The Book Thief

 It was a wonderful book and also a well-done movie.  We watched it on BYUtv.  

My Idea of Fun

 

Halloween

 I love Halloween.  Kids love it.  I love that it's a day to celebrate children.  Every year, my kids send pictures of their Halloween.  It is a highlight of the year for me.  We also love having the neighborhood come to our house to trick-or-treat.  But this year, we were serving in the temple on Friday afternoon/evening.  We did our shift from 2-5, then stayed after to be patrons so that a couple could do their names.  The temple was VERY quiet that night.  We were extremely busy in sealings from 2-5, but then, it just died.  Everyone was celebrating with their families, I guess.  

Here are pictures of our family.

Kristen's family always chooses a theme.  This year, they all were something that is very classic Halloween.

Sammy was a Jack-o-Lantern.

Lisi was a candy corn

Kristen was a scarecrow

Audrey was a witch

Shonna's family:

Lily was queen of the world

Hannah was a gluten free cookie

Luna was a snowman

They all made quite a haul!

Michelle's family:

Love this one

Kenny was a nod to the banana chicken dance (google it)

I love this dual picture of then and now.  The then was 11 years ago- the day after Kenny was born.  If I remember right, I think we got them ready and took this picture as Mom and Dad were in the hospital.

Halloween AI of Michelle and Brian

Prince family: William and Kenny were glowstick men, the rest were Costco employees.

Their Costco sample was hot chocolate in their front driveway.

Happy Halloween!!!

The Summer of Yes

 

Romance Physical book

A fun novel with an inspiring theme: Say yes!  It was chosen for our online family book club and I’m sure will generate a good discussion.  I liked the characters and the story.  3+stars.

Read the Manual

 While we were there with Shonna and Blake on conference weekend, they discovered that their fridge/ freezer in their kitchen wasn't working.  They have two freezers downstairs.  They immediately started taking freezer items down there.  Blake ran to the store and bought ice and they put fridge items in coolers.  They also have a trailer camper and fired their fridge out there up and put items out in that small fridge/freezer.  

They lived out of these coolers on their patio for 3 weeks!

Shonna had us rolling with laughter when she told us the story.  They went to the store and bought a new fridge on Monday after conference.  It was delivered on Friday by two Latino men who spoke very little English.  They installed it.  They obviously saw something was wrong because they kept pulling it out and in.  When they finished, they took a picture (as I'm sure they are instructed to do).  Shonna went over to it and opened it.  It wouldn't open.  The door hit their pantry door.  She said to them, "This door doesn't open."  "Read the manual!" was their heavily accented reply.  "But the door won't open." "Read the manual!"  The only English words they knew, I guess.  Then they left.

Shonna called the store and finally got someone who would listen to her in customer service.  She told the lady that story, who admitted it was ridiculous.  They had to wait until the next available delivery opening for the guys to come back and get that fridge.  They ordered a new one.  She finally texted this picture with the caption, "Three weeks later, we got our new fridge."  "But does it open?" was my reply!

Lily sent this picture in reply.

Just read the manual, people! 

Disappointing My Dad

 

This is a hard story to write.  It is about the time I disappointed my dad.  I loved my dad and I did not want to disappoint him. 

We didn’t have release- time seminary in Caldwell, where I grew up.  We had “early morning” seminary each school morning at 7:00am at the old, white church.  That church was across the street from the junior high school, so it was convenient for the ninth graders.  The high school was across town, so we had to drive or get rides over there when in 10^th-12^th grade.

We also had to be driven to seminary at 7:00am. My freshman year, my next-door neighbor, Janis Blacker, drove me each day.  My sophomore year was a rocky one in seminary.  A seminary teacher was not a paid position.  And it was a commitment to be there that early every single day.  That year, we didn’t have a teacher that was responsible.  Many days, the teacher just didn’t show up. 
She was replaced, but the next guy also wasn’t responsible and didn’t last long.  I don’t remember how many teachers we had, but no one stayed long.  So, instead of just sitting in the classroom, a bunch of us girls would go sit in the bathroom.  There was a big, soft couch in there.  We would talk and do each other’s’ hair.  It was a fun time. 

Then came Brother Norman.  He was called to come in and be our teacher and fix the problems in the sophomore class.  Brother Norman was solid and faithful (he later served as bishop and then as stake president.)  But we had our bad habits and continued to hang out in the bathroom rather than go to class.  One evening, my dad got a call from Brother Norman.  He told my dad that if I missed many more days, I would not graduate from seminary. 

My dad called me in to talk to him.  He told me about the phone call.  He said the chilling words that I will never, ever, ever forget, “You mean I take you to seminary and then you don’t go to class?”  I could see the disappointment in his eyes.  I started crying.  Just as now, as I write this, I am crying.  I was devastated.  Stupid teenager!  I was so sad to see this from his point of view.  I promised him I would start going to class.  And I did.  I don’t think I missed a day after that. 

I learned a lot from Brother Norman, once I started attending.  I am grateful to him for coming in and changing a bad situation into a very good one.  And I am grateful to my dad for caring and giving me another chance.

 

A Sweet Thank You

 We live in a neighborhood with many children.  For some reason, they like to play in our yard.  We love these kids and love to have them around.  Recently, they doorbell ditched us and left this sweet homemade thank you card and handmade pumpkin.  They had spent considerable time making it for us.

