2007 Goals Report

So here is a report on my New Years Resolutions for 2007. I am making this post to add a measure of accountability to my actions and solicit help on my upcoming goals. At the beginning of the year I had the following goals.

1. To get down to 185 Pounds. I started out at 206 and as of yesterday morning was at 192.4 #s I don't know whether I will make the last 7.4#s by the 31st. Maybe an extended fast would be good.

2. To read the Book of Mormon twice and all the Sunday School lessons before church. I definately made the Book of Mormon goal. I had finished it twice by June 6th thanks to some challenges by Troy and should finish it for the fourth time this year tomorrow or Friday. As for the Sunday school lessons, did great until about July on that. Since then haven't budgeted my time well enough to complete that.

3. Write in my journal weekly. Another goal that I was strong on until about May. Then I started writing on my computer and then started blogging. However, none of the other stuff was consistent or weekly. One thing I did learn was that when I was consistently writing in my journal I seemed to get a lot more personal revelation and discernable direction from the Lord. There is power and insight that comes from regular introspection and documention of one's thoughts.

4. Research 20 family names and complete the temple work for them. Well, I researched many more than 20 names. And I did the complete work for many more than 20 people. Does it matter that the names I researched and the names I did the temple work for were not the same names?

This is the first year that I had real resolutions and I know that I accomplished more ths year due to the goals that I would have otherwise. I already have a good idea of my goals for 2008 but you will have to wait a couple days to hear those. Any help or encouragement from friends is welcome.

Conversations with my children!

The other night we were standing in line at a wedding reception watching the wedding video and the bride had a beautiful dress on. After watching for a couple minutes my 2 year old looked up at me with the largest puppy dog eyes I have ever seen and said, 'Daddy, someday do you think I can get married?" It was so cute and so I consented replying, "Sure, you can start dating around 27 and then get married any time after you are 28!" I figure that should give me time to rebuild my savings after my first daughter ties the knot.

Another funny conversation. We are riding in the van and Eliza asks, "Dad and mom, what if you are pregnant before you get married?" Our jaws dropped and Sara and I just looked at each other. Before we could respond Savana said, "You mean like Pregnant Hinkley?" We had a good laugh but never responded to Eliza's querry.

Halloween Hauntings

The girls had a blast on Halloween. We enjoyed going around and visiting grandparents. Sabby was undecisive about which costume she wanted to wear until about 10 minutes before we left, but finally consented to daddy's choice. She was the cutest little Einstein I have ever seen.

Snow White almost fainted because she couldn't find her 7 dwarves.
And to top it all off we were late to the trunk or treat because we had to take a detour around the Burrells!!! Tee Hee Hee!

One little mishap during the trunk or treat though. As I was dishing up the chili my afro kept getting in the way and once I bent down to pick up a ladle and my swell sun glasses which were hanging on my gold chain fell into a pot of chili! The only one who noticed was Sister Christensen (who I bribed with a sweet roll to keep quiet) and I quickly stirred the chili so that any potentially hazardous germs would be spread out over the whole congregation instead of the poor soul who was immediately next in line for a bowl. If anyone asks, it wasn't me, I was with my wife the whole time!!

Being surrounded with little girls means that every day can be a dress up day! Here are Eliza, Savana, and their friend Reagan. What fun little princesses! I love being a father!!!

Bork Bork Bork

So I decided to go all Swedish Chef last night and make home made donuts. I downloaded a 'Krispy Kreme' recipe off the internet and started dancing around the kitchen with a rolling pin shouting "Bork, Bork, Bork, Bork, Bork" and throwing sugar and flour in the air. The girls were quite entertained. I have never made donuts before so I thought it would be a fun experience.

To be honest, after my cooking extravaganza, I don't think that I will ever cook donuts again. I definately will not ever be accused of being 'Homer'esque. And I definately have a new appreciation for anyone who is a Baker for a profession. It took me 4 HOURS to make 3 DOZEN donuts! I also know now why the Swedish Chef couldn't form any words other than BORK BORK BORK BORK. Making donuts would be enough to cause any person to go clinically insane!

Regardless of the pain and suffering in the kitchen last night the donuts turned out OK. And in normal conversation at work today only 3 BORKS leaked out. Can you imagine if I had tried to double the batch! BORK!

Autumn (?) in Tremonton

So, it's Autumn, right? Then why is there snow on the mountain in between the colorful leaves? BTW, This is our backyard. Eliza and Savana decided that the fridge needed to be cleaned out so Sara helped by taking pictures. Eliza is such a poser! But Sara said they were wonderful helpers.

This is the "Cozy Corner." When the girls just can't fall asleep during nap time they can spend some quiet time reading in the corner. There is also a mini DVD player there and there are times that we let them veg. The art on the wall is a Savana original.

This is the cutest little girl in the world. She loves getting her picture taken!!

