Last night Jenny convinced us to go down to U-Village with them for their annual pilgrimage to see Santa, despite my initial fears that it would be a nightmare sea of frantic shoppers. We are so thankful that we joined them for a lot of fun taking the kids from store to store playing and playing some more. The kids are so much fun to watch playing together. What great friends they are. Thomas still has issues with Santa, so we joined in on the picture fun for a family shot. Our comments...
Cynthia-"Does this poofy coat make me look skinny?"
Cooper-"What in the world is going on and what is this fuzzy man behind me?"
Thomas-"Get me out of here, NOW!" "I just wanted that candy cane, already!"
John-"Just smile and lets get out of here."

Thanksgiving 2007 with Cooper and Thomas-Hawaii sadness

There have been many times that my mother and grandmother's words have echoed in my ears. "Never let the sun go down on your anger," they said. Some would disagree, maintaining that in the heat of anger, go to bed, sleep on it and get back to it when exhaustion, stress and emotion have settled with a good night's sleep. However, I can never let this echo of the past completely go, and again, we were reminded of how precious each moment is. How quickly all we know can change.
On our day of Thanksgiving, while Lil's pots were stirring, bread warmed in the ovens and the boys played, Stephen was struggling to save his father-in-law life in the Hawaiian surf. In a moment's time, a fantastic snorkeling outing had gone incredibly wrong, and forever was a family changed. They struggled for nearly an hour, but Art joined Jesus this Thanksgiving, the day before he was to watch his granddaughter marry the love of her life. As we cried for our family so far away, prayed for Stephen's body and his heart, and went about our own Thanksgiving with heavy hearts, we were so very thankful that Art was surrounded by his family in the most beautiful of places, with the most splendid of plans for the coming wedding stretching out. This was the day the Lord called him home. For me, it is another reminder that we do not know the plans of the Lord, but we are given each day, each moment, today.

Cooper on Halloween

Conversations with Thomas AND Coop

Passing by the cemetary...
"Look! They're having a meeting in Heaven!"

And when I had to park in the cemetary parking lot for an emergency Coop-feeding...
"Hey, we're at Heaven."

Playing with Cooper...
"Look, Mom. My tractor is going into the shop...oh, no, it's the Coopi-monster!" "He's going to eat my tractor!"

Also, he wants us to promise everything. "Do you promise to drive carefully?" "Do you promise you'll come pick me up?"

And now everything is his favorite. "That's my favorite song." "Is this your favorite?" "This is my favorite seat."

To dad the other day, he says, "Mom's not good at Legos. I'm good at Legos, you're good at Legos. Mom's not good at Legos."