Rawson Teague Felsted

Rawson Teague Felsted. 6 oz. 7" long. Succumbed to Velamentous Cord
Insertion on Friday June 26 2009 at 20 weeks.

It's amazing how everything is there. And how small it all is. We are glad that we were able to see him and hold him.

March Weather

Our biggest snow of the year came just as it seemed we were going to have finer weather. 22" in our back yard on the 8th of March. We had a week of good weather in the 70s then more snow and some hail on the 22nd. Spring is never a dull moment here in the high desert of Utah.

Little Miss Organizer - A God Given Gift

One of the jobs our children have is to place their pajamas under their pillow when they get dresses.

The other day we were tickled to see that Kenya takes her job seriously. She neatly folder her pajamas and even tied a bow.

We have known for a long time that Kenya was a great organizer but this is going all out.

Yard Work - A Family Service Project

We couldn't have ordered a better day! We had lots of help and lots to do. And amazingly enough everyone came to work. What a family we have.


It all started with innocently enough, Cheryl found a picture of a lovely front yard in a magazine. It became our summer project.

We had to take out years of growth to make it happen.

In many cases to remove years of growth take buckets of sweat! But buckets of sweat translates to transformation.

Hard work by all is noticeable. I hope others post their comments on the day.

We had a jungle of plants to transplant. Luckily Almost everyone took some home.

The stage is set for the rest of the project. We hope everyone can come back soon to help us create a new look in our front yard.

Thanks to those who could come. It means the world to us for you to come and help us and show our kids the meaning of giving.

Camden's Burn

On Friday night we were watching a movie as a family in our nearly finished basement. After the movie we were talking about the fire in the fireplace. Camden went up to the hot glass and placed his palm on it and burned it.

We went into crisis mode. I grabbed an cup of ice water that was near by and put his hand in it. That helped for a short time. Cheryl took him upstairs and and got some aloe vera to put on his hand.

I ran out into the car to get our first aid kit... it has a handbook for what to do in almost any emergency situation. I found burns and saw - cool water, aloe vera. We were doing what was right.

We gave him some pain killer and had to hold him till he went to sleep which Cheryl did.

The next day he had a quarter sized blister on his palm but didn't have anymore pain. He won't tough that again!

Initiative Wins The Day

Here is something Kenya made while we cooked in the kitchen.

Pictures from the Holidays

Cherubic!

Sorry Farmers We Are

We planted carrots this year. Though we don't eat carrots much, or our kids don't eat them much. Kenya will take a taste always. She is adventurous. Yzabel only looks at things and decides. And Camden will chew on anything for a minute or two.

So we still have a drawer full of carrots. What will we do with them? Stay tuned...

Character Traits They Must Have!

I've thought long and hard and decided the following are the skills I want to teach my children.

Character Traits I want my children to have.
1. Initiative
2. Ingenuity
3. Allegiance
4. Integrity
5. Commitment
6. Passion

With these skills my children will be able to make an impact on their society. My goal is to make leaders of them. If I just wanted them to be followers I'd choose a different way of educating my children. Since these traits are not taught in our public society we have taken it upon ourselves to teach them to our children.

I've written quite a bit on this topic in my journal and on my blog TheInternetDarkAges.blogspot.com

What are the things you want most to leave your kids with? What will you do to make it happen? I'd like to know.

Searching for Our Soul?

We have been reading the Little House series to our children, In book four, we read of one Christmas where the girls choose to forgo their (one) Christmas present so that their father could get a team of horses.

This weekend, we talked about Christmas presents with our children. We mentioned that they would get one present so they would need to list their wants and par it down to one.

Our oldest protested that they wanted more than one! My wife, quickly recounted, "How many presents did Laura get for Christmas?"

Kenya (6), replied, "One." She saw that someone else that she identified with got the same... she stopped protesting.

Just the day before I finished reading Throw Your Kids A Bone. by CS Williamson. A story that shows, in part, the contrast between those who gets all they want versus others that don't.

Then on Monday, I read my favorite newsletter (click the link on the main photo then the What did we admire link) and discovered the following quote.

"...Then there is the kind of Christmas with presents piled high, the gifts of guilty parents as bribes because they have nothing else to give. The wrappings are ripped off and the presents are thrown down and at the end the child says - 'Is that all?' Well it seems to me that America now is like that second kind of Christmas. Having too many THINGS they spend their hours and money on the couch searching for a soul. A strange species we are. We can stand anything God and Nature can throw at us save only plenty. If I wanted to destroy a nation, I would give it too much and I would have it on its knees, miserable, greedy and sick." – John Steinbeck, in a letter to his lifelong friend, Pascal Covici

I grew up in modest circumstances in a wealthy area. A number of my high school friends got their choice of new cars when they turned 16. Many had their own credit card ("with limits" they would tell me). By all standards they had plenty...

With this background, I never wanted my children to grow up the way I say things - what plenty did to people and families. I admire how Warren Buffett brought up his family. His children never knew that he had plenty of money. I have seen how having plenty of money can ruin a family.

Of course, I always wanted more than I got, but fortunately for me my parents couldn't afford to give me more! They would have, if they could have afforded it.

Of all of the things I am grateful for, one, I am most grateful for is growing up with less that I wanted. Because now I can teach it to my children and their children and even their children.

Assignment:
If you are interested in seeing what your children will turn out like if you indulge them, please get and read, Throw Your Kids A Bone. by CS Williamson. Then spend a few minutes in considering what you want to teach your children. Write it down. Then compare it to what you are teaching them when you indulge them.


I sure hope you don't believe in mere coincidence.

Then on Monday, I read my favorite newsletter (click the link on the main photo then the What did we admire link) and discovered the following quote.

"...Then there is the kind of Christmas with presents piled high, the gifts of guilty parents as bribes because they have nothing else to give. The wrappings are ripped off and the presents are thrown down and at the end the child says - 'Is that all?' Well it seems to me that America now is like that second kind of Christmas. Having too many THINGS they spend their hours and money on the couch searching for a soul. A strange species we are. We can stand anything God and Nature can throw at us save only plenty. If I wanted to destroy a nation, I would give it too much and I would have it on its knees, miserable, greedy and sick." – John Steinbeck, in a letter to his lifelong friend, Pascal Covici

I grew up in modest circumstances in a very wealthy area. A number of my high school friends got new cars when they turned 16. Many had their own credit card ("with limits" they would tell me). By all standards they had plenty...

With this background, I never wanted my children to grow up the way I say things - what plenty did to people and families. I admire how Warren Buffett brought up his family. His children never knew that he had plenty of money. In my opinion, having plenty of money can ruin a family.

Of course, I always wanted more than I got, but fortunately for me my parents couldn't afford to give me more! They would have, if they could have afforded it.

Of all of the things I am grateful for, one, I am most grateful for is growing up with less that I wanted. Because now I can teach it to my children and hopefully their children and even their children.

Assignment:
If you are interested in seeing what your children will turn out like if you indulge them please get and read, Throw Your Kids A Bone. by CS Williamson. Then spend a few minutes in consideration of what you want to teach your children. Write it down. Then compare it to what you are teaching them when you indulge them.


I sure hope you don't believe in mere coincidence.