LOVELY

If I ever built my dream home I'd have a beautiful white kitchen.

I found these photos online.  Love them...so beautiful! 

What a cute cottage look! 

Maybe someday...

I HAVE A DREAM...

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream that one day, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

-Speech given by Martin Luther King Jr. on Aug 28, 1963

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!  We are the American Dream!

1996

Today while I was cleaning out a closet,

 I came across some of Justin's old school assignments.

I thought this was too funny...

My SIXTH GRADE MEMORIES

My favorite memory of sixth grade was the Medieval Feast.  I was the hunter.  I liked walking in the parade through all the classrooms.

I liked going to the field trip to the National Museum of Science at the U of U.  We shot airguns and threw a ball to see how fast we could throw.

I really liked the science fair.  My project was on how submarines dive to the bottom of the ocean and return to the surface.

The country reports were fun.  I did my report of Australia.  I brought a boomerang and a kangaroo skin to show for the report.  I brought kiwis, apples, grapes, oranges and pineapple.

I loved sixth grade!

LAST WILL AND TESTIMONY

I hope I live well and have a nice house on the beach. I will leave my dog named "pink" to Mrs. Richins.

When I die I will be buried in my motorcycle shirt and gloves with my helmet in my hands.

-Justin Wilcox

I guess things really haven't changed too much for Justin, 

except for owning a dog named "pink" he he!

HARDWARE RANCH

Justin's been talking about Hardware Ranch for quite a while,

 so last night we decided we would get up early and head up there.

Our trip started out exciting when we passed this moose in our car ride.

I was amazed at the elk.  The herd consisted of about 550 wild animals.

Of course, Connor was thrilled to see all the animals!

On the way home we saw another (or possibly the same) moose.

And Justin spotted a bald eagle.  It was neat to see but hard to get a picture.

We learned elk are one of four animals that have ivory.  Elephants, walruses, and narwhals are the other three animals.  Okay, really...A narwhal?  I thought it was a joke, a dolphin with a long horn like a unicorn.  I didn't believe it until I googled it.  Am I the only one that's never heard of or even seen a picture or this weird animal?  I'm still blown away it's not a fictitious creature.
 Craziest thing I've ever seen. 

Here's a couple photos I found online.  You can also see videos of them on youtube or through national geographic.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

"I said to a man who stood at the gate of the year, give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown. He replied, go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.  That shall be to you better than light, and safer than the known way."

-From the King's Message

December  25, 1939