Youth Conference

Sara was good enough to let me take two days off from work to be a 'virtue' leader at our stake's youth conference this weekend. What an awesome experience! Brother Brad Wilcox (well-known church speaker, former mission president) spent Thursday through Saturday with the kids. He was outstanding and truly had an impact on our youth. I was most impressed with the genuine love he showed the youth, especially those who were not what you might call the most popular, outgoing, etc. He lifted up the heads that hung down. The two dances were so fun for the youth and what was so impressive is that everyone was dancing, the young men were asking the young women and no one was being left out.

Our (our YW president and I worked together) group was so much fun. 11 great kids, 6 young women and 5 young men. Matt, Noel, Alan, Chris, and Asante were a blast to be with. Such great young men. All planning on missions and already having read the Book of Mormon and gained testimonies. We had a ball together. 4 of them shared their testimonies at the end. Noel and Asante are both converts and such special kids. Coming from single parent homes and part-member families, yet making great choices due to their testimonies of the gospel.

One fun experience. Chris is from our ward and he's quite the outgoing kid, so when he told me on the way to the dance last night that he hadn't asked a girl out yet - he's 17 - I told him he could not get back in the car unless he asked a girl out at the dance. Well, he got all nervous and giddy but the rest of the guys stepped up and said they'd all get dates and go on a group date. Not more than 7-8 songs into the dance, he asked the girl he had mentioned in the car to dance and then I see him getting her number after the song with the fluorescent yellow marker I happened to have in the car. Needless to say, he was on cloud nine for the rest of the night and as I type, he is probably finishing up his first real date. I'm a proud 'father!"

So, lots of fun and an inspiring time. I learned many things that I need to be doing better and my testimony of Christ and His life changing gospel has been strengthened. I can't believe how blessed I've been to be born into a faithful family with the heritage I have.

Pre-School Graduate

Luke's pre-school graduation was adorable! They had taken pictures all year long and they did a slide show. Then the little graduates walked in with their caps and gowns. They sang songs, recited poems about their right and left hands, then they passed around a microphone and they got to say what they wanted to grow up to be. The first little girl said a teacher and so the rest of the girls said teacher. Then Luke was the first little boy and he said policeman. Then about half of the rest of the boys said policeman. It was pretty fun. Then at the end of the little ceremony they all got to throw their caps! Luke kind of tossed his in front of him and then hurried to pick it up (you could tell he was so proud of it and didn't want it to get mixed up with anyone elses.)

Welcome to the Rose Report

Friends and Family,

We thought this would be a fun way to supplement Sara's masterful emails with random musings, occasional family updates, perhaps some pics, and who knows, you might get a word or two from Matt. The beauty of the blog is that just a few words can make a posting and noone can say that we're skimping or cutting corners. Nice!

We hope you'll enjoy and we invite you to also post to our blog and let us know what you're doing, what your thoughts are on our postings, and generally give us updates on what's going on in your lives. We love you guys and want to hear from you!

So, keep it lively and have some fun. Let the blogging begin!