Derby car's and puppies

Today was a very exciting day...First Ethan had his first pinewood derby race. His car did really well. He won 1st for the 7-8 year olds and 2nd for our ward. He also won an award for most artistic with his paint job that he did of Wolverine. The boys had a great time making the car together and working on everything.

Last minute changes

Waiting for their turn.
the winning race for the 7-8 year olds.

the line up

Wolverine Fan Club

Go, Go, Ethan...

Alex and Ethan

Then after the race we took a drive to go and get the newest member of the family...

Aspen

She is a beautiful Rottweiler. She is 16 weeks old and is a bit shy but she is very good. Annie is not too sure of her yet. I think she is making sure that Aspen knows who is boss. Aspen has wanted to play with her and then Annie would run away. But David got down on the floor and got them to play with him.

First bath

pretty puppy.

One year...

Has it really been a year since I have listened to my dad say he loves me? And heard his great laugh and seen his contagious smile? There have been days that it has seemed like forever. And then like most days it is regular routine and it does not phase me. And then the moments in life happen that I want to share and I pick up the phone to call him and I remember... I remember all the great fun we had with dad. He was always ready to have fun. What ever you did with dad it was always FUN! It was fun because that is just how dad was...FUN!
I remember going skiing with dad and he would ski ahead of me and then turn around so that he was skiing backwards so that he could watch me. Of course he would give me tips and I would just say "turn around dad!".
I remember how excited he was when each of my babies were born. He was so happy to be a grandpa. He loved to spend Christmas with us. We were so blessed to be able to have him with us for many Christmas mornings. He loved to watch the kids excitment on Christmas day.
I miss him so much. But I know that he is watching over us and knows how much we love him. One day we will all be together again!
Love you dad!

I have posted this video clip of dad from last year when we visited at Christmas in 2008. We were going through all of his personal history and I came across this paper writen in German. When I asked him what it was he started to sing. I got most of it on camera and I love how he chuckles while he is singing.
Warning...you can see part of his tumor.

I totaly jinxed myself...

If you keep up with my inconsistent posting you might remember my post pulling teeth and potty training... and prior to that No more diapers!. I will remind you that I posted these in March of last year and I want to say that they are not true! Well in a sense they were but not fully...lil' David has peen in pull-ups until yesterday. He did wear underwear for a while but I got very tired of washing out poopy underwear! And I had even just thrown some away instead of washing them!
so this past week we had been telling David that he can not go to Disney World unless he can wear big boy underwear. So he would use the potty some times...and then when he would go in the pull-ups he would say that he forgot to go in the potty. Well Sunday I had it and after church I told him he would have to wear underwear. Of course he said "no, no I can't wear underwear!!!" and I said "yes, you can!". Well with Dad's help he did wear underwear (because for some reason he can stay calm and talk to the kids in situations like this and be rational, ugh!).
Well I am happy to report that lil' David has been in big boy underwear for 5 days now and we have had no accidents! I am not going to say that he is potty trained because, well just look at the title....

Is this the beginning?

This past Saturday Ethan had his first taste of learning to skate so that he can play Hockey! Our area has a free 9 week session. So when Ethan asked if he could play I thought "Why not!" ti would only cost me the price of (used) skates, a stick, and some elbow and knee pads. For this session he can use his bike helmet, if he wants to continue then we will invest in a hockey helmet and more gear. But this was we can see if this is something he likes with out spending $$$. I am excited that he wanted to try hockey. I enjoy watching and would love to go to games. But for now we will try to get over to the rink to do some skating. I can help him with the basics...but I never learned how to hockey stop so I will have to recruit someone for help on that. Hey! maybe would could learn together!

LDSnuggets

'Of all times, it is Christmas when we must surely realize that there can be no true worship of Him who is the Christ without giving of ourselves. At this season let us, each one, reach out a little more generously in the spirit of the Christ. It is not enough to give toys and baubles. It is not enough to give alms to those in need. That is important, yes. But it is also important that we give of ourselves with our alms. May the real meaning of Christmas distill into our hearts, that we may realize that our lives, given us by God our Father, are really not our own, but are to be used in the service of others.'
--Gordon B. Hinckley, 'The Gift of Self', Tambuli, Dec 1986, 2


Luke 2:7"