VIP Hailey!!!!!

So I know it's been a while since the last VIP for the rest of the family, but I figured out that I didn't know who to do!!!! It was a lot easier doing all the In-laws, because even though I don't hang out with u girls and guy on a regular basis, I have had an extended period of time where I got to know each of you a little bit. However with our Nieces and Nephews, most of them haven't even gone to school yet, and the ones that have are either in Georgia and I haven't seen them in years, or he's in California and is just barely starting, so he probably wouldn't be able to read any of this yet. So I'll share a couple of my memories that I have of her.
So I've talked about how Mandi and Aaron were a lot of firsts for me, first wedding that I had some sort of real connection to, first brother that lived in a house, first brother to have cable, or internet, or even a computer first one to have a kid. I remember Mandi being pregnant with Hailey, and I don't think I fully understood what the heck was going on, I knew they were gonna get a baby soon, I don't think I knew that the baby was going to come out of Mandi. But I remember when Hailey was born, I don't remember the specifics, but I do remember someone telling me that Mandi and Aaron had had their baby. The day that I went to see the new baby was so weird, I didn't understand why we were at some huge building that was filed with rooms, but I do remember the first time I saw little Hailey, everyone was saying how tiny she was but I thought she was pretty big because I was so small. I remember that everyone else got to look at her and passed her around the room, I remember wanting to hold her but being to afraid to ask. Mandi or Aaron I can't remember which but I think it was Mandi, looked at me and said "Kailie do you want a turn?" I'd been waiting so of course I said yes, they told me to sit down and I could hold her. She was so beautiful, I couldn't believe that she was a tiny little person, I think I'm thinking of the right baby but I'm not entirely sure cuz there have been so many kids! I remember she had a lot of hair and everyone was amazed at that. I remember that at some point after that, I thought she was my Birthday present from Heavenly Father, cuz she was born the day after my b-day, and every time I think of Hailey, I think of her as my best birthday present. I love you Hailey

Larkie and the Chipmunks!

So I'm sitting listening to christmas songs from my playlist and "Christmas Don't Be Late" from the original Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas CD came on. I rememberred this one time when we were little, Larkie decided to make up a fun act in her spare time where She was Alvin, Audge was Simon, and I was Theodore. I don't remember if we filmed it or put on a show for the family, or if we just did it for fun, but I remember putting dance moves to it, and Larkie acting like a frustrated Alvin. We must've listened to that song a hundred times too get it down perfectly, but I had so much fun that after that I just kept playing that song. I think that somebody must've eventually hid it from me cuz they got so sick of it but to this day I still smile and try to remember the dance moves we originally thought up.

Dad's Surprise VIP!!!!!

Dad's VIP

Aaron-The thing I wanted to highlight about dad is that he has always taught us kids to execute any thing that the lord reveals to us and we will always be blessed. Once I was talking to dad and he asked, "So are you going to marry this girl or what?" prior to that question I had been praying to heavenly father as to how I should pursue with this relationship. Once dad asked that question the spirit let me know that this is the girl I needed to marry. I am glad that dad has taught me to always follow the spirit because my life has been truly blessed because of my eternal companion.

