Andrew and Alex went sledding with the Morgans up South Fork Canyon. I went to pick them up but couldn’t leave without taking a few pictures.

Merry Christmas and our best wishes for a happy and healthy 2009!

The Jessop House – Loud, crazy, everything’s been rearranged by our tornado named Jack-Jack or chewed on by our new puppy, Dash. Mornings filled with last-minute work on homework projects, stacks of made(by Dad) -to-order lunches, arguments with Alexander about wearing the same sweatpants for the 3rd day in a row, carpool horns honking, prayers, Andrew’s sweet kisses, kids stuffed into coats & carseats, AND (on Saturday) sleepyheads, waffles and the sound of orange juice being whipped up.

Afternoons find Jack-Jack napping and Dalliene cleaning up toddler/puppy chaos as well as stacks of laundry, dishes, and maybe a bit of reading/sorting out time. Service done, some puppy training (not enough!) Young Women lessons prepared, and usually a call to Kevin to sort out the day and chat. Errands, etc. and on a very good day, more flowers planted and the entire garden weeded!

Mayhem starts again at 2:30 as noisy children spill through the front door (bringing friends,) and backpacks, shoes, coats, and homework strewn about the house. Puppy runs around greeting everyone and EVERY LIGHT IN THE HOUSE IS TURNED ON! Bass, guitar, violin, & piano compete with blaring music from all about the house. Pleas to be taken to friends’ houses to play or work on projects – or to be taken to soccer or orchestra or the store. Puppy walked, fights refereed, computer time negotiated, dinner started, Kevin gets home and 3 little boys rush to the door to kiss their Daddy and tell him all about their day.

Dinner done, dishes, scriptures, stories, homework, prayers, more chaos cleanup and most of the lights finally go out (usually by midnight.) On a good night, no bloody noses, sleepwalking little boys or children sleeping in mom and dad’s bed. Finally peace and quiet when we reflect on our hectic day and give thanks for those 5 little blessings that keep us so busy!

We’re looking back on 2008 and, besides being thankful for our family and friends, we’re also thinking that…

Kevin is thankful for. . . no gray hairs (no fair!!), longer arms for reading, being injury free to run the St. George marathon, a wonderful, loving dad who passed away in October, his job at Diversified Ins. in Salt Lake, his Orem office space, our Australian Shepard puppy  who will be big enough to run with him this spring, neighborhood running partners, teaching Lizzy’s Sunday school class, the kids’ soccer games, BYU sports, and time to take pictures.

Keep up with Kevin at kjessop2.blogspot.com and view his fabulous photography at flickr.com/jessopphoto.

Dalliene is thankful for. . . her hair colorist!! , volunteer time at kids’ schools, opportunities to learn new storytelling skills and then to perform at the library, fabulously written and illustrated books, the challenge of writing grants for school programs, flowers & shrubs & trips to the local nursery with her Dad and Karen, friends to carpool and exercise with, evenings when Alexander doesn’t have a meltdown about dinner, school counselors who help with college prep, and the joy of watching her girls grow into young women.

Katy(16) is thankful for. . . her cute driver’s license picture, soccer games & teammates & coaches, rehearsals with the Utah Valley Youth Symphony, an excellent score on her AP Human Geography exam , her kick-boxing class, Jane Austen, finishing her Young Women’s Personal Progress program, sunshine & warm weather, good friends, Facebook, texting, Stake dances and cute dates!

Lizzy(13) is thankful for. . . math & science & Spanish & French, her ballroom dance class, her guitar and awesome guitar teacher, mended bones after playing aggressive soccer games, friends, cell phones she can locate, abundant supplies of chocolate chips, J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer, growing 4 inches in the last 18 months , and being able to see the floor in her room.

Alexander(8) is thankful for. . . extra minutes before school throwing the football with classmates, BYU’s football team, any sport on TV , Underarmor, his baptism in September, violin & elementary school teachers, an awesome Spanish accent, being the oldest on his soccer team, movies that aren’t scary, fast sledding, author Brian Jacques, and dinnertime fare that doesn’t make him run screaming from the table.

