Mom and Dad thanks, I don’t know if I could ever put the words together to express my appreciation for your sacrifice.

To my brothers and sisters, I don’t think I need to say anything … you know.

Friends … there are so many of you now, so many that love me and care for me.  I am humbled and grateful for your affection and appreciation of me.  I hope that I can always express my appreciation for you especially when you serve me or my family.

Now, there are some Friends out there that are no longer friends; you are family.  Brian & HD, Jonas & Berry, and Brian & Rach to name a few … I am sitting here getting emotional trying to think of how I could begin to express my gratitude and love for you.

Brian, your FB post is beautiful and we have lived through some tough times together; and we share the gospel of Jesus Christ and we share His love.  I think that there is no other person that I can call and get a scriptural and gospel based answer – there have been many times that your wise counsel has served me well.  I am grateful that our friendship has lasted and will continue to last into the eternities.  Heather, my twin sister, how I miss celebrating our birthday together.  I can’t think of any thing else I would rather do than to sit down with our families and enjoy another birthday dinner together.

Jonas, we share the longest history, 20+ years…  I didn’t expect our friendship to last past high school; but because of a blond, French class, and reconciliation we have a wonderful friendship full of love and appreciation for each other.  I can’t imagine another April without Thunder.  We have such a good time with your family.  Berry, I can’t tell you how fabulous you are, nor can I express my gratitude for your love for and marriage to Jonas.  You have been a miracle and blessing to him that I will be forever grateful for.

Brian & Rach …  Like Brian & HD we share the gospel of Jesus Christ and a love of life and an appreciation for our wives.  Rach, you came into our lives at a time when Lauren needed a girlfriend.  You have been such a blessing to her and our family.  Brian, I am so thankful that you and Rach met and married.  Your laughter and sense of humor are a boon to my soul.  I hope that our futures can become more entwined.

Now, if I have not mentioned you, I hope that you will not be offended.  I have not forgotten you … there are many of you, my friends, that I am grateful for and I could spend a week writing my thanks and appreciation.

Now, Lauren, “you are my miracle”.  We are agreed upon that.  I will forever be indebted to Mary for introducing us.  These last 6 years have flown by and I am amazed at how we have grown together.  I know we have our struggles and trials, we have our moments in the sun, and we have those glorious and wonderful days.  My memories of these years are full of joy and wonder.

I would almost be lost without you.  You are a bright and shining star in my heaven.  You are my better half and you help to bring out my best self.  Thank you for taking the risk and loving me and consenting to be my eternal companion, wife, friend, and lover.

iron wil

She will spend years on her knees so that her children
will accept the gospel of Jesus Christ
She will stay up late to see them safely return home

Not to mention sleepless nights to serve her infant’s needs
hours spent in teaching the most basic of things
reading, coloring, writing, self-esteem, sharing, and love
to name a scant few

She is a glory to behold in all of nature
a mother at work is like nothing else
there is no fury greater, no love stronger, no smile brighter
there is no beauty more sublime then when a mother holds her child
no wonder more great than the miracle of mother

iron wil
2010.05.08

This book was written to tell the story of the challenges that they faced and to show once again that miracles do exist.  That God, or Heavenly Father listens to our prayers and answers them and that each of us can have a life filled with faith if we will seek the god of Heaven and worship Him.

iron wil

The Gathering
one family’s adoption story
by Annie Laurie & Brian Richardson

“Daddy, please send mommy to find me!

After years of gut-wrenching struggles, almost a half a million in adoption expenses, months of separation, hours and hours of pleading prayers on our knees and silently in our hearts, this was it, and there she was.

The Gathering is the account of an incredibly courageous woman. The Gathering is the story of a mother, with the support of her husband and children, who searched for her missing children in the jungles of the Marshal Islands, the poverty-choked country of Vietnam, and the corrupt country of Haiti. The Gathering is a story of a family that fought and struggled to find their children in the U.S. through private adoptions and state foster-care systems. The Gathering is an incredible story of faith, hope, and miracles.

This is their story.”

Get the book here.

iron wil

I can see replacing my 13″ MacBook with the iPad and using my iMac to do the heavy lifting.  I can see using Dropbox and Evernote even more.  I can see converting all my current OOo [OpenOffice] documents to iWork which means that it easily justifies the expense [not that I consider iWork expensive].  In fact, I think that I could buy 1 iPad for each of my family members and then set up accounts on our iMac as the kids get older.  This would allow my boys to each have one for online games and Apps and their own music selections.

