I guess it was bound to happen. I knew the email was coming even before it arrived in my inbox this afternoon. My son has been struggling with the new at-home schooling since day one, so I wasn’t surprised his teacher had noticed. He’s been voicing short outbursts of anger while doing his work. His math, which used to be his favorite subject, is nothing more than an exercise in frustration. He seems to have absolutely no patience for any of it. Even though I was half expecting his teacher’s message, I admit I was a bit dismayed by its content. I was asked to discuss his lack of effort with ..read more

Hope “He said he’d have faith in me until I could have faith in myself.” This morning a friend of mine posted a video to her Facebook page about popular mom blogger, Tiffany Jenkins, and her plummet into addiction, and subsequent recovery. In the video titled, I Decided: Tiffany Jenkins’ Story of Recovery she explained that her dad visited her in jail at her lowest and darkest point. During this visit, he made the statement to her that he would have faith in her ..read more

Shouldering History’s Shame I took my newly baptized twins to the Mountain Meadows Massacre memorial site. It was August 3, 2019. The Mountain Meadows Massacre is one of the darkest events in the history of the West; one of the darkest events in the history of the church I belong to. Many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints may still know little to nothing about the events that played out in this picturesque valley in southern Utah in September of 1857. Here, at this site over 150 years ago, a Mormon militia ambushed, besieged, and murdered over 120 Arkansas trave ..read more

I love history. I’m not talking stuffy old history textbooks. I’m not even talking history lectures about official accounts of past events. I love the kind of history you can see and feel and understand. I love history that comes to life when I stand in the spot where it happened; where I get a sense for what it might have looked like and felt like. I love to experience history, which is why I decided to take my boys to explore a Utah ghost town called Kelton. My kids are accustomed to extra stops at historical markers on road trips. They are used to sudden pull-offs to explore an old cou ..read more

Photo by alfonso diaz from FreeImagesMacro View of the Spirit For members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), recognizing the spirit of God in our lives can be difficult. When my daughter was in elementary school, I helped judge the Reflections contest. I judged all the photography entries. I was fascinated by a new type of photography I’d never seen before called Macro photography. It was disorienting at first–not being able to tell exactly what it was I was looking at. I recognized a couple of the photos as extreme close-ups of flowers and fall leaves. Seeing all ..read more

The National Weather Service issued this heatwave warning for the next few days. The heat across the nation is expected to be in the triple digits for much of the country with warm temperatures preventing overnight cooling. This extreme heat can be dangerous, especially for extremely fragile populations including infants, elderly, and those with chronic health conditions. Please consider reaching out to those in these critical populations and make sure they are okay. After you’ve made sure your neighbors are taken care of, you can try making this sandwich baggie ice cream to beat the h ..read more

Tonight was one of those nights…you know those nights! We all have them. Mine often resemble those scenes from the old Scooby Doo cartoons where the whole gang is running in and out of the doors in a long  hallway trying to catch (or escape from) the evil monster. This afternoon was one of those days, with my oldest son needing  a ride to work, my four younger boys fighting over “cleaning” their rooms, running through sprinklers, going to the park, walking the dog, and getting some summer practicing for their chosen extra-curricular activities done. They all needed help constantly–help in sett ..read more