Nate-

Kurt- In thinking back to my experiences with Dad I'd like to point out that many of my experiences with Dad have shown me that Dad has a talent for anticipating an outcome and making action so that the out come would be benificial either to him or those he loves. This talent has blessed the lives of all who are in his personal circle both physically and spiritually. I remember one day we had a lot of relatives over for some reason or another and we were sitting in the living room socializing. Some in chairs and some on the ground. A small baby of one of our relatives was set over by the fire place and while it was sitting there it lost its balance and began to fall backward. In a flash Dad dove over and made a diving catch of the back of the babys head before it could smash onto the edge of the brick which at that time made the fire place. Another experience similar to that was that of Kailie Dirt skiing with the rest of her older siblings. The dirt ski consisted of a chain link fence that was fastened to a very heavy metal construction beam. We would fasten that to the truck and drag it around the farm to eliminate all the weeds. To make it more fun we would fasten ropes to the construction beam and stand on the chain link fence. By fastening ropes it enabled us to lean our weight back and provided us a little more stability. Kailie must of only been between the ages of 6 and 8. The driver for our adventure was not very experienced and kept on slowing and excellerating making keeping your balance while dirt skiing a little bit more challenging. Well one time the driver slowed to an abrupt stop followed by a quick excel. And in that instant Kailie had lost her balance fallen forward to the ground just in front of the metal dirt ski. In the same instant that Kailie had fallen and was about to become worm food Dad leaped forward to the ground after her, grabbed her tight in his arms and rolled himself and her outward to safety just as the dirt ski swallowed the ground she landed on. To this day I can remember my exact thought after seeing it with my own eyes. "How did he just do that?!" Dad uses this same talent to protect all of his childrens spirituality and virtue. I'll always love and respect him for that ability among countless others.

Jake-Kids want to impress their parents. When I was very young I could fit underneath the upside down Y formed by the folding chairs at church and I remember dad being impressed that I could. I remember him setting up little obstacle courses for me to crawl through. Another tender memory was at chuck e cheese. Dad seemed to love watching me play skee ball and one time I had so many winnings I was able to buy a chuck e cheese folder for school. As I got older impressing dad continued to be one of my main motivations in life. I had my work cut out for me though because kurt was such a shining star. Even though I may have fallen short in my performance at times dad still seemed genuinely impressed with me. So I guess what's magical about dad is his ability to motivate you to reach for the stars and make you feel genuinely good about yourself when you only grabbed a piece of the moon.

Luke-William Edward Shillig Jr. has been a light on the hill to all whom he has come in contact with. It all started with his desire to lead his family as a teenager, to go and serve a full time mission for the Church. It seems like from a young age Dad had a deeply rooted desire to seek out truth and cleave to it with all his heart. We see evidences of this in his conversion story at college, his missionary service, in his courtship of Lark Turner, and most importantly in raising his children to be truth seekers as well. Out of everything that I have learned from Dad the one truth that I think has changed my life the most was how to receive inspiration from the Holy Ghost. I can remember a very specific time in my life when I began to question everything my Mother and Father told me. Ever since I was a young child I can remember hearing the adage that is so common among church membership. "Joseph Smith is a Prophet, he translated the Book of Mormon from the gold plates that he found in a hill, I know that these things are true." I must have heard our parents, especially our father say that phrase, a hundred times over. As my mind became more and more independent, and I began to think for myself, I remember questioning this statement. I remember one time in particular where I heard Dad testify to me that the church was true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and I was so fed up with people saying that they knew these things to be true when they had not seen Joseph Smith with their own eyes, that I outright questioned Dad. "How do you know that Joseph Smith was a prophet?" I asked, "Did you meet him? Did you see the gold plates with your own eyes?" I thought I had Dad in a corner with that question, but then he replied with a life changing statement, "You can know if the church is true too, all you have to do is pray and find out!" After he said that, I didn't say a word, because I hadn't thought to try that yet. His words cut me to the bone because I had not been living and seeking truth as I should. So I began a spiritual quest, and my mind began turning. I began thinking day in and day out whether or not the Book of Mormon was true. Then one day when I was at church in Sunday School, Brother Waterhouse was teaching my class and gave a promise to all those in attendance that if we read the Joseph Smith testimony in the beginning of the Book of Mormon, and prayed and asked God if it were true, that he would tell us that it was true. Because I had just recently been told this truth by my Father I felt like this was my chance to learn if it was true or not. I waited until the whole class left the room, read the Joseph Smith Testimony, and knelt down to pray about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. In my prayer I asked God to tell me if the church was true and that the Book of Mormon was true, I told him that I wanted to know so that I could know whether or not I should follow my Mother and Father in their examples of living the Gospel. I finished my prayer, got up and nothing happened. Then I walked down the hall and into the sacrament meeting room when all of the sudden the spirit began to burn within me, the spirit that began to grow within me was so strong that I might as well have had a ton of bricks dropped from the heavens and land immediately in front of me as a testimony of the truth. From that day on, I knew, and I knew that I knew. I may have strayed from the straight and narrow a time or two, but that experience always kept me coming back for more. In some ways I feel like I owe that experience to Dad, he set the pattern in front of me, and eventually I decided to test it out for myself, and thanks be to God that I did.

