About 20 years ago on our anniversary, Scott and I started telling our kids the story of how we met. After a few years of that, the kids thought it was a pretty boring story, so Scott made up a new story.  It involved my being in a motorcycle gang, wearing tight black leather pants and halter top, playing in a rock band, and having a really ugly dog named Butt--basically all the things I hate. It was the anti-Paula. The kids thought it was hilarious and it's definitely way more popular than the true story. But for posterity, I'm going to tell the true story. In the fall of 1987, I started my second year at BYU and Scott was in his third year. We were both studying music. In addition to orchestra, we had a daily class together with only 20 students but we didn't know each other. In September near my birthday, my friend Judy asked him to go play happy birthday on his trombone at the Student Employment Office where I worked. But he wouldn't do it because he didn't know...

  I recently received my latest copy of BYU Studies and read this personal essay that touched my heart. I share it with you here: Aguas Vivas by  Thea Jo Buell So, was there anything you just couldn’t find there?” I asked the newly returned missionary. He had been home from Guatemala for a few months, and I would be leaving for the same country soon. He looked puzzled at my question and thought for several seconds before answering. “Balloons,” he said. It was my turn to look puzzled. Why would a missionary need balloons? I was later to wish he had mentioned cotton swabs, which was more the sort of answer I was looking for, but as I collected supplies for my upcoming service, I trustingly purchased a half dozen bags of inexpensive, brightly colored party balloons and tucked them into a corner of my luggage. I carried the balloons with me for seven months. Then I was sent to serve in Escuintla, a port city by the El Salvadoranean border. Sister Garcia and I were assigned two are...

 For spring break, our usual pattern is to drive down to Green River and stay one night in a hotel with a swimming pool. Then we drive somewhere the next day and visit some sites in the area. With Moab an hour from Green River and the San Rafael Swell, there are lots of places to go. We decided to join with David and Stephanie and their children in our spring break fun. We left on Thursday afternoon and drove to Green River, staying at the Comfort Inn. We swam in the hotel pool and when I say we, I mean everyone but me. The next day, we drove to the Crystal Geyser, very close to the Green River. It's a man-made geyser created by some drilling, that is right next to the Green River. It goes off every 12-16 hours and is pretty unpredictable so we didn't get to see it erupt. But it was still interesting to see what it leaves behind. Next, we drove to Canyonlands National Park because we wanted to go to the area called "The Needles". Unfortunately, the line was literally ...

 One of my goals for this year (which is going to take a LONG time) is to organize our digital pictures. So today, I came across this video. Someone is playing the piano for a festival (you never see him but I think it's Everett) and Dad pans the audience. Everyone looks a little bored but Lincoln is engrossed in this riveting performance.   Short but funny.

Recently Lamb of God: The Concert Film came out in theaters. Scott and I saw it on opening night and loved it. He took his mom to see it about a week later and I took our girls to see it on spring break. It was just as amazing the second time. I think it will be a favorite for a long time.  Here's an  article  that tells how it was made. One of the main parts is the cello which portrays the voice of Christ. The cellist is a woman I knew from my music days at BYU, Nicole Pinnell. She has had her struggles in her adult life. She got married during her time at BYU and then a few years later, she and her husband left the LDS church. She was away from the church for about 20 years during which time she got divorced. A few years ago, she came back to the church. Last week I listened to the blog, "This is the Gospel," in which Nicole tells about an experience she had while recording the movie in conjunction with another experience she had at the same time in trying to forgive s...

 In the interest of keeping my blog real so I remember that not everything turns out lovely, I'm sharing my fail of a few weeks ago. We were having a family dinner with our children and I wanted to do a Cafe Rio salad with the sweet pork base. I started the day before with cooking the pork. I had all the ingredients, including 6 pounds of pork shoulder, and a recipe that my SIL had recommended. I put everything together in the crockpot and cooked it all day until late afternoon. Then right before my date with my husband, I wanted to finish it up and stick it in the fridge so I wouldn't have to take care of it when I got home. I tasted the pork and it was tasting pretty good.  Then I added the red enchilada sauce that the recipe called for but I soon realized I had added way too much. So I drained off as much as I could and then I tasted what was left.  So disappointing! I have not had much red enchilada sauce in my life and it turns out...I am NOT a fan! Scott helped me a...

 David is turning 31 this week! We are so glad he is in our family.  As our oldest child, he has been a great example for his younger siblings. David has a lot of scientific curiosity about the world and always has a new project going on--a weather balloon, aluminum foundry, making glass. His latest interest seems to be gardening--he started seeds for his garden back in January--and he now has compost worms which are the pets he never had. (Actually he did have a pet goldfish when he was a small child, named Alma which was not long for this world--just so I get credit for that.) David works hard to take care of his family and is doing a great job of that. David and his very young (and clueless) parents Age 3 months Age 12 months When David was not quite 2, he was crawling around on our bed and fell off, hitting his nose on the sharp edge of a table next to the bed. I hurried him off to the emergency room at nearby University Hospital and a plastic surgeon was able to stitch hi...