A year later, Dean joined Suzy Bogguss and twelve-year-old singer Jillian Arciero (credited as Jillian) on "Please Keep Mom and Dad in Love," which was issued on Rogers's Dreamcatcher Records, and never included on an album. Although he continued touring, he did not chart again until 2003 with "I'm in Love With You", released on the independent View 2 label. His next release for View 2 was a cover of John Denver's "Thank God I'm a Country Boy". Curb Records took over promotion of this single shortly after its release, and by mid-2004 it reached number 27 on the country charts. Following it was the single "Let Them Be Little", co-written by Richie McDonald of Lonestar and recorded by the band on its 2004 album "Let's Be Us Again". Dean's seventh studio album, also titled "Let Them Be Little", was finally issued in late 2004 on Curb. Although "Let Them Be Little" reached a peak of number 8 on the country charts in early 2005, the album's other singles all failed to reach Top 40. A Christmas music album, "The Christ (A Song for Joseph)", followed in late 2005. Included on the album was a duet with his daughter.