Merry Christmas

It seems our children are so good that Santa never has a problem tracking us down. At their grandparents home in Utah on Christmas Eve, the girls were thrilled to set out cookies and milk for Santa, hoping it would push them even higher on the nice list... and they were not disappointed. Under the tree Christmas morning was everything for which they pleaded during their earlier visit with the big man...

Snow White and Belle with their sparkling horses, a collection of Littlest Pet Shop animals, and a skateboard. He also dropped off a bit of tradition, tickets for Mom, Emmry, and Grammy to Ballet West's The Nutcracker.

Yet after three weeks full of visits with family and old friends, parties, food, traditions, presents, and snow, we were all ready to head home to warmer weather. And as Ryan struggled to fit all our spoils into and on top of the car for the drive home, it would appear the kids were definitely on the nice list this year...

and it's a good thing, because our dog Chanel ate the cookies.

The Greatest Snow on Earth

When you live in "The Valley of the Sun", you don't see much snow. In fact, snowfall is so rare in the valley that there are only eight recorded instances since records began being kept in 1896, the most recent being 1990.

So what are a family of Phoenicians to do while they are in Utah...

Live it up!

Meeting the Prophet

Yesterday at my grandfather's funeral my kids were privileged to sit in the front of the chapel and look into the eyes of the prophet. Braden had the wonderful opportunity of shaking President Monson's hand.

Today the girls looked disappointingly up at the pulpit during our church meeting and asked,

"Where's follow the prophet?"

Pappy - Tried and True, Through and Through

Yesterday we had the privilege of gathering as a family to celebrate the life of my grandfather, Royden G. Derrick. As a former member of the presidency of the Seventy for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints, my grandfather had close friendships with prominent members of the church, so we were fortunate to have in attendance at the funeral Elder Russel M. Nelson, Elder M. Russel Ballard, and President Thomas S. Monson. And while a funeral is never welcome, a gathering to celebrate the accomplishments of one's life is.

My father and uncles chose for the topics of their addresses a few of Pappy's quotes that demonstrate his great character:

"The key to happiness is doing what you should do when you should do it."

"Service is its own reward."

"The key to success is making up your mind where you are going; then working hard to get there."

We also had the wonderful opportunity to meet President Thomas S. Monson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints, and hear him speak. Particularly memorable was what he asked the grandchildren and great-grandchildren to remember of their grandfather:

"Royden Derrick was tried and true, through and through."

My children will likely remember very little of Pappy - his wheel chair, his delight in seeing them, and his smile full of innocence and glee. At the end of his life, Pappy became as Christ admonishes all of us to be, as a child. He became truly perfect. And though they didn't really know him, they will inherit his legacy, his drive for success and happiness in life. They will always know he was tried and true, through and through.