While my personal transition to eBooks has been slow, this may entice me to make that move.  I am using Stanza on my iPhone & it isn’t really a compelling experience.  I also don’t have a lot of reading time and find that Audible is a better resource for me right now.  I hope that this iBook software allows for marking and notes because that would be a big failure right out of the gate if it wasn’t included.  I hope that Amazon gets on board like Audible has with Audiobooks available via iTunes; especially if they can keep the books at the low cost they already are for Kindle owners.

I think this beats the NetBook model hands down even if it isn’t quite what I thought it would end up being. Now, a few weeks ago I published my own predictions for the iPad.

I predicted that Apple would release a multi-touch device similar to the JooJoo [aka CrunchPad] that ran Apps, eBooks, with WiFi/3G, iTunes, a built in battery, Lala, and the content aspects of the Sports Illustrated Tablet demo.  I was right on some items and we could still see Lala become part of the service package MobileMe [I was not the first to suggest this].  I will admit that I am still blown away.  I love the device and look forward to heading into town in 60 Days and testing one out.  I think I will have to get a sitter & take the wife to a movie to justify the whole thing.

I know that many people will not get it until they see others using it and that I can understand.  It was the same way with the Kindle and other devices.  I didn’t get the iPod until I owned one.  Yeah, until I owned one and then I felt dumb because I had not invested in it before then.  It was a mind blowing music experience and since then, I have bought a couple dozen albums.

New Prediction, iSlate with Inkwell for writing with a finger or 3rd party stylus.  This will be more like the Axiotron ModBook.  It will be slide between the iPad and MacBook.

iron wil

My family will be put out and things will be off kilter; but the cat is out and will be installed soon.  I have 3 Macs to update; a first Intel Mac, a Late 2007 15″ MacBook Pro, and a Late 2007 13″ MacBook.  I will update my 13″ and then run that for a week.  Next, I will update the other 2.  Finally, I will have to mitigate any problems the wife and SIL have.

iron wil

It is really enjoyable to kneel in prayer before I leave for work.  The boys questioned it the first day and then it was cool with them.  Getting them to sit still is another matter.  It is weird to have to water the grass and then I also have to mow it this week.  That will be different too.  Overall, aside from the cost of things we have to buy so that we can take care of the house; it has been a wonderful week.

I am pretty sure that the wife is really happy to have a house all her own.  This will be a good move for us even in the long run.  We shall see what FATHER has in store, because we are here for a reason.  I don’t know what it is and I am not worried about it – as long as we fulfill our responsibilities.  The Lord will take care of the rest, that is HIS responsibility.

iron wil

Everything went smoothly until it was time to get everyone cleaned up.  Now, like many parent with kids under 3 it is very likely to shower & bath them at the same time.  Today, I put both boys in the shower with me.  I was making great progress too!  I was clean and then washed the youngest & had all but the oldest hair washed & teeth brushed.  He didn’t want to have his hair washed – most kids don’t.  So, while holding the younger kid in my left arm, I bent down [in a squat] and procedded to wash the older son’s hair.  That is when I lost my balance.  I slipped and fell landing on my crack and a bulldozer.  Needless to say – I am fine & so are the boys; however, the bulldozer didn’t make it.

When I fell, my right foot glanced off my son’s side, no harm or direct hit . . . he looked up all upset and then said, “Daddy are you getting a bath with us?”.  I laughed and said no.  Soon, I was back on my feet and we were headed out the door for the wedding.

The funniest part was my SILs reaction to the story.

iron wil

This morning we are watching Veggie Tales as we wait for Conference to start.  The MP3s from yesterdays session are already on the Conference Website, here.  I was really surprised to see that they are up, I have not had a chance to check them out; I hope they are well done.

I will have to load them into iTunes to find out . . . I have time before Conference still . . . see ya.

wil

For some, birthdays are hullabaloos, but for me it means a nice quiet dinner with friends.  This year it was an extra special treat!  I have 2 best friends and this year I was able to celebrate with one of them.  Brian lives in the town where I attended college, we meet in ’97.  HD, his wife and I were born on the same day and in the same year.  Since New Year’s Eve of that year we have celebrated our birthday together.

I got so excited as we prepared to our trip to Texas.  I was so anxious to get out to see them!  My wife even commented on it.  I cannot tell youse how wonderful it was to be in their home and bask in the love and friendship that we share. Despite that fact that we have yet to consume a “peck of salt”, we are still the best of friends and truly they are part of my family.

SIGH.

Some porkchops, some sides, some cheesecake & Blue Bell how else could we spend our birthday?!?  Well, there just wasn’t any another way to spend the day.

I will admit that the only thing I miss more than the ice cream are Brian & HD.  I miss the casual dinners at home, the grilling, the chats about scripture, going out to dinner, and even the evenings just chilling and watching TV.

Brian & HD, I just want to thank you for the best birthday a guy could have!  All my love!

wil