Divine Inspiration?

Here is a GREAT picture that we captured in a VERY old Cathedral in Spain. Thought you might all enjoy this rare moment of personal revelation with Dan. This picture is a natural photo, no photoshop or other editing device was used.
Please feel free to leave comments for Dan ---
Abuelita Teresa- Aqui vea una photo de Daniel orando para inspiracion. Que piensa de esta foto?

Jon Joins the Church

Oh Happy Day. Jon was baptized on January 30th. What a blessing to Jon, to our family, and to the Church.

We were so blessed to be able to sit with Jon and the missionaries during the weeks prior to the baptism to review the gospel teachings and the commandments of the gospel. This process was such a thrill for us to review the basic teachings of the gospel and to think about them in light of the baptism covenant and preparation.

Faith, repentance, baptism and The Gift of The Holy Ghost and all that these simple principles mean were part of our review.

Jon has a heart full of faith in God and in Jesus Christ. This was a glorious day!!!

We had a couple of wonderful days with his mother Penelope, and his aunt as well as other friends who came to visit. Brian also came from Washington and of course Dan from DC, and Ty from Arizona and Sharee from Utah.

Beach Fun

Holiday Beach Pictures which indicate in the hearts of Oakes'es, fun, happiness, life, goodness etc.

Happy Birthday to Me, even when it's not!

Dancing Lessons

Inauguration is only about a week away and people are getting really excited out here in Washington. In the newspapers, in the streets, it seems like almost everyone is talking about it (and the fact that bars will be open until 5am during Inauguration weekend). When I got off the plane in DC there was an entire store in the airport which they had created to look like the oval office that was dedicated to selling Obama/Inauguration gear.

But for people who either know anyone, or think they know anyone, or want to know anyone here in Washington, the really hot ticket is to go to an Inauguration Ball. Formal dress only! And you have to know how to waltz or something because I saw some advertisement in the paper today asking, "Have you had your Inauguration Ball dance lessons yet?"

I'm too poor for dance lessons. So as a public service I am posting a video on how to dance so that you don't look foolish at the Inauguration Ball, whichever one you go to. TWO WORDS: CHA CHA!

Back to School

Again!?! I got on a plane and ended up back in Virginia. While I’m here I figured I would go back to school. I spent the day and bought my new books (ON SALE 2 for $300), bought a desk (since I didn’t have one in my room for the entire first semester), built my desk (even though IKEA stuff is easy to set up it still feels good to build something right?), cleaned up, and tried to get ready for the semester which starts today in about 20 mins.

This spring semester I will be taking Constitutional Law I, Contracts II, Property, Civil Procedure II, and Advocacy. I still don’t really know what I am doing but now that I have been through a full semester I think that I will have a better idea how to allocate my time. The bad news is that Monday through Thursday are totally stacked with classes, but the good news is that I have Fridays off!

Christmas break was wonderful and I had almost three full weeks to spend time with family and wrestle the dog. We played FROLF, went to the zoo, and went to Knotts Berry Farm. We had a great Christmas all together spending much of the Christmas week in Carlsbad. I spend New Year’s with my friend Jon and went to lunch on New Year’s Day with my friend Jeff. I’d say it was a great vacation. We even talked my Oakes grandparents into doing the thing they really wanted to do but never actually said they wanted to do: get a new puppy. I’d say it was a successful trip and I am trying to not think about the high likelihood that I will never have 3 weeks off without any responsibility ever again for the rest of my life.

Some highlights that I happen to have pictures of:

Zoo

Bowling

Dog

For now it’s back to the grindstone. Even though this semester will be difficult I am very grateful for the opportunities that I have to pursue an education at a great school. Happy New Year!