This Sweet Kid....

This was taken at the Nasher Sculpture Center in downtown Dallas

The other night after Corey put Zach to bed, Zach kept hollering for one of us to come in, which he does frequently. Sometimes we acquiesce and give him the extra drink of water, song, story, or snuggle, in hopes that he will settle down and tucker out. After a few minutes of begging through the closed door from his bed, I popped in and snuggled down on the bed next to him. He delightedly squealed, "That was SO kind of you to come in here!!" and wrapped his tiny arms tightly around my neck. My heart melted! What did I do to deserve this angel child??

I turned around in the car the other day to see Zach holding Zoey's hand so sweetly!

 It turns out the real reward was mine for going in there in the form of a stream of entertaining, sweet comments from little Zach. After the hug, I asked if he had said his prayers with Dad. He said they had forgotten, so he started one. "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for all my stuff (he begins almost every prayer with this eloquent expression of gratitude!). Please bless that I get a blue blanket with Mickey Mouse on it. Please bless that I get a Buzz costume with wings (I guess his plain old Buzz costume I got him is second-rate). Please bless that we will be safe from storms...and lightning...and tornadoes...that break houses...and cars..." :) That kid!!! Come to find out he had chosen the library book about storms as his bedtime story. I suggested to Corey that we not read that right before bed anymore.

A few minutes later I told Zach how grateful I was for eternal families, explained the concept a little after singing the Primary song "Families Can Be Together Forever," and then asked him if he understood what that meant. He said, "So if you go away, I pay some money to get you back." What?!! I have no idea where that thought came from, but whatever!!! I told him how grateful I was for our family, and for he and Zoey, and he said, "Zoey will protect us!" I replied that she certainly would, because she is such an angel. This little boy is such a blessing in our home. I love him with all my heart, and am truly grateful for the doctrine of eternal families, that God has provided a way for us to enjoy the bonds of family not just through our brief mortal existence, but throughout eternity in His kingdom. I can't imagine a heaven where those I love most are not present and connected the way we are here. I believe that, after the doctrine of the Atonement of Jesus Christ making eternal life possible, that the doctrine of being sealed as eternal families brings the greatest peace and happiness to my heart. Heaven forbid that any of us should depart this life early, but I know we will all meet again and enjoy the family bonds we shared in this life for eternity.

As I was looking for pictures of my Angel Zachary to post, I came upon this--some creative artwork Zach lovingly performed on his cooperative little sister! Luckily, the dry erase marker came off pretty easily. I suppose this is the first of many such experiments for the two of them!