Tribute

Paying our respects

We went downtown today to pay our respects for President Hinckley. We were expecting tons of people to be around the conference center. I was very surprised that there weren't that many. Oh don't get me wrong, there were massive amounts of people, but not what I had expected. We wound our way up inside the conference center until we found ourselves at the top. We entered what is known as the hall of prophets (it contains busts of all Presidents from Joseph Smith to Pres. Hinckley) and President Hinckley's casket was in the center, surrounded by lots of beautiful flowers. Even though we were all in jeans and t shirts and Dan was dressed for work, I didn't feel out of place. I thought I might when I saw lots of others in Sunday best, but once in the building the overwhelming feeling of the spirit and why we were there took over. It didn't matter what we were wearing, it was why we were there. I was already in tears by the time we got to the top floor. The flood emotions happened though as we passed by the casket. There lay our Prophet. It seemed very surreal. He looked very peaceful. There were some members of his family milling about, although we didn't speak to them. I am grateful that we got this opportunity to say good bye to one of the Lord's anointed. I don't know if we will ever get the chance to do it again. He truly was a great and inspired man and the whole world will miss him.

Passing of a Prophet

It was such a shock when I got to work this morning and heard about the passing of Pres. Hinckley. It's like you knew one day that he probably would pass, but then again he was someone that we thought would live forever. I'm so grateful for living in the time where he was a prophet. I was fortunate enough to see him in person at the dedication of the Raliegh, NC temple. It was a glorious day when he stuck his head in the room we were sitting in and waved and from that moment he was a friend to all. And you knew that he was the servant of the Lord by the feeling you got being in the same room with him. He is back with his sweet wife and I know he is with the Lord. It is a joyous and sad day all at the same time. We are better for having him as our prophet for so long.

Millions around the world are reacting in much the same way to the death of President Gordon B. Hinckley, a respected and beloved leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. People are smiling and recalling personal stories of President Hinckley. Everyone remembers his energy and love of work.

"There are many more things I'd like to see accomplished, and we'll get some of them done and some of them we may not get done, but my successor will carry on and there'll be no problem. [The] Church won't lose a step. It'll just move forward," President Hinckley said.

President Hinckley is credited with moving his faith forward by leaps and bounds. His brother-in-law and sisters-in-law, his wife, Marjorie's, siblings, remained close to him and describe him as the hardest working man they knew.

"The thing I like about him is that he always has a lot to do, and he's busy. He's always busy. Even when we had family meetings he'd say, ‘OK, Marge, its time for us to go. We have a lot of things to do,'" sister-in-law Evelyn Hendriksen recalled.

"He thrived on work. It seemed like the more deadlines he had to meet, and the pressure, the happier he was. He loved to do it. He loved to be challenged. He was always involved and always busy but happy while he was doing it," Hendriksen added.

Pres. Hinckley was also happy about personally overseeing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, he called the singers "the crown jewel of the Church". Choir president Mac Christensen said it was always a pleasure to meet with him. ~KSL.COM

Sledding

Today was a nice day. Not too chilly so we went sledding. A friend of ours and his kids joined us. It was a lot of fun. We decided to go to Murray Park since it wouldn't be that busy. I'm so glad too. We were the only ones there. It looked like some folks had already been there and I'm just glad they were gone. I liked that it was quiet. The kids had more room to sled where they wanted too. It's been a while since we've been sledding so we were looking forward to it. I do believe we tired the kids out. It's been a fun time. THANKS!

Seth's Lost his First Tooth!!

It's been a very exciting week. Seth discovered he had a loose tooth. It's been fun playing with it as it got more and more loose. Finally today while he was playing with it, it popped out!! Now we are excited in anticipation of the tooth fairy's visit.
Seth has no doubt been sticking his tongue through the hole in his mouth now. If you look carefully where his tooth used to be, you'll be able to see the new tooth peeking through. It looks like it's coming in crooked too.....I see braces in his future. But for now he is excited and that's all that matters!!

Keegan is a Sunbeam!

