LOOK AT MY NEW FORMAL DINING ROOM!

Okay so its not new its just updated a little. We went from brown paneling to white walls. It sure brightens up the room and makes it look really nice. There are still a few more things to do though but all of those things seem small after building a wall and painting a room.

Beloved Church President, Gordon B. Hinckley, Dies at 97

SALT LAKE CITY 27 January 2008 President Gordon B. Hinckley, who led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through twelve years of global expansion, has died at the age of 97.

President Hinckley was the 15th president in the 177-year history of the Church and had served as its president since 12 March 1995.

The Church president died at his apartment in downtown Salt Lake City at 7:00 p.m. Sunday night from causes incident to age. Members of his family were at his bedside. A successor is not expected to be formally chosen by the Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles until after President Hinckley’s funeral within the next few days.

To read the full article go to:
LDS Newsroom
_______________________________________________

All of us here at the Mansius home were sad to hear the news of President Hinckley's passing but we are glad that he will again be with his Heavenly Father and his wife Marjorie. He was a GREAT man and prophet and we will all miss him. We look forward to supporting the next prophet though it is hard to say good-bye to a president we've had so long. There are no better ways to express our gratitude to this wonderful man than just to quote the words of the song We Thank Thee, O God for a Prophet.

We thank thee, O God, for a prophet
To guide us in these latter days.
We thank thee for sending the gospel
To lighten our minds with its rays.
We thank thee for every blessing
Bestowed by thy bounteous hand.
We fell it a pleasure to serve thee,
And love to obey thy command.

Eliza's 2 Birthday
I still have not gotten to writing a blog about Eliza's birthday and probably won't ever so I thought I would just post some pictures from her party. We had lots of fun! Thanks to all those that came and join in on the fun. Eliza loved all her presents. I still can't believe that she is already two.

CHRISTMAS

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! We spend time with family, opened lots of presents, attended the church Christmas party, sang a ton of Christmas songs, and ate way too much food.

A couple of weeks before we had a great big meal at Grandma and Grandpa Dansby's home. We wanted to have a big family meal before we all scattered to go to different places for the holidays. Grandma and Grandpa went on a cruise to Hawaii and Amber and Andy went up to Utah to visit some more of the Waite family. Its always fun to get together at Grandma's house and she always has tons of food. If any of us where to ever go hungry it would be our own fault.

Uncle Russell and Aunt Joan were able to spend a few days with us this Christmas season. They flew in from Hilo to attend a memorial service of a good friend of Russell's and while they were here on the main land they decided to stop by and visit. They kids just loved them visiting and still every once in a while Eliza will go in the front bedroom, sit on the bed, and wait for Uncle Russell to come over. If someone drives by she gets excited and comes looking for me yelling, "Uncle Russell! Auntie Joan!"

Christmas morning we had at home with just the five of us. When Eliza first woke up and saw all the presents under the tree she said, "Christmas is here!" She was so excited. The kids had a blast opening all there presents. Joshua tried to open every single present whether it was his or not. He actually succeed in opening most of Aubrey's presents. Some of the things that the kids got this year were new Sunday shoes, a few outfits sent by Grandma Mansius, play food, chef's outfits, cars, and Aubrey got some new teething rings. I don't know where I'm going to put all the kids new toys. It was so much fun seeing them open up all there presents. I enjoyed watching them more than I enjoyed opening up my own.

Later that day we headed up to Tehachapi to have Christmas Lunch with Mom and Dad Fitzgerald. Mom made a great meal and I think everyone ate so much that we all about popped. Grandma and Grandpa Dansby, Kory, Scott and Tiffany, and Ashley were also there celebrating with us. No long after lunch Uncle Dennis, Aunt Maureen, Lindsey, David, Chelsea, and Brodi also arrived. We then exchanged presents with each other. The front room soon became a mad house. Everyone was opening gifts and there were presents, toys, and wrapping paper covering the floor. Lots of fun!

I LOVE Christmas because I get the chance to spend so much fun time with family. What I can't believe is that it has come and gone so fast. I barely blinked and now its 2008. I hope everyone had a Wonderful Christmas and is now ready for 2008.