We have another high school graduate! Mindy officially graduated on Thursday. She had to work really hard in math which is a hard subject for her but she persevered and got through. We had dinner at Culver's beforehand so she could be at UVU at 6pm like she needed to be. We took pictures at Orem High the week before. Since she was sitting on the front row for choir, she got lots of showings on the Jumbotron. Mindy was one of the first to be called. Everett, Caroline, Susanna, Jay, Camille, Scott, and I all cheered loudly for her. But the whole graduation became some kind of contest to see who could cheer the loudest. It got amazingly loud. Someone had an air horn; someone else had a small confetti cannon. By the end, Scott and I were plugging our ears. We're getting old and we have to protect the last shreds of our hearing! Today she gave a talk in church so now she's done all the things--the parties, the senior send-off at school, the ceremony. Congratulations, Mindy!

 Another birthday for Lincoln! This year I'm going to do birthday posts on the elementary school years. Right before kindergarten Lincoln learned to ride a two-wheeler on the infamous purple bike which motivated Garrett to also learn at the same time.  Lincoln started kindergarten at Cascade Elementary. Most days he rode his bike there--a little less than half a mile away. I think it was a little scary for him at first. He was a good kindergarten student and seemed to enjoy his class with Mrs. Sumsion. On the first day of school, he was feeling very serious. At the end of kindergarten, Lincoln turned 6 and not long after that, his little brother Talmage was born. There is a famous story of Lincoln when he was about 6 or 7 at the cemetery on Memorial Day. He saw a stone marked "P.M." (probably for a water line), and asked me in all seriousness, "Is there a clock buried here?" It was a reasonable question! In first grade Lincoln started playing soccer on the same ...

 Recently I read another amazing story by  Becky Douglas  who founded the charity in India called Rising Star. She just has one incredible story after another. I'll summarize it here. Becky was 7 1/2 months pregnant with her third child. She had just finished another school year teaching seminary. Her husband was frequently out of town so she would have to wake her two toddlers up at 5:15 and take them with her to the church 25 minutes away. Naps were in short supply and she was very sleep-deprived. (I get the impression she frequently pushes herself to the limit.) One night her toddler woke up with a nightmare so Becky laid down with her in her bed to help her go back to sleep. As she lay there she realized she had a fever and was feeling terrible. When she tried to go back to bed, she didn't have the strength to walk so she ended up crawling. It took her three tries to get into bed. Then she couldn't speak loud enough to wake up her husband. She just lay there in pain,...

 Recently I listened to an episode on "In Good Faith" which is a show on BYU Radio. It's a story about a grizzly bear attack in Grand Teton National Park. The story is told by Michael Dunn who is the Managing Director of BYU Broadcasting and he's also an Area Seventy for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The attack happened in 1994 when Elder Dunn was vacationing with his family in Grand Teton National Park when he was 36 years old. Michael had grown up with a single mom in Salt Lake City as a member of the Episcopal Church. Despite being in Salt Lake City, he was completely oblivious to the Church of Jesus Christ and didn't become familiar with it until he was a teenager and started going to public school because he wanted to do more sports and have more girls to date. He became friends with some kids who were members of the church and noticed the atmosphere in their homes was different than he had experienced before. He started learning about it s...

 Yesterday Susanna and Jay got sealed in the Provo City Center Temple! We were happy to be there and celebrate with them. Susanna wasn't excited about pictures but we got a few. The flowers were really beautiful. In the last week with the warmer weather, everything has exploded with blossoms--lilacs, cherry trees, tulips, etc. It was a little chilly and about to rain but fortunately held off until we were finished. After pictures, we went to our house and had a delicious dinner of brisket, baked beans, potatoes, rolls, salad, fruit, and brownies.