Our Calvin and Hobbes Moment

As a big fan of Calvin and Hobbes, one of my favorite strips is where Calvin’s mom is telling his dad about a recent Parent-Teacher conference,
“There were all these cute pictures the children drew of themselves and then I saw Calvin’s; he was green and had a third eye.”
The dad asks, “How did the rest of the meeting go?”
The mom replies, “It went down hill from there.”

While I am paraphrasing the comic, we had a similar experience at Penguin’s first Parent-Teacher conference at his new school.
Since it was in the Fall all of the kids had colored a scarecrow; they were all cute with brown or blue eyes and denim overalls. My wife and I looked for our son’s picture. We found it on the front door. His scarecrow had a blue face, sharp teeth, and guns. We both thought of the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon and laughed. Fortunately for us, our meeting was positive after that moment.

I asked Penguin why he colored and changed the scarecrow the way that he did and he said,
“It is Cad Bane.”
After he said that I could see the resemblance and was impressed with his drawing abilities.

For those of you that do not know who Cad Bane is, he is a famous bounty hunter character in the Cartoon Network’s series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. (For more information than you probably care for, you can click the above Cad Bane hyperlink.)

Cub 2 Blessing

Cub 2 wearing the hat that dad hates!  I think Cub 2 likes it because he is not crying when he is wearing it.

See!  Now the hat is off and he is crying!!!

Cub 2 getting some cuddles from Panda

Cub 2 seems quite happy to get some loves from Panda

Deletion 22

Cub 2 has been diagnosed with  Deletion 22.  Tiger had to do a report in school about a genetic disorder and decided to do it on Deletion 22, or 22q11, since his little brother has it.  I wouldn't say Deletion 22 is quite as simple as Tiger thinks it is, but it is a pretty good synopsis.

Deletion 22

Deletion 22, which means that part of the 22nd chromosome is missing, has many names such as Velocardiofacialsyndrome (VCFS), DiGeorge syndrome, chromosome 22q11 deletion syndrome (22q11DS), and Shprintzen syndrome.

Velo- refers to the palate or roof of the mouth and back of the throat, which my

brother has, Cardio- refers to the heart, Facial- refers to facial features and characteristics, and syndrome refers to a collection of features that constantly occur together. With deletion 22 a person could have problems with the heart, pallet, and physical features.

For one of my sources I e-Mailed my little brother's Geneticist, an expert on deletion 22, who sent me a ton of information on Deletion 22 such as the frequency, cures, diet, exercise, and medications. Deletion 22 is a fairly easy deformation. There is no none cure, no special diet, and no exercise program. Medication would just depend on the person completely. The frequency is between 1 in 2,000 and 1 in 6,800. Deletion 22 is a dominant trait and in the case of my brother and it just happened he has a 50% chance of passing it on to his kids. According to the Genetic Home Reference (September 2007) only 10% of all cases are inherited and other family members are affected as well. Just an interesting fact.

Some other characteristics of Deletion 22 are, according to the Geneticist, a 70%- 90% learning disability, behavioral patterns, Gastrointestinal problems, and Immunologic problems.

The learning problems don’t mean that they are unable to learn. It just means that they will need a little extra help in school.

Kids with Deletion 22 are just more likely to have ADD then other kids.

The only gastrointestinal problem is a slight nasal regurgitation in infants when they eat.

Well that pretty much is all there is on Deletion 22. like I said fairly simple problem.

What Think Ye of Christ

In Seminary the kids were asked to do something that they could share that would share their feelings about Christ.  They were also supposed to share their favorite scripture about Christ.

This is a story that Tiger wrote for that project.  He presented it today.

My favorite scripture is Alma 17: 2-5
Jared the Nephite

By Tiger

January 12, 2010
Listen and I will tell you of the time when I saw our Lord. My name is Jared and I am a Nephite. I remember my parents telling me of a Lamanite prophet named Samuel. When I was a baby they heard him speak on a wall. My people were throwing rocks and shooting arrows at him trying to get him off of the wall. They were doing this because they were mad at him for saying that they were wicked and needed to repent.

At this time we were living in Zarahemla. My parents decided to move to Bountiful to get away from the wickedness. My uncle who was living with us at the time decided to stay behind to take care of my ailing grandmother who was too old to make the trip to Bountiful. After my grandmother passed away my uncle decided not to move to Bountiful because his wife didn’t want to leave her family and friends.

