Explanation

Jeff is in Italy for the Academy of International Business (AIB) Conference. It is in Milan and he comes home later this week. Jacob and I are hanging out at home, anxiously awaiting Dad's return because we miss him A LOT. Sorry for any confusion. I asked him to post things so we could keep up with his adventures while he is away.

Pigeons

So, there are a massive amount of pigeons around the Duomo Cathedral. And, they are very, very aggressive. If you had any interest in them, people would come up and put popcorn kernals on you and the pigeons would land on you, and they would offer to take your picture. Then, they would ask for money. They kept on asking me if Iwanted a picture, adn I kept on saying no. They were more aggressive than the pigeons.

I am here again

So, I am here in Italy. Yesterday I was in Switzerland the whole day, so this was the first time that I have seen Milan. It has been amazing. Here is Milan's main attraction, the Duomo, which is the 4th largest cathedral in the world. Here I am on the top of the Duomo. Again, it was amazing. Here is me inside the Cathedral of St Ambrose. This golden altar was originally made to house the remains of Ambrose, but, it currently does not. Instead, they have them on display. I saw them. It really was the remains of someone who lived a long, long time ago. Here I am inside the Duomo.

Swapping Stories

When we were in Idaho last weekend, I had the chance to meet Jeff's grandma for the first time. It was fun to talk with her, to hear her talk about her children and grandchildren and how proud she is of them. She just loved Jacob so much and that was really special. She kept talking about how good he was, how "he just never bawls!," and that he was so smart because he figured out one of those push-the-characters-down and make them pop back up again kinds of toys. Anyways, it was really great to spend time with Grandma, who will soon have surgery to replace her hip with a trusty new one so she won't be in so much pain. Her husband, Ed, just recently passed away, and she misses him very much. One of the things she asked me about was if my folks were lifelong members of the Church. I told her yes, but that three of my four grandparents were baptized. I am, of course, extremely grateful and blessed to have the gospel in my life for so many reasons, one of those reasons is in Italy now and I miss him terribly, and the other is pictured above playing with bubbles. My own grandparents' examples of devotion and faith in Jesus Christ is something I try to emulate, and I am also grateful for the examples of Jeff's grandparents and the sacrifices they made to raise their children in righteousness so that Jeff could have that same blessing from his parents. Naturally this conversation led to me telling Grandma a couple stories about how my grandparents all joined the church, one of which I will share here, borrowing words from this 1975 Ensign article written by Elder Hartman Rector, Jr., and from my dad's older brother, my Uncle Bob. (Click on the picture to read the words. Some of you are readers of my aunt's blog and already saw the picture there.) This is a really long excerpt from the article, but in essence, this is how a part of my own conversion story begins. Mac is my grandfather, and Steve is my father.

Perhaps an actual account of a conversion could be helpful to see how these principles work in us to produce this miracle of conversion. Some years ago when I was a relatively new convert to the Church, I was living in Arlington, Virginia, surrounded by nonmember families. Within a one-week period, two new families moved into my neighborhood. One was located directly behind my home and the other was directly across the street in front of it. I was working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the time, and my assignment caused me to do much traveling. I was away about one-half of the time.

I came home one Friday evening and found that I had a new neighbor across my backyard fence and that he had cut a hole in my chain link fence and installed a gate in it. Now, I considered this a very neighborly act. He had not charged me for the gate; in fact, I had never even met the man, so I went over to his home to get acquainted with him and tell him how much I appreciated the gate in my fence. I have found that if you consider everyone you meet a potential member of the Church, it will temper your response to certain stimuli you receive from time to time. You cannot afford to offend anyone. When you offend, you lose. The Lord uses the expression “in mildness and in meekness” (D&C 38:41) to express the way we are to tell people about the Church.

The new neighbor’s name was McKoy. He was from North Carolina and, sure enough, he had a lot of great qualities that would make him a tremendous Latter-day Saint. To enumerate a few, he was a salesman by trade, and a good salesman, too. He really knew how to close a sale. I have found in my experience that good salesmen have little or no sales resistance whatsoever. If you have a good product to sell or promote, a good salesman is a prime prospective buyer.

Also, this new neighbor was easy to talk to—a gregarious individual. This is always a good sign; frankness and forthrightness usually bespeak basic honesty, which must exist if a witness is to be borne to the heart. In addition, he was the head of his family. He audibly and obviously presided over his family. I remember remarking to my wife after that first visit with my new neighbor that he was a good man and that he would join the Church.

