The Best Christmas Yet!

It was great to have Tanner home for the holidays.  Having the family all together for Christmas was an absolute treat.  We tried to delay most of our traditions until the family was whole.  As in years past, we caroled at a local retirement center, delivered treats to our neighbors and friends and decorated our tree with the special ornaments the kids have been receiving each year of their life.

Decorating the Christmas Tree with help from our visiting friend, Gizzy.

This is about 10 batches of Chex Mix we made to deliver to friends.

Austin and McKenna sang a duet from the Polar Express, Believe, in our family Christmas program at the Retirement Home.

Austin put special effort into his gifts this year.  He spent many, many hours finishing the homemade knife Tanner had started but not finished when he had to leave for college.  It looked beautiful.  Tanner had no idea it was coming and was very touched by the gift.

Other gifts included many special things that everyone was very excited about.  The givers really took the time to think about and find the perfect gifts.

The highlight for everyone was the surprise gift that came after the other gifts were opened and everyone thought they were done.  We pulled out a small gift for our house guest, Gizzy the dog we were babysitting for the holidays. The gift included a dog leash, doggy treats and a new collar.  It was several minutes before McKenna realized the tag on the collar had our name and phone number under Gizzy’s name.  The look on all four faces was priceless as they realized we were adopting Gizzy as the seventh member of the family.  Austin actually cried – he had wanted a dog for so long, it was a dream come true for him. 

There really was a dog under our Christmas tree...

The Christmas break was full of fun activities including bowling, sing-alongs,  ebelskivers, gingerbread houses and a special ski trip.

Christmas Eve ebelskiver breakfast with Tasha and the Girls:

Christams Day with the Sork Family included a family music lesson on the pipe chimes:

Family Bowling:

 Gingerbread Houses with the neighbors:

Weird family fun:

Night Skiing at Ski Bowl:

Tanner and Eric

Tanner's Eagle Court of Honor

Before Tanner graduated from high school and left for college, a midst all of the traveling hub-bub and track record-braking runs, he was able to complete the requirements he needed to be awarded the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America organization.

Tanner taking the Oath of Eagle Scout

The official documentation from the national scouting office did not come back until after he was already in Provo so we were not able to hold his Eagle Court of Honor until he came back for Christmas.  Because several months had passed since the actual award, there was a question as to whether or not we should even hold one.  That was never a consideration for me.  I am so proud of Tanner and all of his hard work.  This is not an easy rank to achieve and it takes a lot of dedication and effort.  I wanted everyone to know what he had accomplished.

Tanner's Scouting/High School Memorabilia 

Uniforms Tanner has worn throughout his life.

Tanner's reflections on his path to Eagle.

Besides earning 21 merit badges over the course of his six years in the boy scouting program, he had to participate in at least 10 hours of community service, hold a leadership position within the troop for 18 months or more, and be actively participating in the scouting organization every week, he had to complete an Eagle Scout project.  This project needed to benefit the community, show Tanner could plan and coordinate a multi-step project and display good leadership and communication skills in the process.

Tanner chose to design a cross-country running course for his high school.  Union is a brand new high school in the area and was using the community soccer fields as their home running course.  It was pretty boring to run and even more boring to watch.  After running on so many different courses, Tanner knew exactly what it would take to make a great course.

He got approval from the city to make the course at the local community park.  He measured out the course with the distance wheel.  He worked with the city facilities department to obtain and place large logs as obstacles on the trail.  Grandpa Sork was a great mentor and had the right connections at the city to help things move along speedily.

Austin, Sam and Ethan McKague, Tanner

Grandpa Sork and Tanner

Tanner directed and worked with Mom and Dad, fellow team-mates and troop members to make mile markers for the course.  To raise money for the needed supplies he planned and held a pledge run where the Union Cross Country team received money from community pledges for mileage they would run on a Saturday morning.  They had to run until they had enough money to complete his project.

Tanner and Sam McKague

Tanner with fellow teammates:  Roman Kirkov, Luke and Levi Sparks

 He even designed a course map and posted it on the Union High School Cross-Country web page.

His course was done just in time for him to run on it for his homecoming meet, Senior year. During his race a funny thing happened though; Tanner was leading the race and had the opportunity to set the course record until he took a wrong turn.  He won't be able to live that down.

Staging/Team Area

The Starting Line

The Finish Chute and Results Tent

Forest Trail with Log Obstacles

The Finish Line

We are all so proud of Tanner for sticking to it and achieving the goal he set for himself so many years ago - Eagle Scout!

Way to go, Tanner!

Mom:  Major Nag

Grandpa Sork:  Eagle Mentor

Tanner Sork:  Eagle Scout