This picture of our dying walnut tree represents a little of what we have been experiencing this month. A week ago, there were a few leaves on the bottom of the tree but it showed no other signs of life. So Scott bought a chainsaw and cut it down this week. I'm a little sad that we won't have that tree in our yard for children to climb and to harvest walnuts from. This May is a month for mourning in our family. Last week, my brother and sister-in-law lost their nephew Luke Carter, age 18, on his mission in Texas in a car accident. Then this morning, my mother-in-law died. She was diagnosed with an aggressive, advanced lymphoma a few weeks ago and passed quickly.  It reminds me of the May 9 years ago when my sister-in-law Alice died, a week after she gave birth to her 3rd child, leaving behind her 3-year-old and 1-year-old sons, her newborn daughter, and her distraught husband. Alice was a really amazing person. It was so hard to see that happen. I listened to a recording of h

Lincoln is turning 25! We're so glad to have him in our family. Here is his birth story: Lincoln was my only child born significantly after his due date at 10 days late. Everyone else was early or just one day late.  He was also my largest baby at 9 lbs. 2 oz. With Lincoln being my 4th child, I think all my abdominal muscles had given out so I carried him very low and everyone was convinced he was a boy. I saw a repairman the day before Lincoln was born and he said, "So are you about 2 months overdue or what?" Age 3 weeks Age 3 months Finally I went into labor in the middle of the night (like always) at 2:30am and I knew it wasn't going to take long. We called a friend to come be with the other kids and then we headed down to Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Springs, Maryland about 3am. It was 30 minutes away and on the way, the tire on our Toyota van was falling apart--delaminating. It was making some pretty loud thumps. Scott wondered if he should change the tire but I

  A while ago I listened to a  speech given by Harold Kushner, a rabbi from Massachusetts, in 1994 at BYU. It was a really good talk. He talked about why we need God. Near the end he talked about the difference between those who believe in God and those who don't. He said the difference is not who is a better person. He has known many atheists who were good people. The difference is this: "When we have both spent ourselves doing the good things we believe in, when we have both exhausted ourselves working for world peace and for understanding between the races and the faiths, when we have knocked ourselves out drying the tears of the bereaved and holding the hands of the faithful and we are just too tired to do it any longer, I have a God to whom I can turn who renews my faith so I can run and not grow weary, so I can walk and not feel faint. The atheist can only look deeper inside himself, and sooner or later he will run dry. The difference is that when we both want to do goo

 About a month ago, a friend in our ward gave a talk about prophets, using the story of President Hunter getting a bomb threat during a BYU fireside. She was an eye-witness to the event since her husband Lee Perry was a stake president at the time and they were sitting on the stand. I think it is a riveting story despite having heard it before so I wanted to share it here: Pres. Hunter about the time of the BOM threat President Hunter and the Bomb Threat by Carolyn Perry      On February 7, 1993, Howard W. Hunter, then President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was the speaker for the fireside at the BYU Marriott Center. Lee was a BYU stake president, and we were sitting on the stand that evening. President Hunter’s health wasn’t good, and his body was frail, but he was a determined man. He was a thoughtful, gentle, loving and kind soul. President Hunter approached the pulpit with help from two brethren on the stand. Within less than a half a sentence of his talk, screams were hear