The Von Callister SIX

This is one of my new favorite pictures!
These fun and handsome people are my brothers and sisters, and we were all together last weekend! It was so great!
We got together because we all loved my grandfather, J.R. Warner, and we wanted to be at his funeral. He died a couple of weeks ago. He was 89. He was such a fun person--you always knew you would be laughing when you were with him. He served in WWII and it was neat to see the Richfield, Utah military honor him. I will miss his twinkly eyes and ever-present grin.

We took full advantage of the opportunity Grandpa gave us to get together. We played, and walked, and talked, and drove out to the hills in Venice, Utah (where my grandpa lived) to shot at targets. This was my first time shooting a pistol--my boys are so proud of me. :)

Sure do love my family!

And sure am grateful for my husband and good friends who made it possible for me to fly out for a long weekend, all alone (first time I've flown alone in 12 years--totally different flying experience!!).

Cute, large child with braces

My Eli--whom I lately call my "large child" or my "huge boy"-- now looks even older and more adorable!
He got braces a couple of weeks ago and I just can't get over how much I like the look on him.
Isn't he cute?!



What a good and sweet boy!

What's more American than . . . July in Christmas?

Hee, hee.
I always do a fun "Christmas in July", so why not a "4th of July" for all of you in the Christmas season?

Okay, the truth is that we got this picture taken for Halloween and I just never got around to posting it.

Our family theme this year was "What's more American than . . ."

In case you can't tell from our very classy costumes:

David is "Uncle Sam"

I am The Statue of Liberty

Eli is a Revolutionary Soldier

Adam is a bald eagle

Gabriel is "Captain America"

and Isaac is a cowboy

*Our friend Dakota edited the picture for us--isn't it fun?!

We really are proud to be American every season and every day.

Isaac is 4 years old

Happy Birthday Isaac-a-la-la-pop!

We celebrated early--Dakota (our good friend who just left us for his mission to Tahiti) gave him his card a few days before. Isaac still loves T-rex, so Dakota created a Isaac T-rex for him.

And then we had a little party for him last night, Saturday the 3rd.

I molded green rice crispie treats into a happy, very-barney-like, T-rex to serve as his birthday cake.

He really enjoyed the party--He'd been looking forward to this for a long time!

The Treadwells came and so did our long-time neighbor-friends, the McDermotts. He knew that he was still 3, and he wouldn't let anyone get away with excitedly announcing that he was 4! But, he loved all the attention, and the mass of dinosaurs and other fun things he received.

(As I type this up, Isaac is making great dinosaur sounds and telling the story he is acting out solo with his new dinosaurs.)

Funny, sweet, onery, little Isaac.

He can be so darn adorable! I get a lot of comments on his sweet little "Excuse me" every time he wants to talk to someone. He is quick to say sorry after offending. He plays well on his own--though he doesn't often have to do it. He does the cutest cowboy poses when he has any kind of gun in his hand--but this cowboy stuff is serious business and they get greatly offended if they hear the word "cute" mentioned in their presence! He tells long yarns, often about T-rexes or his brothers--all include dying in lava, or falling over waterfalls and dying . . .

It isn't as adorable when he says "I don't like you, ever!" or "I'm not going to sleep with you again, ever!" (empty promise there--he still wakes up afraid most nights), or "I'm not going to live with you more, ever!" (After that last one I always say, "I will miss you." and he quickly says,"I'm sorry, mom." Actually it is kind of funny, especially when he tells me, "I won't let you change my pull-up anymore, ever!" (He was once potty-trained, but has decided it isn't for him, we are hoping it all works out soon).

He is a stinker, but we don't know what we would do without him in our family!! He is a favorite with all the brothers:

Gabriel says his favorite thing about Isaac is that he plays with him.

Adam gets a kick out of Isaac--he says he likes how he always says, "I'm the boss, okay?!" everytime they start to play a game.

Eli says he likes that Isaac is a "little Eli"--he is energetic, he's good at sporty things, and he loves dinosaurs!

Lolla-pop Moss, you really are getting BIG (that is what he wants most, ya know)!

Gabey turns 7

Happy Birthday,

Happy Birthday, Gabey

Oh,

We love you so! This Gabey baby of mine just keeps growin'!

I have asked him to stop multiple times and he lets me know that he can't stop.

This past week he finally let me know that, he would be turning 7 on Sunday, but I could just pretend he was still 6 (anyone who knows kids at this age will understand what he is sacrificing here, for the happiness of his mother--just the thought of still being younger would drive most kids mad).

That's my Ga-babe-riel. He is just so sweet and I wish I could hang on to his young little self forever.

