Over the last week our so our Branch has received a face lift of sorts. Trees were removed and landscaping put in their place. It really looks good. A picture of some of it is below. Thanks to Amanda and Tish Ross who volunteered to be in the picture.
This weekend, Oct. 8-10, was the Sam Houston Area Council Jamboree. It was held at the Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas. The occasion was the 100 anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America. The highlights included a concert, about fifty activities, and a Sacrament Service on Sunday where a General Authority spoke.
Here we are leaving on Friday, about 4:30. We have Brother Holmes, me, KC, Brother Bowie, Jake, Zac Bowie (grandson of Brother Bowie) and Trey.
We sat up our tents as the sun went down. The boys did a great job.
A picture of the concert, Drywater. They played a variety of music.
From our campsite.
One of the exhibits was sponsored by the Army.
Trey on a zip line.
Zac about to zip.
The climbing wall. Well, one of the four climbing walls.
Trey on the wall.
Zac.
And KC.
There were literally thousands of scouts and leaders. I heard an estimate of 12,000 scouts and an additional 8,000 cub scouts on Saturday.
I'll let you guess why I took this picture. You can't imagine.
The next few picture are of an obstacle course. Here Trey struggles to get over a vertical wall.
The wall was followed by a 45 degree ramp, which Trey decided to slide down head first.
KC, having to show off, practically hurdles the wall.
Goofy boys.
KC in a bull whip exhibit.
Zac pops the balloon with the whip.
Below is a video where I try and give you an idea of how many people were at this event. Tents were everywhere. The people were so friendly, as you might expect. The weather was perfect. The only "complaint" might be that it was impossible to get to all the activities.
I do not have any photos from the sacrament meeting. I have never been to anything like it. There were 20 priests that helped bless and from what I could tell, about 40 or 50 deacons to pass. It reminded me of the Savior feeding the masses. Everyone was so reverent. What a great sacrament. The speakers were Gifford Nielson and Elder Claudio R M Costa. They both gave great messages. We, and especially the scouts, we blessed to feel of the spirit as they spoke.
It was that time again. Time for the Madisonville Branch to host the Stake Dance. So many youth, so little space. However, it went really well. One of our youth even told me, " This is officially the best Stake Dance EVER!!" I'll let you guess who it was.
Sister Welch is to be thanked, commended, rewarded, for her efforts to feed that crazy crowd of kids. Sisters Foster and Kimmons were right there, too, and were able to prepare pigs in a blanket, cheese dip and chips, toquitios, party mix, and a punch that was the invention of Sister Welch.
Below are a few pictures of the dance. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get as many as I normally do, and missed getting one of Sarah altogether.
Here are Victor and his, now our, friend Harabella.
Philip and Harabella looking on at the other dancers.
You may think this is Brother Murders, but it actually one of the youth. Not sure how anyone can "rest" with that loud music going.
Victor invents his own dance moves to a song. There was actually a big group that got into it. Very entertaining.
Philip doing some sort of robot in the future dance.
Once again the youth were able to get together and fellowship while having fun. Lets keep encouraging them. Thanks.
Today was the Baptism of Tristan Ross. There were quite a few people in attendance. Gene Ross, Caleb Williams, and President Ross gave remarks. William Ross preformed the Baptism as well as the confirmation. I am not going to try and name everyone in the pics below, but will say that in the first picture is the family of Amanda Ross. A special day for all.
Today we went to the Houston Temple to do Baptisms. We left early, too early for some. I think the clock read 5:20 AM when we left the church. We had a very enjoyable time. President Bradshaw had some very inspiring words for our group.
Pictured are Gene Ross, Sister Bernoski, Isaac and Anna Jackson, Tish Ross, April Disman, Stacey and Virgil Landry. Not pictured but in attendance, President Ross, Brother and Sister Holmes.
This year we went to a new camp. Horseshoe Bend. It is on the same ranch as El Rancho Cima, but we had not been there before. Jake and Chris were the only two scouts that could attend this year. David Welch and I were the adult leaders.
Jake and Chris told us they really liked this camp. "Less walking." They took Climbing, Geology, Orienteering, and Horsemanship. Below are some of the pics I took.
We left Normangee at 4am.
Jake and Chris' tent, for now.
Before breakfast and supper there was a flag ceremony.
Notice the cot placement.
This camp had a one hole golf course. Here you see a scoutmaster Pro/Am.
We shared everything with the wildlife. Here are thousands of them. Daddy longlegs.
In addition to their horsemanship class, we did a troop ride.
Ready to ride!!
In line to eat. Grilled hamburgers tonight.
Now notice the cot placement. It was hot, and the boys migrated out of their tents.
There is a very tall hill. About the tallest around. They call it Sentinel Peak. It has a lone oak on top and you can see a long way. Here we visit the peak.
Another friend at the camp. This one shared my shower stall with me. You can't tell in the pic, but this thing was about three inches long.
Friday night, before the closing campfire, there was a rodeo.
Time to get up!!
Another friend at camp.
This friend was absolutely EVERYWHERE!! They never shut up. Day. Night. Didn't matter. They called them cicadas, but I am not exactly sure what they were.
In line to eat again. Overall, the food was good, and there was plenty of it.
