull into the driveway to see tents drying all over the front lawn!

Honor Scout of the Year

 

 Honor Scout of the Year for Boy Scout Troop 826...Kyle Miller!

Each year Kyle and Ethan's Boy Scout Troops Alumni Association, awards a scout the honor scout of the year award. This award is given to a boy who demonstrates leadership ability, scout spirit, and also shows scout qualities being used in the community independently.
Kyle has been a patrol leader for two years and has the highest attendance of any patrol. He motivates his scouts, helps them advance in rank, and serves as a role model to all of the boys in the troop.
He has also been very involved with veterans in the community through the veterans group he joined. He has taken the stories he has heard and been asked to speak to numerous groups and share these stories. Last fall he worked with elementary students teaching them the importance of Veteran's Day.
To say I'm proud is an understatement. He has blown me away with everything that he has done. I am so happy for him. He is so humble about getting an award which makes it all the more special. He was so genuinely surprised, it was awesome to watch!

The crowd of boys congratulating Kyle. They were very happy for him. 

The alumni committee members who presented the award.

Seabase

 Kyle is getting the most fabulous experiences. This month he was able to go to Seabase a high adventure Boy Scout "Camp" where the boys sail the Florida Keys for 7 days. Since Bill is the Scout Master he went too but I think he would have gone as a chaperon either way since this is such an amazing trip.
There are 8 boys to a boat plus 2 adults and the captain of the boat. You have to be at least 14 to attend so Ethan has a couple more years until he is able to go on this kind of trip. Basically the captain instructs the boys on how to sail. They also get to dive, fish, and swim. Highlights of the week were catching 4 lobsters for dinner one night, going to a local resort for the day to hang out by the pool, bike ride, go tubing, and kayaking. But living on a boat for a week really is a unique experience.
It was an amazing week. As I told Kyle the day before he left, this is such a special thing to do with your dad. Even though there are other boys there, the two of them were able to spend the week together on an adventure. They have made so many memories together and as I told Kyle, Bill didn't get the opportunity to do these things with his dad which makes it all the more special for them.
Memories of a lifetime below....

Wall Climbing

Eagle Feather

Kyle was selected last February to attend Eagle Feather, National Youth Leadership Training Camp, this past summer. He spent a week in July at camp gaining leadership skills that he could bring back to use in his Boy Scout troop and in other areas of life.

He had a great time and learned many new skills. Most he had to put into place upon his return. He had 100 days to implement his goals within this troop and patrol. Upon completion he was signed off and submitted his final paperwork.

On Sunday he, along with 46 other boys from all over the Council area (Central, Southern Ohio, part of Kentucky) received their bolo tie award at the ceremony. Bill and I were very proud, of course!

Nice job Kyle, I know you will continue to be a great leader.

Cynthia is part of a Venture Crew which is a scouting program for both boys and girls. She went to a similar camp this summer as well and received her award last weekend! She and a friend were there helping out and cheering Kyle on.

Scouting

Last weekend Kyle went to support Cynthia at her Scout Leadership Awards Ceremony. They both went to different camps this summer that worked on leadership training. Kyle's awards ceremony is next weekend so more pictures to follow after!

Love this picture of Faith with Kyle!

Girl Night/Boy Weekend

Two weeks ago the boys headed out for the 100 year Boy Scout Jamboree Celebration. While they were camping (in the rain!) the girls and I were having girl weekend! And it was girl world!
We started Friday evening with dinner, a walk, ice cream, and a sleep over in my room. Saturday we worked all day cleaning their American Girl Doll room organizing all of the accessories and clothes. It was quite the project but we played while we cleaned. After all day cleaning we headed to Olive Garden  to meet Gretchen, Whitney, Grommy, Mimi, Nancy, Mary, and Lydia. We all had a great evening and the girls had so much playing with Lydia.
The fun continued the next evening when we went to a Mother Daughter dinner at church. The theme was dolls and the girls had to take their favorite dolls to dinner. How convenient that we could find everything since we had cleaned!
Even through the rain the boys had a great weekend and so did we, we just stayed dry!

Lydia was so spoiled by all the Miller girls!

Erin had to sit right next to Lydia, so cute.

Thanks for joining us!

Lindy looks a little bit like Whitney....

Paige was such a goof!

My Leader

Kyle has many qualities of being the first child. One being he is very responsible. Back at the end of February, he got a phone call before Boy Scouts that if he was interested in running for the Patrol Leader elections he needed to prepare a speech. He had talked about doing this in about a year or so but when that call came he had a change of heart.

The first thing he said when he hung up the phone was "I have to talk to Dad." Bill, who happened to be in route from Vegas, could not be reached so he was stuck with mom to talk to on this. He was so torn about what to do. He wanted to run for the election because he thought he would make a good patrol leader but he also was worried he wouldn't do a good job. Being a patrol leader is important in his Scout Troop. The elected leaders are in charge of 8-9 boys in their patrol. They handle communication to the boys, organize activities including camp outs, and act as a general leader for the Troop which has about 90 boys. Kyle does not take something like this lightly.

I encouraged him to follow his heart and if he felt like running then it was probably time. He would do a great job. He loves to teach and mentor younger scouts and I know they look up to him. Fortunatley, Bill called while we were in route to the meeting. He told Kyle the same thing. That was all Kyle needed to hear. He was throwing his name in the hat. The speeches were due the next week.

When I picked Kyle up later that night one of the adult leaders needed to talk to me. It turns out that Kyle had been selected by the adult committee to attend a Leadership camp this summer. He was one of seven selected by the troop. The troop chooses a few boys every year and pays to send them to a camp. To say I was proud would be an understatement! It is always nice to hear that other people think highly of your child. I told Kyle on the way home that I found it ironic that the same night he had to decide to run for the election, they notified us of Kyle's leadership camp selection. I think that gave him a little boost to keep persuing his goal.

The next week he gave his speech. I know I am prejudice, and I was not even there when he presented, but Bill said he did a fabulous job and parents came up to him to compliment him on what a great speaker Kyle was. The elections were 2 weeks ago and the new leaders were announced this week and Kyle won a spot! He is so excited and proud. He is also nervous to do a good job. He does not want to let any boys down. I know he will do a great job but I think it is good for him not to be overly confident. So he is busy selecting his assistant leaders and planning his patrol. It is so neat to watch him growing up. It used to make me so sad thinking about my kids growing up but now that I am seeing it happen and what neat people they are all becoming, it is such a wonderful time.

We are so proud of you Kyle and love you very much!

Congratulations Ethan!

Ethan is officially a Boy Scout! Last night he crossed over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. He is going to Kyle's troop and they were there last night to receive him into the new troop. He was anxious about the actual ceremony. He was worried about what to do when they called his name and of course they called his first. He did great and I think he even had a little bit of fun!
Great job on your Cub Scout career, Ethan. You worked hard and accomplished so much. Be proud of yourself, Daddy and I are very proud of you.


The boys names are burned onto the bridge for the crossover. We found Kyle's from two year ago and now Ethan is added.

Flag ceremony

Ethan receives his Arrow of Life. The arrow has all the things that Ethan has accomplished during his Cub Scout years.

Ethan is received into the new troop.

Bill and Ethan

Molly and AnnMarie were there to watch their brother so all the girls had a great time hanging out together. Good thing because the ceremony was a bit on the long side and they had each other to keep them company!