This morning we all got mostly ready for church before we did his presents and special breakfast. I was trying to talk Adam into getting his hair presentable, which he wasn't inclined to do. Gabe heard me asking Adam to let me wet his hair, and Gabe sweetly said, "Adam, all I really want for my birthday from you is to do your hair so mom will be happy." It was so sincere and cute that Adam melted along with me.

Gabe's front two teeth had to be pulled out on our trip here in Utah because the grown-up teeth were coming in behind. My favorite little boy look is a two-front-teeth-missing smile. We didn't really get a chance to get a good photo of that because the other teeth were already coming in, and they've since decided to hurry very quickly to change my little boy's smile into a bigger boy's smile. I know it sounds silly, but this has been very hard for me.

OK, so I'll stop whining and just try to enjoy Gabe at each sweet stage of his life.

Anywho, . . .

We had a very fun party for him at my parents' house. It was their usual big family FHE night, so we had lots of cousins and second-cousins-once-removed in attendence.

Everyone was responsible to give the dish they brought a "jungle"-sounding name--Gabe had wanted a jungle/dragon party.

I did the FHE lesson on Becoming Knights (a.k.a. joining God's army).

We learned about obeying and working hard ("Mother-may-I"-type game, but they had to say "Your wish is my command, madam" to the moms or "Ever your humble servant, Sire" to the dads).

We also learned about saving Damsels in Distress (The "Damsels" were women in their lives, like their mother, grandmother, neighbor, or Primay President. They had to say ways they could rescue--or help--these Damsels).

Then the kids went followed a map of tasks on their quest to find THE DRAGON IN THE JUNGLE.
They ended up in the kitchen looking at Gabe's cake which was a rice-krispie dragon cave guarded by a Pheonix (the dragon-type gift Gabe really wanted).

A trail led from the cave to a bowl which Gabe lifted up revealing a carmel corn nest with little baby dragons hidden inside.

Each primary-age child was able to help dig through the carmel corn and pick a dragon to take home with them.

Then they dug in and ate up carmel corn and rice-crispie treats with ice cream.

It was such a fun night!!

I sure love my Gabe, even if he must keep getting older!

*Do ya like my cookey letter-art "GaBrieL" Dragon?!

Bishop David G. Moss

It is official . . .

he was sustained (by all the Bloomfield ward) . . .

ordained (to office of High Priest, by his father) . . .

and set apart (by Stake President Wayne Taylor).

The new bishop of the Bloomfield Ward, Hartford, Connecticut Stake is . . .

my husband!
We were called into the Stake President's office and asked a month ago, so we've had time to process it a bit--though I have mostly seen it in its humorous irony up until today when he went up on the stand and didn't come back down.

My kids were priceless in their shock and surprise. The Stake Presidency commented on their gasps and exclamations, saying they were proof that David Moss could keep confidences.

Eli, Adam, and Gabe weren't quiet as they looked to me to confirm, "Dad is bishop?! Our Dad?! Bishop?!"

Isaac decided to be super challenging, just to make sure I really knew what I was getting into when I sustained my husband into this position.

It really has been nice to have David sitting with us this last year and a half, but I am glad that I already had the experience of sitting without him, under more challenging circumstances--Lone-Sunday-bench-parenting is not the part I really dread in this new calling.

The hardest part is having his mind and heart so full, of so many.

That is the reality.

Though I know that we are very high up on that list of persons, . . .still we must share and allow ourselves to come after others at times--that is why the wife is asked with the husband, eh?

I must say that, when we were called into the Stake Presidents office, I knew that he would be asked to be a counselor in the Bishopric (He says he really believed that it was going to be a Stake calling for me)--that seemed logical, and wouldn't interfere with the fact that we were hoping to move in the next year. I was surprised when he was asked to be bishop, but never really shocked.

I was blessed with an incredible calm and peace--no burning confirmation, but a stillness. In a way, it just seemed to make sense (though I pondered our thoughts of moving and waited for David to let the Stake President know about them).

David was much more shocked and humbled--sometimes I wonder if he really can't see the obivousness of these kinds of things in his life. He was overcome with the idea of the task at hand and his own adequacey, considering our great ward with many good and "more experienced" (older) men.

I have been struggling with many aspects of my life--health, kids, homeschool, house--though things are going okay. But when the Stake Pres asked me about those things, I really couldn't think of the challenges nearly as well as I saw all the blessings. I saw my good boys and a home we have been improving on, I saw the beauty in being able to homeschool.

I believe that HF was giving me the gift of gratitude in that moment--a glimpse at His hand and blessings in my life. Maybe he was trying to remind me that He has, and will continue to, help me as I listen and follow.

