President Hinckley

Last night Derek was talking to his brother (Daniel) and as they were talking Daniel got the news that President Hinckley had passed away. Shortly after that Chip called in on the other line to tell us the news. We are going to miss him so much! He's a truly great man. I can't help but be happy for him despite our loss. He is able to be with his sweet wife. We are so thankful for all that he has given us, for his devout service to God. What a great example to strive to follow. I have been greatly influenced by his wife's book, "Letters". It is SUCH a treat if you have extra time. Her outlook on life was so different compared to any other I've known. She is another example I would like to be follow--an incredible mother! Sometimes we feel so far away out here, but it was so nice to hear from everyone so quickly when such important news was happening. We told our kids this morning and will have an Family Home Evening about it tonight. They love him so much and get so excited when he talks in Conference. In fact Emma pronounces our last name "Hinckins" because she mixes it up with President Hinckley's name too. We just recently got cable for the first time and LOVE the fact that BYU TV is one of the channels. Joseph always asks if he can watch "BU" channel because I'll probably say yes. It's so nice to have the option to watch church programs ALL the time. I also love the BYU radio option on the internet!! If you don't know about it, you can go to the BYU TV area and click on BYU Radio. It's wonderful!! There is an instrumental option and a normal option. Our kids sometimes will recognize a song and say "I know that song!!!" It's really helped keep the Spirit in our home. A couple of weeks ago I got called as the Young Women's President. I was this in our El Mirage ward also. I think I'm getting another chance to do it right! The girls in our ward are AMAZING!! I've been the counselor for about 6 months and I think they get tired of me always telling them how great they are!! I am just so amazed at how unified they are, so loving and kind to each other and everyone in our ward. They have great attitudes toward life and it is so renewing and refreshing to be around them. We love you guys!!! Have a great week!

Another Sunday Performance

Yesterday was Derek's birthday and for his birthday he gave ME a gift and let me take a nap after church. (For those of you without children--this is the BEST gift ever!) Just shows how sweet he is!! We actually celebrated his birthday on HIS birth date. Which means he didn't have to share a pink cake with Emma. (He swears he doesn't mind since pink is his favorite color! Just kidding!) This picture is from their joint birthday party from last year. Our kids have actually done pretty well at being reverent in church in this ward. BUT yesterday as we were listening to a high counselor's talk, Emma took off Joshua's shoe and Joshua threw his head back for a record-breaking performance!! He missed the cushion on the back of the pew and hit the wood border making the loudest noise that echoed through the whole building!! It was SO loud that the speaker said, "Good thing his Dad's a doctor!" As I was trying to take Josh out, Charlie thought it would be funny to lay down in my way and laugh at me trying to maneuver around him. I hope this puts a smile on your face, NOW I think it's funny. By the way, Josh is just fine--he has a pretty hard head. :)

Nemo on Ice

So after our doctor's appointment on Thursday morning, I got a message from Derek telling me that Cathy Psillos, a friend of ours in our church was giving us some Nemo on Ice tickets. Wow!! They were given tickets and went the night before and knew our little ones would LOVE to go. It would have cost us hundreds of dollars to all go together. It was very thoughtful of them! Of course we had a blast!! And this time we actually had a little money for souvenirs. We learned a very valuable lesson, too. When you buy your kids something to eat, you should like it too in case you have to consume it...we got snow cones and the kids just wanted to play with the cool mugs that they came in. Derek had to eat two and a half and I ate one and a half. The kids got a picture with "Bruce the Shark". It's really cute, so I'll try to scan it in the future sometime. Then last night we had another "Girls night out" where some of the women get together from our ward about once a month. Since Cortney is my visiting teaching companion and Kerry is someone I visit teach, I basically do all my visiting teaching that night also, JUST KIDDING!! I know I've said this many times before, but I love our ward, our neighbors and almost everything about New York!! This is really so great for our family to be out here.

Week of Fun

Well, Emma had her birthday on Wednesday and we celebrated it on the same day--a first for our family. I cannot believe how big she is getting. The next morning we had doctor's appointments for everyone except Joseph. Wow! That was exciting!! The bad thing was that they all had to have shots. Emma was first, she just gave the doctor a mean look after he gave her the shot. Then there was Joshua who whimpered a little after it was administered. And Charlie topped them ALL!!! He was screaming at the top of his lungs through the shot, the rest of the appointment and then all the way out to the van!! I think I still hear him crying. :)

Last One for Today

I'm so very thankful for my family, our little family, Derek's family and mine, too. I cannot explain the feelings of my heart right now. The holidays really help me to realize how very blessed I am. It's fun to hear from everyone and spend time with those we love. The lesson I taught last Sunday was on a subject that really made me realize how much Derek, our parents and so many close to us have been such GREAT examples to me in serving others. We are so happy here in our little spot on Long Island. It was fun to see how much my mom liked it, too. Thanks to everyone for all of the love and support you have given to our family. WE LOVE YOU!

All the Drama

Okay, this time the blog site wouldn't let me do what I wanted with the pictures, so I'm doing three different posts to cover our Christmas experience. Friday was a lot of fun, but a little scary, too. Last year when Derek and I visited New York, our favorite part of the trip was being able to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. So when my mom came, we really wanted to take her and our kids to see them. Well, we packed the kids in the van. I ran inside and up to my room to get a coat with my hands full of stuff for the outing. On the way downstairs, I overstepped the first step and fell down the relatively steep flight of stairs. I did a summer salt and a half and landed on my face--my left cheek. (Afterward I realized exactly what hit, because I had a soar left shoulder, right knee, etc.) Derek came in the door to hear the last few bumps and was VERY worried that I was seriously hurt. To make a long story short, after one of Derek's incredible treatments, a blessing and some ice I was off to the Statue of Liberty. I know I was protected from serious harm and am SO VERY thankful I'm okay. If you look at this picture closely you can see my cheek was swollen. Luckily the black eye didn't set in until later.

Holiday Vacation

Well, I'm back from vacation! Before Joseph's school was let out for winter break, he told us, "Mom, we're going on a vacation." I told him our family was not going anywhere for Christmas this year and he informed me, "My teacher told me I'm going on a vacation with the kids in my class." He eventually realized his teacher was just talking about time off from school, but usually he has to find things out on his own 'cause he doesn't take our word for it. :) We had a WONDERFUL Christmas!! My mom was able to fly out to visit our family here and Ann's family in Connecticut. It really made it Christmas to have Mom here.