Andrew(6) is thankful for. . . the chance to show the elves that he’s on Santa’s “Nice” list, piano lessons from mom, Spanish class, the Magic Tree House series, paper & crayons to leave love notes for the family, band-aids, Lizzy’s chocolate chip cookies, playtime with friends, Art Club, finally losing his first two teeth , snow & warm gloves, Webkinz, and playing on a recreation soccer team with his big brother.

Jack(20 months) is thankful for. . . three-corner kisses, Dash’s water bowl, order that can quickly be turned into chaos, electrical outlets, his own potty seat so he can be like his big brothers, matchbox cars, his daddy, nursery toys, sitting on the counter when breakfast is being made, finding forbidden binkies , and Karen, our neighbor!

The following is the text of a Tribute I gave at Dad’s funeral. We buried him today in Millville cemetary.

~Mark Twain~
The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.

Valdon Paul Jessop was born March 2, 1940 to Alta and Elmo Jessop. He was the third of four children and spent many of his younger years attempting to prove to his father that he was his older brother’s equal. He was born in Millville, spent his youth in Cache Valley Utah attending South Cache High School and later graduating from Utah State University in Accounting. He served an LDS mission to the New England States Mission spending most of his mission time in Canada.

In his early years as a young man he had a fondness for fast motorcycles and pretty women. Upon meeting Yula, he found out that fast motorcycles and pretty women were sometimes mutually exclusive. She made him give up his “murdercycle” as she called it, but the trade was well worth it. Mom seemed to know at an early stage in their relationship that he would need some prompting to remember his anniversary and on Valentines Day of 1963 Dad married Yula Johnson in the Logan LDS temple. I was born at the end of 1964 and was the first of their eight children. We children arrived at the Val and Yula Jessop household over a span of sixteen years – the last arrival being our sweet little sister Cherise.

Upon graduation, Mom, Dad, Darrin and I moved to Northern California in the Bay area where we lived for about a decade. Dad started out working for Lockheed in San Jose. His career eventually took him around the world as a traveling auditor with assignments in France, Belgium, Canada, and Mexico. With six children in tow, Mom and Dad decided that Dad’s traveling internationally for 2-3 weeks at a time was overly stressful on Mom and the family. After many interviews and job offers in a variety of places throughout the U.S., Dad and Mom decided to move to the Southeast – First to North Carolina, then South Carolina and finally settling in Tennessee. Our move to the Southeast was not love at first site. It was hard understanding the culture and the foreign language commonly called a “Southern Drawl” But once we settled in, we certainly did fall in love with the South. Not all of us still live there, but we all feel at home there.

My Dad was an amazing man. Those that truly knew him well, understood him to be honest, forthright, and warm with an easy infectious smile and a big heart. He was kind and generous often to a fault. He had a quirky sense of humor that baffled some and made the rest of us smile. Sometimes we laughed at him, most of the time we laughed with him as we tried to view the world through his lenses.

He was a sucker for his daughters and his grandkids’ pleas for attention. He spoiled them rotten and loved giving them candy and treats, but mostly he spoiled them by lavishing love and attention on them. He was never shy about telling us that he loved us. He taught us how to have loving relationships with our spouses and children by his good example. He loved all of us with such joy and pride that his face lit up every time we were together. When you were with Dad, you felt that he was genuinely honored to be with you. The smile lines around his eyes are deep and well deserved. Even at rest, you can tell that a happy soul lies within.

There was never a time that I could not talk to him or that he would not offer advice. For many of his kids Dad was the “Voice of Reason” His sage advice was born of experience and often mistakes. He was not a perfect man but learned well from his missteps. He was always ready with a listening ear and he consistently offered sensible words of advice to whatever our current situation was.

He was competitive by nature and loved playing tennis. He taught us boys tennis at an early age so that he would have some built-in partners. Many of my fondest memories were spent on the tennis courts with Dad. Most of our tennis outings occurred in the early morning or late evenings. In the Tennessee afternoon summer heat, Dad’s sweating was the stuff of legend. You’d swear it had rained on his side of the court because the drops of sweat were so large and numerous. Osteoarthritis wore his knees down and prevented him from playing much tennis in his last decade and a half of life. He has said numerous times that he hopes they have tennis in heaven.

