Our Heritage, Your Legacy

40 years ago a family tree sprouted from seeds of faith planted in fertile soil. Today that tree branches out in every direction and continues to flourish. Its branches reach heavenward and its roots grow deeper and many lives are blessed. Our tree has endured drought, fire, storms, sickness, and even an axe or two, yet it stands firm and strong: immovable.

Every now and then an acorn drops, sprouts and a seedling grows, ever trying to emmulate its parent tree. Who wouldn't want to be a mighty oak so regal and majestic....

You are our heroes. You are our best friends. You are the best parents we could imagine. So we hope you don't mind that we put down in words...and pictures...and memories....How wonderful life is with you in the world!

WE LOVE YOU FOREVER and we are so grateful that we were blessed enough to be your seedlings and neighboring oaks.

Love,
Your Family and Friends

Because of you...

Dean and Lili:

Without you, there would be no Sunshine.
Without Sunshine, these would not be:


Without these, there would be no them. Without them, there would be no us.

Thank you very much for all you've done for our family.
Happy Anniversary!
Love, Jason (& Sunshine, Kai, Koa, and Bo) Barrett

We hope you have a SUPER day!

Happy P-Birshry!

That's Koa for "anniversary" : )

Miss Youuuu

Happy Hapabershery!

From the Tacketts

I have read all the really beautiful and real posts on your blog for Lili and Dean. I am so happy to write a love letter to the most special people we have met since we moved here. We love how they love each other, and how proud and loving they are when they talk about their family. We love how they seem to know our needs and address them. We are continually in awe of each of them as we peel layer after layer and still see who they are, Loving, honest, spiritual, happy, giving, humble people who just quietly serve. They are the most Christlike people we have met in a long time. No thats not true they are the most Christ like people we have met, EVER. We are happy, proud and humbled to call them friend.
Love, Larry and Linda

From Sharon and Shari Kay

We wanted you to know that we're so happy that you made it 40 years. It's a novelty anymore to make it past just a few years. Congratulations on your 40th. We love you. We hope you have another 40 more. (But no matter how hard you try, you will never have any more than I!)

"By small and simple things..."

I love Mom and Dad for their example of going to the Oakland Temple almost every month and now the Sacramento Temple every week.
I love them for teaching me to love nature. I'll never forget all the gardening and lake outings and beach outings. Not to mention the "Secret Spot" at the river.
I love them for teaching me how to garden and work with the Earth.
I love that I know how to make bread, swing a hammer, iron a shirt, wire a house, change a diaper, repair sheetrock, efficiently move heavy objects, sew a button back on, analyze wood grain, and all of this along with all the rest of the endless storehouse of knowledge they have passed on to us and will continue to pass on to us.
I love them for teaching me what true love is and where to find it, how to show it, and how to grow it.
I love holidays with my parents and family. I love that we are so close. I love Christmas time and nativity reenactments.
I love that even if they did have a little extra space at times, we still had to share bedrooms.
I love being with Mom and Dad when they call each other during the day for no reason to say "I love you."
I love it when Dad whistles and hums throughout the day because it reminds everyone how happy and blessed he knows he is.
I love watching Mom open her mouth to brighten the day of strangers irregardless <-- :) of whether it leads to missionary lessons or not. I love Mom and Dad's never-ceasing attention to the small and simple things in life from day to day and moment to moment that can make a lifetime of difference. They have never stopped showing their example that every day is made up of choices upon choices and patience, family, charity, faith, wisdom, and prayer can guide us through and choice we have to make. They have brought great things and miracles to pass by the simple things that this mortal part of the plan has asked of them. And all the miracles will only branch out and sprout exponentially more. I'll never forget waking up (or trying to wake up) at the same time as the sun to go build character and bless the family inside and outside of the home on Saturdays and during summers. I'll never forget asking a question and often being told to seek out the knowledge myself - spiritual or secular - whether or not the answer was already known to the parent being asked. I'll never forget combing beaches and riverbeds for nature's treasures. I'll never forget tamales at Christmas and enchiladas all the rest of the time and crepes and french toast on mornings we felt like some extra nap time later on. :) I'll never forget the examples and testimonies of my parents. I'll never forget that it would have been much more difficult for me to learn about Jesus Christ and his Atonement and teachings and decide to accept it all had I not been taught and shown step by step and day by day the difference it all makes early on. I feel very proud knowing that all of us children and grandchildren are so blessed to have you and know that you are some of the few heroes that have made it past 40 years. I love you with all my heart
.

The 'Davis' family name continues strong...

The Nativity

Dean reads Luke 2 every Christmas. The

grandchildren will cherrish these memories

forever!

“Generations”
Image and text by Benjamin Davis, 2009

Footprints of one generation filled by the next
Marks left on a path so bright
Exemplary lives led
Following where father and mother have trod
From darkness fled
Their posterity now walks with hand to the rod
Sights set on eternal light
As the footprints of one generation are filled by the next

These boys love their Lili Mom & Papa Dean!

