Check Out Those Eyes!

Wow! Zackary sure does have gorgeous eyes and eyelashes. This picture was taken the same night when we took the picture of Anton's black eye. How lucky I am to have such wonderful little boys.

Anton's First Shiner

Anton got his first black eye. I guess every little boy needs to have at least one at some point. He fell off of a chair and on his way down his eyebrow hit the edge of the seat. Within about five seconds of him falling he had a little bulge in another thirty seconds his eye was mostly swollen shut. The doctor said that it was just some broken blood vessels and that he would have a really good black eye. It didn't even seem to phase Anton. He was running around and jumping as usual, although his eye did look quite pretty. This picture is taken at the prettiest point of the black eye. Yes, his face is quite dirty. He fell asleep on the way home from some Thanksgiving weekend activities, so he didn't get his face washed or get in his pajamas, but instead just got put straight in bed. Luckily, his eye is pretty much all healed up now. In another day or two we won't even be able to tell that he ever had a black eye.

What Cuties!

Anton and Zackary on the day of the funeral. They are wearing their hats that are like the hats that their grandpa and great-grandpa always wore. How could I ask for any more adorable boys?

We will miss you Dad and Grandpa!

Early in the morning on October 9, 2008 I received a very sad phone call. My father-in-law had passed away. He will be greatly missed. He was an incredible man, full of love and acceptance for everyone. He did a great job of raising his children, and I was blessed enough to marry one of his sons. From the moment I first met him he showed great love and caring for me. I remember how he showed up at the hospital after our first baby was born. He had a special arrangement of flowers for me and a stuffed puppy for Anton. He was thrilled to have a new grandson and wanted to make sure that we were doing all right.

He visited us at least once a week, always wanting to take us out to lunch and spend time playing with his grandson. When we would visit him his face always lit up with joy upon seeing his son and grandsons. He always thanked me for bringing his boys to see him. He loved playing with Anton and Zackary and holding them, singing songs to them.

I remember one time, shortly after Anton was born, I had gone back to work and Linden was working out of town. He came to my work on an errand from Linden. Linden had given him some money to buy me some flowers because he knew I was having a hard time going back to work and having Linden gone. How grateful I was to see him and know that I had help. How wonderful that Linden learned such love and generosity from his father, because he truly taught his children about love and giving.

He had a love for knowledge. He was always reading about history and architecture and birds and so many other things. He had a wonderful sense of humor, a tremendous amount of patience, and a quiet, gentle manner.

What a privilege it was to have him in my life for the few years that I did. How wonderful it would be to have him here to see his grandsons grow and learn. We will deeply miss you, Dad and Grandpa. Thanks for your great example.

Another Monday

I think the highlight of my day was visiting my friend Jen. I haven't seen her for a few months and she is such an inspiration to me. She and her husband have been through so many trials and are still facing some great ones. They are always positive and look at their blessings instead of the challenges. I truly need to learn from their example. How grateful I am for their friendship and the great times that we spend together. Jen is so organized and cheerful. She always has a clean house which is very homey and inviting. Her smile is never-ending. She will become a mother in a few months and I know that she will be a great mother!! She is extremely intelligent and very giving. She has many talents and is very willing to share them with others. Her faithfulness and devotion are incomparable.

Thanks, Jen. I love you and will always cherish your friendship.

Hello Everyone!

I finally decided to jump into blogging. I enjoyed reading Jennifer's blog so much because I felt like I knew what was going on with them. So, thanks to Jennifer I have started this blog. I don't know how well it will go over. We'll see about that. I need to get the digital camera figured out and a few other things so that it will be nicer.

Everything is going well in Shelley. I spend my days chasing the boys around and trying to keep the house clean. I have decided I really like having a small house. It doesn't take very long to clean it, YEAH! We are really enjoying the fall weather. We went for a drive this morning with Josh and Maria. We decided that it would be easier to listen to General Conference while we were driving than at home. It worked. On our way to Swan Valley we enjoyed seeing the fall colors and listening to the speakers. We then had a nice picnic at the Irwin City Park. Luckily, they had a shelter so we could be out of the rain. It was a bit chilly, but nice to visit with Josh and Maria as we had to take different cars. We then went to get square ice cream cones, of course. Needless to say we weren't able to enjoy as much of the afternoon session of Conference after we got home. We should have planned more drives for the afternoon session and tomorrow's sessions.