He was a deeply religious man and spent thousands of hours and thousands of dollars donating both time and money as he served in his church. He served in a variety of leadership positions at church but I think he was happiest just being a teacher in Sunday School. His insights into gospel subjects touched the lives of many. He had a unique ability to engage the student of the scriptures while still offering down-to-earth examples of how to better our lives through following Christ. He was immensely unselfish and never thought it a bother to help others in need. He was a doer not merely a believer of the Word of Christ.

Including just last week, I used to call my Dad weekly as I made my way home on my evening commute from Salt Lake City to Orem. We would usually talk for 30-60 minutes depending on the traffic situation. We would often chat about politics, sports (mostly tennis), kids, family, church. He is a great man and has always been a great sounding board for me. As I’ve lived my life, I have often benchmarked my life by his life. I often think back to what my Dad was doing at my age, what his career, marriage, and relationships were like at whatever age I am at. I am fortunate to be the oldest of eight kids. I have had more years to spend with my Dad than many of my siblings. I know that many of them rely on Dad for good solid advice. He was a great friend to all of us and a great source of good counsel. I last spoke to Dad on the way to St. George last Friday as I traveled to the marathon that I ran on Saturday. Little did I know that it would be the last time I would speak to him on this earth. It still seems like he should be just a phone call away.

Some of you may not have known my father the way that I did, but for those who did not missed out on knowing a great man. A man that made sure that his family was taken care of even if it meant he had to sacrifice something important to him. A man that literally dedicated his life to helping his family have an even better life than he had.

Dad was promised in his patriarchal blessing that he would have “Joy beyond measure” in his family relationships. I can attest that this has come true. We so love him and will miss him greatly. We all have a great ache in our hearts because he is no longer with us on earth. May God continue to bless him in the afterlife as he blessed him in this life.

On the back of this photo was written in Mom’s handwriting “Love was never so good.” It made me cry just thinking about it. The photo was taken in Tanglewood Park in North Carolina 1978.

Kinda weird putting this in writing . . . My Dad died last Saturday morning. Mom woke up around 9:30am and thought it odd that Dad hadn’t gotten up at 6am like normal. She tried to rouse him and he was unresponsive. Called 911, called Heidi and Jeremy and soon realized he was gone. Gone. Wow. It still seems unreal to me. 68 years old! That’s not fair!

I talk to my Dad every week for 30-60 minutes as I make my way home on my evening commute from Salt Lake City. We often chat about politics, sports (mostly tennis), kids, family, church. He’s a great man and is a great sounding board for me. As I live my life, I often benchmark it by his life. I often think back to what my Dad was doing at my age (now 43), what his career, marriage, and relationships were like at whatever age I am at. I am fortunate to be the oldest of eight kids. I have had more years to spend with my Dad than many of my siblings. I know that many of them rely on Dad for good solid advice. He was a great friend to all of us and a great source of good counsel. I last spoke to Dad on the way to St. George last Friday as I traveled to the marathon that I ran on Saturday. Little did I know that it would be the last time I would speak to him on this earth. It still seems like he should be just a phone call away.

She’s got a way about her
I don’t know what it is
But I know that I can’t live without her
She’s got a way of pleasin’
I don’t know why it is
But there doesn’t have to be a reason anywhere

She’s got a smile that heals me
I don’t know what it is
But I have to laugh when she reveals me
She’s got a way of talkin’
I don’t know why it is
But it lifts me up when we are walkin’ anywhere

She comes to me when I’m feelin’ down
Inspires me without a sound
She touches me and I get turned around
She’s got a way of showin’
How I make her feel
And I find the strength to keep on goin’
She’s got a light around her
And ev’rywhere she goes a million
Dreams of love surround her ev’rewhere

She comes to me when I’m feelin’ down
Inspires me without a sound
She touches me, I get turned around oh oh oh

She’s got a smile that heals me
I don’t know why it is
But I have to laugh when she reveals me
She’s got a way about her
I don’t know what it is
But I know that I can’t live without her any way