For the Birds

March 30, 2014

The Dan and Deanne Jacobs family now has two more members.  They are feathered.  They are colorful.  They are scared out of their minds.  They are parakeets. 

 Their names have changed so many times in the last 72 hours that I cannot say for certain what they will be called.  We are currently calling one of them Skittles and the other one is still being debated.  Tut and Olaf have both been tossed around as possible monikers. Any suggestions for the other bird are welcome.  He is blue.  The boys are already a bit disappointed that they have not been able to teach them to talk yet.  I was surprised to find out that Parakeets are the best mimics of any in the bird family.  Some of them can have vacabularies well into the thousands.  Who knew?  I am scared to think of the words they might learn around here.  Especially if they learn Trev-speak.  I don't know if I could handle another unitelligble language coming from a bird or otherwise.

Our pretty willow tree in the front yard is now mulch at the dump.  A snow storm split it in two this winter and from the split it was evident to see that it was infested with worms.  So we chopped the rest of it up this week.  We now have a largish stump in the front yard.  Too bad I am no sort of a sculptor.  We are now in the market for a couple of good hearty trees that aren't willows or aspens.  Suggestions would be appreciated.

Did I mention soccer?  There is a lot of it going on around here.  Tate played in his first game and true to his prognostications, he dominiated.  He scored 3 times in as many minutes and then was relegated to goalie duty.  It helps to be the oldest and largest at this age.  The same cannot be said when you get past your 30's.  There is no advantage to being larger and older than my current competition in basketball.

Deanne happily volunteered me to watch our neighbors children while she went to the women's conference last night.  I had 8 kids for about 3 and a half hours. 

 My favorite part was when their 18 month old decided that he had had it with me and cried (screamed is a better word) for the last 45 minutes. Deanne had a wonderful time though, and I am glad that she was able to take a break and get out to that meeting with her mom and sister.  While they were out the missionaries stopped by.  I had them come in and we talked to them for a bit.  I then asked if they would share a quick thought and testimony with the kids, which they graciously did.  I was impressed with their spirit and vibrancy.  I was grateful that they would take some time to bear testimony to my children.  I know that they impressed the kids, as they were all riveted.  Even Trev.

Shane blessed his baby, Micah, today.  I was impressed with the spirit I felt in the blessing itself and in the testimony meeting afterwards. I was especially touched by his words that counseled his son to lean on those who leaned on the Lord. I am grateful to those who share and express their testimonies of faith.  I need that in my life right now (actually I always need that) and I am hungry for expressions of faith and hope.

I was thinking of my brother in law Kevin a lot during the meeting.  I would like him to know that we combined our fast, prayers and faith with his and the entire family, in hope for a good outcome for his recent illness.  I know that his prognosis is good and I feel confident all will be well.

We were sorry to hear about Kathryn and Kent's non-cruise fiasco.  I can't imagine how frustrating it would be to travel that far expecting you would shortly be on vacation only to be turned away due to events out of their control.  If nothing else, it will make for a good story in the years to come and now you have a better knowledge of what Galviston TX looks like...

Love to all from the Jacobs.

Dan