I became vitally involved with the McKoy family. Every time I observed him doing anything contrary to the principles of the gospel, I’d talk to him about it. For instance, one Sunday morning I came out of my house on the way to priesthood meeting and found my new neighbor planting strawberries in his backyard. I leaned over the backyard fence and said, “Mac, all of your strawberry plants will die.” Surprised, he wanted to know why. “Because you are planting them on the Sabbath. You can’t expect strawberry plants to live that are planted on the Sabbath.” Mac laughed heartily at such a ridiculous notion, but they all died—every one of them.

Some time later I took occasion to ask Mac about his strawberries. He said, “I can’t understand it. They all died.”

I said, “Remember what I told you? That they would all die? You couldn’t expect those plants to live, being planted on the Sabbath.”

Mac considered that statement for a moment and said, “You work for the Department of Agriculture, don’t you?”

Mac decided his strawberry plants had been cursed—he had made many successful Sabbath-day plantings in the past; why did this one fail? As I think about it, I felt impelled to tell him his strawberry plants would not live. I am persuaded that the Lord took care of those plants. I have found that the Lord loves to stand behind his servants and he does it at every opportunity.

Some time later Mac told me he had just thrown two elders from his church out of his home. I asked him why. He said, “They came to collect my contribution pledge.” I asked what that was and he indicated it was his practice to pledge a certain amount of money to his church each year. This year he didn’t feel he could contribute the amount he had pledged, so the elders from his church had come to encourage him. Mac had been offended and asked them to leave his home.

Now, it might appear that this would not be the best time to speak of tithing to Mac McKoy, but for some reason I felt impressed to pursue the subject. I said, “Mac, did you know that ten percent of what you earn does not belong to you?” Mac didn’t understand so I continued. “Ten percent of your earnings belong to the Lord.”

Mac said, “Tell me about tithing, would you please?” I didn’t know at the time, but Mac told me much later that he had been praying to the Lord to understand tithing, wondering how he could possibly pay tithing when he was already spending ten percent more than he earned.

I took occasion to tell Mac everything I knew about tithing. Among other things, I told him President Heber J. Grant’s story about the Sunday School teacher who took ten big red apples into her little Junior Sunday School class and asked how many of her pupils would return one apple to her if she gave them all ten apples. Every member of the class responded enthusiastically in the affirmative. The teacher then likened this analogy to the payment of tithing where the Lord gives each of us everything we have but only asks for one-tenth of it to be returned to him. President Grant added, “What most of us do is cut the tenth apple in half, hold up one half to the Lord, and ask him to take a bite.” I said to Mac, “It seems to me you fit the illustration. You’re only offering the Lord a small bite.”

Mac thought about this situation and finally said, “Yes, I can understand that. I believe what you say is true.”

Well, when Mac said he believed in paying tithing, I knew he was ready to hear the message of the restoration, so I said, “Mac, there are going to be two young men from the Church in my home next Thursday evening. They have come all the way from Salt Lake City, Utah, to talk to you about the Church. We have just been scratching the surface in our conversations about the gospel over the past six months, but they will give you the full story. Why don’t you bring your wife Betty and your four children and come over? Besides, when we finish with our discussion we’re going to have a nice dessert.” I knew he couldn’t turn down dessert.

Well, Mac came. I’m not sure whether he came for dessert or not, but he came and brought his wife and his four children. The missionaries did a great job in presenting the first proselyting discussion. Surely the Lord speaks through 19-year-old young men and he speaks eloquently. Mac and his family were tremendously impressed with these missionaries. My wife had also invited the new neighbor who had moved in across the street, so we had both families together in our living room for the missionary proselyting discussions.

The meetings went forward each Thursday evening for six weeks. After the third meeting, both of the investigator families asked to be baptized. I had the privilege of baptizing Mac, his wife Betty, and his two daughters. As I recall, we confirmed Mac a member of the Church and then ordained him a teacher. I remember telling Mac that if he would really apply himself, he would be able to baptize his son Bob, who would be baptismal age in nine months. This appealed to Mac. He wanted to be the spiritual leader of his family. As a matter of fact, I have never met or known a man who did not want to be the leader of his family. It is a God-given right.

