State Honor Choir

Noah had the amazing opportunity yesterday to sing in the Utah State Jr. High Honor Choir!  Only 8 students from each Jr. High in Utah were invited to sing.  The guest conductor was Ryan Murphy who is an assistant director to the Tabernacle Choir.  He was fantastic with the kids!  They loved him and he was able to get such a phenomenal sound out of 300 14 and 15 year old's with 8 hours practice time.

Noah's Jr. High Mixed Choir was asked to be special guest performers.  They did great!  They have the only Jr. High Bell Choir in the State that played with them.  

James and I were so amazed these kids were able to pull off two songs in Latin, and 4 other beautiful songs!  We just sat there with tears running down our faces!

The kids cheering Dr. Murphy!
They loved him and his influence
and such a wonderful experience!

Our Lehi Honor Choir kids with their director Mrs. Tea.  She has been so great!!  Noah rode with her to the rehearsal... there was a parking space open right up front and Noah said... "Look, you found a Grami spot!"  She didn't quite understand, but he explained that his Grami ALWAYS found the best parking spots!

Jingwei

We received a phone call a few days ago from a gentleman that Ben baptized last October.  His name is Jingwei and he is from Beijing China.  He and his wife came to California last fall.  He has a degree in Chinese Literature and a Law Degree from China.  He was in Provo to visit with the Law School admissions office.  He hopes to start Law School at BYU in August.

We were going to dinner for Noah's birthday and invited him to come with us.  He was such a gentleman!  He even brought me flowers...   He loves our Elder Dixon so much.  He shared a story..."My wife and I had been in California just a short time when an American young man knocked on our door.  He spoke perfect Chinese and I wanted to know how that was possible.  Elder Dixon shared with us his love for the Chinese people, culture and language.  We felt how sincere he was.  He then taught us the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We will be forever grateful for him... his message has changed our lives!"

Noah even tried a little bit of Chinese with him... he was impressed!

Noah chose to go to PF Changs for his Birthday. The funniest line of the night from Jingwei..."This food is really good, but it is NOT Chinese food!  Someday when you come to Beijing, I will feed you a REAL Chinese feast!" 

He shared with us that he and his wife are expecting their first child... a little girl!  Then he told us they are naming her Lydia!  I started to cry... that is the name Ben loves (one of his favorite bands) and he wants to someday name a little girl of his own...  "We asked Elder Dixon for a little girl name, and we are naming her Lydia!"  So sweet.  

This was such a wonderful, tender evening.  Jingwei was a remarkable man with a deep testimony.  He can't wait to take his wife to the Temple later this year.  We were witness to an absolute miracle!

 Here is what Ben wrote right before this baptism...
"This upcoming Sunday we'll be having another 4 baptisms in the ward. 2 younger couples, both of the woman are pregnant and due in June :) They love the gospel and the commandments. Last Monday we had a family home evening with them at a members home, and we had a really good discussion about the temple. They can't wait for that day. One of the couples that I talked about last week, Jingwei and his wife, were talking about when they have their baby, they're going to tell him all about "Dai Shushu" (Uncle Dixon), as soon as they said that I started crying as we talked about God's eternal plan for all of us. We bore testimony that He knows each and every single one of us, and them accepting the gospel at this time in their life is part of their own specific plan of happiness for their young family. It was such a beautiful experience! It's times like these that make every single sacrifice worth it."

Happy Birthday Noah!

Noah is 15 today!  It is hard for me to believe!

When Noah was born he gave us quite a scare!  His lungs weren't fully developed and he was struggling to breath... We had signed up with a new Pediatrician, that we hadn't met yet... Dr. John Wynn.  Dr. Wynn came to the hospital and worked on Noah.  When he met James, he said "I know you from somewhere"...  He remembered that they were in the MTC together 16 years earlier!  Dr. Wynn sent Noah by ambulance to another hospital for special care.  It was frightening to let him go, but I was released the next morning to go be with him.  Dr. Wynn called me late at night and told me he was holding one of the most beautiful babies he had ever seen... and that he was breathing well and would be fine.  It was such a relief.  James and I have become good friends with Dr. Wynn and his beautiful wife Karen over the past 15 years!  

We are so grateful for our funny, cool, dramatic, crazy Noah!  There are so many stories about him... 

He WAS Buzz Lightyear!  He had a crazy "Oh Ya!" song that no one can forget!  We can't wait to see what he comes up with next...(well, maybe I can ;)

 Jennie reminds him often... "I held you first!"

 Jennie still helps me keep him in line!  Thanks Jen!!!

Happy Birthday Noah!  We love you!

Holiday Happenings Part 2

  We were blessed to be able to go to Las Vegas this year for Christmas!  With Ben on his mission, Tyler, Kelly and Kalvin in Colorado, and Brad and Cami (and little p'nut) in St. Louis... we thought it was a good year to go to Vegas!  Linda's neighborhood has the most amazing tradition that we were able to be a part of... On Friday night we all got together to make 500 sack lunches!  It was amazing how many hands made light work!  We loved being together preparing the lunches.  On Christmas Eve morning we loaded up the sandwiches and headed out in 6-8 cars and headed to a part of Las Vegas we would never usually go where we found many people who were homeless, but happy and grateful for our offering.  It was a humbling experience that we will never forget.   We are so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this tradition!  A man called out to James..."Pastor, Pastor... Are you a Pastor?  James said "No".... Well, you sure look like one!"  It was funny...

Happy Birthday Ben! And it's been 1 year!

Happy Birthday to our Ben!  Tomorrow will be one year since he entered the MTC to learn Mandarin Chinese and then off to the California Arcadia Mission!  In so many ways it is hard to believe it has been a year...

Last year we spent a sweet, tender few days together as a family celebrating his birthday and preparing to say goodbye for 2 years.  All five boys spent a "guy" afternoon and went bowling (one of Ben's favorite things to do!

We all went to Tucano's for his Birthday Dinner!  They had him stand up on a chair while we sang to him...

One of our family traditions is to go up to the MTC hill (between the MTC and the Provo Temple) right before the boys leave for their missions.   The challenge this time was that it was snowy and FREEZING!! But we bundled up and went anyway!  We sang "Called to Serve" and our family song "Golden Roads" (that Tyler wrote)... James, Tyler, Brad and Cami shared missionary advice and testimonies...

It was a wonderful, unforgettable experience!

The morning he left, he spent a few last moments on the guitar... and James gave him his mission ring...

Kalvin tried to pack himself into Ben's suitcase...

We all loaded into the car to take him to the "drop off"... for our final goodbyes...

Then he was off... on his mission adventure!  

 We got into the car to leave... Ethan was just sobbing... Noah put his arm around him and said "I guess I will have to be the favorite brother now"... Ethan responded "Not a chance!"

Ben has spent the past year serving the Lord with all his heart, might and strength.  We love him and we are so proud of him and his dedication!  Keep up the good work!