In Memory....

President Gordon B. Hinkley’s 6 B’s….

Be Grateful. “Walk with gratitude in your hearts. Be thankful for the wonderful blessings which are yours. Be grateful for the tremendous opportunities that you have. Say thank you. Express appreciation to everyone who does you a favor or assists you in any way. Thank the Lord for His goodness to you.”

Be Smart. “The Lord wants you to educate you minds and hands, whatever your chosen field. Seek for the very best schooling available. Become a workman of integrity in the world that lies ahead of you.”

Be Clean. “Avoid evil talk. Don’t waste your time in destructive entertainment. Be Clean. ‘Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you?’ (1Cor 3:16).

Be True. “Be loyal to the Church under all circumstances. I make you a promise that the authorities of this Church will never lead you astray. They will lead you in paths of happiness… Be true to your own convictions. You know what is right and you know what is wrong. Be loyal. Be faithful. Be true.”

Be Humble. “The Lord has said, ‘Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers’ (D&C 112:10) I believe the meek and the humble are those who are teachable. They are willing to learn. They are willing to listen to the whisperings of the still small voice for guidance in their lives. They place the wisdom of the Lord above their own wisdom.”

Be Prayerful. “You need his help, and you know that you need His help. Get on your knees and thank Him for His goodness to you and express to Him the righteous desires of your hearts. The miracle of it all is that He hears. He responds. He answers--not always as we might wish He would answer, but there is no question in my mind that He answers.”

Top Drawer

We all have a 'top drawer', others may call it a 'junk drawer', right? It is used to house such items that really don't have a home elsewhere. Farrell's 'top drawer' has a whole plethora of items. Things like: bent nails, marbles, rocks, more rocks, yet even more rocks, papers, collecting cards of baseball/Yu-gi-oh origin, various Lego instruction booklets, mini flashlight, batteries, starwars stuff, patches, spinning thing, candy wrappers, magnets, nerf gun, fake teeth and a folded flag. Farrell likes stuff. Farrell also likes food. He is known to sneak whatever food he can find and stash it for himself. Look what we found in his 'other' top drawer..... peanut butter and a spooon? Yes, that's right. Farrell is starving and will eat whatever he can find. He is a growing boy, afterall!

Oh Baby!

Unbelievable. If we could just slow time down a little…. David is already 4 months old!! The water-works are on and he is all about slobbery smiles and drooly kisses. What a joy David is - he has such a happy disposition. How could he help but be happy with parents who absolutely adore him and five siblings who all want to hold, sing to, and help their baby brother at any given moment. David’s milestones are rolling over from front to back (simply because he can only stand so much tummy time) and smiling at a glance, he is starting to giggle and squeal with delight and you almost just can’t help but want to squeeze him and cover him with kisses! Oh baby, he is so fun! David had us a little worried when he was 2 weeks, as he had lost nearly a full pound at his first check-up and was looking a little scrawny. But no fear, he has grown in the traditional BabyDean fashion – a total meatball!!

Imagine That

Emeron says the funniest things. I remember once when Jacob had a really high fever and I was holding and caring for him. Emeron said, “Mom, Can you make me warm?” He must have thought that it was his turn for all that snuggling with mom. Another time I asked him if he still had a pull-up on and he said, “No, listen (as he takes three steps forward and backward) it doesn’t make that crickly-crunch sound.” Anyway, here is how a conversation went today as Emeron was recalling how he accidently bonked his baby brother in the head when he was playing around:

Emeron: “Remember yesterday when Jacob bonked David’s head?”
Mom: “Jacob bonked David’s head?”
Emeron: “:::giggling::: No, Jacob didn’t bonk his head, it was a lion.”
Mom: “Oh, a lion?” ;)

There is always an animal doing something around the house, sometimes it is a snake, a bear or a big buffalo. Usually it goes something like this: "Mom, a saw a big moose/cougar/elk and it made my bones wiggle and I spilled/dropped/broke something. Ems has such a big imagination, and I love to see him use it!

Coriolis Effect

Do you know who Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis is? Well you would if you attended Abby’s science fair last Friday. It was our first experience at a science fair and Abby was able to participate this year. Together with her best friend they studied, experimented, giggled, goofed off, looked stuff up on the internet and put together a great project. Their headliner read: The earth constantly spins. Its motion affects the direction of air and water currents. This is the Coriolis Effect. They seemed to stay excited and positive about their project throughout. Abby said her favorite part was demonstrating and experimenting on the direction the water spiraled with a big bucket full of water, an upside down water jug and a little pepper.

Once There Was A Snowman

Annlyn came bounding in the back door with red nose and cheeks declaring, “I did it myself!!! Come and see!! Come and see!!” Sure enough, there right at the bottom of the steps was her snowman that she built all by herself and could not be more proud!! She made it perfectly clear that Emeron did not help her, and it was all her creation! Way to go Nan!!

7 Highlights of '07

• We finally took our family vacation to Disneyland for the first time ever. We had so much fun Santa should send us every year!
  
• Abby scored in the top 10 percentile, nationally, of the 3rd Grade Iowa Test. The little smarty pants.
  
• Farrell turned 8 and was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We’re so proud of him!
  
• Anna started Kindergarten reading like a second grader. She really could be the teacher’s aid.
  
• Emeron finally had his birthday, after asking on a daily basis, “Is my birthday tomorrow?”
  
• Jacob triumphantly earned the status of a Top-Teasingly-Terrific-Terror-of-a-Two-Year-Old-Toddler.
  
• Our Number One Highlight by far for the year was welcoming our little baby David into the world. He has brought that sweet newborn spirit into our home again and completed our family. We all love him so very much.

Throughout the year we learned first hand of the kindness and love our family, friends, and ward members have for us. We have found ourselves overflowing with gratitude at the many blessings we have….Our children, healthy and happy. The quaint little home we live in. All of the relationships we share in our part of the world. A positive attitude. And laughter…. =) Happy New Year!!