Even today, Dad is still teaching me things, and mentoring me in things regarding the spirit. I always enjoy our discussions and and I hope I can learn as much as I possibly can from him before he is called back to that God who set him on this Earth

Larkie-I have realized now being a parent why you did the things you did. I used to hate when you mixed cereal, but now that I buy the grocerys and use tupperware containers for my cereal I can't stand throwing out the last little bit that isn't eaten yet to make room for the new stuff. Well guess what I do yes i mix them. I now know the importance of teaching your children the word special body. I thought it would be good to teach my child the real names. Boy I was so very wrong. Now my sweet daughter uses the words penis and vagina like she is asking for a piece of candy. Oh the wonderful things you have done for us. You have also been a wonderful father to confide in and are great at always having open arms to us. Thank you, you are wonderful. Thank you for singing us to sleep video,gaming us asleep. and again always being there for us. I love you daddy.

Audrey- There's a lot of things I could say about dad but the most prominent thing in my mind is that I've always been able to talk to dad and he's always been able to talk to me. He's always been willing to do stuff with me. I remember as a little kid playing ball in the front yard with him throwing and me hitting, when I was a teen I remember driving home from basketball games and talking to him not only about every day things but about spiritual things and I've always been grateful for those opportunities I've had to talk to dad my fondest memories are watering the garden with dad and talking to him while he's watering the garden. Those times I've shared with him are something that I'll always love and hold dear to my heart. he's an excellent example of patience and positive thinking, one I often look to if I'm struggling in those areas and I'm so blessed to have him as a dad.

Kailie- I've always loved that dad has treated all of his kids with respect. Every single kid I've talked to seems to have a similar experience with dad bringing out the best in them. I always felt like the Black Sheep in our family, because I was really awkward and obnoxious in front of people, I wasn't all that great at sports, and I just felt a little different from my brothers and sisters. Even though I was more interested in music and Dance than I was in soccer or little league Dad related to me and helped me to be comfortable with myself, when I told Dad I wanted to try out for the school play he said “That's great Honey, well why don't we try out together!?” he made me go to choir when I was embarrassed because I was the only person under 30 there, and I'm glad he did because otherwise I wouldn't have developed my voice. Dad would tell me why people were cruel and stupid people and why they would pick on me, he even gave me some advice on the different situations, like “just tell 'em to go pound sand!” or “Well Honey if you want them to quit botherin you why don't you just give 'em a punch in the nose, they'll stop making fun of you Real Quick!!” Dad somehow knew exactly what I needed at all times, wether it was encouragement or a reprimand, total support or to let me figure out the problem myself. You've been an amazing teacher, and I think that's one of the best things you could ask for in a father. I love you Dad and I hope I can be half as great as a parent as you.

Isaac-I have so many great memories with dad and he always helps me to aspire to do better, like being patient. One great memory I have with dad is when we went to hungry valley together and we rode all day long. We spent time with each other and he set a great examples 4 me that day and sets a good example for my friends and I'm so glad I have a dad who will spend time with me. Dad is always willing to have fun but he will always choose the right thing to do and I'm grateful 4 that. I love u dad

Elli- When I was turning 11 we were doing a glowstick thing and dad was dancin and it was dark, dad was dancing so hilariously I couldn't stop laughing. dad has an awesome sense of humor I love you dad thanks for being the funniest dad that doesn't drink or smoke at my parties like some kids have to deal with. You dad are able to be crazy and funny without having to be drunk. I love u dad