Blue Belt, Baby!

A couple weeks ago, Jaden was called to test for his blue belt. He was really excited... for about 15 minutes. Then as he realized he would have to test in front of the big guy again, he became more and more nervous and decided he didn't want to go. We told him he didn't have to if he didn't want to, but eventually he toughened up and decided to go for it. So we drove to Ogden for the big event.


Jaden was one of about 8 or 9 green belts testing for his blue. He was the youngest, as usual, and he was awesome. The test was about 30 minutes long, then he goes home and waits to receive his new belt at his regular class. Here he is doing a Low Roundhouse.

The day he received his belt in class, we all went to cheer him on. Even my mom, dad and Alli were there. Here he is coming to the front with another green belt. They remove old belts, give them to their moms, and then receive the new belt.

Here he is putting on his new blue belt.

When the kids line up, they line up according to belt and age. Look how far up that line the little guy has come!


When you move up in rank, you become in charge of leading the class that day. So here he is facing the class, calling, demonstrating and leading.


This is the part, where I become the proudest mom on the planet. When you are in charge of leading the class, you have to come up with the exercises on your own, call it, demonstrate it, then count it out in Korean. The last two times, Jaden has been too shy to do this. But this time he did it. :) Although you could tell he was extremely nervous, he projected his voice, focused, and did great! I couldn't stop smiling. I was shocked, amazed and extremely proud. :) You go Jaden!

(Sorry, I'm having issues uploading the video.... Working on it, but not having much luck...)

Here he is working his roundhouse.

And his Outside-in Jumping Outside-in.

Jaden, you have improved so much and we are SO proud of you! Keep it up, dude!

Secret Handshake

While Jaden has been away at school all day, Kaleb has had to find a new buddy to fill his spot. Bradley and Kaleb seem to have become a lot closer these days. They even made up their own "secret handshake." My favorite is the booty "bump."

Cabin

Bradley Loves to Lift His Shirt...

There's all sorts of things to find under there...

Wanna see?

Kaleb was just wondering...

..."Are boogers healthy?"

Jaden's Climb

Yes I know this isn't actually Jaden climbing the rock wall. But it was closest thing I could find to what he actually did climb. I forgot my camera the night we went to the school carnival so the only picture we have is on Charles' phone. So this will have to do.

Jaden was so brave. He walked right up to the wall after being strapped up and just climbed. He got about 3/4 of the way up when he finally looked down. Once he saw how high he was, I think he decided it was high enough. He jumped. After dangling for a moment, he slowly lowered to to the ground, took off his gear and went running for the next bounce house.

Way to go Jade!


(I had to re-locate this post, see here are the comments.)

From Alli- HE CLIMBED A ROCK WALL?!?!?!?! COOOOOOL!!!! That is so brave! I just barely climbed my first rock wall a year ago and almost peed my pants it was so scary! Wow!!!

From Amber- That is so awesome Jaden!! Way to go!! Random question...you signed off, "way to go Jade" do you guys call him Jade sometimes? I know sometimes I call him that, but it's because I'm used to Jade from cousin Jade...

From Me- I think I may be the ONLY one here to call him Jade. I have always loved that name. I actually had a friend in 2nd grade called Jade--Jade Cowley. Originally I wanted to name him "Jade," but with "Charles" as a middle name, "Jaden" seemed to flow better. And I figured I could always call him Jade if I wanted to. Although it's funny... sometimes I see on Jaden's papers coming home from school that he has written "Jade" as his name. I asked him if he forgot to put the "n," and he says, "no, it's a nickname."