Brotherly Love

Declaring our testimony of the gospel is good, but being a living example of the restored gospel is better. Wishing to be more faithful to our covenants is good; actually being faithful to sacred covenants - including living a virtuous life, paying our tithes and offerings, keeping the Word of Wisdom, and serving those in need - is much better. Announcing that we will dedicate more time for family prayer, scripture study, and wholesome family activities is good; but actually doing all these things steadily will bring heavenly blessings to our lives. To avoid some of the deepest regrets of life, it would be wise to make some resolutions today. Therefore, let us: Resolve to spend more time with those we love. Resolve to strive more earnestly to become the person God wants us to be. Resolve to find happiness, regardless of our circumstances. - President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Big Dipper

I write down the really important stuff, so I don’t miss anything. For example: the Perseids and Geminids (July/August and December meteor showers) will most likely be a bit less impressive in 2014 because the moon takes a bit of their thunder. But the Quadrantids (Are you impressed that I know how to spell that?) due January 3 might just be worth watching this year.  If you spot the moon during the day February 26, see if you can find Venus right next door. If you don’t live in the shadow of eastern mountains, you can watch Mars rise just as the sun is setting April 8. Just before dawn on August 24, you might catch a smiley face in the sky with Jupiter and Venus as eyes and a crescent moon for the mouth. There won’t be any total solar eclipses in 2014, but most of North America will see a partial eclipse October 23.

Christmas Revisited

John and I were married 35 years ago this very day. During that time we've moved nine times. We've owned nine different cars. (Only one of them was new when we bought it.) We've raised four children, planted dozens of trees, and tended too many gardens to count. We've shared our homes with dogs, cats, birds, snakes, turtles, lizards, hedgehogs, mice, hamsters, gerbils, tropical fish and houseplants. We’ve gone on four cruises (so far), and made regular pilgrimages to Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Together we’ve visited Mexico, Germany, England, Scotland, France, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia and the Cayman Islands. We’ve attended scores of softball games, soccer matches, youth concerts and recitals. We’ve helped each other through dozens of theatrical productions and church callings. Our marriage has been a series of adventures, one right after the other. I can hardly wait to see what comes next. Happy Anniversary, John!

Awakening Hope

Maybe you’ve seen the pictures; they show up now and again on facebook or in emails. It’s a photo of a bicycle embedded in a tree. The attached story claims the owner left his bike chained to a tree on Vashon Island (near Seattle) when he went to war in 1914. The boy never returned and the tree eventually “swallowed” his bike. The bicycle and the tree are fact; the story is fiction. The US didn’t enter WWI until 1917. If the “boy” was old enough to enlist, he was certainly too old to ride this small GIRL'S bike. The cycle itself looks far too new to have been in a tree for a century. Sure enough, the real owner of the bike has come forward. In 1954 Don Puz had been playing with friends in the woods near his home and conveniently forgot to bring his embarrassing bicycle home.

African Violet

I hope you had a happy Christmas. Ours was very nice. I accompanied a vocal trio, a violin duet and a cello solo in our church service Sunday morning. Monday we visited neighbors with jars of homemade Concord grape jelly. Tuesday we had fettuccine Alfredo and carrot cake with our kids and with theirs. Wednesday we opened presents and made waffles and turkey sausage for breakfast. Then we went to my mother’s house where we opened even more presents, ate far too much and watched an awful lot of Doctor Who. Best of all we got to spend time with the WHOLE family, including two great-nephews and three grandsons who are growing up just like weeds. We even chatted with a niece serving her mission a thousand miles away. It was the best of Christmases; not because of the lights or the food or the music, but because we got to spend it with people we love.

Christmas Day

While shepherds watched their flocks by night, all seated on the ground,

The angel of the Lord came down, and glory shone around.

"Fear not," said he, for mighty dread had seized their troubled mind;

"Glad tidings of great joy I bring to you and all mankind."

"To you, in David's town this day, is born of David's line

The Savior who is Christ the Lord, and this shall be the sign:

The heavenly Babe you there shall find to human view displayed,

All meanly wrapped in swathing bands, and in a manger laid."

Thus spake the seraph, and forthwith appeared a shining throng

Of angels praising God, who thus addressed their joyful song:

"All glory be to God on high and on the earth be peace.

Goodwill henceforth from heaven to men begin and never cease."