Two...One...

As I've mentioned before, Brig and I like to shoot hoops together. We have the hoop set up in a part of the room that gives us (me) the longest possible shot and plenty of room for slam dunks (him). Every so often I'll count down the game clock as I take the last second shot, always either making it to win the game or at least getting fouled and hitting the free throws. So yesterday I was watching Brig shooting around, and he ran out to about 7-8 feet, turned around, said "two, one..." and he drained it cold! And then of course he said, "Money!" as every good dagger shot should be followed up with. I got emotional...

We're psyched to have Dan out here again next week for some interviews. Psyched for two reasons - one, we get to see him again; and two, interviews usually turn into internships, which turn into whole summers with Dan, Hailey, and Preston, which usually turn into full-time jobs after school. Fingers crossed.

Neat Quote

"There are some among us who are unhappy with their lives because they have wanted to achieve a measure of greatness in this life but now feel they have failed in some fundamental way. . . .

Joseph F. Smith wrote: 'Those things which we call extraordinary, remarkable, or unusual may make history, but they do not make real life. After all, to do well those things which God ordained to be the common lot of all mankind, is the truest greatness. To be a successful father or a successful mother is greater than to be a successful general or a successful statesman.'

True greatness is never a result of a chance occurrence or a one-time effort or achievement. It requires the development of character. It requires a multitude of correct decisions for the everyday choices between good and evil."

-Howard W. Hunter, "True Greatness"

This struck me because at times in my life I get caught up in thinking "what have I done that's great?" or "I'm just ordinary..." Those things may be true from the world's perspective, but when I think about the things that Pres. Hunter said were important, it makes me feel a little better.

President Gordon B. Hinckley

Most of you who read our blog will know already of the passing of our beloved prophet and church president, President Gordon B. Hinckley. Most of you will have similar thoughts to ours as we reflect on a great and humble man, one who led us and cared for us, one who we will miss greatly. It is strange to mourn when a 97 year old man passes away of natural causes. And I guess I wouldn't call it mourning, how we are feeling, I would call it more a general gratitude that we had him as our prophet as long as we did. It's a feeling of love, and that there is so much about him that we will miss, but as I think more about it, it's not really mourning.

My mother-in-law called about an hour after he had passed away, and my first thought was, this last hour was probably the happiest he has ever had. He has been reunited with his beloved wife who preceded him in death, and certainly many other loved ones and relatives. He is free of his old, worn body that finally had started betraying him. And of course, he is enfolded in the Arms of Love. What a great prospect, to be living solely at the will of the Lord, and ready and anxious to go when He decides it is time. It makes me want to be a better person.

And to me, that last statement is the essence of President Hinckley. He has always made me want to be a better person. He was funny, and witty, and humble, and stern, and compassionate, and serious, and many more genuinely real things, all in their proper time and place. I truly looked forward to his words in Conference, and knew that I would come away enriched, chastened, renewed, and motivated. I always did.

I'm so grateful for the unashamed courage he consistently showed in answering tough questions in the public light. He didn't shy away from opportunities to open our doors to reporters and people who wanted to understand the things we believe. He embraced those times, and always came out in power and humility with the truth. Even compared to some of the other church leaders, he seemed to me to be so unassuming, so unaffected, so genuine, that I listened raptly to his counsel. How could you not love that man and all he stood for?

I'm grateful for the last 13 years in which he was our prophet. If there's anyone out there reading these words who doesn't know what President Hinckley stood for, or why he was such a great man, I encourage you to find out. President Hinckley, we will miss you.

Build an ark...

It's been absolutely pouring rain all day today. Add that to the off and on rain we've had for the past week, and it's getting mighty spongy around here. I'm a big rain guy as long as it doesn't impede on my activities, and I can't say I mind the bad weather. When I say I'm a big rain guy, I just like the variability that a rainy day brings. Sometimes, and I can't believe I'm saying this, there are just too many sunny days in a row and it gets a little old. So a good soaking rain is fine by me.

