My memory gem of Donald is a two parter…first off, most of you know the story of his Halloween costume when he was in pre-school and how he was soooo excited to be a cowboy.  He had the whole outfit from the boots to the hat, however, the morning was ticking by and he could not find his holster anywhere.   He looked under beds, in closets, toy chests and behind couches…nowhere to be seen.  Thinking this was the perfect opportunity to teach a principle I gathered Hillary and Donald together and suggested we pray for help as we needed to be leaving for school soon.  After the prayer I said, “now listen closely because the Holy Ghost will tell you where to go look”.  After we said Amen, we all went searching.  After a short time, Donald came to me and said, “mom, I don’t hear anything”…Ahhhh is that the cutest thing ever!! I thought so anyway.   I encouraged him to keep trying and felt sure someone would be told where to find his holster.  Needless to say, it was found a couple of minutes later and he looked like the cowboy he wanted to be.
the next part of the story is this….a few months later I had a cousin killed in a car accident in Utah.  We drove to the funeral from Sacramento to support the family.  At the viewing, my cousins cowboy boots were by his casket.  I didn’t think much of it, but did notice them.  At the end of the funeral and luncheon we started on our journey back home.  Donald was looking out the window, being unusually quiet.  I asked him if anything was wrong…he said, “I don’t want to be a cowboy anymore”.  Surprised by this because it was his favorite thing to do at the time, I asked him why.  He said, “because cowboys die, and I don’t want to die”. Apparently he noticed the cowboy boots also.
I knew then he was a deep thinker and had tender feelings.

My memory gem of Haylie is tomorrow….