Reptile and Amphibian Study Merit Badge

Here's a merit badge that was half fun and half hard. It was the Reptile and Amphibian Study Merit badge. I had to learn about different kinds of reptiles and amphibians, like I think I'm going to make a chart or just make a call en bar to show you how each one is in the reptile and amphibian families. Like there is mostly groups in the reptile family. the groups of reptiles are listed in Snakes, Lizards, Turtles, Alligators, and Tuataras. And the Ambhibian family is Frogs, toads, newts, and salamanders.

Then I went to the Hogel Zoo (that's in Utah) to see what was inside the Reptile and Amphibian house. It stunk really bad in there. We saw lots of different snakes, crocodiles, turtles, and other kinds. Then we had to study the reptile or amphibain mostly. Like we studied mostly about the Sand Boa. The snake that loves to hide in the sand. We went to the Hogel Zoo for almost every week in a month to see the Sand Boa. When we keep seeing it, it kept on disappearing. That's strange, huh?

The Reptile and Amphibian Study merit badge wasn't at all fun, because sometimes you have to do a lot of studying on each of these. I might say it next time on the Mammal Study merit badge.  

Easter is GREAT!

I'm not going to talk about a merit badge this time. I'm going to talk about Easter. It has been a good holiday this year. We were on a trip to Vernal to see amazing things there, like how there were dinosaurs in Utah and see different kinds of rock mountains. We had an Easter Egg Hunt before the trip to Vernal. We were just practicing of how long a state drive could be like, before planning a trip to Nauvoo. Easter is a great times of year just like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The true meaning of Easter is something you might have heard before, besides the dying eggs, the baskets, or any of that. The true meaning of Easter is when Jesus was on the Cross of Calvary, and then for a few days, he got resurrected, meaning he is risen and lives once again. That's what's important about Easter. Jesus died for our sins and got resurrected, so that some day, if people believe in the Church, we can all be resurrected at the end of time. Happy Easter, everybody!

Camping Merit Badge

Here is another fun badge that I passed off. It is called Camping. There were lots of times when I have been camping with other scouts and my friends. My first time at scout camp was taken in 2006. That's how I have passed off other badges there which I will tell you later on.

Scout Camp was the funnest place to go, that's where I could pass off badges that were mostly at the Great Outdoors. It took like a five day week to go there in the summer. Then I went on other camping trips to other places. Sometimes in some parts of the summer, like on 4th of July weekend, we go to my grandma's house and camp in her backyard. Then we would go to the park and have all of our rest of 4th of July day after the parade in Mt. Pleasant. We did lots of other camping trips somewhere as a family, besides our grandma's. We went to a park with a playground there. And then we usually camp out in our backyard. Then we usually like to go camping in the community on Ephraim Canyon.

Another time of camping is when my friends and I went to a camp in Wyoming. That's where we did a lot of fun activities there. We got to play fun and games there, like teamwork on how to try to do an escape without being caught. And while still camping there, we went Mountain Biking. It was a bit scary to go down a mountain while riding a bike. I was being cautious on that bike. Most of the scouts just weren't being careful. I was the only one that made it through the bottom without a single injury. That's quite a miracle. Wasn't it? Well miracles do happen, especially this miracle about my sister, Princess.



Anyway, there's still lots more camping trips I like to tell you. One of them was that I went snow camping in the mountains of Sanpete County. It was just right at our neighbor's cabin. We usually do tents while snow camping, but since there was a lot of snow at our neighbor's cabin, we made snow caves of our own. But all the rest of the boys, instead of sleeping in their snow caves, they slept in the cabin with our neighbor, I was the only Boy Scout that slept all night in the snow cave. Those other boys are just a bunch of slackers. Other things that we did while snow camping was go down halfway to the bottom of the mountain and we go sledding on a slope that our neighbor made for us. Snow camping was so much fun, it's like going there during Christmas time.

Pretty much everything covers up, but there was another time of camping was when I started to learn how to do the Backpacking merit badge. I'll tell you later on, on how I earned that one. Those are really the times of how I earned the Camping merit badge, by doing at least 20 days and nights of each camp out. Here's is also this episode off a TV show called That's So Raven. It talks about camping, and it's also hilarious of the way their camping trip is like. I bet some of my camping trips wouldn't do that.. Until next time, I will tell you what the next badge was that was really fun.

