Thursday thought

Some people are alive only because it’s illegal to kill them.

Wednesday Rewind

Here is another mission picture. Elder Carter and I are in the projects in South Newark. This was the location of the twig, which is part of the Spring Garden Branch.

Wednesday Rewind

This was October 2001 General Conference weekend. This was the crew from the Spring Garden Branch that was headed to the Priesthood session. This was, as I recall it was a great session and an awesome group.

The week to come

I can hardly believe that I am only two weeks into the school semester and I am already wondering how I am going to be able to do it all. This week for some reason has me feeling extra overwhelmed. Maybe it is Eston starting preschool. Maybe it is me starting subbing again. Maybe it is me working on my first story for Weber State News.
Whatever it is, I can not believe that I am already feeling that way. I am hoping that it is just a temporary feeling that will go away at the end of the week. Furthermore, I have full confidence that I will be able to get through it with no problems.
Normally when I get this feeling, we only have one or two weeks left in the semester. Usually, it is not this soon. Also, it normally ends up turning out to be great. That is why I am not worried. Plus, if I do not have these feelings and fight through it for victory, what am I paying Weber State to learn anyways?

Preschool

Wednesday night Cheri and I took Eston to his first ever "Back to School Night." He is starting preschool next week and got to go check it our and talk to his teacher. He was very excited to see the classroom, but more excited when he looked in the backyard and saw the trampoline and slide.
When we got there, the teacher had a nice little gift for each of the kids and Eston absolutely loved it. It was a colored cup with a pencil, eraser and number line. She also had some treats on the table for everybody to partake of and that too made Eston extremely excited. He scarfed down the brownie spilling crumbs all over the floor.
After we went to meet the teacher, we stopped to get dinner. Carson was at Grandma and Grandpa's so it was just Eston with Cheri and me. It was there at dinner that I realized how quickly he has grown up and how proud I am  to be his dad. He is such a good kid and has so much ahead of him. I just hope he doesn't let anybody stop him from doing and getting what he wants in life.

Wednesday Rewind

This was Easter of this year. Don't they both look handsome in their Easter outfits? You would never guess that Carson and I had spent the early morning  of this day at Wee Care. He is holding is camera that he got from the Easter Bunny. Eston is holding his Batman soccer ball.

Tie Tuesday

First Week

Well the first week of the new semester is over. I have been to all of my classes and at this point I think I will really enjoy them all. The plan is for this to be my last fall semester. I am finally into the meat of the communications program and going to be doing some reporting and anchoring. Along with that I will also be learning the shooting, editing, etc part of it as well.
I was able to finish my internship last semester. I interned at the Deseret News sports department. As I was meeting with my professor for the internship, I also learned that I can start preparing for Senior Seminar now. I was unaware that I could do some evaluative research for my research project. So, along with all of my classes that I am taking, I am also going to be putting together my demo tape. Then when I am in Senior Seminar, I can do some focus groups and have my tape evaluated.
So, the next year or so is looking to be a fun and exciting one. Thank goodness I have a good wife that supports and loves me. I do not know how I would do it without her. I wish beyond anything that I did not have to put so much stress on her, but after this year, I hope that can change.

Tie Tuesday

Kindness

Over the last couple of days, I have witnessed a couple of events that really got me thinking about the way things are said. In the first event, I walked away feeling that something could have been said a lot nicer and not come across so rude. The second event, the person said something that could have come across very rude, but did not.

This is not something new to me by any means, but after both instances, I thought about how easy it would be to just think about how we are saying something and if it is coming across the way we want it to. For the most part, I think that people are really good at doing that in general. However, sometimes we need a reminder.

Thursday Thought

“Summer is kind of like the ultimate one-night stand: hot as hell, totally thrilling, and gone before you know it.”


— Cosmopolitan

Wednesday Rewind

This is a picture of Carson that was taken by Deb and Chris Cope at our annual Layton office Christmas party. I love the how the bright red hair stands out in this picture.