So Mac prepared himself and did in fact baptize his son nine months later. A short time after he baptized his son, he was ordained an elder and was called on a stake mission. Mac baptized 28 people his first year as a stake missionary. He had friends all over town. He would call on friends and invite them to accompany him to a baptismal service. He wanted them to feel the special spirit of such an occasion. I’ve heard him introduce his friends as “investigators.” His friends didn’t even know what an investigator was, but they surely received special attention from all involved in the baptismal service. Those who are attending Church for the first time surely need to feel the love and special concern of the members.

Mac has continued to bring his friends and acquaintances into the Church. Since he and his family were baptized 15 years ago, he has personally baptized 112 people into the Church. He is a real estate broker by trade, and, when he picks up a good family in his business pursuits who are in the market to buy a home, he endeavors to locate them in his ward. He is precisely honest with them with respect to the home they buy, which they always appreciate. When moving time arrives, Mac arranges through the bishop for assistance from the ward priesthood quorums. Food is brought into the home by the Latter-day Saint neighbors. Help in locating schools, shopping areas, bus schedules, getting utilities turned on, and newspapers delivered comes through the local seventies quorum members at Mac’s request. When it comes time for the new family to begin attending Church, it is quite natural for Mac to take them, where they also meet their new neighborhood friends. In a short time, a new family has experienced the miracle of conversion and is baptized.

It is most interesting to see the real changes that have taken place in the McKoy family in general and in Mac in particular. First, the McKoy family is now an eternal family unit, having been sealed for time and eternity in the house of the Lord by the same authority that Jesus gave to Peter. Not only are they bound on earth but are also bound in heaven. Mac still presides over his family, but now with persuasion, tenderness, kindness, and love unfeigned.

Second, those two daughters have both married returned missionaries in the temple. Third, the oldest son, Bob, is serving in the mission field as an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ, a full-time missionary. Fourth, the next son, Steve, is soon to depart on his mission. Fifth, there is a fifth child, Tina, a bonus on Mac’s membership in the Church, because he learned the object and design of his creation. Sixth, Mac is a high priest and is a temple worker in the Washington Temple. Seventh, Mac has taught early morning seminary for the past eight years, where he has touched the lives of hundreds of young church members in the northern Virginia area. Eighth, I have heard Mac bear his testimony in testimony meeting that he gives more to the Church in one month today than was his whole annual pledge to his former church, and he had asked the elders of his former church to leave his home when they came to collect his pledge.

It is amazing what a man will do if he knows the Lord wants him to do it. I care not who it is. If you can manifest to almost any man what the Lord wants him to do and he knows it, he will come very, very close to performing the act. I believe this is true primarily because all men are offspring of the same Heavenly Father and we all react similarly to the same given stimulus. Mac is not the same man he was. He is converted, which is the fundamental qualification for citizenship in the kingdom of God and, coupled with endurance, is the guarantee of eternal life. May it be so with us all.

I am here.

Roll Call!

A friend of ours recently did this on his blog, to check up on who is reading what he writes. Now, I know we have our Sitemeter counter there on the sidebar, and I can look at that and see what locations are viewing our family's updates, and for most locations I could probably take a good guess at who from there is keeping up on us, but I thought it would be fun to ask lurkers to come out of lurkdom! So, if you are a fan of Team Hoopes, a die-hard fan or maybe just a fair-weather fan, leave us a comment and say hi so we know who is sitting in the stands watching us play the game of life, so to speak. If you think this is asking too much, remember: your ticket to see Team Hoopes in action was free. Okay, enough of the terrible sports analogies, leave a comment so your attendance can be duly noted, even if you know that we know that you read.

Nine months and lovin' it!

Jacob had his 9 month birthday, and since we were out of town going to weddings and visiting with some relatives, we did not have the chance to get the Blue-Chair-and-a-Bear picture as we normally do. So in honor of today's 9 month checkup with Dr. W we decided to have the shoot tonight. In nothing but a onesie...so scandalous, I know. Here is Jacob in his squirmy glory, he just would not hold still tonight, but somehow I did manage to get this picture amongst all the others.

Length (at what point does this become height?!): 28.5 inches, 50th percentile

Weight: 21 lb 2.5 oz, 60th percentile or so

Head circumference: 48.3 cm, above 95th percentile, off the charts

Still fairly average in size but with brains to boot!

Jacob's favorite part about being 9 months is that there are no immunizations for three whole months!!