Appendectomy

 Our Brielle is a student at BYU.  She is amazing.  She has health challenges, but powers through them.  Recently, she was really sick,  so went to the emergency room.  They determined she had appendicitis and scheduled an emergency appendectomy.  Her mom contacted Michelle's husband, Brian and he dropped everything and drove to Provo to give her a priesthood blessing and stay with her until Kristen could get there.  What a great guy! The surgery went well.  Kristen spent a couple of days with her.  She helped her get caught up on her laundry and made some freezer meals for her.  

Appendicitis is a familial trait.  Ken had his appendix removed while he was a young missionary in Japan.  Many of his siblings have had theirs removed.  His grandpa died while still a young father of a burst appendix.  Sorry Brielle!  It's in your genes.

Kristen sent me this picture.  She put my name on the hospital's breast cancer survivor tree while she was there with Brielle.  It is the only picture I have of this event.

BYU Football

 You would think we think we are part of the ROC the way we jump and cheer and applaud in our family room during a BYU game.  BYU football is truly one of the joys of our lives.  You could say we are fans!  Ken gets so nervous that he paces and jukes and runs around the room.  He ends every game absolutely exhausted.  We always wear blue on Cougar game days. This year, every game has been so exciting.  As I post this we are 8 - 0!  That is amazing!  I love to text with Joan (my sister who is a huge BYU fan), Brielle ( our granddaughter who is attending BYU and goes to all of the home games and watches the away ones) and Kristen (our daughter) during the games.!  It's such a fun way to connect.  This year, our most common texted word is Wahooooooo!  Following are some fun pictures from the Utah game that I stole off the Internet.  I wish Blogger would let me post video because there have been some amazing plays.

Storming the field after the Utah win.

Best photo award!

Record attendance at Utah game

Storming the field

Go Cougars!!!!!!

Amane-kun is Baptized

 We were so happy to get this sweet picture from a member of our beloved Tsuruoka, Japan branch informing us that the baby boy that was born while we were there was just baptized.  

Baptisms of children is a common occurrence here, but there it is not.  He is the only child in the branch.  He represents one of only a handful of 2nd generation members in that branch.  I wish we could have been there for this joyous occasion.

New 1st Presidency

 A new first presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints was announced.

Dallin H Oaks, prophet, seer, and revelator, with Henry B Eyering, 1st counselor, and D. Todd Christofferson, 2nd counselor

At the announcement meeting

President Oaks is 93, President Eyering is 92, and President Christofferson is 80.

There is now a vacancy in the quorum of the 12 Apostles

A Walk to Remember

 

A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Romance Physical book
I was about halfway through this book when I realized I knew the story. I saw the movie years ago. It is a sweet, though sad young romance story. It is well written and moving. Jamie is an inspiration. 4 stars.


View all my reviews

The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife

 

     The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston  5 stars

Fiction  Physical Book

I loved this heartwarming story.  The plot was clever, and Frederick was, well, just perfect- despite his stealing someone else’s identity. If you need a cozy read, here it be!  5 stars from me.

What Are Your Cucumbers?

 

Recently, at church, a sister, May, told a story that touched me deeply.  She talked about working at a food share every Tuesday.  Tuesday was re-stock day.  She and others would stock the shelves before people came for the free food.  Each shelf was labeled with a letter.  A for canned goods, B for Pasta, C for bread and bakery items, etc.  She said the D shelf was often bare or sparse.  It was the fresh produce shelf.  When the people came, they were given a ticket that showed how many items they could get from each shelf, based on what was available, their needs and family size.  She told how thrilled they were to get the fresh produce.

Every Tuesday during the summer a lady came with boxes of cucumbers from her garden to donate.  One day May asked her, "How do you get so many cucumbers to grow.  This is amazing."  Her answer:  "God gives the ability to grow cucumbers to those He knows will share them."

Did you just get chills?  I did.  So, what are your cucumbers?  What gifts has He given you, knowing you will share?  Are you sharing?
We all have cucumbers.  In some people, it is very obvious what their cucumbers are.  But others are less obvious.

When I was growing up, there was a sister in our ward named Sister Rohr.  As I remember, she was a single sister- at least I never saw a husband with her.  Maybe he just wasn't a member of our church?  But she had a daughter a year younger than me.  I didn't know Sister Rohr very well, but I can tell you what her cucumbers were - She was a smiler.  When I was giving a talk or singing at church, I could depend on looking out and seeing Sister Rohr smiling encouragingly at me.  Always.  I noticed that she did that for everyone.  Bless Sister Rohr for sharing her cucumbers.  It made a big difference in my life.

That may be an example of less obvious cucumbers.  But I feel we all have them. So, what are your cucumbers?  Are you sharing them?

What Did the Prophet Ask Us to Do?

 General Conference, October 2025 was held during the transition between prophets- an apostolic interregnum. I always comb through the prophet's talks, looking for specific things he asks us to do. For this conference, since the quorum of the apostles is our governing head, I chose the main theme from each of their talks to focus on.  

 

President Dallin H. Oaks

 

Jeffrey R. Holland

 

Henry B. Eyering

 

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

 

David A. Bednar

 

Quentin L. Cook

 

D. Todd Christofferson

 

Neil L. Andersen

 

Ronald A. Rasband

 

Gary E. Stevenson

 

Dale G. Renlund

 

Gerrit W. Gong

 

Ulisses Soares

 

Patrick Kearon