Tie Tuesday

The Redhead

Some of you may have heard me make comments about this beautiful child's personality. He has some of the cutest red hair I have ever seen and the personality that comes with red hair. It is crazy to me to see how different he is from Eston. In fact sometimes you would not even know they were brothers. Eston has always been a really easy going child and never got into anything. Carson on the other hand can be very needy and is always getting into something. Cheri and I have had more frustrating moments with Carson than we have with Eston. At the same time, Carson has the biggest heart. From the day he was born, he has always been able to sense when you need a little bit of love. There have been times when I have been down and depressed and out of the blue Carson will come up and give me a huge hug. It is those moments that you realize just how much love you have for your child no matter how much trouble or frustration they may cause for you. When we first saw the red hair, I was pretty sure that it would not stick this long, but it has and I am loving it. I am extremely proud to call myself the father of this little redhead.

Am I Getting Old?

Twice last week right before I went to bed, the movie Titanic was on. Between both times, I saw about the first hour of the movie. I would have stayed up to watch it, but both times it did not get over until 1:30, but both times left me wanting to watch more of it. I was not sure where to find the movie and I really did not want to pay to rent it, so I figured it was a lost cause and I would forget about it sooner or later.
Well, on Monday morning, I was getting ready to take the kids to my parents house when I discovered something that made my day. Whenever I go to my parent's house, I take a couple of boxes from my garage that belong to my brother Jeremy. As I was taking one of the boxes, I saw the movie Titanic sitting there. I grabbed knowing that Jeremy would not care if I borrowed it. Really I wanted to watch it right then and there, but I did not have the time.
Finally last night, I decided I could not hold off any longer and I put it in. I had not seen the show since high school and was expecting to find that it was still just as good and the few funny parts were still funny. Well, I was very wrong. I am not sure if I changed or if the movie changed, but I am guessing it is me.
As I watched the parts with childern hit be hard, because the kids in the movie are about the same age as my little kids. It was very easy to imagine my little ones standing in the hall crying.
Some of the funny parts were still funny. Like when they break through the wall and the guy says that they are going to have to  pay for the damage. Then there is the part where Jack says he is going to write a strongly worded letter to the White Star.
Then there were the parts that I thought were funny back in high school, but now seem sad and horrible. Back then, I thought it was funny that people were falling from the top of the ship, hitting the rails and then falling into the ocean. Last night, I thought, this is horrible that people actually died like this.
So, I got to watch the whole movie again and I was happy about that, I still stayed up later than I should have, but I watched it. I also learned that with time and age come some maturing which is good, but does that mean I am getting old?

Thursday Thought

Today's thought comes from Lily Tomlin.

"The road to success is always under construction."

Wednesday Rewind

This was while we were waiting for the Ogden 5K to start this year. The race starts at 7:00 and the starting line is at the mouth of Ogden Canyon. I was really cold and tired and that is why I don't look very enthused to be there. The kids had that nice stroller to ride in that we were able to borrow from Jenni. I pushed that thing the whole way, most of the time running. I came in at 42 minutes, but I also had  to stop and use the bathroom, so really 40 minutes.



Tie Tuesday

Getting the Grade

This Summer I have had the chance to do an internship with the Deseret News. Throughout the semester I was supposed to work 180 hours for them. During the 180 hours I was required to write a log each week of my experience and meet with my professor twice.
The semester ended last week and I was only at 122 hours and had only met with my professor once. This is a created a problem since I clearly had not met the requirements for the class. My professor assured me that it would be fine and that she would give me and incomplete until I was done with my hours and then she would change it to a complete.
After talking to the folks in the Financial Aide office, I found out that an incomplete would not be good. Due to the incomplete, my aide would be held up. That is money that we desperately need at the moment and do not want held up. So, I took the situation to my professor and increased the hours that I would spend at my internship.
Well, luckily my professor agreed to give me a complete as long as I gave her a signed contract stating when I would complete my internship and meet with her for the second time. I am so grateful to her for agreeing to help me out with this. Somehow it always seems to work out in the end. 

