Silas Update

Silas had his tumor removed on the 11th and was discharged to go home much earlier than could even be hoped for. Heavenly Father is truly blessing his family with his speedy recovery. The Concord Monitor wrote an article about him last week.

See the article HERE

Applebees is hosting a breakfast fundraiser for him on March 15th. It's a $5 pancake breakfast from 7-10 am. They'll also have a donation collection during those hours. Tracy and Rikk have really been struggling since she couldn't work after having Silas and now with all the hospital trips Rikk hasn't had many opportunities to work either. I am so amazed to see a community pull together to help out fellow neighbors. Keep Silas and his family in your prayers and if you see Tracy at any of the toddler activities please be sure to say Hi!

There has been an account set up for Silas. You can send donations to:
Merrimack County Savings Bank
167 North State St Concord, NH 03302
written to: Rita Y Lamarche fbo Silas Webb

We chopped it off!

Kallyn has been asking to cut her hair since she watched me get mine cut last summer. I almost had her convinced to cut it while we were in Arizona. But then she insisted that "PJ's mom has to do it!" So we waited till we got home. She was so excited to cut her hair like mommy's, but then I got my hair cut again! We got Allison's hair cut also, mostly trimmed. She has that crazy hair that grows only in the back and it's all different lengths. So Taylor evened it up for me. My girls are so cute! Kallyn grew up so much that day!

Before...

I am going to miss those curls!

Drum roll please.......

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Ta-Da!

After... Super Cute!

Bug held so still!

And my new do!

Thanks Taylor!

My Sisters

Back: Deborah (Debbie, 21) and Marisa (12)
Front: Stephanie (18), Me (Janalee, 25) and Rebecca (22)

Christmas in Febuary!!!!!!!!!

When I was a kid, Christmas was the best day of the year. There was nothing quite like the excitment of watching everyone open the presents we had wrapped for each other. Now that I'm grown up (I use the phrase loosely) and have a family of my own, I can think of several days throughout the year that bring the same high level of excitement I felt as a kid. However, none of them come even close to the excitment I feel now in anticipation of Febuary 11th.

JANALEE, KALLYN & ALLISON ARE COMING HOME!

I can't believe the time is finally come, this is truely Christmas in Febuary!

As you can see from the blog posts, they've had a great time in Arizona, and I know the Payne's have had a great time having them also. They are probably just a sad to see them leave as I am happy to have them come home. So thank you Karen and Ed for taking care of my girls for me, I promise to let them come back again, and maybe next time I'll be able to come too!
I've been able to get alot of school work done while they've been gone, and for the first time all semester I feel semi-caught up. Despite missing the girls and having an empty house, lots of friends have been taking care of me. Thank you to everyone who has fed me in my wife's absence and made sure that I've eaten well. The Bohn's, Johnson's, and Mecham's have shared their fine homecooking and the Pratt's made sure I watched the Patriots loose (loved the roast beef sandwiches, by the way). The Norseth's have kept my pride in check (they watched me crush my body on an icy sidewalk), and Mike made sure I had some time to play xbox. I've been taken care of!

I'm so excited to see my family again! Thank you Janalee for loving me, I can't wait to hug youand the girls!

- Eric

Pheonix Zoo

Our days in AZ are coming to an end. Kallyn is ready to see daddy again, she really misses him. I'm ready to have my own room again. But I am very sad to have to say goodbye again. We have had so much fun here and I hope that my girls made some great memories. The Organ Stop Pizza, the Tumbleweed park, picking tangerines off a tree and eating them, and the Pheonix Zoo!! Crazy fun memories!
So we went to the Pheoniz Zoo yesterday. I have never been so close to so many animals. In Albuquerque the Rio Grande Zoo has some remarkable animals, but they always seemed to be hiding. Bu here in AZ the weather was PERFECT! It was so warm and there was hardly a breeze. Occasionaly when you stood in the sun for a long time you would feel hot, but there is so much shade to keep the animals cool during the summer that in the winter it is rather enjoyable! Here are some of our pics. Mostly pics of my little animals enjoying the time with family.


Usually we hike around the entire bear exhibit just to see a shadow of black fur behind a far distant log. But this visit we found both bears out and about playing in the grass. Here is a video of one of the bears next to the fence.




Aunt Becca taught Allison what a monkey says:



And how to skip:

Tumble Weed Park

There is an awesome park near my parents home in Chandler. I was amazed at how HUGE the park was. There were at least 8 picnic pavilions (looked like barns), one gigantic playground under a barn like frame (farm land) a paved road for children's bicycles complete with parking spaces near the tables (city land), a sandbox to dig for dino bones and fossil rock cliffs to climb (critter land) and throughout all this there are smaller playgrounds and activities for toddlers. From the playground area you can see the recreational building that is almost finished but you can't see the other side of the park. The feilds of grass stretch out over a 1 mile block! It was quite the experience for just a walk in the park!



The Firetruck and schoolbus in "City Land".
You can see the roads for the bikes.









The large playground when you first come up to the park.



The picnic pavilions in the background with barn rooftops.

President Hinckley Challenged Us to Read and Reread the Book of Mormon

"I offer a challenge to members of the Church throughout the world and to our friends everywhere to read or reread the Book of Mormon. If you will read a bit more than one and one-half chapters a day, you will be able to finish the book before the end of this year. Very near the end of its 239 chapters, you will find a challenge issued by the prophet Moroni as he completed his record nearly 16 centuries ago. Said he:
“And I exhort you to remember these things; for the time speedily cometh that ye shall know that I lie not, for ye shall see me at the bar of God; and the Lord God will say unto you: Did I not declare my words unto you, which were written by this man, like as one crying from the dead, yea, even as one speaking out of the dust? …
“And God shall show unto you, that that which I have written is true” (Moro. 10:27, 29).

"Without reservation I promise you that if each of you will observe this simple program, regardless of how many times you previously may have read the Book of Mormon, there will come into your lives and into your homes an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God." (Gordon B. Hinckley, “A Testimony Vibrant and True,” Ensign, Aug 2005, 2–6)

I found this in the August, 2005 Ensign. The 1.5 chapters he mentioned was to read it in 5 months. I was a slacker and didn't accept the challenge until November, So I had to really push it to read it in 8 weeks. But those promises he made were motivation enough for me. I am going to do it again to help me always remember to follow the prophets and to thank Heavenly Father for giving us such a wonderful Prophet to guide me in my youth.

Michelle emailed a new challenge to read the Book of Mormon in 97 days starting the day of President Hinckley's funeral. You can accept this challenge to show your gratitute and devotion to our dear prophet at the Hinckley Challenge website. You can sign up to chart your progress and you can even include the chart on your blog!

What we've been up to...

Making playdough treats with Aunt Marisa!

Marisa has a game called "Pretty, Pretty Princess" and of course we HAD to play it! Over and over and over again!

Everyone knows that my girls love books and they will find any sucker and take advantage of them. This is a very frequent scene we run into. This one is Uncle Cameron's turn to read. But everyone has had plenty of turns!

Upstairs playing with Grandpa.

She thinks it's headphones!

Another Family Gathering around the dinner table. Left to right:

Debbie, Kallyn, Marisa, Allison, Heather, Brian

Cutie Bug-a-loo! SHe has such a pudgy belly and LOVES to stick it out there!

One of our Airport crafts. She is drawing on a pillow with washable markers! It was a hit!

Grandma has a shelf in her pantry that has fun snacks for the school kids' lunches. Allison found them the first day and snarfs down the applesauce or fruit cups. I think that it's just the novelty of being able to get it all by herself!