Angela and I really enjoyed the Spirit of the Marathon movie last night. It was fun to see people train for and run the Chicago marathon from a couple years ago. I was totally blown away by the elite runners - Deena Kastor and the Kenyans, to be specific. For one, they were just cruising. I laughed at one point because during the actual race the announcer was saying that Deena slowed down to a 6:02 pace mile and how that really signaled she was in trouble...uh, that's faster by a full minute than probably any mile I've ever run! And what else blew me away was that at her training peak she runs 140+ miles in one week. Can you fathom that? That's an average of 20 miles a day with no rest days. WOW! If I could only do 1/2 that in a given week I'd be completely stoked.

Looking forward to the weekend. We've got stake conference so Saturday will be a little more churchy than usual, but should be good. Work's been a little stressful this week with changing projects that add work and new requirements. Good to be busy though.

Congratulations to Christine and Cameron for being pregnant with #4! Congratulations to Spencer and Molly for NOT being pregnant with #6! Congratulations to Matt for his alleged new lawyering responsibilities and importance (alleged because we heard it third or fourth hand)! Congratulations to Dan for gathering some good internship interviews - hint: don't screw up the Google ones!

Have a great weekend.

Needless holiday?

We're currently enjoying Martin Luther King day, but it kind of feels like we really didn't need a holiday from work or school yet. I mean, we just had a long one for Christmas. We're not doing anything wild or crazy because Morgan and Kennan are sick today. I guess it's good they're not missing school.

Brig continues to be hilarious. He's such a fun kid, and I love weekends because they're a good time for me to spend a lot of time with him. He walks around with his "Choojar" hat on (BYU) carrying either a ball, a car, or Morgan's guitar. He also is loving a train set, or a more accurately a bunch of old train sets all jumbled together, that he gets out every day. We recently got a set of push-up handles and anytime Ang or I attempt to use them, he comes running over and dives on them, claiming them as his. Oh well.

The kids' friends are all getting Wii video game systems and they're of course loving playing with them. Micah informed me, "Dad, I've come to the conclusion that we really need to get a Wii". OK, if you say so...

Morgan is receiving a school Principal's award for Excellence. We're so proud of her - she's such a great girl. She'll be recognized with other kids at an assembly in front of the school, which will be fun for her.

Ang and I watched Bourne Ultimatum again last night. That is an awesome show - an awesome series of shows. We've also been watching the Australian Open tennis tournament and have been enjoying the matches. I stayed up til 2:30 in the morning Saturday am watching Federer barely beat an unseeded opponent in a marathon 5-set match. It was great stuff.

Micah and Kennan had a piano recital over the weekend and they did a good job.

Happy Birthday Nate!

30 years old... That's a big one! You're no longer in your 20's; you're no longer a "kid"; you're no longer closer to high school than you are to 40; you're now supposed to make something of yourself (uh oh). Buy happy birthday anyway, Nate. We thought about you yesterday and we hope you got our huge expensive presents we had shipped. We had to use an armored car to transport because of the extreme value, and they tend to be unreliable, so it's possible that you might not have received it yet. So unless it gets highjacked, which I think might be a very real possibility, your birthday present of a lifetime is, uh, on it's way...

love you bro!

January 14th

I know you know the date, but I just wanted to point out that we're midway through January, and I ran at lunch today in shorts and a t-shirt. 60 degrees in mid January...that doesn't suck.

Micah was very pleased to find out over the weekend that she has been cast in the part of Michael for the play Peter Pan. This is a pretty big deal for her because it's her first play with that company, and people warned us to expect a very small part. We're very proud of her! We're also not sure how we're going to deal with the rehearsals - 5 nights a week some nights! Ugh, that's not ideal for a fifth grader... She was also in her school play over the weekend and she did a great job as usual. I like it much better when she sings in her parts, but this was not a musical, just speaking parts.

Brig's latest funny thing he has picked up to say is "Money" when I or he makes a basket while shooting hoops. I'll admit to teaching him to say this, but if you don't start 'em early, they just don't ever talk good trash.

Watched Pirates of the Carribean 3 last night for the first time - weird show. The second and third Pirates didn't even come close to living up to the first, in my opinion. Blockbuster just shipped Bourne Ultimatum though, so that ought to make up for it.