The Train

Last night as I got on the train, I did the usual, look for a spot where nobody else will surround me. Usually at night this is a very easy task as there are not a ton of people that are commuting at 11:00 p.m. Last night, however, the task proved to be very difficult. Instead of being close to empty, the train was full. It was full of young, loud, drunk and annoying people. On top of that I was extremely tired and wanted to read. However with all of the noise, there was no way that was going to happen. You might ask, why not just switch cars and get away from that group. Well, every car was full of people that match that description.


As I sat there listening to all of them talk (because I could hear them ALL) I thought about my two little boys at home. I really hope that Cheri and I can teach them how to properly behave in public. I hope they understand that they don't have to be loud and use every swear word in the book and then add some more to the book. I hope they turn out to be gentlemen who think about others long before they think of themselves.

Almost done

Well it has been almost eight years since I started school at Weber State University. In those eight years I have had some great things happen in my life. I was able to get married. We also have had two awesome boys.
After all of that, I am almost done. You see, yesterday I was able to register for the fall 2011 semester. If all works out correctly, this will be my last fall semester. Each semester before I register, I log on to Cat Tracks. Cat Tracks is a program that shows students at Weber State University their progress in school. When I logged on this time, it said I only needed sixteen more credits. I almost threw a party right then and there. However, I was at work and all by myself and that would have been a lame party so I decided to hold off for a while.
So, I would just like to say to all of you out there that are reading this(which according to my stats is only 3 people) and are fighting a never ending battle, I tell you there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I am beginning to see it and I promise to not dim it or turn it off. In fact I will make it brighter and more energy efficient. That way it can stay on longer for less money. Hopefully though it won't have to be on much longer for you or me. 

Thursday Thought

Thursday Thought:

“The pessimist complains about the wind;
the optimist expects it to change;
the realist adjusts the sails.”

~ William Arthur Ward

Wednesday Rewind

This is Christmas Day at the Wilkins house. The was Carson's first Christmas and as you can see he is very interested in the present that I am opening for him. It was the ornament that Grandma and Grandpa Wilkins gave him. If I remember correctly it is a blue giraffe that was in that box.

Tie Tuesday

Thursday Thought

Today's thought comes from M.P. Hinckley. It is framed and hanging on my wall at home.
"Be kind. Everybody you meet is fighting a hard battle."

Wednesday Rewind

This was the day Carson was born. At first Eston wanted nothing to do with him. At the point this picture was taken he was starting to warm up to the idea of Carson.

Tie Tuesday

Thursday Thought

From www.coolfunnyquotes.com comes this great thought:

Last night I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and I thought to myself, where the heck is the ceiling?

Wednesday Rewind

This last summer Christi had her friend take family pictures for us. This is one of those and it is also the pose we used for our 2010 Christmas card photo.

Tie Tuesday

Thursday Thought

Beginning next week, you will see a brand new feature here on this wonderful blog. It will be titled Thursday Thought. I hope to give you a great quote or fact that will get you thinking. Enjoy!

Wednesday Rewind

Halloween 2009! We went and picked out pumpkins to paint. Eston had such a great time. He loved painting them even more. What I really love about this picture is that Eston is closing his eyes. This is funny, because when I was young, I would smile for pictures the same way and we have a picture of me smiling like that with my dad.

Tie Tuesday

Wednesday Rewind

So, at Christmas this year, we let Eston take over the camera for a moment and here is one of his masterpieces. As you can see I got a package of white shirts. They are long sleeved white shirts to be exact.

Tie Tuesday

Wednesday Rewind

This is Christmas 2009. I am helping Eston go through his stocking at Grandma and Grandpa Hellewell's. The item we are looking at is a Wiggles doll. That was is Anthony or "the blue Wiggle." He is kind of over the Wiggles at this point in his life.

Tie Tuesday

Wednesday Rewind

Carson just turned one! Here is a picture of his birthday balloon. He loves Mickey Mouse and as you can see, he is more interested in looking at me than the camera.

Tie Tuesday