Table for Eight

One of my favorite days with Dave and Jay. Oquirrh Mtn. Temple, June 2013. We just heard from Elder Meehan--his last phone call before leaving the airport on his way to serve his mission in Indiana. Ahhhhhh! It was awesome. We had 60 minutes with him! (Sidenote: For anyone reading who is new to LDS Missionary service: while Jay is on his mission, he does not use the phone for personal calls, with the exception of Christmas Day and Mother's Day. We can email once a week and send snail mail anytime. So this phone call was literally our last phone call until December.) It was SOOOOO good to hear his voice! (Oh, before I forget, his wake-up call for the airport was 2:30am this morning. We were able to speak to him at about 5am-6am. He had checked his bags--which were 49lbs each. So, he just made it the regulation weight, woo!) And it's incredible to hear how just 14 days of turning your heart/mind in a new direction can change you at your core. He's still t...

I finally meet Sherri in the game! (She's from Idaho, PS. 5 hours away from Utah. Fun!) Me, Sherri, and Erik--on MERGE DAY. Survivor Caramoan. (c) CBS, 2012, Monty Brinton. My apologies to PETA or whomever governs the care in invertebrates overseas ... because this week's Survivor i s INCREDIBL E. In addition to MERGING tribes (so long NuGota and N ewBikal = AMEN!), they've brought back a classic Survivor challenge: the food -eating challenge (where you eat foods native to the la n d where you are living --Philippines). The promo s are showing pretty much everything in the chall enge, so lemme just start with these little fellas : BEETLE LARVAE! Talk about earning a payche ck ( Corinne's phrase)! I felt horrible --for about 2 seco nds--when I learned we'd be doing this. (For a mill ion dollars and some protein, I'll eat a living bug. Sad, but true.) Beetle larvae. Sorry to say, alive. Apparently these are eaten in the Philippines regul...

The theme for the night was "Let Your Light Shine."   Last night our two teenage daughters celebrated the annual "Young Women in Excellence" program at our church. It's a really nea t night: each girl shares something she's worked on during the year or a talent she is developing. The re are motivational speakers, musical numbers, and of course--true to Mormon-fashion--TREATS! I know pride is a really wonky emotion, but I did feel really proud of our girls last night. They are both 100 times the young woman I was at their age. I'm really proud of the people they are becoming. They have kind hearts and are great daughters. And ... I'm super thankful for a program like this that give s them a chan ce to share their accomplishments.     Bam and her friends set out their displays. Bam shared her guitar and the musical number she is learning in voice right now. Papaya shared her Ukulele talent. Here's the song she's...