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Our Family and Children Our kids made this collage of past family photos to surround the central theme of our home life: "The Family: A Proclamation to the World." It hangs on our dining room wall as a constant reminder of the need for a healthy home life of love and peace. Over the years, Kaye and I have been blessed with great family joys, wonderful shared experiences. We have raised ten children, each with their own special gifts and capacities. They are listed below with just a brief individual description: Anne: Studied at three universities; bright, talented lawyer; worked for the U.S. Patent Office; nearly killed in an auto accident that changed her life; put that career behind her to work full-time for an international NGO in Africa. David: U.S. Marine; BA from the University of Pennsylvania; Masters in Russian and Eastern European Studies at Georgetown University; pilot for IBM, then American Airlines; now full-time pilot with U.S. Air Force, based in Germany; flies C-130s to and from Iraq. Julie: Our adopted Mexican daughter; sweet, loving individual who always cares about animals and people; married and living in Eastern U.S.; works at retail store; has 3 children. Marc: Our adopted Brazilian son; studied college in Italy and Brazil; went back from the U.S. to his birth country and found his birth mother; former United Airlines manager until laid off after 9-11-01; now has a pilot's license and is in Brazilian flight school preparing to become a commercial pilot. Erik: Served two-year mission in Chile; taught at Missionary Training Center while getting BA in Spanish; MBA-HR degree from BYU; worked for a global consulting firm and is now at corporate headquarters of a major apparel firm in the midwest doing training, OD and consulting with top executives. Douglas: Called to a Brazilian mission; currently a part-time college student while working at corporate office of a major Utah fast-food firm; designs new buildings as the company expands, as well as trouble-shoots all technical systems; can fix anything; married and has two children. Ryan: One of our triplets; served a mission to Taiwan for 2 years, Mandarin-speaking; presently a full-time student at a community college; newly married; also a full-time installer/supervisor for a home interior design products firm. Kristiana: Our triplet daughter; attended junior college and beauty school; graduated and worked at several hair salons; married and now busy raising two children in Virgina; a sweet, wonderful, capable young wife and mother. Kevin: One of the triplets; served a mission in Paris, France for two years; came back and went to community college; part-owner and corporate manager supervising some 30 technicians in the Bay area of Northern California; a technical genius; married in 2004. Micah: Our youngest, the last of a long line of children; went to community college and EMT training as an emergency care worker; currently employed as a framer in constructing new homes in Utah; loves working at Sundance Ski Resort during winters and hanging out with Robert Redford; intensely dating; still unsure what he wants to do in his life. It should be noted that we not only were blessed with many children, but we also enjoyed having a number of other young adults live in our home, each for a year or so. It didn't seem like we had sufficient space since our house had only four bedrooms, but by doubling or tripling up the number of kids per room, we survived, whether sleeping in bunk beds, the basement, or the garage which was converted into a people bedroom rather than an automobile bedroom. We've kept quite close with most of these "expanded" members of our family, and treasure our years together. We still see some of them, their spouses and kids who we also consider extended family. These great friends lived with us for room, board and salary as they sought to attend college, and either they needed a place to stay, or a support system, or we needed extra help because of health problems or the sheer challenge of trying to manage so many children and their activities. The first names of these special young adult "children" are Maris and Mariane who came to us from Brazil; Debbie and Monica from Oregon; Charity from California; Jenaee who went with us for a year of college in Hawaii when we enjoyed a sabbatical; Shanna from North Carolina, who lived with us several years before and after her mission to Los Angeles (Spanish speaking); and Cassandra (Cassie). So if you total all these individuals up, the number is 18. The sheer number suggests the old addage that "it takes a village to raise a child." Teaching, working with, helping to educate and learning to love so many wonderful persons in our home has been a great joy and a lot of work. But most of all, it's been a sacred trust that Kaye and I have tried to be worthy of, hoping to support each youngster in their life's goals and dreams, learning from them as they learned from us as well. Kaye has been the greatest asset in all of this because she is so skilled at managing people, handling large groups, and dealing with complexity. As a professor of Organizational Behavior, I must confess, I learned more about organizations, systems, and team building from my wife and children than I ever learned during my PhD studies, BYU career, or corporate consulting with Fortune 500 firms.