International Aid Serving Kids

So, I have been working with a Bishop, Bishop Illens Dort, for the last year. It has been very interesting and good. He is the president of a non-profit organization, International Aid Serving Kids (IASK). IASK takes trips down to Haiti (where Bishop Dort is from) and to the Dominican Republic, where they provide medical services to children. It is impressive to hear the stories. In any event, here is a video they made about their last trip. It is about 10 minutes, and really makes one (at least me), want to go and get involved. My bishop is the one in the black synthetic shirt kind of in the middle of the movie. It is very good, and I recommend watching it, and leaving a comment on what you think about it.

http://www.iask4kids.org/video/iask2007.html

Birthday

So, I asked for an alligator to eat for my birthday, ordered from this website. In my family, we have the tradition of eating a dinner of our choice on our birthday. However, my mom was unwilling. So, after eating my second choice dinner (which was very good), my mom went downstairs, and came up with this cake. It was amazing. So, in the end, I got my gator.

The Farm

So, we went to Blackfoot again to visit Stacey's grandparents. Going both there and to Soda Springs really pleases me, as I consider all the things that exist most places in society that are so bad. It is like going to a simpler life, where things are calmer, simpler, and in a lot of ways, better. Then, when you go to church and hear some persons "understanding" of soemthing, you realize the limitations of simplicity. In any event, I really like visiting the farm in Blackfoot. Here are a few pictures.

Books

So, I have consumed a few more books, and they were, on balance, pretty good. Here they are:

Who's Looking Out for You – Bill O'Reilly

So, the general thesis of this book is that some people in this world have your best interest at heart, and others don’t. Once you figure out who is who, you will be a lot better off. Then, O'Reilly talks about all the people who are NOT looking out for anyone. It is a very political book, and many would call it biased (mainly those who don’t agree, and who are, in my opinion, to a large degree, wrong). It was very good, and I think very true. There are so many people out there who do not know who is looking out for them, and they try to rely on those people who are not looking out for them, they marry them, and they get disappointed. This book had a strong message of personal independence and responsibility, something that I am very into and that I see disappearing as we grow increasingly dependant upon others to solve our problems (most of which we create for ourselves through our own stupidity).

Secrets of the Baby Whisperer

This was an interesting book. It is by a British nanny who basically just talks about how to care for a baby. Since most of her advice is for newborns, it is a little untimely, but, it was interesting. She had a lot of very crazy ideas, but, it was interesting. Since I listened to the book, I can now talk to Jacob, and we have some interesting conversations.

Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts

This was a very, very good book about the women who were around during the Revolutionary war and those times. It was well written about amazing women. It struck me very, very hard many, many times how dependant any civilization is upon strong women. It reminded me of the very strong, very intelligent, and very hard working women in my life, namely my wife and my mother. When I was listening to the book, there were many amazingly good quotes that I determined would be in this post, but since then, I have forgotten them. However, the book made it clear that without these women, the revolution would not have happened. Several of the most important men depended so heavily upon their wives, it was interesting to learn about it. It reminds me of Rocky, where he cant win unless Adrian is supporting him.

It is so true; in the end, I could not do anything if Stacey did not support me. I have friends who are not fulfilling their dreams because their wives are not willing to sacrifice for it. I am so grateful for a wife who supports me, and is ready and anxious for 5 more years of poverty while I continue with my schooling. I think so many women don't get greatness out of their husbands because they don’t allow it.

The Mormon Way of Doing Business

The Marriott School gave all graduates this book, and while I despise the title, it was a good book. It is about several famous Mormon CEOs and business people, and just talks about them and their careers and the things they do in common. It is based on extensive interviewing, and in general, is good. It sat a little uneasy with me when several of the people talked about making time for your family even though you work literally 80 hours a week and are on the road half the days of the year.

While I am sure they did their best, thinking about that made me grateful for a father (who was and is, by the way, the CEO of the largest revenue producing institution and the second largest employer in the city where I hail from) who did not work so much, and who was available any time, for as much time as I needed, throughout my life. I can honestly not remember a time when my dad could not do something or was not at something because of his work. These CEOs in the book talked about the importance of making time to go to soccer games and such, and I just thought of the importance of just being there at home, sitting around and chatting.

In any event, it was a good book, and interesting to hear about these CEOs. Two more interesting things. Two of them were not CEOs, but famous business professors at business schools. Since it is my intention to be a professor at a business school, it was interesting to read about them.

Lastly, two of the CEOs were within a block of the towers in NY when they fell. One was the CEO of an airline when it happened. It told the story of the three on that day, and it was very interesting.

Top Ten Reasons Why We Love the Public Library, and Why You Should Love Yours!

