And I go the way of all the world

Friends,

As we mourn the passing of our beloved Prophet, I am reminded of those bittersweet words recorded by Nephi of his father Lehi, another great prophet, towards the end of his life. The words found on the dust jacket of one of President Hinckley’s recent publications are also particularly poignant; “Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” 2 Cor. 4:16. I am grateful to have been lead by such a kind, faithful and unwavering man of God as was Gordon B. Hinckley. With his passing may we reflect on his singular life and example.

May we also look forward with faith, our prayers turning towards those charged with bearing off the kingdom of God. He has said "This is His work in which we are engaged and there is no more important work in all the world... No people have been charged with a greater, more inclusive mandate than we have, you and I." Remembering President Hinckley's words I hope we can each strive to stand a little taller, as he so often urged.

With Love,

Nathaniel Cannon

Grant Sings the Classics

With the discovery of his voice, Grant has become a non-stop jabberer (as opposed to the occasional grunter he was in the past). We love the two-way conversations! However, whenever I play the piano or organ his voice becomes qualitatively different from his normal talking. Watch the video to hear Grant sing along to his mom's piano playing . . .

Go Cougars (or Nitanny Lions?)

For those who don't know, the mascot of Penn State is the Nittany Lion. Mount Nittany (the term "mount" is used loosely back East) was once part of the eastern range of the North American Mountain Lion (aka cougar). Hence the name and mascot. I've been out here in State College for the last few days interviewing with faculty and visiting the campus. We're excited at the possibility of coming out here for PhD. work in the "Genomics and Bioinformatics" program, with a focus on plant molecular evolution. Maybe the Cannons' will remain cougars... State college is also situated in what is locally referred to as Happy Valley. Coincidence?


Penn State has a nice campus. Lots of red brick and white columns. The aptly named State College (yeah, that's really the name of the town) is composed of some 45,000 students with a total of about 60,000 in population. It shows. I thought Provo was a college town. State College is funny. Everyone always says everything is 10 minutes away. There's a small ski slope on the other side of the valley, ten minutes away. It takes ten minutes to walk over to the stadium, but on game day it takes ten minutes to drive. "Well ain't this place a geographical oddity...." Ulysses Everett McGill

Spreading the Joy of Mathematics to Children Everywhere

For my technology and mathematics education class, we compiled a list of useful math resources. I was in charge of the section for younger kids and mathematics (you'll have to scroll down to find my section). I assembled links to sites with great resources for helping your child (even infants and toddlers) learn mathematics. It's never too young to start. And if you aren't too keen on mathematics, most of the sites have information about other subjects as well.

I strongly recommend the PBS site (thanks Kristi) and the Department of Education site.


And for those of you who just check this blog to see pictures of Grant Quayle, here's a picture of Grant after doing some fun math!

Fashion Math

Here is the current count of clothes Grant can wear:
Sweatshirts/Sweaters: 11
Shirts: 25
Pants/Overalls: 20
One-piece: 8
Jammies: 12


That makes
12 jammie-outfits
8 one-piece outfits
88 one-piece/sweater combo outfits
500 pant/shirt combo outfits
5500 pant/shirt/sweater combo outfits



For a grand-total of 6108 different outfits. If Grant wore a different outfit every hour, how many days would it take him to wear all of his outfits?

Special thanks to all those who made this math problem possible: friends, family, and especially grandmas. We love you all!

Mrs. Munns Would Be Proud

For those of you who don't know Mrs. Munns (which is probably most of you), she was my high school sewing teacher. I made this baby sleeper my junior year and I have been waiting these past nine years for someone who could wear it! It is finely crafted if I do say so myself. Grant certainly seems happy to wear it.