Will is grateful that Lili Mom and Papa Dean gave him cousins and uncles to play with.

From Julie

Please post for Dean and Lili how I've always loved them. The first time I met Lili was when my brother brought her home to meet the family, I instantly loved how comfortable and special she made me feel. That feeling has never changed and has grown into a deep appreciation and sisterly love. My brother on the other hand has always been my hero and he too has always made sure that I know how well loved I am.

I cherish each conversation that we have. I am the most fortunate sister on the planet to have such an amazing Brother and Sister-in-law. I am in total awe of the wonderful family they have raised and continue to nurture and love each and everyone.

From the Luckiest Sister on the Planet
Julie

Jack thanks Lili Mom and Papa Dean for his dad!

The other day I was able to ordain a new member of the Church as an Elder. I gave him the line of priesthood authority showing the priesthood was given to me by my father. I am grateful to have had such a wonderful example of a steady, righteous priesthood holder throughout my life. Not only has it blessed me and my family but now carries on into others people’s lives and will bless their families as well.

I am thankful to a mother who always sustained and supported my Dad as the priesthood leader in our home.
Mom has shown me the true power of motherhood and has taught this to Heather as well. Together they showed us that one cannot be strong without the other. Because of their loving example, Heather and I teach this principle in our home. The influence of mom and dad on me will be seen through my boys and their children.

Deep down I probably always knew Mom and Dad were right even when I told mom I was going to call CPS because she was so mean and Dad slaved me in the yard and on job sites. Now I work with kids who really were saved by CPS and I have a deeply ingrained work ethic that has accelerated my career. It’s all mom and dads fault. Thanks for being patient, setting firm limits, and teaching the value of hard work.

Love,
Ben, Heather, Jack, Will, Rowan, and Truman

When I think about Mom and Dad I remember playing outside the window where mom would let me and Ben make huge mud puddles and play in them smearing mud all over ourselves until mom would come out and tell us to stop making such a huge mess.

I remember them taking us camping to strange a beautiful places. remember being raised on honey and carob and fresh milk from a farm. We would go with mom or dad to the nearest Co-Op to get honey and fresh milk. Dad used to play fun games with us in the snow, he taught us how to play 'Fox and Geese' in the snow. We would bring in big bowls of snow in the winter and we would poor milk and honey into the snow and eat it.

We would go down the street to the nearest swimming hole in the woods and would play with frogs and crawdads and dad would help us build little dams and wading pools. I remember mom getting bored out of her mind on some days, so she would load us into the van to go swimming in places like Arrowhead Lake. I remember mom making homemade candy from honey. She would show us how to pull it and pull it and pull it like taffy until it became like a caramel.
We’ve had a garden just about everywhere we’ve lived and I remember working side by side with both of them growing vegetables, fruits and herbs. One time in the McCrary house in NC we had to clear a spot for the garden and I remember having fun clearing shrubs and digging up holes to make the garden.
Dad always had a firm but loving hand in the way that he raised us. Like when we’d get in trouble, he’d always lecture us very sternly and then explain the why’s of the consequences and so would mom. There were always good lessons in everything they taught us in gardening, reading and planning together as a family. Dad always read us good and interesting books, he used to love to read us stories. Looking back on it, reading to us like that was probably a good way of keeping us in a good home with good values instead of us being out and about getting into trouble.
They would always teach us good values out of the scriptures. Even to this day they’ll round whoever is home up for scripture study. They always taught that serving a mission wasn’t just a good idea but a commandment from the Lord. They tried to teach us all good manners and a dignified way to dress and act properly. They always taught us to have good manners and to be respectful when in guests’ homes. We would learn responsibilities from feeding the dog, washing the cars or having doing the dishes on our “dishes night” or fixing meals. I have mom to thank for not minding doing dishes so much these days in fact I find it almost therapeutic. If mom hadn’t talked me into doing dishes when it was my turn all the time, I would probably hate doing them now. None of us would have made it to be Eagle Scouts if it weren’t for mom.
I know they always tried to help each one of us through the hard times in our own lives. Whether it was tough times at school or trouble with boys and girls at school or just growing up, you know growing pains and the like.
Mom and dad always taught us that if you have a goal or something in mind that you want you have to reach out and grab it and take it. Whether it’s career oriented or a talent or skill that you want to acquire. You know like my art. In fact artwork has become a running tradition in our family because of that. I guess that what I’m trying to say is that they taught us to work for what we want to accomplish, for our goals, and if we do it’s a lot more satisfying. If you don’t have to work for something then it’s a lot easier for it to fall by the wayside and you won’t appreciate it. You have earn your own way in this world, you can’t just have things handed to you. Thank you for teaching me all of these important life lessons and how to be a good parent. I love you guys.