I remember one night when I was six years old that when I tried to go to sleep I was not able to because for some reason it was still light out. I went outside to see why it was still light. The sun had gone down but there was a new star that was so bright that it made it like day. My parents explained to me that this was the sign that Samuel the Lamanite had said would be the sign of the birth of the Savior. At first I didn’t believe it but I had a feeling telling me that it was true.

My parents told me that it had been prophesied that the Messiah would come and visit our people some day. When I was 18 years of age I found a girl by the name of Sarah who believed the same things I did. We decided to get married and have a family. Over the years we had 5 sons and 1 daughter.

My youngest son who was 9 years old had never seen his cousins so I decided to take him on a Father and Son trip to meet his them. We had planned to stay for a month but 2 weeks after we got to Zarahemla there were many earthquakes. Zarahemla caught fire and there was a frightening darkness for three day. In the darkness after the fire my son was trying to find me and a wall that had been damaged by the earthquakes fell on him and crushed his legs. When we woke up the next morning it was finally light. My heart dropped to my stomach when we found my son pinned under the wall. I called my uncle to help me lift the debris off of my son. We found out that his legs had been crushed. All I could think of was that I needed to get my son back to Bountiful. It was a hard journey because everything looked different because of the earthquakes. All of the landmarks had changed. It was also hard because I carried my son the whole way. Just when I was about to give up I had a dream that my son would get better in Bountiful. I felt I had to keep going.

When we got back to Bountiful my wife took over the care of our son. I went for a walk to take my mind off of what had happened to my son. I saw that the men who had gathered to Bountiful were rebuilding the temple. One day while we were working we heard a voice that we thought at first was just carried on the wind. But we heard it again and we realized that it was coming from Heaven. Then we saw a pillar of light that lead up to the sky and in the pillar we saw a man. We heard a voice say “Behold my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased in whom I have glorified my name. Hear ye him.” I felt so much joy that I felt like I was going to burst. I couldn’t stop crying. I had to get my wife and my children. I ran as fast as I could. I felt like I couldn’t get there fast enough. I finally made it home and my wife was waiting for me at the door with our son in her arms. She said “Take him to see the Savior and I will bring the others.” Once again I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to get back in time. When I got back I saw the Savior blessing the children. I carried my son to Him and asked him if He could heal my son. He took my son on his lap and placed his hands that had the imprints of the nails in them on my son’s head. He said “Joshua because of thy faith I command thee to be healed.” Joshua stood and placed his little arms around the Savior’s neck and thanked him, then turned and ran to me. I picked up my son and he whispered in my ear, “Thank you Dad for bringing here.” When the rest of the family arrived Joshua ran over to his mother. She couldn’t believe that he was able to run.

I felt humbled by the experience of the Savior healing my son. I also felt a deep gratitude towards the Savior for healing my son. I pledge from that day forward to teach my family and everyone around me about what had happed and to teach them his gospel. I knew that I would have to live my life the best possible so that I could see my Savior again someday.

THE END

I would like to bear my testimony and say that I know that Jesus Christ is the lord and that he did come to the Americas and blessed the children and healed the sick and afflicted. I know that I want to live my life as best as I can so I can live with him someday. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PANDA!

Happy Birthday Panda. It has been a bumpy 14 yrs, but we couldn't imagine what our zoo would be like without you.

Some of my favorite memories:

The Way to a Mans Heart. . .

When Zoo Keeper 2 went to a zoo keeper’s convention and I stayed home to take care of you and tiger. Things were going well until you got hungry, you asked, "Dad, if mom is gone who will feed us?"

I replied, "I will, are you hungry."

Panda said, "Kinda. Dad?"

"Yes?"

Panda, "Me luff you Dad.”

Cub Scouts

I will always be grateful that I was able to be your Cub Scout leader and to spend that time with you. I may not have enjoyed the scout program but that time with you is something that I will always treasure.

It is all in a Name

When Panda and Tiger were about 3 and 5 respectively, they were commenting on who's name was the best.

Panda pointed out that he has a city and a temple that share his name.

Tiger commented, "That’s nothing, I was named after a prophet." Panda, looked a little crest fallen.

I chimed in, "But Panda was named after a Marvel Superhero."

The looks changed, and panda looked like he could walk on water.