Angela and I got our tickets for Spirit of the Marathon, a movie that Rosemary told us about that's showing across the country for only one night and only one showing. It's about 5 or 6 people that trained for and ran a marathon. Seems like we might be able to relate to that a bit...

Kennan's baptism is set for Saturday, March 8th. We're really looking forward to both sets of grandparents, and some of Christine's family coming to join us for the occasion. Can you believe that Kennan's going to be 8 next month?! Me neither. Anyway, JetBlue has some really cheap flights right now from SLC to SFO - cheaper even than Southwest - anyone needing a vacation might want to check it out.

Have a great week!

Funny Brig Tidbit

Angela related this story to me about she and Brig while they were home alone the other day. Brig was walking around and all of a sudden he tooted loudly. He paused, and then said, "Daaaddy!"

Morgan and I are reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory together and we love doing it. Micah and I are also reading the last Harry Potter book when we can get to it with her busy schedule. Kennan's reading Because of Winn Dixie by herself or with either parent. Angela's really enjoying her book We Be Dragons, and I just finished a good novel by Vince Flynn called Consent to Kill.

couple of kid things

Brig has been cracking us up lately with things he says, or tries to say. He calls Micah "Mahmike", but then I guess that's pretty good compared to "Dah" for the other two girls and "Dih" for himself. He got a basketball stand for Christmas, and he spends the majority of his time either walking around with arms full of balls from the overflowing ball basket in our front room, or shooting hoops (he calls it "shoot hoop"...loosely interpreted). He's so cute when he's a little tired or mellow, he'll say "ah yuv you", carefully pronouncing each word. Although he wasn't cute last night when he didn't sleep well and made sure we were awake with him.

Last Saturday Micah had an audition for the Peninsula Youth Theater's production of Peter Pan. It's a very popular community theater, and we are happy to support her in this. None of us had any idea of what to expect when she auditioned because there are so many kids who try out, and many of them are very talented. She sang "Castle in a Cloud" from Les Miserables (not my personal favorite, but she does it well) and she rehearsed her lines from when she was Violet in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She was pleased to find out that she got callbacks for both singing and acting, although not for dancing (we thought). The callbacks are this week, and we got a phone call Monday evening asking where Micah was because she missed her dance callback - Angela and Micah were shocked because it hadn't been written on the paper - so it turns out she got a callback in that too. Anyway, she's busy with the callbacks last night and tonight, and they just happen to coincide with dress rehearsals for her school play that starts tomorrow and runs through the weekend. All this acting and singing...wow.

Other highlight pictures

High School Musical's East High School

I think that's Gabriella, Sharpay, and some other HS Musical girl character

We went a little crazy with the EHS pictures

Dancing right outside the cafeteria where the actors danced

Provo house in progress

Provo house, corner view

Spencer and Brigham hanging out

Visit to Temple Square

Visit to Conference Center

Snow pictures

Skiing at Sundance

In the lodge at Soldier Hollow

4 degree weather does this to a kid

All-day skiing followed by outdoor tubing ... Morgan asleep with goggles on

Micah posing between sledding runs

Kennan

Morgan

That's a pretty good snow angel

Those aren't pink snow pants on Brig, it's just a reflection...

Christmas pictures

Christmas Eve at the Richards

Christmas morning anticipation with cousins

The girls displaying part of their presents - Wicked tickets

The girl LeBras cousins at Grandma's house

All the LeBras cousins on Christmas day

How do we top 2007??? Well, we'll try...

As you can tell from previous posts, I am a big fan of making lists of stuff. Here's my list of great things that happened in 2007 (you may recognize many of these items from our Christmas card. If you didn't get your card yet, it's, uh, in the mail...):

John’s job change to Google

Disneyland trip with cousins and grandparents

Brig walking, running, jumping

Girls’ trip to American Girl Doll store

Brig turning 1

Micah (10) starting 5^th grade

Kennan (7) starting 2^nd grade

Morgan (5) starting kindergarten

School plays (scarecrow, mad hatter)

John soccer coach of Kennan’s team

Great friends, as usual

Angela’s running and bootcamps

Summer trip to Philadelphia without the kids

John’s bishopric calling

Angela’s Young Women activities

Morgan having time as big sister with Brig

Micah’s week long school field trip

John’s 8^th St. George marathon

5 trips to Utah

BYU beating Utah…again

Brig being completely obsessed with balls, especially footballs

Skiing with the kids

Healthy and safe family

We'll let you know how 2008 shakes out. We already know we'll have another round of birthdays, another play or two or three per kid, a move to a bigger and nicer home, a few more trips to Utah, a couple of other fun vacations, and who knows what else.