Today I took Jacob to Canopy Capers, a storytime/puppet show/bring your own picnic activity at the Provo City Library at Academy Square. It was great, and he enjoyed himself. Here are my top ten reasons why I love the Provo library, in no particular order:

• 10. It is housed in a very cool, historic building, shown below around 1896 and today. This was the building used for the Brigham Young Academy.

• 9. They do a program that promotes Emergent Literacy, a subject useful for parents of pre-reading children to know about.
• 8. Nearly everything that is related to the library is FREE.
• 7. The quiet study rooms are perfect for Jacob & I to be in so we can play or work on a thesis, whatever we choose to do that day, and that way we don't bother other library patrons in case Mom starts crying because her toys get away from her or Jacob starts talking to himself or screams while he writes.
• 6. It has an amazing selection of DVDs, all genres, and you don't have to pay extra for them like at some nearby libraries.
• 5. There is underground parking, very handy in the summer so Jacob's car seat & the rest of the car don't get hot.
• 4. The children's board books are very cheap at the book sales. Can't beat fifty cents!
• 3. It has a wide variety of audiobooks to keep Jeff well-read.
• 2. We have received three books from the library, one at the Emergent literacy workshop, one at the Children's Book Festival, and one they handed us during the city Christmas parade. Amazing (and free)!!
• 1. They always have something going on, almost every day of every week. So, if you are looking for something to do and you are here, or near any library for that matter, check the schedule and see what the library has going on.

A Few Things

So, this last Saturday (yesterday), we ventured out on the town, to a few yard sales. We like to buy junk, and junk is often found at yard sales, so we venture to yard sales. We found many different things, and even bought one. Here is our $3 purchase, a little "Jacob Jumper".

Jacob also continues the practice of bathing, which is good, since with all of his drooling and other such things unmentionable, he would end up a pretty dirty baby after long. Here he is enjoying his bath. On Saturday Stacey and I also went to the Manti Temple pageant with the Singles ward. It was fun. We chartered a yellow school bus, we went down there, and it was a good time. Here I am on the bus. Here I am with the Bishop of the singles ward, Bishop Dort. He is a nice fellow, and a good bishop. Behind us is the Manti, Ut temple. For those of you who have not been there, or who are unfamiliar with temples, it is an impressive building. Most impressive is that it is in the middle of nowhere, as Manti is not really that much of a booming metropolis. It is humbling to think that well over a hundred years ago, Mormon pioneers who had been violently driven out of their homes had walked across a continent, many of them dying on the way. Then, when they finally got to where they were going, Salt Lake, many of them were told to pack back up and go settle somewhere else.

One of those parties that was sent from Salt Lake to settle went to settle Sanpete county. They went on to sacrifice to build this temple. It is impressive to think of the faith in God, the trust in the prophet who told them to do it all, and the belief in the good things a temple can bring that caused them to do it. They knew that by building a temple, they would have a place in which they could receive special blessings from God, most notably, the blessing of being married for time and eternity. As pioneers, they saw people die, they buried babies and left behind loved ones, and I think they more than many people could appreciate the value of the promise of a marriage and a family that transcends death. Seeing temples such as these reminds me of my own family and marriage, and how blessed we are to have the opportunity to be married forever and have that special promise from God.

On Friday, on the way home from our niece Kirby's preschool graduation in Riverton, we went to Ikea Draper. I had only been to an Ikea once before, and for only a little while, so it was enjoyable to go in and spend a little more time. We got some stacking cups for Jacob, and he likes them a lot already. Here we are driving around Ikea in the Ikea cart.

So, here is more evidence that we did get a little Jacob Jumper. While the above picture is cute, I think Jacob utilizing his jumper for the first time is also a classic. He is getting better at it, and we shall soon post on his increasing expertise with the Jumper.

Come to Zion, Come to Zion!

Saturday we returned from a fabulous excursion to Zion National Park. Jeff's mom watched the baby for us at his sister's house and we missed him a little but it was easier to do what we did. Here's the rundown of the fun we had, read on for a truly multimedia-packed travel log.

Thursday

We paid a visit to Cove Fort on our way south. I rather enjoyed learning about how the pioneers were very self-reliant. I already knew about this but it really was remarkable to see how they even did things like save hair after haircuts so that the girls could have dolls with real hair! I'd never been before, and I'm glad we stopped there for a while for the tour.