Tuna Casserole

Here's another Food For Thought that I'm going to say. You all know from Snow Scones and the Sparkling Jello. Now I'm going to say about Tuna Casserole. It is a casserole with Macorroni and tuna in it and there are cheese, and crumbled potato chips on top. Most put Green Beans in it. But ours is a bit different. We don't add the green beans to it. It's actually delicious, some people would want dibs on the tops, because the tops of the cheese and crumbled potato chips is so good, but our Mom says not to top scoop until some of the spot from the scoop is all gone and you could go to the next top. If you like to, if you're a fan of tuna, you could try the recipe on that. I bet all of you want dibs on the tops.

Recipe

 1 ½ lbs macaroni (you can use different pasta)

3 small cans cream of chicken soup
milk to fill the soup cans
2 cans tuna (drained REALLY well)
1 cup of cheese
another ½ cup of cheese for topping
crushed potato chips

Cook pasta according to package directions.  In a casserole dish, stir soup, milk, tuna, and 1 cup of cheese until mostly smooth.

When pasta is done, drain it well and add it to the casserole dish.  Stir well, cover with plastic wrap and put it in the microwave for 10 minutes.
Remove plastic wrap.  Stir really well, especially the corners.  Cover with remaining cheese and the crushed potato chips.  Microwave again for about 3 minutes uncovered. And you might want to serve it with something that's not yellow.

My little brother, Curly

This is my little brother, Curly. The reason why he's called Curly is because of his hairdo. My dad made his hairdo curly, so that he can be just like that maybe throughout his whole life. Curly was born on August 12, 2008. He has been growing up so fast. They are a lot of fun things about him sometimes. He like to play with Baby Doll. Then he loves to play with the older siblings like Sport, Scout, Crafty, Prima Donna, and Princess. He usually loves to play with Teach. A lot of those things make him a very much worth kid. Someday, he will be a worth adult. He loves this popular artist named Justin Bieber, just like I do. He loves his Baby song, because he loves the part where he goes "Baby, Baby, Baby Ohhhhhh!" That's really fun, huh? Curly is always a grateful little boy when he gets what he wants and what he needs. If You like to, you can watch this video about it that Curly loves it.

 

That's what's so wonderful about Curly. He can be a good brother to Baby Doll and he can share with other siblings. Next time, I'll tell you about other things of what's so cool about.

Snow Scones

Like I told you before that we have amazing foods that I like to share that you'd love to try. This is a dessert that you might've not heard before. Snow Scones. I thought of this idea myself. Snow Scones are kind of like a sundae with scones in it It's really a fun treat. My mom likes chopped nuts on her snow scone. If you would like to, you can try the recipe on here.

frozen roll dough
cooking oil
vanilla ice cream

chocolate syrup
strawberry jam
nuts – other sundae toppings

 Thaw out the roll dough by placing it on cookie sheets and covering with plastic wrap. Make sure you use some cooking spray on the sheets and wrap so they don’t stick to the dough. When the dough is completely thawed but not yet begun to rise, heat your cooking oil. You can do this in a frying pan but it must be at least an inch deep. We use a deep fryer, but either way will work.

Pull the dough flat with your fingers, trying not to rip it. It needs to be about ¼" thick. Then drop it in the hot oil. When the edges start to brown, flip it over. When it is a beautiful brown color, pull it out and let it drain on paper towels.

Then build yourself a sundae on the top of the scone. For the kids I tear the scones up just to make them easier to eat, but if you want pretty, do it like the one in the picture. Enjoy!

Sparkling Jell-O

I havne't talked much about something so delicious. My Mom has a lot of Food For Thoughts on her blog and she has mostly every recipe on hers, I thought I'd like to present some of the delicious foods we love to make and eat. Like this special jell-o called Sparkling Jell-O. It's called that, because it looks sparkling when you eat it. If you would like to, you can try the recipe on here. Next time, I'll present other recipes that you would love to try. Just try on with this most delicous jell-o you'll ever taste in your whole life.

Sparkling Strawberry Jello

32 oz of applesauce (30 will do if you have two 15-oz cans)
2 12-oz cans of cold Sprite, 7-up or lemon-lime soda
2 large boxes of red Jello (strawberry is best)
sliced strawberries (if desired)
whipped cream for garnish

Pour the applesauce into a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 4 minutes. Stir. Then heat for 4 more minutes.
Pour the boxes of Jello over the applesauce and mix well. Microwave for 2 more minutes. (Please note that this recipe does NOT use any water. I was a bit confused by that the first time I made it.)
Add two cans of cold lemon-lime soda. Mix well. Stir in 2 lbs of sliced strawberries if desired. (We usually add the berries, but the Dog Walker couldn’t wait for me to go to the store.)
Chill for a couple of hours. Serve with whipped cream.