I know that my husband is amazing. I got in trouble for telling everyone that he is "practically perfect in every way" (he hates it when I say that--he got a bit of grief for it, since I said it in my testimony at church). I can see that he is the greatest blessing I have, and I get to have him for eternity!

I know that I must share him, . . . and willingly!

I know he will be a great bishop. He will do all in his power to follow the spirit. He loves his Heavenly Father and Savior. He will give this calling his best effort.

I was thinking this morning about him, and the thought that came to mind was:

There may be many as great, but there certainly can't be many better!

He will roll his eyes at that, but this is my blog, and that is how I feel.

The out-pouring of love and joyful acceptance from ward-members at church demonstrated that I'm not alone in my thoughts about my great husband.

*By-the-way, David never mentioned the possibility of us moving during that interview. When I asked him about it in the car, afterward, he became concerned and said that he hadn't even thought of it. He asked if I thought he should run back in and tell him. But his response had been the answer.

It isn't the time for us to think of moving. The Lord has made His choice, and we will stay until something tells us differently--A reminder for Rebekah that we do all things in the Lord's timing. Even if it seems confusing at times, we will trust Him. Afterall, He knows better than we do.

At church, right after he was sustained, Eli looked up at David and said, "Dad, Once and bishop, always a bishop!"

David called the boys to dinner today and Gabe replied, "Okay, Bishop Moss!" then he giggled at his little joke.

My mom called and asked, "Is Bishop Moss there?" Then she laughed and reminded me that I would be hearing that often enough.

And so it begins.

*If you've thought about a trip to the Northeast, we'd love to have ya. We'll be here a while yet,. . . And we really do love it here!!

United States History--inspiring

Yes, We the people of the United States are fortunate in so many ways. It has been such a great experience to study more deeply some of our country's early history, and the people involved. What an intriguing and awesome group of individuals helped start this nation, and then continued to lead it in the right direction.
We have spent the month of May visiting places from the lives of our founding fathers.

First--Grandpa Von and Bella Nonna came out to visit and we all went up to Boston to walk the Freedom Trail. We had done this years before, but it took on new meaning and life. We visited the gravesites of men such as Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and the victims of the Boston Massacre.


We followed the red brick path that led us passed Paul Revere's home, the Old North Church, and much more.Later on in May, we headed down to Washington, D.C. and Virginia with our good friends, the Treadwells.
We spent one 95 degree, humid day walking through D.C. We mostly wanted to see the Monuments and the National Archives--to see the original Declaration and Constitution. The boys weren't thrilled with the hours of walking in the heat, but it was a cool experience. We ended the day with a trip to the Air and Space museum.
The next day we were off to Mount Vernon--home of President George Washington. Dreamy. I loved the beautiful and organized grounds, and definitely felt a greater adoration for this great man after hanging out in the visitor's center and learning even more about him. (we are currently reading The Real George Washington as a family--so cool)

After swimming in a hotel pool and a good night's rest, we were ready for the awesome experience of seeing Monticello--the home of Thomas Jefferson. He is such a fascinating person, with a creative mind. His house was full of character and cool features. Isaac didn't think the tour was so cool, so David and Rebekah each heard just parts of it, but it was still neat.

The grounds and garden were beautiful. The kids especially loved the pond. It was filled with tadpoles, and the kids spent an hour catching them (one woman walking by told her son not to touch the water--poor kid-hee, hee). There was a great kids zone where the kids could learn about and act like Thomas Jefferson and his household.

More pool swimming (or goodwill shopping if you were a mom) and sleeping, then good-byes as we separated from the Treadwells for the trip home. You would have thought we would never see each other again--from the sad good-byes and carryings-on! We do love the Treadwells! (we started calling the kids a collective "Mosswells")

We found a tangent on our way home. Luray Caverns--ALMOST as cool as the caverns in Italy. I just love this fascinating, thousands-of-years-in-the-making, natural kind of stuff!

And, to continue this vacation's theme of visiting the homes of great men, we made a stop on our way home, to Columbia, Maryland and the home the exemplar David Gee Moss (from 7-15 years of age). It was so fun to see his familiarity and the excitement of childhood memories that poured out! The boys loved it because they have heard many stories about this home, with its very spacious lawn mown by a young man not any older than some of them! :) After a 12 hour day of completely separate traveling and stops, we happened to meet up with the Treadwells in the only place we could have, at the only time we could have, just before turning off to our separate towns--I can't make that sound as crazy and ironic and hystrical as it really was. It ended the trip with a good laugh!

We were home in time to sleep, go to church on Sunday, and be ready for David, Eli and Adam to march in the Bloomfield Memorial Day Parade on Monday, with our scout troop and pack.

I love America!!!