Maison bienvenue Brennan...

My nephew Brennan just arrived home yesterday, after serving a mission for 2 years in France. We are so happy to have him home! Since Lisa's mission farewell will be the same day as his homecoming in Moab, we will all be missing it. So, we had a big celebration for him on his way home from the airport last night.

Lisa & Brennan were happy that they got to see each other quickly before she heads to Japan. Notice the cute sign that Andrew drew and Harrison & Nathan colored. Andrew even sketched the Eifel Tower, I was pretty impressed!

We had lots of yummy food; soups, french cheeses, rolls and delicious desserts!

Brennan is my oldest brother Dave's son. This is Dave, Kyle (his oldest son), Kyle's son Porter and Dave's wife Carri.

We had to grab a quick shot of Andrew & Brennan before Andrew had to run to his Young Men activity.

Nathan was so excited to see Brennan. He loved decorating the house in "French" decor and watched out the window for him (until Mark came and he had to go play Wi with him).

This is a picture that I stole from Carri's blog, which she stole from her daughter Kimbrey's blog... I just thought it was such a cute picture of Brennan and his shoes. They were brand new when he left. He really wore out those shoes, tracting and walking while serving the Lord. We are so happy for such great examples in our family.

Snow...

I snapped these photos back in January, the week before we left for Christmas vacation. I never got a chance to blog them. This was the first big snow of the season and the kids were out sledding the entire day, right up until the sun set! They had such a fabulous time playing in the snow, it was such a novelty back then!

Lisa's day at the temple...

On Saturday we were able to have the privilege of seeing Lisa go through the Timpanogos Temple to receive her endowments. She is preparing to go on her mission to Tokyo, Japan in just a couple of weeks. We are so excited and proud of her choices to serve the Lord. She is such a great example to our family.

My sister Jennifer & her husband Randy helped Rick and I represent the Cozzens side of the family.

Lisa's brother Mark and his wife Aersta.

Because Lisa's mom and dad are serving in Italy, her aunt Laura (Jeff's sister) was her escort through the temple.

The Acerson family.

These are good friends of the family, Mike & Debbie Judson.

A Temple field trip...

Harrison's fourth grade class went on a field trip to Temple Square in Salt Lake City. I went along as a chaperone and I had such a great experience spending time with one of my favorite boys in the world! We love Harrison's teacher, Mrs. Knight. She is the one on the back row, third from the right. She is about the same height as the kids, so she blends in with the kids!


Harrison still likes to hold my hand in front of his friends. I know that doesn't last too much longer, so I want to take every opportunity I can to be with him on events like these.

We had tours of the Beehive House, Temple Square and The Joseph Smith Memorial Building. We got to go to a room at the JSMB that overlooked the temple, it was such a beautiful view.

I love the decor in the JSMB. At one point, the tour guide was talking about all of the gold leafing around the building. Harrison asked how much gold was actually in the building and how much it was all worth. That was pretty impressive to the boys!

These were the boys that I was in charge of all day long. I had my work cut out for me, that's for sure!

The passing of a dear friend and a new look at resolutions...

Yesterday we heard the news that a dear friend of ours, Keith Jeffords, passed away after a short battle with cancer. He was really an amazing man, a great father and a perfect husband to my friend Myrna. I knew he was sick, but had thought there was more time, maybe 2 years, to live. They were praying for a miracle and hoping.

Today as I was blow-drying my hair for church, it all hit me. The ironic thing about this morning, was that it was about a month ago that I was blow-drying my hair and had a sudden over-whelming feeling about Keith. I knew then that things weren't good. I spoke to various friends, asking what they knew and telling them that I was concerned about the family. The sad thing is that I knew I should go and visit them. I wanted so badly to go, but I didn't know what to bring with me (I can never seem to go empty-handed), I didn't know what to say. Then the holidays hit and I thought that I would do it later. Even last week, I was trying to come up with an excuse to call or go visit. But, again, I put it off. Today what hit me most was the regret I feel for not showing my love and concern before he left this earth. I was prompted and I heard that "still small voice" but I didn't act upon it.

As I look at my usual selfish resolutions this year (loosing that extra weight, getting the house organized, etc.), I know that I need to take another look. I need to re-evaluate those resolutions and focus more on the things that really matter. It is in these moments of life that we suddenly realize those things that are most important, in an eternal prospective.

My resolutions have undergone a re-write today... I want to show those around me, both family and friends, that I love and care for them. I want to spend more quality time with those that I love instead of focusing so much on temporal things. I want to listen more closely to that "still small voice" and make that phone call or visit right then, no matter what other urgent things seem to be on my "to do" list that day.

My heart breaks for Myrna and her family. She is such an amazing woman, one of the strongest I have ever known. She has been through trials that I can't even imagine surviving, but she hasn't only survived, she has done so with grace and dignity. She lost the love of her life this week, her soul mate. I know that the Lord will bless and comfort her and her family.