Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam

We had a major milestone in Kennedy's life today. Our little girl has officially left Nursery and entered Primary as a Sunbeam. Now, Dede doesn't always deal well with change, so we've been talking about going into Primary for a couple of weeks. She sounded excited, but with a three year old you never know what's going to happen.

Things started out well. As soon as she entered the room, the Sunbeams were introduced and she stood up with the other kids. After that Tara and I left to attend our classes. I didn't hear about the day until getting home a few hours later.

Apparently, Kennedy was a little sad to be in her new surroundings and started to cry in class. No big deal, just a few tears. That is, until the class went to get a drink and she saw Tara in the hallway. It took about 5 minutes to compose our new Sunbeam. Still, she eventually went back into class and she survived the rest of the day.

The best I got out of Dede is a simple, "Primary was fun", when I asked if she liked her new class. I guess that's better than a lot of things she could have said. All I know is that I hope Dede wants to be a Sunbeam, cause her mom and I sure want her to be one.

Christmas is Over?

One of the duties of being in the Bishopric is writing an article for the ward newsletter every third month. Normally, my article isn't really blog worthy, but I like the theme from this article and thought I'd share it with you.

The holiday rush is over. Life is getting back into more familiar routines. The students are back in school and the rest of us are back at work. As we look back on the past month, many of us will feel a sense of sadness at the end of the Christmas season. January may be the beginning to the “winter blues” that many experience. The question needs to be asked, “What changed as the calendar crossed from December to January?”

“The Christmas spirit is gone from our hearts and homes,” comes the reply. The Christmas spirit that was in your hearts in December is the spirit of Christ, and it can exist within our homes all year long. Alma addressed this issue when we asked each of us if we had experienced a change or heart or a desire to come unto Christ.

“And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances, Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?” (Alma 5:14).

During December each of us does a few things that bring Christ into our homes. We display images of the nativity, which remind us of His birth. We sing songs of His arrival and glory in His Eternal mission. We read of Christ’s birth and marvel at the wonders regarding His humble beginnings. We spend time with friends and family, sharing in the love that can exist within our Eternal families. We give of ourselves, and the spirit of Christ is manifest in our sacrifice for one another.

Regardless of how much we love Christmas, eventually the nativities are put away, the tree comes down, and the lights go back in their boxes. Still, the spirit that we’ve felt for the past month doesn’t have to leave us. We can still display images of our Savior in our homes. We can still sing songs that remind us of His divine mission. We can read of His words and those of His prophets and follow His counsel. We can enjoy time with friends and family, sharing our testimonies of Him who brings us joy. We can still give of ourselves and make our world one of peace and harmony.

“And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?” (Alma 5:26)

Alma understood that once Christ enters into your life he needs to become a permanent fixture. Not like the ornaments that are boxed up in the garage, or the music that we sing for one month a year. No, Christ is our Lord and Savior; let’s make room for Him in our lives year round.

Obama: Hope in Iowa

As I watched the results coming in from Iowa last night I was even more impressed with Barack Obama. He took a close contest and turned it into a comfortable victory. How? He reached out to everyone: democrat, independent, even a few republicans and gave them hope.

A commentator on CNN made an important comparison between Obama and Hilary - saying that when people leave a speech by Clinton they comment about how smart she is. When they leave a speech by Obama they talk about how inspired they are. Don't we want a President who can inspire us to greatness?

New Look for a New Year

I decided to change the color scheme on the blog for the new year. Nothing against the red, black, and tan look from last year (it was a good Utes scheme), but you've just got to mix things up now and again. I really like the layout for the page, so I'm not ready to do anything drastic. Still, your blog should be like your hair - solid style, with a ability to adapt to an occasional whim. What do you think?

Ring In the New Year

I can't believe we made it to midnight last night. In fact, we were still going strong until around 2 am. When is the last time you stayed up past 2 am? I think it's been years for me, and judging from the way I feel today, I know why I go to bed before midnight. It's safe to say I'll never be called a Night Owl.

For New Year's we may have gone to my sister's house for soup and appetizers, but the main course for the evening was Guitar Hero. We started playing around 8 pm and didn't turn the game off until 1:30 am. It's fun to get the hang of the game and even better to stay on stage (without getting booed).

As surprising as it was to stay up past midnight, I was even more shocked that Dede made it right along with us. She was playing with all the little girls at the party and she did not want to go to bed. Kennedy even joined in the celebration at midnight by giving Tara and me a New Year's kiss.

Even though Alex missed the New Year at midnight, he woke up around 1 am and was ready to party! I guess a power nap helps everyone. He was so wired that we had trouble getting him down and so he had to cry himself to sleep. Not the best beginning to 2008, but there wasn't much else we could do.

2007 was a great year and I'm sorry to see it end. Our family really had some fun times and it's been fun to watch our kids grow up. Still, I look forward to 2008 and the adventures that lay in store. From Kennedy starting pre-school, to Alex discovering his voice it will certainly be an interesting year.