Our son Jan turned 25 the other day!  Here are some great things about him: 1.  He graduated from BYU this year!  He actually finished his degree in Computer Engineering the previous June in 2016 but waited to go through the graduation ceremony until his wife Sallie finished her degree in April, 2017.  He was a good student and was diligent in earning and keeping a scholarship so that he completely paid for his post-high school education plus living on his own. 2.  He works hard to support his family.  He got a part-time job/internship at Qualtrics in January of 2016 and they offered him a full-time job upon his finishing school that June.  He works hard every day to be a good employee.  I asked him once what his favorite part of his job was and he said, "Going home."  So obviously it's work and not all fun but the important thing is that he goes and does it. 3.  He is a good husband.  He and Sallie got marrie...

Our third son Garrett had a birthday a few days ago.  Now he's 23!  Here are some great things about Garrett: 1.  He got married this year!  Marriage requires faith and courage and I'm proud of him for making that big step in his life.  Plus, he brought AnnaSue into our family and she's a great addition. 2.  He's enthusiastic!  Garrett is pretty cheerful most of the time and is always up for something.  3.  He works hard.  He's been going to school for a while now and is working hard to someday be able to support his family.  He and AnnaSue are both working part-time right now and using scholarship money, etc. to support themselves completely.  They have big plans for the summer and are saving up money for that. 4.  He is a good husband.  He cooks dinner for them and does whatever needs to happen for their family. 5.  He likes to have fun.  He and Ann...

This last week, my former uncle died quite suddenly at age 71 of a heart attack.  He's my former uncle because after being married to my aunt, my mother's sister, for 20 years and having 10 children with her, he decided he was really in love with someone else.  So they got divorced and he married this other woman.  He bought into the lie that marriage is just until you find someone better and the effect on his family was not insignificant.  At the time this all happened, I was trying to decide whether to marry my husband or not so we had some long discussions about what love and commitment means. This event is helping me be thankful for my husband.  I have never had reason to doubt his loyalty and commitment.  He is supportive of me and has worked very hard to support our family financially as well as in other ways like helping around the house and with the children.  I'm sure I have taken him for granted at many times in our married life. ...

Ten years ago, in the spring, our second son, named Jan, was a Boy Scout.  He had earned his Life so  he was eligible to work on his Eagle Project.  I wasn't really thinking about doing it because he was only 14 and it seemed like we had lots of time.  But a member of the Boy Scout Committee got an idea for a project and she decided that this should be Jan's project.  She was not someone you could say no to. The project was related to a memorial to Japanese POW's which was located on some school property near the local junior high and elementary school.  This memorial was on a corner and did not stand out in any way because it was small and it was surrounded by grass.  This woman thought we should put a little garden in the area around it, thereby making it more distinctive. Before we did any work back in 2007 So we did, not really knowing what we were doing or how to get it funded. We designed a garden that we hoped would work for that are...