Another Successful Trip to End '07 and Start '08

We had an awesome holiday vacation with family, friends, and food. All the hectic planning and preparation of moving our family and Christmas plans to another state for a couple weeks was worth it in the end. Here's a summary:

I should have known it was going to be a good trip when we set a new travel time record of 11 hours flat on the way to Utah. All of the following were things we enjoyed (in rough chronological order):

• --the extended Richards family Christmas party and catching up with aunts, uncles, and cousins
• --two games of basketball with brothers & friends (sorry again about the bloody nose, Todd)
• --going to the cabin w/ Dad and Dan to turn heat on for our planned Christmas Eve trip - the deep snow, sunshine (although very cold), and mountains were absolutely stunning
• --BYU winning the Las Vegas Bowl on a miracle (fluke?) blocked field goal with no time remaining
• --Dan & Hailey's baby blessing of Preston, and the food at the Leishman's
• --birthday dinner at the LeBras and seeing that side of the family for the first time
  
• --Alvin & the Chipmunks movie with the kids and some cousins
• --wrapping a billion Christmas gifts
• --a great Christmas Eve at the Richards with everyone there except Dave & Meredith (in the hospital delivering baby) and Nate & Jenny - great food!
  
• --helping Santa get ready for Christmas morning
• --Christmas morning at the Whatcotts where everyone seemed to get the perfect gifts with no sadness or jealousy or spoiling
• --traditional Christmas dinner at the LeBras
• --Guitar Hero III for most of Christmas day
  
• --lunch at the BYU Creamery and buying the last five bags of the best licorice bites known to man (Switzers)
• --going on a movie date w/ Angela (tried to see I Am Legend but thanks to all the good shows being sold out we were stuck with P.S. I Love You...just kidding Ang, I really wanted to see that one...)
• --skiing at Sundance two days in a row - kids ski school on Thursday allowed Ang and I to adult ski with Cameron - great!!!
• --tubing at Soldier Hollow w/ Spencer & Molly and the Masons - fun but freaking cold! (car thermometer said 4 degrees when we left at 6pm)
• --the kids having their individual time with Anne and Nathalie
• --visiting Dave and Meredith and their new baby Beatrice, aka "Baby Bea"
  
• --The Waterhorse movie with Grandpa and Grandma and cousins
• --church at the "Apostle" ward on Sunday
• --visiting Temple Square and taking a tour of the Conference Center
• --visiting East High School, my former stomping grounds and site of High School Musical (may have been the highlight of the trip for our very excited girls)
• --visiting houses where I grew up to show the kids
• --Hires with G&G, Matt & Rebecca, Todd & Rosie
• --New Year's Eve extravaganza at the Whatcotts - serious food, Guitar Hero to the death, and lots of friends and family
• --Cheesecake Factory lunch with the LeBras before riding (driving) off into the sunset
  
• --setting yet another new landspeed driving time record with a stunning time of 10 hours and 45 minutes door to door
• --coming home to a warm house and milk in the fridge thanks to Uncle Dan, who's visiting us for a few days and his flight beat our drive.
• --AND ABOVE ALL, THE TIME WE SPENT WITH COUSINS, AUNTS & UNCLES, AND GRANDPARENTS
  

And the things we didn't enjoy:

• --Brigham throwing up more than 10 times on Christmas Eve and sporadically thereafter for the next week
• --changing the sheets roughly 6 times because of throw up and other unhappy bodily fluids from our little guy
• --missing the cabin trip due to Brig's sickness and the two feet of snow falling in the mountains on Christmas Eve
• --leaving

So there you have it. We're happy to be home, but already missing our families. The thing is though, this really is home to us - we felt it as we drew closer, and as we walked through the door to our little place - this is where we belong ... for now.