2009 Christmas Advent #8

Daniel, alias "Dirty Dano", loved the dirt. He loved it wet, dry, cold, hot, up and down. This was taken in my Grandmother's backyard where there was a wet spot due to an underground well. It didn't take long for Dano to find it and make use of it. Needless to say the 'spot' grew into a puddle, which grew into a pit. He played in it every chance he got.


This picture was taken after a trip to a cub scout day camp where his brother had been for the day. I pulled up in the car and went around to get Daniel out of his car seat. I unbuckled him and he leaned over too far and fell to his hands and knees into the softest, smoothest, silkiest dirt he, or I for that matter, had ever felt. In a matter of minutes he was throwing it and crawling through it and burying his cars in it and generally making a mess. This was very common to me and I figured it would be more work and frustration to keep him out of it than just give in and let him be a boy. After about 1/2 hour a member of the bishopric came up to me and asked me to try and stop him as he was filling the air with dirt and it was getting in the food. (I think it was also a bit disconcerting for him as Daniel was making it look like so much fun that his son and a couple of other boys had joined in and were contributing to the mess.) I sighed, grabbed him, and gathered up the rest of my brood and went home. This was what he looked like when we got home. We had to fill the tub three times to get him clean. He looks so dang happy though! Who can resist that grin???

2009 Christmas Advent #7

I'm not quite sure why "The Blanket" becomes so important to a child but I'm sure it has been so for thousands of years. This little crocheted blanket was made when I was pregnant with Jeni. It was the first attempt in many years to do something like that and the irregularities were very apparent. It ended up looking more like a trapazoid than a square but to this little girl it didn't matter at all. And did this warm a mother's heart? Yes, indeed. The blanket was dragged all over California and Utah in her childhood. It's been to Texas and who knows where else. It's still a part of her life. I'm so glad she has a piece of her childhood with her wherever she goes in this wide world, and that may be far and wide considering...

I hope she knows that a mother's love is packed in every strand.

2009 Christmas Advent #6

Children and their fearlessness. The laws of physics don't apply. They never think of consequences. They just move forward with what they want. In this case Jason wanted a toy on the other side of the box, but instead of going around the box, he just goes *over* it, never thinking that the cardboard box might collapse...well, it didn't. Daddy is holding it up with his foot. Jason didn't fall on his face...that time. No wonder their perception of reality is a bit skewed. We just keep bridging the gap for them and they're so single-minded that they never know how close they come to catastrophe every single day!!!

Maybe that's what Heavenly Father does for us...every single day.

2009 Christmas Advent #5

Stephanie is our caboose. Jeni was so excited to get a little sister that she almost cried, and promised to share everything with her and love her.

We even have that on video!
I love it when there's love between the brothers and sisters. They're some of the most important relationships ever. I don't know what I'd do without my own 3 brothers and 3 sisters. I love them dearly.

2009 Christmas Advent #4

I've always found children's artwork really interesting and fun to look at, especially when you can get them to tell you about it. The following was a drawing done by my 4+ year old Daniel who was REALLY into cars. The explanation of the picture was written in a letter to my parents.

June 12, 1989 (A letter to Grandparents)

I just had to send this little picture that Daniel drew this morning. He's finally able to sit down and draw a discernible picture. This is one of his more detailed pictures. Most of them deal with a single subject...Cars. This one contains three subjects. First of all there is a self portrait. As you can tell he has a buzz. He can't stand for his hair to get more than "fuzzy". If it doesn't "fuzz" when you run your hand backwards, from front to back, on the top of his head, it's too long and needs to be buzzed again. I noticed that he even put eyebrows on himself! I commented on this 'first', and he gave me a tolerant smile and said, "Those aren't my eyebrows. Those are my scabs." Sure enough he has two scabs, which will soon be pits, high on his forehead in about the same place. How silly of me!

The second subject is his bicycle. As you can see it has handlebars, a seat, peddle, tires, and if you look closely, you'll see air nozzles on the tires. At first I thought it was 1 spoke. He volunteered their true identity. I'm glad I kept my mouth shut or esle I would have deserved another of his tolerant smiles.

The third subject, of course, is the car, and he's driving it. I was afraid to ask what the little marks are beside the wheels but I did anyway. They are the 'SHHHHHHHH' sound the car makes when it's going.

This child has one of the most contagious and engaging smiles of anyone I know.

Our Dano.

2009 Christmas Advent #3

Jeni and babies...As I've watched Jeni with her babies and heard her say, "She's just so TINY!!" There was a time when babies weren't so tiny for her. She was almost 3 when her baby brother Daniel was born. He was just shy of 9 pounds. Jeni got to hold him in the hospital when he was just hours old. He wasn't what you'd call a "tiny" baby but he was still little, but he looks giant compared to his 2 year 9 month old sister! See the difference now?

2009 Christmas Advent #2

The Rootbeer Story:

And that's all I have to say about that.