The Military, Eliza, and the Atonement

Eliza and "Uncle Paul"
We put Eliza to bed last night about 8pm. At 9 she came out of her room with a perplexed look on her face. She curled up on Sara’s lap and asked her, “Mom, why do people have to fight for our freedom?” Earlier in the week Sara had told Eliza that our friend Paul would be going far away to fight to protect our freedom. After a short discussion about freedom and world conditions Eliza told Sara, “Mom, I’m afraid that bad people will hurt Uncle Paul.” Sara told Eliza that she could pray for Paul and that Heavenly Father would help him to stay safe. Sara assured her that everything would be all right and then tucked her into a warm bed in a safe house.




As I thought about this I have had two strong thoughts:


1. I am grateful to live in a land that is proactive about protecting me, my family, and my rights using volunteers. Most especially, thank you to everyone who works in the military to protect me.
2. All those soldiers who put their self in harm’s way in order to accomplish peace are mirroring the actions of Jesus Christ.


This is such a simple experience but it has provided Sara and me a chance to teach Eliza the power of prayer. This isn’t a foreign concept to her. The other night we were driving home in a rain storm and Eliza was scared because Sara was nervous. As soon as Eliza said a prayer, and asked to be kept safe, the rain stopped and the road conditions cleared up. Out of the mouth of babes…

There is something deeper here though. Christ said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13). Christ came down to lay down His life for us. And through his atonement he has increased the freedom that we have in our lives. Even though I make mistakes and fall short of the glory of God I am able to tap into the grace of Christ and bridge the gap between heaven and earth. All this was brought about because He had enough love for us to give up his life for us. And that gives us more spiritual freedom. And Paul (or Ethan or any other service person), no matter what his motives were in joining the military, is demonstrating the same kind of character. He is putting his own life on the line to protect my freedom.

How grateful I am for Christ and His atonement. How grateful I am for Paul, and the other service people in the military, who are protecting my freedoms. And I am so grateful for a daughter who shows love and concern for those close to her, and in the process teaches me how to love unconditionally and be like a child so that I can get closer to my Heavenly Father.

More on the Marbles

I can hardly believe that we have been in Tremonton for almost 2 years now. Layton seems like such a long time ago. I was talking to a friend in Layton a couple days ago and remembering how much fun we had there and how many friends we had. I really enjoyed living there, but there is something different about this time in our lives.

Having 3 children is definately a different adjustment than having 1 or 2. It takes a lot longer to get a family of 5 ready for church than a family of 4. And all those girls take more time with hair and dresses and etc... But we love it. Sara is currently serving as the Ward Music Chairman and is learning how to delegate and ask people to do things for her rather than just doing them herself. She loves it though and receives inspiration as to who to give musical numbers and how to improve the Spirit of sacrament meeting through music. Eric is serving as YM Secretary and loves to hang out with the Young Men because it makes him feel hip and young. Eliza and Savana love primary and Nursery and have no problem leaving their parents to play with their friends.

Sara has a good sized garden and we finally put in grass this summer. Funny how Eric works on a sod farm and it took him almost 2 years to put grass in his yard (and a lot of prodding and organization from his dad :) Thanks dad!) Sara loves being outside and working on the garden and the yard. She has big plans of putting in a greenhouse and finishing all our landscaping.

Eric started the bathroom in the basement in March and hasn't worked on it since about April. He has about 2-3 good days of work to do on it but hasn't had the gumption to finish it. Maybe winter will bring more time to do something there.

Anyway, life is great! We love being in Tremonton. It is so nice to be in the mountains and see all the wildlife. Somehow life is richer up here and it has nothing to do with job or money or anything but life. We find it so interesting that God directs us and throughout our lives gives us glimpses into eternity. We drive past Emma's grave 2-3 times a day and think if her a lot. Eliza and Savana talk about her and tell people that she lives in the sky with Jesus any chance they get. What a great thing to know that our family has a chance to return and live with her someday.

This is the reason for living!

Our daughters give us so much joy! Aren't they darling?
Sabby definately has style. She does need some makeup tips though!

Eliza is in the whole 'How do I smile for the camera' stage. 4 Years old going on 15.

I love coming home from work to this little one smiling. She says Da Da now and is just barely learning how to crawl.

The Marbles gathered for their annual Labor Day Campout. We fished and camped and played in the river. Dad fell in a couple times and even though the water was freezing we all had a great time playing with the river rocks! Look hard and you will be able to see me in the middle of the picture. It's pretty hard though because of my Camo Superman Shirt!

Mom felt right at home on the beach when we visited Auntie Katie in California. Audrey loved it too!

First Post To The Blogiverse

Upon careful consideration and considerable coaxing from my brother (who graciously set up this blog for me, Thanks Nate) we have decided to join the Blog Universe and post our most intimate musings for the whole world to see (OK, so not that intimate and probably not that interesting either). Anyhow we will post pictures of all our beautiful little girls and will periodically add thoughts and "shout outs" to all our friends who grace us with their online presence. All is well in Marbleton and we will post pictures and deep thoughts soon.

Love to all!