A SUNBEAM A SUNBEAM, JESUS WANTS ME FOR A SUNBEAM. A SUNBEAM, A SUNBEAM, I'LL BE A SUNBEAM FOR HIM.

I remember singing that in primary when I was little. Now we are teaching it to Keegan. He is officially a Sunbeam in primary now. He's been sick for the past 2 Sundays and hasn't been able to go. We finally got everyone better and he was able to attend primary today. It was very exciting! My little boy is growing up!!

Lucky Sitting

He mostly slept on my grandmother's quilt. I must say it is quite comfy and warm so it doesn't surprise me that he chose that to sleep on.

We were graced with the presence of Lucky again this week. Margot and Lynn went to visit Robbie and Katie in MS and their family. So we got Lucky for the week. It was nice. He mainly stayed in our room with the occasional venture out to eat and see what was going on. He has a very sweet disposition and we really enjoyed having him here. Makes me want a pet......

Down with the Sickness!

I officially hate January now. It has never failed, every January we all get hit with some sort of ick and we usually get hit hard. This year was no different. It started with Paige who got a small cough and runny nose. We really didn't think that much of it since she was also getting her molars. So we gave her some medicine and left it alone. Until Seth came down with it and ended up missing two days of school. Keegan was next, then Dan and finally me. Because of lack of sleep dealing with kids who are sick, Dan and I got the brunt of it. Oh man!!!! Everyone seems to be better but me now. I have a sinus infection and an ear infection. It's lasted well over a week (although the ear infection began last night) and I have just about had it with germs. I am lysoling and cloroxing everything I can get my hands on!! I want us better and I want us better now!!!! So January is not looking so good for us. I'm hoping February gets better.......I need more medicine!!

Seth rides his bike!

Seth just loves his new bike!!!

We finally got around to taking Seth out to ride his bike. We've included a video in this (hooray-we figured the video out and it's our first one ever!!!) We've had way too much snow for him to ride since his birthday and yesterday it got warm enough that most of the snow melted. So we took him out for a ride. It was his birthday all over again!!

Resolutions

It's that time of year again. I try to do this every year and by about March fizzle out. So here's my list for 2008 and my hopes to make it till year's end!:

1. get better organized
2. volunteer more at Seth's school
3. exercise more
4. get prepared for marathon bike tour in april
5. eat healthier (ug no more sweets.......)
6. read my scriptures daily (gotta do better with this one seriously!)
7. spend more time reading/playing with the kids
8. spend less time worrying about things I cannot change and more time thankful for what I have

So there's my list. I'm really trying to do better at bettering myself and bettering my family in the process. With schedule's that vary and hardly anytime all together we are all going to try to do better. So far so good, but then again it's only January 2.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Temple Square on New Year's Day

Keegan and Paige all toasty warm.

Jack isn't used to the cold and was glad when we went inside!

so sicky sweet! *haha*

The family.

Chris brought Carly and Jack for a visit (Carly is Chris' finacee and Jack is her son) and we decided to go to Temple Square to see the lights. They turned them off about 5 minutes before we got there. Just not fair. So we spent the time inside the North Visitor center instead. Since it was about 18 degrees outside it seemed like a logical second choice. It was a nice way to spend the first day of the year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Seth turns 6

making crowns

the dragon pinata that wouldn't give up his candy!

pin the fire on the dragon game!

a gift card from Zander.

Puzzles and dinosaur from mema and papa!

a bike and helmet from mom, dad, keegan and paige!

remote controlled car from anna, jared and mathieu

cars from Emma

puzzle from grandma and lynn

tshirt from grandma and lynn

Seth had his birthday-a Knight in Shining armor birthday party. We played pin the fire on the dragon, we made royal crowns and put a hearty beat down on a dragon pinata that just wouldn't give up his candy. I finally had to just put the thing down. All the kids had a great time and we appreciate all that came!! Thanks for the fun and the goodies. I think Seth really enjoyed it!

Happy Birthday Seth!!!!

Dan was unable to attend as he had to work. It was a bummer that he missed it. We missed him too.