He Knows Each Of Us

Last year we had the summer of I Love Lucy.  Just about every night during the kids' summer break we would watch an episode or two of Lucy.  It was tremendously fun to see the kids enjoy a classic show that Christi and I love so much.  We finished up that series earlier this year and then looked for another one to enjoy as a family.  Christi introduced the kids to the Brady Bunch, which they love.  Unfortunately, I can't stomach more than about 3 minutes of that particular show, so while the kids continue to watch it, it hasn't become the family activity Lucy was.

Trying again, Christi introduced them to The Cosby Show.  I hadn't watched much of his TV show when I was younger, but I was a huge fan of Bill Cosby's comedy routines.  I gave the show a shot and we had a winner.  At first we were just watching what was available on TV Land, but then we borrowed the first season from the library and we've been going through the episodes in order.  It's a great family activity.  The kids love the way Cliff Huxtable parents, and I must admit I've learned a few lessons from him.  Just about every night, the kids look up at us with hopeful eyes and ask, "Can we watch a Cosby?"  

Conner had never watched one before last night.  It's pretty difficult to get anything out of a television show when you can't see it or understand any of the words.  Usually he will be in another room listening to books on tape on his iPod or playing a simple Kung Fu game on the computer.  But last night we encouraged him to come be with the family.  Not only would he be around us, he would also be exposed to English, something that, over time, can help with his language acquisition.  

So we went downstairs and put on the next episode of The Cosby Show.  We didn't look for anything specific, we just turned on the next show in order.  We are half way through the second season at this point, and this was the first show Conner had watched with us.  This episode had Stevie Wonder as a guest star.  A blind piano player!  As we talked to Conner about Stevie, he really perked up.  He was so excited.  He earnestly asked a few questions:  "Does he have a wife?  Is she beautiful?"  He was so happy to hear that a blind person was able to have such a fulfilling life.  

Conner often asks questions like these:  "Will I be able to get a job?"  "Will I be able to get married?"  He is so concerned about his future.  I'm not sure what he was exposed to in China, but he is clearly lacking confidence that a blind person can have a rewarding life.  What a tender mercy from our Father in Heaven that the first episode he watched with us had such a fine example of a blind man who was able to not just get by, but to rise to the top of his profession.  It is another witness to me that our Father in Heaven not only knows each of us individually, but is there to guide us, to comfort us and to do so many things for each of us simply because He loves us.

-Jer

Quick Fix

The last couple of months I have been using youTube more frequently as I have been posting videos to our blog.  Every time I would pull up the youTube home page it would have multiple thumbnails of videos that could be watched.  Until today, these would be filled with "most popular" or "trending now" types of options.  The images on these thumbnails were often not very uplifting or even downright inappropriate.  These thumbnails also offered the option to "subscribe" to this channel or that.  I suddenly had a thought.  I searched for the "Mormon Messages" channel, found it, and subscribed to it.

When I went back to youTube's home page, suddenly the thumbnails were all inspiring and uplifting.  Messages about Christ and His gospel.  What a wonderful change effected with one quick click of the mouse:)

-Jer

Conversation with Jessica

A year ago on our trip to Island Park, Jessica apparently recorded this covert video.  I thought it was cute:)

-Jer

Timeline

This morning I dropped Taylor and Parker off at the rec center.  They have put a TON of time into basketball practice this summer and they are doing very well.  They are both consistently hitting around 85/100 free throws.  (Both have a high of 89.  Both once got to 89/99 and then missed the last one.  Both were not very happy!)  They are both consistently hitting over 50% of their three point attempts.  Way to go, guys!

When I took them this morning, Sophi wanted to come along.  As they got out of the car we had the following conversation:

Sophi:  "How long will they be there?"

Me:  "90 minutes."

Sophi:  "WHAT?!?!?!?"

Me:  "90 minutes."

Sophi:  "But they will be dead!!!!!!"

Me:  "Sophi, it's 90 minutes, not 90 years."

Sophi:  "Hmm.  Berry interesting."

If you notice a trend that a high percentage of our posts seem to involve Sophi, that's because she says and does about 10 times more things in an average day than any of the rest of us do.  She's sort of like Hammy in Over the Hedge:)

-Jer

Sophi Plays With Mommy's Phone

Sophi loves to play with Christi's phone.  She listens to music, takes pictures and records video.  Here's a very small selection of her photos and recordings.  Enjoy!

In the second part of the video below (the part where Sophi is singing alone) notice that she switches back and forth between English and Chinese as she sings "Let it Go."  She's seen both versions so many times she has them both memorized.  Well, the English is memorized.  The Chinese is a conglomeration of sounds she remembers and sounds she makes up:)  If you can't watch the entire video, at least watch from 2:30 to 3:30 and enjoy the way she uses her feet to mimic Elsa's hand motions from the movie.

Peas in a Pod

Sophi and Lexi are so unbelievably cute together.  I wish everybody could spend a day just watching the two of them interact.  Reality show, anyone?  A couple of weeks ago I found them playing together in Elli's room:

-Jer

Scout Camp

Last month Parker had scout camp.  He was only able to attend the first two days, and I was lucky enough to go with him.  They attended the aquatic base on Bear Lake, Utah.  It was an amazingly beautiful setting.  The water is as crystal clear and blue as the Caribbean.   (Unfortunately, it's not quite as warm….)  With the weather as hot as it was that week, we actually went swimming in the lake several times.  It was quite refreshing!

I had such a great time being with Parker.  He finished three merit badges: geocaching, kayaking and discover climbing.  The food was pretty good and they had a great group of scouts and leaders.  I really enjoyed being there with him.  It was a lot of fun to see him rappel for the first time.

Sunset view from the dining hall:

Enjoying the heat:

Excited for the lecture portion of the kayaking merit badge:):

Volleyball star:

 Ready to get wet!

 Up the stairs to the rappelling tower:

 It's a long way down:

It brings me so much joy that both of my teenage boys still like having me come with them on their scout activities.  Love you guys!

-Dad

Daily Dose of Awesome

Thank you, Chris, for who you are.  You are an inspiration to our family and millions of others!

Lemonade Stand

Another family reunion activity was lemonade and candy stand we did as a fundraiser.  The money went to a sweet family that is in the process of adopting two little girls from China.  The kids really got into the spirit of the fundraiser.  They was flag down passing cars.  "Help some girls get a family!" they would yell.  They waved signs around.  They served people that walked up or even as "drive-through" customers would stop and roll down their windows.

People were so generous.  When they saw it was a fundraiser, they would leave large tips.  In two hours, these wonderful kids raised over $300 to help the family.  It was a fun and rewarding morning!

-Jer

Minute to Win It

One night during Christi's reunion we had a Minute to Win It competition.  Christi's sister, Leslie, did a great job of putting it all together and preparing everything we needed.  There were many hilarious moments.  Here are some pictures of three games:

1.  Move a cookie from your forehead to your mouth without using your hands.  (Perfect game for Sophi!)

2.  Get vaseline on your nose, move a cotton ball from one plate to another plate using the vaseline as glue:)

3.  Shake all of the tic tacs out of two tic tac containers using just your mouth.

Herriman Reservoir

From July 4 through July 10, Christi's family came to our house for a family reunion.  There were a total of 35 of here for most of the week.  It was tons of fun and hopefully will become an annual tradition.  One of the days they were here, we went up to Blackridge Reservoir, a large pond here in Herriman with a beautiful sandy beach.  We had a picnic lunch, swam in the cool water and had lots of fun.  Taylor dug a large hole and buried himself in the sand.  Fun times!

-Jer