Books, Betty &

We live ten paces from woods comprised of


My mom met Elizabeth Hansen in 1970 when they began working together in the print shop of UEA headquarters, Murray, Utah. Betty was wonderful: kind,
Long after mom left UEA and Betty retired, they remained friends.

I remember visiting Betty at her home on Kensington Street in Salt Lake.

Apostle Song

General Conference is coming . . . Woo Hoo! We love Conference. One of our favorite parts is The Apostle Song. Did you know that the surnames of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve fit nicely to the tune of Ten Little Indians? It has since April, 1995, anyway. Granted, dropping the titles of President and Elder makes this irreverent enough that it will never appear in any official Church publication, but it gets our kids excited about today's prophets, seers, and revelators. Try the March, 2008 version for yourself . . .

Monson, Eyring, Uchtdorf, Packer, Perry, Nelson, Oaks, Ballard, Wirthlin, Scott, Hales, Holland, Bednar, Cook, plus one more

Ruthie is better than all of us at remembering that Presidents Eyring and Uchtdorf now come at the beginning. : )

27 May 2007: Christofferson fits the song perfectly. Must have been divinely orchestrated. ; )

Five Years

Note: This post was written when we thought Mark would soon be leaving for a 15 month deployment.

March 18th marked the five year anniversary of the war. Where were you the night we invaded Iraq?

I was out with some girlfriends at a Mexican restaurant in Arlington, Virginia. The official announcement had not been made, but everyone knew something was coming. One of our friends, "Jen," whose husband worked for "the State Department," had actually asked her not to go out that night. (He's in no way controlling, just burdened with classified information.) Jen made her case to her husband. He said, "OK, but please be home by eight."

It struck me that night at the restaurant that we could all break out singing a Les Miserables song:

Tomorrow we'll discover
What our God in Heaven has in store!
One more dawn, one more day, one day more!

Now, five years later, I pay respects to countless empty chairs at empty tables. My deepest sympathies to families of men, women and children, from all over the world, who have passed away in this conflict.

As our little family stands at the brink of the storm, I pray in the words of Jean Valjean: "God on high, hear my prayer. In my need you have always been there . . . You can take; you can give. Let him be . . . Let him live. Bring him home."

(Incidentally, I have every confidence that Mark will come home, physically whole and mentally and spiritually unscathed.)

I pray, too, that all mankind will someday learn "the truth that once was spoken: To love another person is to see the face of God!"

I draw tremendous solace from the Les Mis finale:

For the wretched of the earth there is a flame that never dies. Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise . . . [We] will live again in freedom in the garden of the Lord. [We] will walk behind the plough-share, [we] will put away the sword. The chain will be broken and all men will have their reward.

I pray for peace when tomorrow comes.

Praying for a Huskey

Tonight while getting the kids ready for bed, I asked Hyrum if he'd offered his "very own prayer," yet. He said yes, and that he'd prayed that Uncle Steve and Aunt Shannon would let cousin Rachyl get the huskey she wants when she's old enough.

Not sure what prompted his prayer. Don't even know if Hyrum heard about Lance Mackey winning the Iditarod, today. On a recent trip to WalMart, Hyrum did find a beginning reader book about the origin of the Iditarod, which he read while riding in the shopping cart. Could have been that; could have been the Spirit prompting him. At any rate, Rachyl, you have someone rooting for you. ; )

Here's the best picture of Rachyl that I could find in our files. When Mark gets home, I'll have him reteach me how to zoom in so you can actually see her. Rachyl's in the middle, holding Lily.

Here's a funny Rachyl picture. Notice her Snow Dog Super Mush t-shirt. We hope you had fun following the Iditarod!

Monkeys from Dad

The day Mark left for JRTC, he placed these monkeys on Hyrum and Ruthie's pillows with notes that said:

Hyrum & Ruthie,

I love you. You can hug these monkeys while I'm @ JRTC. : )

Love,

Daddy : )

Lilly got a puppy.

Happy Birthday, Ruthie!

Ruthie turned three yesterday.

What a wonderful three years she has blessed us with.

We love you so much, Princess!

Here's Ruth on her first birthday . . .

Easter Tree

My mom's sister, Judy, made this holiday tree for Mom probably 25 years ago. The tree was a Christmas gift which originally included Christmas "suckers" handmade of bread dough. Subsequent Christmases brought additional sucker sets: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Valentine's and Easter. Mom sent this treasure to us a while back, and the kids have really enjoyed it.

The other day, I had promised Hyrum and Ruthie that we would pull out the Easter suckers, but we ran out of time before bedtime. So the Easter Bunny put it up for us. (Ruthie says she drove her multi-colored pastel car to our house.) Watching Hyrum and Ruthie's faces light up the next morning was priceless.