I didn't send Stockton to diving today. I was supposed to take Josh and Josh. Josh H to diving with Stockton and Josh Y to his cello lesson that is near Stockton's diving. Both parents cancelled. Josh H. because he wasn't feeling well and Josh Y because he found another ride. (He would have been a little late with us.) Anyway, Stockton did not look well when he got home from school. I decided to skip diving as well. The only problem was Scoop and Cori decided to surprise Stockton and they came to his diving practice. He wasn't there. Whoops. They came over to see him. Stockton looked horrible by the time they got here. They gave Stockton a diving jacket. It is actually a scuba jacket. It is really long, warm and says idive on it. Stockton loves it. He wore it to his Board of Review tonight.
Speaking of his Board of Review. Stockton passed! He needed to ask two other adults (one could not be his scout master) to be in the meeting with him. I wish I had a picture of them! He chose Mike Masters (the deacons quorum advisor/assistant scout master) and Isaac Bingham (the 2nd counselor in the bishopric). Ray Whitney led the board of review. He has done all of Stockton's board of reviews. That was nice because it made Stockton not as nervous.
First all of us met together for about thirty minutes. He talked to us about what the Eagle means and the importance of receiving an Eagle. He asked both Mike and I to talk a little about Stockton and qualities that he has/observations we have made of Stockton during this journey. Mike talked about how scouts were really hard for Stockton when he started. Especially the camp outs. At first he hated them and dreaded going. Now he doesn't mind going. They are probably still not his favorite things, but he choose going to the Klondike instead of going to his diving competition. Even though he already earned his camping merit badge. He also talked about how he had become friends with the boys in the scout troop. I talked about how honest Stockton is. From the time he was born. I honestly don't know if Stockton has ever told a lie. He is completely honest. Even when telling the truth makes him look bad, he tells the truth, with no other explanation. I have never met someone like him before. It is crazy! I remember in first grade. His teacher pulled me aside and said a girl accused Stockton of touching her private parts. She asked Stockton about it and he said he did. Wow. His teacher said that that didn't sound like Stockton at all and asked if I could find out what really happened. I pulled him aside and asked if that had happened. He said yes. I asked him to explain to me why he had done that. Turns out the girl (who annoyed Stockton to no end, so another reason why this was so weird) was wearing a skirt and kept lifting it up to show Stockton her underwear. Stockton got tired of it and reached over to pull her skirt back down. She moved right when he reached over and he accidentally touched her where he shouldn't have. I was so thankful that the teacher knew Stockton well enough to ask me to find out what really happened. That could have ended so badly! Especially since the girl's mom was a teacher across the hall! Anyway, an example how he is unflinchingly honest, even at such a young age. Incredible. (By the way, I didn't tell the details of the story above, that would have just been weird.) I also talked about how Stockton has a heart of gold. He is taking a peer tutoring class where he works with kids of different disabilities. He loves it. Stockton is not very social. Only once since we moved here has he called and asked someone if they wanted to come over to play. That was Johnny. A boy who has Down Syndrome who lives on our street. Stockton also talked about us and how we have helped him. It was so sweet. I loved it when he said he was glad we were his parents. That made me so happy!
Mike and I were then asked to leave. The three leaders were then in the room with Stockton. I'm not sure exactly what they talked about. They were in there for about twenty minutes. Mike and I hung out in the foyer talking to Josh Bingham. Brother Bingham had walked to the stake center with Josh (12 years old) and Abby (about 4 I think). Josh is such a great kid! I loved getting to know him better. Stockton then came out of the room while the three leaders deliberated on if Stockton deserved to be an Eagle. The decision had to be unanimous. They came out awhile later and asked us to come back in the room. They told Stockton they had decided to award him the Eagle. They talked awhile more about it. The last thing they said was, "As of this moment you are officially an Eagle." Well, I don't know 100% if that is the last thing they said, but it is the last thing I remember. If Brandon had had his Court of Honor one week and one day later, Stockton could have gone into his Eagle's Nest! That's okay. Brandon earned his Eagle way back in September. I am so proud of Stockton. Not many boys can say they earned their Eagle as a 13 year old! Stockton's scoutmaster is amazing! He works the boys so hard! He said that in his experience the boys either earn their Eagle before they are 14 or a week before they turn 18. Haha! Stockton worked really hard, but there is no way he would have accomplished this without President Back! So thankful for amazing leaders!
Stockton ~ Eagle Scout
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