Love,

Darby

From Ethan

Well Dad and Mom, you’ve arrived at a forty year marker of your love. Wow! That is so awesome. I can’t wait until I find the girl that I’m going to spend the next forty years with. I heard it said recently that the sum of a parent’s success, and I would add the success of a marriage, is evidenced in how their children have turned out. No amount of money, wealth, fame or power can account for a failure in the home. I just have to say that even with me in the mix, you two have done exceptionally well.
With the kind of parenting that you displayed we were always able to store away knowledge and develop habits and personalities that we would be able to use wisely in the future. I am so happy to have always had the privilege and blessing of growing up in a home where Christ is at the head with my parents at His side. I am grateful to the two of you for always teaching us just principles and ordinances of the gospel through your examples and one on one teaching. I am grateful to you, Dad, for righteously leading our family in the priesthood for the past forty years and to you, Mom, for righteously leading by teaching us how to follow the direction of the Savior and our earthly father, and how to lead as a companionship. What better lessons could be taught to your children?
I’m grateful for Dad always teaching us to respect our mother, sisters and women in general. I’m grateful to Mom for teaching us how to respect a righteous priesthood holder like Dad. grateful for learning that love notes hidden throughout a house and car can be big part of keeping love in a marriage. I’m grateful to know that it’s okay to let your kids see you kiss and hug your wife before you go to work and throughout the day just because. I'm grateful to have seen that it's okay to have disagreements in a marriage as long as you talk through them and make up. I’m grateful to know that a good way to strengthen a marriage is to pray and read the scriptures as a couple and with your kids. I’m grateful for family home evenings and family scriptures study, but most importantly being able to hear the testimonies of my parents as we studied the gospel together. I’m grateful to have learned how to be a good home teacher from my first companion, Dad. I’m grateful for learning how to not cut corners and to do the job right the first time from both of you guys in scouting, church, work and life. I’m grateful for family camping trips and knowing where I get my wild adventurous side from, what you didn’t think that we knew you would sneak off to go skinny dipping sometimes Dad? I’m grateful for parents who truly established a house of learning through their open mindedness, don’t discount the show of character it was for a white farm boy from Idaho to have an interracial marriage with a cute Latina from Mexico. You taught us to look at the world, not just where we live. When we had questions, you supplied encyclopedias and National Geographics (Yes it took us a while to get internet.) to us. Thank you for showing us how have gratitude for the things we have. Thank you for Hobbits and Elvish songs. Thank you for mended holes in the knees of my jeans all through grade school. Thank you for gardens. Thank you for blessings at the beginning of the school year. Thank you for always being worthy to give blessings when we needed them. Thank you for correcting my grammar. Thank you for making me my favorite food and letting me watch ‘Ferris Beuler’s Day Off’ when I stayed home sick from school. Thank you for waking up early to take me to seminary. Thank you for taking me T.P.-ing to help me fit in with my new friends. Thank you for going to work everyday even when every muscle in your body hurt and still working your hardest so that we could have food to eat and a house to live in. Thank you for always encouraging my talents and helping me to find new ones. Thank you for putting up with my constant talking and extreme opinions. Thank you for shopping from store to store with me for hours to find the jacket I had to have cause all the “cool” kids had one and then doing the same thing all over again to help me find clothes for my mission.Thank you for all the "ear cuts". Thank you for teaching me that family is the most important and how to be a good sibling even when I wasn’t always the best. Thank you for baptizing me. Thank you for being married in the covenant. Thank you for making the sacrifices that you did so that I could grow up where I did with privileges and opportunities that I did. Thank you for homemade bread. Thank you for making popcorn and carob milk to eat while we watch ‘Indiana Jones’ with a generator because the power went out one winter. Thank you for teaching me accountability for my actions. Thank you for making me always share a room with a brother. Thank you for teaching me how to work. Thank you for trips to the beach. Thank you holding me when I scraped my knee and cried. Thank you for explaining the “facts of life” to me, some parents don’t do that. Thank you for tamales and manger pageants at Christmas. Thank you for a wooden rocking horse made by hand. Thank you for family conversations with us all piled on the bed in the “family room”. Thank you for showing me how to love. Thank you for showing me how to forgive. Thank you for showing me how to serve. Thank you for teaching me how to respect sacred things. Thank you for leading me and guiding me and walking beside me. Most of all thank you for loving me.
For these and a myriad of other reasons both personal to me and to all of your other children, you have shown us how to have a successful marriage. Thank you for your example. I hope that I can follow in your footsteps and pray that you have many more great years of marriage for me and my children to learn from and enjoy being a part of. I love you Dad, I love you Mom.

Love,

Ethan

They're AWESOME Grandparents!

Eden and Papa Dean meeting Mikkel at the airport after his mission

Lili Mom with Bria and baby Eden right after her birth


Papa Dean and baby Isaac (July 2000)

Lili Mom and baby Isaiah

Cousins having fun at the family reunion

I want you to know that I thank my Heavenly Father regularly for the great blessing of Kirsten in my life and that she was raised in such a good home with wonderful parents. I am so thankful that our children can also have such wonderful grandparents. I can not express in words how grateful I am to be a part of your family. Your awesome examples, attitudes and resilience have taught and continue to teach me.

Happy Anniversary!!

Love,
Dan