One Fine Morning...

It's New Year's Eve. In a turn of events which answered the simplest prayer--that of longing for the lights and familiarity of Temple Square--New Year's found us here, at the Washington DC temple. The temple is stunning, of course, and the Christmas decor was unparalleled. As I walked through the grounds arm in arm with Trent we could hear the strains of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Lillian was skipping and trotting ahead of us. The lights glowed, the choir sang, the temple shined. My eyes filled with tears of gratitude for the blessing of experiencing such a perfect moment. It's the eve of a new year and a new decade. Hard NOT to take a moment and consider where you've been and where you're heading, don't you think? I remember with crystal clarity where I was 10 years ago on this night. I was at Steffani's house with her parents and all of her siblings, awaiting to see if Y2K was going to be a great myth or a stunning reality. When midnight came, Steff...

Time for some thoughts about Christmas treats for neighbors. Do you make them? It seems like neighbor gifts are an unwritten tradition in Utah. I've made them, everyone I know makes them. They're like a more elaborate version of Christmas cards. Now, of course, neighbor treats can get complicated--I've heard in areas like Cedar Hills there's actually quite a bit of pressure to give treats that are elaborately prepared and presented, and I know of people who give out upwards of 40 or more little plates of goodies during the Christmas season. Nevertheless, for the most part they're a nice way to say, "Hey, neighbor. Happy Holidays. Amen." We love our neighbors. We don't hang out with them, but we always say "hey" when we're mowing our lawns and we borrow a cup of sugar from each other from time to time. Thus, in an attempt to reach out (and keep those Utah traditions burning bright), Christmas Eve found Trent and me in the kitchen, cooking ...

Last night Trent and I sat down with Lillian and watched the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. We had this plan that if she could sit through 25 minutes of Charlie, she might be able to get through a viewing of "The Princess and the Frog" in a real, live theatre. Yeah, that is not going to be happening any time soon. She was good for about 7 minutes. Then she sort of ran around in circles and climbed on our laps and poked Trent in the eye with her finger and tore all the DVDs off the shelf. A typical 20 minutes in the life of Lillian. We loved it; we also decided she's probably not ready for the movie theatre just yet. In any case, as we watched Charlie Brown trudging through the snow with Linus, his comments struck a familiar chord. As they walk to the ice skating pond, Charlie confesses to Linus that sometimes Christmas depresses him. He loves getting cards and presents and all, but something about the season is just a little unsettling. For the next 25 minutes, Charlie ...

You know those days when... You wake up so early in the morning that your right eye is sealed shut, likely from the mascara you didn't take off from the night before, and You pour your darling baby some apple juice into her sippy cup only to realize that the apple juice smells strangely like ale and looks frothy like beer, so you narrowly avoid helping your 15 month old get her drink on, and It's 12:01 p.m. and you are still in your pajamas because you've spent the whole morning wrapping presents, organizing presents, and figuring out how you're going to get all the presents and the baby in and out of the post office, and you're sorely tempted to never get out of your pajamas again but then the people from "What Not To Wear" just might stop you on the street and then the shame, oh the shame, and Your fabulous photographer sister is in Hawaii for five weeks and you forgot to order Christmas cards from her before she left, even though you made a special trip...

This Thanksgiving, my wonderful sister, Jenny, and her family joined us here in Upstate for feasting, festivities, and fun. The only thing missing was a trip to see the lights twinkling on Temple Square. We made up for that loss by visiting all of the Church sites which are not next door, but close enough for a drive. The awesome thing about the Church sites here is that no one from this area thinks they are the bomb.com the way that Mormons around the world think they are. In fact, we've heard missionaries explain that when they tell the story of Joseph Smith and the plates and then say (one would think a little breathlessly for dramatic effect), "and it all happened so close by... in... Palmyra!", those listening to the missionary discussions have been known to wrinkle their noses and say, "really? Palmyra? (said with the lilt of disdain) Can anything good come out of Palmyra?" With all due respect to the kind folks from Palmyra, the answer is, well, not...

I'm in Manhattan sitting in my hotel waiting for my brother-in-law who is coming to pick me up to take me to see "Our Town" (my very favorite play). I'm in Manhattan in the middle of the Christmas season and made it in time to see the Rockerfeller tree and go to lunch with a dear friend and catch a Broadway show and spend time with Trent whom I adore. I'm in Manhattan and the first five minutes after our arrival I lost my wallet and we started to panic that maybe it was lost forever and then I would be stuck here because my license was in the wallet and I can't fly home with out a picture i.d. and Trent got scared which made me start to panic. I'm here in Manhattan And the bell hop in our hotel Found my wallet and brought it to me And I collapsed in his arms and yelled "I love you!" And you know what? He hugged me back and told Trent that I'd chosen him instead. I'm here in Manhattan And it's Christmas time And there is magic in the a...