Devon (from Heaven is Seven :)

This birthday interview is from LeeLou Blogs and I wish I had found it sooner so I could’ve done this all along!  But better late than never! What makes you happy?  When I do crafts.  When I spend time with my family.  When I play with friends.  What is your favorite animal?  Basilisk (a water walking lizard) What is your favorite food?  Spaghetti What is your least favorite thing to eat?  Tomatoes What is your favorite thing to do?  Crafts, make finger puppets, play with balls, jump on the trampoline, go swimming What is your favorite TV show?  Ninjago What is your favorite movie?  Star Wars What are you really good at?  making new friends What is your favorite color?  red and black What is your favorite song?  Star Wars Who is your best friend?  Jackson What do you and your mom do together?  One on One Fun Dates What do you and your dad do together?  have pillow fights What is your favorite sport?  tennis Where is your favorite place to go?  St. George What is your favorite book?  Dr. Seuss What is your favorite thing about school?  I like to do reading. What do you want to be when you grow up?  A Dad, a golf and tennis player, The Prophet Ok, so I’ve got to admit something.  I’ve put this off for a long time for no other reason than that I didn’t want to write what I had to say about Devon for fear that I would be looked upon as favoring Devon or thinking he was more special than my other kids, because that isn’t the case.  I love each of my children dearly, and I believe that each of them will do great things.  They all have qualities that I greatly admire and knowing the way they are so intimately is…sacred—being the one to care for them and knowing their strengths and weaknesses, getting to see them grow and develop, make wrong choices yet so many right choices.  I know I’m not alone in feeling the sacred bond between a mother and her child.  And we all share the view that our kids are special and have amazing qualities given to them from Heavenly Father.  So I guess that’s my little disclaimer.  I don’t feel differently about Devon and I don’t think he is better than my other kids.  I just want to explain how he is and what we love about him.  And I tear up just thinking of him and his qualities. His teacher at church (Adele Connell) explained Devon like this to me in an email yesterday:  Devon is a wonderful, smart, kind, gifted, intelligent, giving child.  He is the kind of person who will be a Bishop and General authority one day.  He is truly filled with a spirit of giving to others and he is one of the kindest and sweetest children whom I’ve ever met.  It is a joy to be his teacher and I thank you for raising such a great, spiritual, Christ-like son.  (And, no, I don’t say this to all my kid’s parents as there are few "Devon’s" in the world)!!!! She is not the first, nor the second, or even third person who have told us that Devon is one of the sweetest kid they know.  She is not the first who has said that he could hold an important calling in the church someday with the qualities he has.  Of course all callings are important and I could care less if he does have one of those callings or if he’s a primary teacher his whole life—it’s the fact that he has such wonderful qualities that I love!  I emailed her back and said, “That is so sweet to say and so true of Devon. We’d like to take credit, but cannot because he came this way! We have always known how special and sweet this boy of ours is. He is incredible and we are so lucky to have him to take care of…” My mom asked me, after her joking about him being the Prophet someday, “How would you raise him differently if you knew he was going to be the Prophet?”  I think I’d look back and look at all the ways I messed up and be sad, ha ha!  Oh wait…I already do that with all my kids!  Dillon’s brother recently said to Dillon, “There’s just something about Devon.  You better not screw him up!”  Devon has always been very aware of who is sad and tries to cheer them up.  He is always giving people the benefit of the doubt.  Someone ripped up Carson’s paper after school (clearly), on a very non-windy day, and when we found it and Carson was upset at whoever it was, Devon said, “Maybe it wasn’t a person.  Maybe the wind just did it.”  He really doesn’t think badly about anyone, apart from his siblings ;).  He forgives easily, shares easily, is a peacemaker, and obeys very well.  Is he perfect?  Of course not.  He cries easily and gets super sad when his siblings aren’t nice, and even retaliates occasionally, but it took him six  years for some of that to even start!  He also loves school, church, is a great reader (top of his class), good at math, and as you saw from his interview above, loves to craft!  Also his stats from his check-up were 95% height, and 75% weight.  He’s a tall kid, just like Carson, but seems to be catching up to him! Here are some notes he wrote to Bailey and Carson just last week—this is the type of stuff he does all the time. Here’s the picture he drew of himself as the Prophet :).  He told me about a month ago that he wanted to be a Dad AND the Prophet when he grew up.  He also said he wants 100 kids.  We sure feel blessed to have this sweet kid in our family!