Today is my anniversary!  Scott and I have been married for 28 years.  We went out to lunch together today and then on Saturday we'll do something in the evening.  Most years we go away for an overnight trip but this year we felt like we had too many things going on, including my son's graduation from BYU.  I feel very fortunate that I have been happily married all these years.  As I watch my children get married in their early 20's, I think about what a leap of faith it is to marry someone and form a family.  My husband and I were pretty young and clueless when we got married but somehow we have made it work. A picture from before we were engaged but after Scott proposed. When marriage doesn't happen, things can go really badly, especially for the children.  This morning I read a very sad article in the newspaper about a homeless man named Justin  who died on the streets of Salt Lake City.   He was only 38 years old.  It's a sad story from the beginning of h

Late last fall, the skinniest little cat came into our backyard and meowed at me.  It seemed like she was asking me for food!  I didn't know what to do exactly.  I didn't want to adopt a cat--neither my husband or I wants a pet, although our children do.  I was afraid if I fed it, it would become our pet.  But the poor cat was so skinny and winter was approaching, so I decided to put out some tuna fish for her.  And my two little girls were very interested in feeding the cat.  So we did and the tuna disappeared but we didn't see who ate it.  A few days later, she came back and Mindy decided to feed her some raw bacon and she ate it.  I even went out and bought some cat food and started putting it out.  But not long after, she completely disappeared.  I was really worried about her. And I worried more during the very snowy winter we had.  I didn't see how a homeless cat could survive by itself.  But about a month ago, she showed up!  We were out working in ou

This week is spring break so today I took the kids to This is the Place Park up in Salt Lake City.  Last year we made the mistake of going to the zoo over spring break and there were way too many people.  I had never been to This is the Place so we decided to check that out. I really enjoyed the day and I think my children did too.  There were plenty of people there but there were a lot of interactive activities to go around and the crowds didn't feel overwhelming. First we met at the monument which is just outside the actual park.  I dropped the kids off, found parking and then met them at the monument which was erected in 1947, the 100th anniversary of the pioneers entering the valley. Next, we headed for the petting corral.  They had quite a few baby animals plus mothers in the corral for us to pet.  My youngest two had never done this so they were pretty scared at first.  But they got used to it and enjoyed it.  One poor mother goat had a very full udder.  I w