David is turning 31 this week! We are so glad he is in our family. As our oldest child, he has been a great example for his younger siblings. David has a lot of scientific curiosity about the world and always has a new project going on--a weather balloon, aluminum foundry, making glass. His latest interest seems to be gardening--he started seeds for his garden back in January--and he now has compost worms which are the pets he never had. (Actually he did have a pet goldfish when he was a small child, named Alma which was not long for this world--just so I get credit for that.) David works hard to take care of his family and is doing a great job of that.
David and his very young (and clueless) parents
Age 3 months
Age 12 months
When David was not quite 2, he was crawling around on our bed and fell off, hitting his nose on the sharp edge of a table next to the bed. I hurried him off to the emergency room at nearby University Hospital and a plastic surgeon was able to stitch him up with about 9 stitches (a few internal ones). I got asked several times for my story to make sure I wasn't an abusive parent. Fortunately it healed well.
David with his birthday bike, age 2. David wasn't the happiest baby--he got overtired pretty easily and had a hard time going to sleep--and we were inexperienced parents. He was very driven to do things. He wasn't truly happy until he started walking and then talking. He loved riding bikes, going outside, and finding other kids to play with.
Age 2
Age 3
David, age 4 at preschool. We didn't have much money when David was little because Scott was in grad school. But there was an excellent preschool very close to our apartment that was subsidized by the university so David was able to go two years there and he loved it. He went with his good friend and neighbor, Allie Cohen.
Age 5
David started kindergarten at Shorewood Hills Elementary School in Madison, Wisconsin, walking to the school with two other friends from our married student housing. Then after about a month, we moved to Maryland for Scott's new job. David rode the bus to Diamond Elementary School. He was there for almost three years. After 2nd grade, we moved to Utah and he attended Cascade Elementary in Orem.
Age 6
David brought home the class teddy bear to have a sleepover and Jan joined in.
David loved being a big brother. Here he is holding baby Lincoln while Jan looks on.
David reading to his brothers--he lost a lot of teeth early on. We started orthodontic work when he was 7 because he had a crossbite as well as very crowded teeth so he had an expander which every other child in our family eventually had too.
David's big moment in the spotlight happened in 2nd grade when he had the lead role of the Prince penguin in the 2nd grade play: The Prince and the Penguin. David loved school and was a very cooperative and attentive child as well as quick so his teachers loved him--at least in elementary school. He started to get a little impatient with the slow pacing in high school so he would plug his ears in some of his classes and teach himself out of the textbook. That wasn't as popular. But he had learned to take charge of his own education which is an important thing to recognize.
David's baptism in Maryland. He got baptized with his friend, Kelli King.
David finally got the glasses we didn't know he needed about a month after he turned 8. He had been sitting really close to the TV and any books we were reading to him but we were again clueless. A whole new world opened up for him. Here he is holding new baby brother Everett.
Age 9
Age 10
Age 11
Age 12
Age 13
Age 14
Something else David loved was building things out of snow--tall snowmen, caves, etc.
A science project from his freshman year
David started playing the trombone in 7th grade and kept playing through high school and even into college. He enjoyed jazz band and marching band as well as regular band--also known as concert band.
Turning 15
Shortly after David turned 15, we moved to Germany for a year. I'm not sure how David felt about it--I think he had some pretty lonely moments trying to fit in at school there. But he worked really hard at German, being impressively disciplined in his studying, and really learned a lot that year. When he got called to Germany as a missionary, he left the MTC after 3 weeks instead of the usual 9. Our family enjoyed a lot of time together that year.
With his little sister Susanna. David taught her to ride a two-wheeler shortly after we moved to Germany.
Tired and dirty after Scout camp
Duet festival with Jan. David wasn't taking piano lessons at that time but Jan needed a partner so David was recruited. David took lessons from age 5-14.
With Jan doing marching band. David made some good friends in band.
Age 17
David did track his junior and senior years. He was eager to do as many extra-curricular activities as he could.
Age 16
David and Jan--last jazz band concert together. I think Jan was feeling a little sad about that.
Seminary graduation with Bishop Davis
Post seminary graduation with his Aunt Liesl (my youngest sister). They are 6 weeks apart in age and were pretty good friends. He didn't really have any cousins close to his age so Liesl helped fill that gap.
High school graduation at the Marriott Center.
Age 18--he was at BYU.
After a year at BYU, David left just a week after the semester ended for his mission to Germany. Here we are dropping off David at the MTC. I was the one feeling emotional that time.
David was a hard-working missionary in the Berlin Germany Mission.
Pascal's triangle
David, 19 and 20, on his mission in Germany
Missionary homecoming
Seeing me at the hospital after the airport--I had just donated my kidney that day
Age 21
Stephanie Forsyth was also a missionary in the Berlin Germany mission and David was her zone leader at one point. They came home about the same time and started getting to know each other better when Stephanie came down to Provo. David did an internship with Exxon Mobil for winter semester so their relationship was long-distance for a while. David came back to Provo for a weekend in early March and proposed to her behind the Provo Temple.
David and Stephanie got married about 15 months after he got home. Right after his mission we had challenged David to go on a date once a week when he got home from his mission, which he thought was excessive. But I guess he got over it!
David become a father at age 23 and has been a supportive dad and husband.
5-generation picture
Something David and Stephanie enjoy doing together is rock climbing
David started working for Exxon Mobil right after graduating from BYU and that job took them first to Alexandria, Virginia, then Houston, Texas, and then to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The weather balloon--I think David took this picture
A picture from the weather balloon
David was a Scoutmaster in Louisiana
After feeling undervalued by Exxon-Mobil, David applied for some new jobs and was quickly hired by Marathon to work at their refinery in Salt Lake City. We were super excited to have them living nearby again but I'm sure they are missed in their Louisiana ward. David has been a very faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints his entire life.
Christmas Day, 2019. So many people I love in this picture
Goblin Valley
Happy Birthday, David! We're so glad you're in our family!
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