The Amazing J.

Last Sunday J. gave his first talk in Sacrament Meeting. As I watched him at the pulpit I saw the little boy that he once was. I also got a glimpse of the man he is becoming. He really is an amazing boy. Everyday he does something awesome. Once I told someone that J2 makes me laugh everyday. J. overheard the comment and wanted to know if he did too. I told him that he is different than his brother and that everyday I'm amazed by him. He really is very smart. His grades don't reflect the intelligences that is in him. He has received a Gold Medal in 4-H Demonstrations at the County, Sectional and State level for two years in a row. He also has received a County Medal for his 4-H record book in Poultry for three years in a row. I helped to judge the record books and heard the table behind me laughing hard. When the books were all done being judged, one of the moms showed another mom a record book and they both started laughing. They called me over and told me that they loved his story. They had never read a story so funny. He didn't write it to be funny. He wrote what happened during the year and the things that he learned from them. The 4-H moms love my boys. Whats not to love?

Master Baker
On the 4th of July J. decided to make a pie for the BBQ we were going to. I told him he could only use what we had which was lemons and eggs. He tried to make a Lemon Merange pie while I was gone working at the 4-H Fireworks booth. It didn't really work out but we did it over the weekend. It turned out so amazing. The crust was perfect! I've never been able to make a crust as good as this 12 year old had on his first try.


He gave a piece of it to the foods leader and she said to enter it in the Jr. Fair. He made another one where the crust wasn't as perfect so it only got Reserve Champion (2nd) of all the foods entered. When the judging was finished his Poultry leader and her friend who raised her kids in 4-H grabbed plates and forks and dished it out to everyone. They all loved it. He decided to make it for the Food Fiesta Fair for the county. He made the pie and a Decedent Orange Chocolate Cake. Some may remember me making the cake for I think Easter last year. It had dark chocolate and orange blossoms on the top. J. made that one but he doubled the filling and glazed the cake before icing it to help keep it moist. We didn't have blossoms so he used orange reins in little strips to decorate it. We couldn't go to the fair, so a friend of ours took it for him. We finished icing it 5 minutes before they picked it up and I forgot to get pictures. He won first for both of them. I was worried that we wouldn't get any back because they have a tasters choice category. He wasn't there to cut it up so we got half a pie and the whole cake with only one slice out.

Cage Fighter
Then there is his MMA/Judo. J. fought in his first tournament on Saturday. There have been many other tournaments that he could have done but either they were on Sunday or we had other things on that day. Jacob decided that he won't fight on Sunday. He has missed several Sunday fights, but he is okay with that. He didn't seem nervous at all while he was waiting. I really thought that he would have been much more nervous. The tournament was very poorly organized and overcrowded. It was a nice gym but they had too many people in there and I lost sight of him for most of the day. I was in charge of J2 and El Patron was in charge of J. They ended up putting all the 12 yr. olds together regardless of there experience level. They also put them in the Octagon (Pretty cool) but all the other kids 12 and up were sitting around the inside so the fight area was pretty small.

Here is his first fight.


He was up in points but if the kids are in a dangerous position they will stop the fight. That is what they did here. J. thought that they were just moving the fight over away from the cage but then they awarded it to the other boy. J. was trying to get out from under his oponent, when the referee saw his right arm bend underneath him. J. knows how to get out of this position, but the referee didn't want to take the chance and called the fight. J. was shocked and disapointed. It was suppose to be double elimination so...

here is his second fight


J. ended the fight with a new move he just learned this week. J. spent two hours a day in the gym all week training for this fight. He used an advanced sleeper hold to cut off his opponents air supply, causing him to tap out (and making him cry). We are very proud of J. and his hard work ethic. He had a great time and was smiling from ear to ear.