"Dan the Man" aka "Boonster" Turns 14!

Our Danny turned 14 today!  Wow, I know I say this all the time - but "where has the time gone!"  I don't have many digital pictures of Danny.  I need to go back through all the old pictures and scan them.  But, I was lucky to find some old ones that Brad took before I even had a digital camera.  I remember thinking that he was crazy to do it that way.  I liked my film camera. :)  Anyway, here are some cute memories of Danny.

 Danny was a slow walker.  The doctors were really worried about him and were testing for muscular dystrophy because he was so slow.  Thankfully, everything was just fine.  This pic was taken in Tom Sawyer's cave and my favorite memory then was that this was the first time he walked so long.  He hadn't been walking very long, but walked through the whole cave by himself and we were so proud!

 Danny has always been a great camper - I guess all our boys have.  But I LOVE this pic. So cute!  He was my little buddy back then.

 I'm not sure how old he is here, but he has such a cute grin!

 Ditto!  See the puppy calendar in the background?  When he was about this age, he used to crawl all around on the floor and pretend he was a puppy...constantly!

 Look at the tall handsome young man that he has grown into!  He was so surprised to get this BYU "Jimmer" jersey for his birthday.  We have all really enjoyed watching BYU do so well in the NCAA tournaments and we have all gone a little Jimmer crazy.

Happy Birthday Danny!  You are growing into such a kind and wonderful young man.  Dad and I appreciate so much how seriously you take your church callings and are proud of your growing knowledge of the Gospel.  I love to see you at night reading your scriptures right before bed.  Keep up the good work and you will go far in life.  We love you more than anything :D

Japan

In the last couple of weeks, there was an 8.9 earthquake just off the coast of Northern Japan and then a massive tsunami.  It has been absolutely heartbreaking watching footage and seeing pictures of the destruction that has taken place.  They are still unsure of the number of the dead. And to top it all off, there is a nuclear disaster/emergency taking place.  The tsunami flooded the power supply that keeps the fuel rods cool and many heros have spent the last 2 weeks trying to get it under control. It is freezing, there is a food shortage and the people there are suffering terribly.  What really tugs at my heartstrings is how the people are handling it.  They are patient and courteous and there is no looting going on like there would be almost any other place in the world. The news people are saying that the Japanese people are the most prepared on earth. I hope and pray that their suffering will be relieved soon and that the nuclear crisis will be resolved soon. I truly can't imagine what they must be going through.

Beauty & Culture

We had two concerts back to back last week.  This was the gorgeous view on the way into the high school where Danny's Jr. High orchestra was performing.  It took my breath away.  Watching my sons musical performances was pretty awesome too.  It makes me so happy that they love music and that they are trying to be well-rounded.  They do it because they want to.  :)

Danny in the 8th grade orchestra for Greenfield Junior High

Alex on the right in the back.  He is in the Concert Choir for Highland High School.

Kirk Jones

Mike Plowman, Brad, Steve Mousser, KIRK JONES, Mike Ward, John Davis

We had a dear friend pass away a couple of weeks ago.  He was only 53 years old.  His name was Kirk Jones and he had ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease).  I have thought about Kirk and Karen a lot this last couple of weeks.  It is impossible to summarize his life in just a paragraph or two, but I just wanted to share how much he touched our lives.  And by "our" lives - I don't just mean my family's, but our whole "ward family".  Kirk and Karen moved into the ward 2 1/2 years ago.  They knew something was wrong and suspected ALS, but got the formal diagnosis soon after they moved in.  The thing that struck me so much about him was his friendliness and how happy he seemed.  Over the last couple of years, we watched his body wither away, but we were also privileged to watch his spirit grow brighter and stronger.  

He served as Executive Secretary to Brad while he was Bishop and was just released on October 31, 2010 with the rest of the bishopric.  He was so good at names.  I think he knew everyone and had the gift to make us all feel special and like he was our best friend.  Our ward had the opportunity to serve him and his family over the years, but I feel like what we received from Kirk was definitely more than we gave.  I know that he blessed my family's life greatly and we are so thankful that we got to know him.  We will miss him dearly.