This is the man who I trusted more than anyone to tell it like it is. I have so much respect for him and everything he said, and I can't say enough how much I trusted him. I never met him. I never even saw him from a distance, yet like many others I felt close to him. I loved everything about him, but a couple of things always stood out for me. First of all his humor! This drew me in like nothing else can. Secondly, his insistence that we respect other religions. Not only respect but embrace. Because he reached out to so many people of so many religions, he has gained a lot of friends in behalf of the LDS church. Of course I love all the past prophets because they are prophets. But I really LOVED Gordon B. Hinckley with all my heart. I am so happy for him and grateful that he prepared us all for his passing by lightheartedly addressing it at past conferences! He had a sort of "Well, I'm still here, surprisingly." kind of attitude. Gordon B. Hinckley opened up my heart in many ways, and he has left it ready to embrace and love our next prophet, whoever that may be. I know everyone loved him so much. How could you know him and not love him! What a wonderful person.

Isn't this just the greatest! If all doctor's would do this I would go every week! What throws me off is that the doc shows pants in the front, yet nothing in the back. I love it!!!

Party Animals!

On Wednesday, Ben and I had a great time at the One Republic concert. We went out to dinner first at Fudruckers (I always feel guilty saying that word!) with our friends Ben and Laura and their two boys Evan and Dillon. Then they took Riley with them and Ben and I headed off to the concert! We had to park so far away and it was FREEZING. Then when we went through security, the security guy made me open my purse and I felt so guilty because I was trying to smuggle in a bag of chocolate. Sure enough he said I had to throw it away, and pointed to the garbage can. So I walked over and pretended to throw it away, not sure if he was watching me or not. I continued walking and really expected to be tackled, but luckily he didn't tackle me and I made my escape with my chocolate safely tucked away in my purse!

The concert was really cool, although I couldn't believe how long it was before One Republic came out. The concert started at 7:30 pm, and I figured it would probably be over by 9:30. Well, One Republic didn't even come out until 9:30!!! But it was worth it because they were wonderful. The lead singer seems really cool, just like a normal guy. He even said some dumb things like everyone does, which makes him endearing. This is the first concert we've been to for probably 10 years, so it was long overdue!

So the other night, in the middle of the night, Ben hears the door to our bedroom creaking open. Of course this is creepy so he looks towards the door and can't see anything or anybody. He took a closer look and saw that Riley had dragged his pillow, blankets, stuffed animals, book, cars, etc (you know, all the important stuff that a two year old has to be surrounded with to sleep!) It became clear that Riley was planning to park it for the rest of the night right in our doorway, which he did! He can't come sleep in our bed anymore (we did THAT for a few weeks and quickly realized we were in for misery if we let him get too used to it) but I guess he just wanted to get as close as possible. Pretty sweet, huh :)

Well, here's a story that's not so sweet. I was talking on the phone to a friend this morning, feeling very pleased that Riley was quietly playing in the other room and letting me talk! Then it hit me. That feeling every parent gets when they realize that thier children are being a little TOO quiet. I immediately went to see what disaster I was going to have to clean up and found his highness happily playing in a pile of KIX. He got his picture taken and then went to time-out.

Lately Riley has been talking a lot to inanimate objects. I'm guessing that's normal?! Anyways it's really cute, and Copper (see stuffed dog at right) is his favorite little buddy and goes everywhere with him. I heard Riley put Copper in time-out this morning "for hitting", and he sat there and said "No no no no! Copper, time out!" I think Copper looks pretty remorseful, don't you?

Christmas '07!

We went to the Provo mall a few days before Christmas and Riley rode the train that goes around the Santa setup. As you can see by the picture he had a blast! Every time he would see us he would yell "Hey Mommy!" I think that this picture is priceless. Of course I took several and this one was the winner. That is the great thing about digital cameras...you pick the best! We had a great Christmas and did all the usual fun Christmas things, but mostly ate a LOT and went to movies and went shopping! My mom was here for a few days and left Christmas morning,so that was really fun having her for a visit. She spelled Ben and I off one afternoon and we went to see the movie "I Am Legend". If you don't like scary movies, this one is not for you. But I loved it because it was really thought provoking. Ben loved it too. Ben gave me a nice trampoline (a mini-one. A full sized one wouldn't fit in our townhome very well!) So I am looking forward to exercising on that. Of the three of us in the family, Riley really had the biggest haul of all when it comes to presents! He got some fun things. Right now he is sitting next to me popping chocolates into his mouth. He just got mad because I put one of "his" hershey kisses into my mouth. He is actually trying to get into my mouth with his hand to retrieve the chocolate! Uh-oh...he's just like his mom. Protective of his chocolate! I posted a few other pictures from Christmas. You'll see in the pictures that we got to visit with Santa in the park at Salem. We just came around a corner and there he was! It was such a nice surprise to be able to sit on his lap and get a candy cane. If anyone has never been to see the lights at Salem park, I highly recommend it! The lights are actually floating out on the water. I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We are so grateful for the time we got to spend with family and friends. We regret all the food that we ate.