PATCH CEREMONY

So, I don't have too many good pictures of the patch ceremony. I wasn't taking picture and I'm waiting to get some more from other people. If I get some that are any better than the ones I have, then I'll post them. But I thought I'd at least get some of these on here since a couple people have asked how it went.

MAKE NEW FRIENDS, BUT KEEP THE OLD
ONE IS SILVER AND THE OTHER IS GOLD

That was the theme for the whole night. Everything was decorated in Silver and Gold.

You can't see this picture too well but the chairs in front all had their names backed with gold and silver paper X&X helped me make.First we ate food from a potluck the Food Committee organized...

This is Xanthe with Ms. Stewart, their Teacher's Aide in school, and Sis. Larson, their Activities Day InstructorThen we did the Patch Ceremony where all the Brownies earned their Patches. Here's how we presented them. Then each one of the girls had to speak into the microphone and tell what was their favorite one they worked on.
Then came the Bridging Ceremony where the Brownies "flew up" (or graduated) to Junior Girl Scouts. It was really cute. You don't have to read further if you aren't really interested, but I thought for history-sake I'd write what happened AND because I wrote the ceremony, I'm pretty proud of it. :) It was pretty touching though to all the parents and girls. They were all crying and really getting choked up.

Anyway, so all the Brownies started in a Brownie Circle at the beginning of the bridge crisscrossing their hands. Each individual Brownie who was Bridging would enter the middle, one at a time and would participate in the following ceremony. First, I asked, "Brownie Xoe, I give you your wings, do you wish to fly up to bigger things?" She would repeat loudly, "I am a Brownie and have had lots of fun, but a Junior Girl Scout I'd like to become."

Then the Brownies would all repeat, "As your Brownie friends, we say goodbye, break the ring and out you fly." And then they broke the ring and the Brownie got to exit and walk over the bridge. All the parents were crying. It was pretty touching.

Then when she got to the middle of the bridge, she said into the microphone what she's going to miss about Brownies and what she's looking forward to in Junior Girl Scouts, then walk all the way across. She was met by the other leader of the troop who presented each girl with her new Junior Girl Scout vest. It was a surprise to the girls. The troop secretly purchased their vests as a gift and the parents got all the insignia for them.

(P.S. I can't believe I'm actually letting you guys see a full body shot of me...)And because Xoe was last, she got to say the last part to say goodbye to the Brownies who weren't bridging (they have to stay back one more year). "Dear Brownies, we leave you, but we’re not far behind, You’ll always be in our hearts and our minds. We’ll see you next year when you bridge on your own, You’ve got one more year to earn wings to be flown. We love you, Kristina & Aleesia...And now I go to fly up."

Well, that set not only the parents crying but all these preteen girls were bawling. It was pretty funny. And of course Xanthe and Xoe and one or two other little girls were like, "What are they all crying about?" hahaha. Too funny. Anyway, it was a really touching ceremony. Hope you enjoyed these pictures. The girls really had a great time and I'm really proud of them for wanting to stick with such a great program for girls this age.

And one last treat for ya! Remember I said I wouldn't take any pictures from here on out. Well, here's one for you ONLY cuz it's so cute of Xanthe.