We then ventured down to Beaver for lunch at Subway and then finally made it to St. George where we had planned on doing a session in the temple there. It was really great to be there and again be reminded of the sacrifices of the pioneers. I'd never been there either, so it was great to go with Jeff.

Such a good picture, Jeff!

Thursday night we finally made it to our campground at Zion. We set up camp, changed out of our dress clothes and got dinner (Dutch Oven Medley) started and hopped on our bikes and headed over to explore the Visitor's Center of the park.

Friday At Zion they have a shuttle bus that takes visitors around the park, which is pretty handy and also not bad for keeping the park looking lovely by significantly limiting cars allowed in the park. I doubt this would work at Yellowstone though, it's just too big! :) We started our day with a nice breakfast burrito, then we headed over to do The Hike. I had seriously prayed that I'd be able to be calm while hiking Angels Landing, so named because only angels can get there. I'm happy to report that I not only maintained my composure throughout the 5 miles, but I also managed to enjoy it A LOT.

A little ways from the start, you can see we've risen a bit already. It's 1500 ft vertical rise total, as you shall see...

This series of very short switchbacks is called Walter's Wiggles, aptly named, and very fun to prance around on.

The family that wiggles together stays together.

After wiggling our way to the "top," we had a quick rest before heading to our final destination, shown below. We took the above picture to show that we were well informed of the risks presented in taking such a hike.

Only 0.5 miles to go! Yikes!

Thank goodness for those chains. I thought of all sorts of iron rod parallels on the way up.

A lovely panorama shot by ever-amazing Jeff!

Isn't that a great view?! I was really proud of myself for conquering this little hike. They say pride comes before the fall, but I didn't fall! :) Here's another video at the top and another video of the trip down just to show you how precarious things were and why I was excited to have not been shaking/freaking out/etc. like I was, say, on the Brooklyn Bridge two summers ago when we went to NYC.

After we finished Angels Landing we headed over to Weeping Rock and did a "hike" up to see this cool rock with water coming out from between the rock layers. It is pretty neat. We also learned that the park is home to over 900 varieties of plants and vegetation, more than Hawaii. Very cool:

Then we hiked one mile on the Riverside Trail, made it to the river, then kept right on plowing through that water and tried our hands at canyoneering. Also very cool, but slightly tiring, so we didn't make it too far into the Narrows where it gets even more, um, narrow. We never found a Zion Snail, though, which was sad. We even looked a few times. They are the size of a pencil tip!

We made it back to our campsite, changed into dry shoes and socks and grabbed our bikes and off we went. We put our bikes on the racks on the shuttle and we rode out to near the top of the canyon, hopped off, rode a little, bought my token thimble since I have to get one wherever I go, and then pretty much coasted the whole way back to the campground. It was so exhilirating and we headed off the road onto a bike trail that took us back to our campsite. This little trail was about 1.8 mi long and zigged and zagged across the river on bridges and it was so pretty.

We had skillet lasagna for dinner and then slept VERY well that night as you can imagine. We also finished watching Rocky III that night. We started it Thursday but saved the training sequence and fight for Friday. "I don't hate the man; I pity the fool!"

Saturday

We took one last jaunt up a hill (vertical rise of 80 feet, wow) and enjoyed the view once more before we hopped in the car. On the way out, we spotted some ostriches and an emu that we'd seen on the way in on Thursday. So, we got out and obeyed the sign that said to enjoy the Ostrich Photo Op. Kind of random, but kind of exciting also.

Jeff wanted to purchase an egg, but we didn't know who they belonged to. He was also worried that he'd go to cook it and a baby bird would pop out. Their legs bend backwards, by the way, and you can see it in the picture obviously, but it is interesting to see live and in person...more like sitting on an elbow than kneeling down...I love their necks, too.

We made it home that afternoon, and Jacob even remembered us. It was a lot of fun and I'm sure glad we went. It was so fun to be able to spend time with Jeff & just really enjoy each other's company in a beautiful place. We highly recommend it!!

And now, joining the cast of "Big River"...

...Jacob Hoopes!

I took these about a month ago. Jacob had eaten some lunch of sweet potatoes and spread it on his bib and shirt. I decided to see what he looked like with just the overalls on, and my hunch was correct: Baby Huck Finn!

Or, at least he looks like what I imagined Huckleberry Finn to look like when I read the Mark Twain book or sang songs from the musical "Big River," just in wiggly (and thus a little blurry) baby form.

Check out those bottom teeth!