The Littlest Berry

Here he is... tornado in the making!

Slideshow

Oh, and I'm going to try to fix the slideshow, but it's really hard to work with... any suggestions or helpful hints? Thanks!

BYU Cougars

We took Gideon to a BYU basketball game the other night (the second-longest home winning streak in the nation), and he LOVED it. He loves watching the BYU cougars do almost anything. It was really cute when he realized what was actually going on down on the floor... He all of a sudden said, "The hoop!" He was so excited that he ate all his popcorn then promptly made himself a hat. He also snuck down to the seats in front of us to tell the nice girl there all about the game (you can see him pointing if you look closely).

Brave Daddy

The other day when Levi came home from a long day at school, he trekked outside with Gideon to play in the snow. I am so in love with both of my men!

Once There Was a Snowman...

In January, we went ice skating with some of my nieces and nephew... Gideon absolutely LOVED it. I can't say the same for Levi who had to skate around bent over, holding up the 32-pound equivalent of a sack of potatoes on ice skates. His back was hurting so bad, but he was a trooper and skated with Gideon as long as he could.

Gideon LOVES eating snow! Off the ground, his shoes, the carpet, and even the shavings from the ice skating rink- pretty gross, I know, but I can't seem to stop him!

A couple of weeks ago, this is what it looked like outside... being the wonderful mother I am, I decided to help Gideon build a snowman. But my house was so warm and cozy...

So, not being the greatest mother ever (but trying) I built him a snowman... he loved it...

So much did he love it, that it ended up like the scene from Tommy Boy, where Tommy is playing with the model cars during the sale...

The best part was when he said, "Where's the snowman?"

New Year's

We went up to Idaho for New Year's this year. While we were there, we went up to Rexburg to the open house of the new temple. I have such a love for Ricks College (that is how I remember it) and Rexburg and I was so excited to see the new temple. It's gorgeous! It sits up on top of the hill where you can see it from almost anywhere in town. The day we went it was about a million degrees below zero (I'm glad Levi was able to experience it, because it's so hard to describe how cold Rexburg really is- there's nothing quite like it!), but they had the tours so well organized, we only had to be in the cold from the parking lot to the stake center and then for pictures. We took Gideon because we didn't have a babysitter, and I was planning on Levi and I taking turns so we wouldn't have to wrestle with him and ruin the experience for everyone else. When we got there, we decided to take him in with us and said a prayer that he would be reverent, feel the spirit of the temple and remember it somehow. He was quiet and behaved the whole time. It was AMAZING! This is the boy who rarely makes it through the blessing on the food. It was a neat experience. I'm glad I was able to share the temple and Rexburg (two of my favorite places) with my husband and son.

While we were in Idaho, Gideon also got to see two of his great-grandmothers...

This is my Dad's mother, Estella Longmore. Grandma Longmore is 97, and has now lived to bless 5 generations with her love and example. This picture represents four generations.

This is my Mom's mother, Utahna Daughs. She and Grandpa Daughs have served missions in Africa and the Philippines... wow! We are glad she now lives in Pocatello where we get to see her more often (not often enough, though).

President Hinckley

Every time I pass an American flag flying at half mast this week, I get tears in my eyes... such a fitting tribute for such a great man. I have loved President Hinckley and his wonderful wife for so many years... I remember watching his first press conference in seminary so many years ago and feeling the mantle of prophet that had so easily settled upon him. He is such a good example of reaching out and loving all people without fear or compromise of his own standards... I hope I can be such a person someday. Since general conference, Gideon has been able to recognize his picture as "the Prophet" (although sometimes he says "Grandpa!" which is just fine with me), and I don't think I will try to change it for awhile because he will always be a prophet. I will just have to start teaching him to recognize our new prophet during the upcoming conference. I am happy that President and Sister Hinckley are reunited, but sad for my children who will never know the prophet I loved so much!

Levi's list #2 of why Gideon is the Coolest Kid Ever

Gideon’s awesome new vernacular:
When I say, “Hey, where’s my kiss?” He says “Rye Year” and plants one on my cheek.
Gideon got a dino piggy bank in a kids meal and now he is always on the lookout for a new pingy boing goin (piggy bank coin) to put in his bank.
He doesn’t often say I love you without coaxing but every once in a while he says, ”Dad I love you, soooo, much!”
“He-yago”( here you go)

When I was younger I would always say, “Just kidding!” if I was pestering someone or if I was getting in trouble. (I still use that phrase all the time) My dad used to get fed up with me and tell me “Levi, saying ‘just kidding’ doesn’t make it okay to keep bugging me!”
The other day when we were eating dinner Gideon kept chucking food off of the table and I scolded him for it and then he took a big piece of chicken and dangled it over the edge and smiled at me! When I started to scold him some more he dropped it and said, “Just Kidding!”

Oh, hello daddy's milk shake, good bye daddy's personal space

Lately we have been reading a Christmas book about baby Jesus and we also read about Jesus in the Book of Mormon (we look at the few pictures in the front of the book). Gideon understands better who Jesus is and recognizes him in lots of pictures. The other night we were looking at the pictures in the front of the scriptures and Gideon pointed to the other side of his room where his dirty clothes and diapers and stuff are and said, “Daddy, its Jesus!” I had no clue what he was pointing at but he insisted that Jesus was over there, so I let him down. He ran over and picked up a diaper (that had a picture of Mickey Mouse on it). After he inspected the diaper for a second he looked over at me and grinned really big and sheepishly, and said “Oh, nope, just Mickey Mouse.”

It's a....

BOY! We found out this week that the newest Berry baby is a boy... we are so excited. We would have been equally excited if it were a girl, but it will sure be a lot easier on the checkbook since he will be able to wear most of G's baby clothes! Gideon is excited, and he was telling my belly, "Hi, baby," the other day, and kissing it. He's so fun! I've really got to catch up on the updating of our blog... someday soon!