Mark, Anya, and James

Just wanted to provide some insight into a few of our children...who really are growing up too fast! Karen and I try to enjoy most of the journey.

Mark
Mark bore his testimony this past Sunday without any nudging from his parents. He read in the program, "Bearing of testimonies," and told me he wanted to share his. I asked him if he remembered how to start it.

"No."

"I know..." I replied. "Do you remember how to end it?"

"No."

"In the name of..."

"Oh ya!"

For a number of reasons I won't share here, I stood up to bear my testimony. I was holding Peter since Karen was out nursing Luke. Mark didn't follow me up and I was concerned he wouldn't get a turn because a long line had already formed. As I walked away from the podium, Mark courageously walked up alone (cutting in front of about 4 people) and went straight to the podium. His testimony on Sunday:

I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know that the Church is true. I know that we can live for eternity. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

We asked him what prompted him to share his testimony. In addition to reading it on the program, he also gave credit to his cousin, Hannah. We talked about baptism Sunday morning and he reaffirmed his concern with going under the water. So we had Mark call Hannah to talk about her concern when she was baptized. He's still not ready but he feels better about the idea. And because of that conversation he wanted to share his testimony.

He's a good kid.

Anya
Anya lost her first tooth a couple weeks ago. Tooth fairies these days are handing out $1 for the first tooth. Anya approached Karen the other day and mentioned that she figured out what to do with the dollar. She wants to put it in the glass jar at the library. A new library is being built and she wants to help.
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Saturday morning we were handing out the vitamins to our kids. There was only one Flinstone vitamin left. Anya said, "Peter can have it. He's the youngest."

Anya is developing into quite the caregiver. She almost always places others before her own needs. Which makes it all the harder to refuse when she calls out to Daddy for some cuddle time at night.

James
James jumped from his kitchen chair the other night and wanted to move faster than his little legs could move him. He fell with a thud. Karen asked, "How's the floor?"

James, in a matter-of-fact way that only a 5 year old can pull off, responded, "Hard."

Karen and I had a good laugh.