Thank You, President Hinckley

Today, we bid farewell and Godspeed to our beloved prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley. In a world filled with much turmoil and despair, I am grateful to know that God has loved us enough to share with us a prophet, his spokesman on earth, a man with authority to say, "Thus saith the Lord."

Of all the tributes I have seen or read about President Hinckley, these are my favorites:

A blog post by my daughter, Angie:





A video tribute narrated by excerpts from President Hinckley's own statements:

A personal tribute by Glenn Beck:

To these I add my personal witness that Gordon B. Hinckley is indeed a prophet of the living God, as real a prophet as Abraham and Moses and Paul. This world is a better place, my family is a better family and I am a better man because of what he taught us by word and example. May we all strive to follow in the righteous footsteps of this wonderful man.

Happy Birthday January

The second week of January is full of celebration at the Dixon home. Claudia and David share a January 8th birthday. Holly follows up two days later on January 10th. Mark was out of town all week, so we celebrated on Sunday evening, January 13.

We capped the celebration with Claudia's signature chocolate and lemon pies!





Chloe isn't too happy with the situation.





Eve loves the baby dolls at Granny's house.





For more family photos, please visit Mark's Flickr page.

Puzzling New Years

What would New Years Eve be at the Dixon home without a puzzle? Claudia started this one about 10pm on New Years Eve. Mark helped to get the border in place before he fell asleep. Eric, Ryan and Holly contributed after they returned from their respective New Years festivities. Claudia and Mark put the final pieces in place after they awoke on New Years Day.





The house has been appropriately "de-Christmased." The corner where the Christmas tree stood is bare ...





... and the decorations are neatly tucked back in the closet. It was quite a puzzle just get them back in place!





So, there you have the sum total of our spectacular photography this week. Things are pretty much getting back to normal after the holidays. Mark, Eric and Ryan are back at work. Holly is back in school and starting some intense practice for the upcoming production of The Music Man at Taylor Junior High. Claudia is immersed in Young Women stuff. Dave and Rachel returned with their kids from their Dalton family excursion to California. Myron and Angie are in withdrawl because their high def TV had to go to the shop for repairs. Amy got back from her visit home during the holidays, but went to San Diego this weekend. Claudia accompanied Dave and Rachel as they sang "Come, thou Fount of Every Blessing" at a stake fireside tonight. Mark heads back on the road tomorrow, just in time to miss three family birthdays. Yep, our "un-eventful life" is pretty much back to normal.

If you haven't checked lately, you can see more family photos (from previous weeks) on Mark's Flickr page.

Good night, and God bless!

Relaxing on a Sunday Afternoon

We couldn't leave you with just photos of our inanimate bathroom on a Sunday afternoon. We thought you might want a glimpse of our family members as well.

Ryan is obviously enjoying himself ...





... as Claudia prepares dinner ...





... and Mark sits behind the camera admiring the flowers, thinking of how good the food is going to taste!





Please visit our Flickr Photostream for more shots.

God bless you, and good night!

Belated Bathroom Photos

We finished our bathroom remodeling project a few months ago, but finally Mark got around to taking some photos. It's certainly not the best photography in the world, but it will give you an idea about what things look like. The color scheme is actually light green, white and grey, not just all dreary grey. We really enjoy the beadboard look.

After 17 years of living in this house, Claudia and Mark have "His and Hers" lavatories. Very handy when we are in a hurry to get ready for church!





We love our shower, with an overhead rain head, plus a more conventional shower head on the side.





Claudia hung nice curtains on the window.





Some more photos of the bathroom and our new bedroom furniture are on Flickr.

God bless you, and good night!

Christmas Morning Excitement

We had a wonderful Christmas day. Angie, Myron and Chloe came to our home at 9:00 AM to help us open presents. Dave and Rachel brought Devlin and Eve a while later. You can see our Christmas morning photos on Mark's Flickr Christmas Morning photo set, but here are just three to whet your appetite:

Chloe loved being right in the thick of things - helping everyone open wrapped gifts to see what was inside!





Eve loved her her baby bottles and her new doll. Now, just what one should I use?





Devlin's Christmas revolved around the movie, "Cars." Cars jammies, a Cars lunch box, and, of course, Cars cars.





More family photos can be viewed on Mark's Flickr Photostream.

God Bless you all, and Merry Christmas!

Celebrating Christmas Eve

For the seventh consecutive year, we celebrated Christmas Eve with Rachel's family, alternating homes each year. Paul and Lana Dalton were our gracious hosts this year. We enjoyed a wonderful meal, had great musical entertainment and paused for a few minutes while Mark read about the birth of Christ from the gospels of Luke and Matthew.

Devlin sang "Silent Night" with all of us, and then sang an encore solo, "When Somebody Loves You," from Toy Story 2. Devlin loves to sing as he grows up in the footsteps of his talented parents.





Rachel favored us with "Birthday of a King."





David sang "O Holy Night," with such power and range that he gave us all goose bumps!





Mark read the Nativity story from Luke 2 and Matthew 2, reminding us once again of the miracle of the Savior's birth which we celebrate at this wonderful time of year.





More photos of the wonderful evening we shared are on Mark's Flickr Photostream.

Good night and God Bless!