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{This post sounds snarly to me, but it discusses a pet peeve of mine.  I don't know any other way to write it!} Today I received the most surprising thing in the mail:  a "thank you" note for a wedding gift I sent this summer.  This filled me with so much happiness! Honestly, I could hardly believe it.  We receive numerous announcements for weddings, Eagle Scout ceremonies, and graduations.  I always send something in the mail; I send more to people we know well, and less to those we don't, but I always send something.  Honestly, I'm happy to give.  Our family has been so blessed, and we wouldn't feel right, not sharing what we have been given. I would guess I receive a "thank you" for one in eight gifts I send.  I spend more than $100 on some of the gifts (wedding gifts especially), and as was the case this summer, I gave both shower and wedding gifts. Like I said, I have received one thank you note in return. I don't give gifts to be

Johannah has reached a new high:  birthday SEASON ! While Johannah's birthday was technically on Saturday, it really stretched over four days, and she loved every minute of it! Friday, September 14   6:15 a.m.:  Arrive at Seminary to fantastic teachers who have the day planned around her.  Sing favorite hymn (aka goofiest hymn that makes her laugh which is why she picked it in the first place).  Play Book of Mormon "duck, duck, goose", her supposed favorite activity.  Laugh A LOT! 9 a.m.:  Hear Master Singers sing "Happy Birthday To You" to her Have friends wish her "happy birthday" throughout the day  3:15:  Get picked up from school and head to the nail salon to get pedicures with Mommy and Glo. 5:00:  Meet Ethan at home (he drove up from American!), head out to Five Guys (her favorite hamburger joint), and watch two separate movies at home that night (she picked Rat Race and True Grit ). Saturday, September 15 9 a.m.:  Head to Cracke

Last Sunday, Johannah and I were asked by one of the teachers of the Young Men's organization in our ward to come speak to the young men.  The teacher wanted us to explain how we feel respected as women by men.  In other words, what can "guys" do that show Johannah respect for her, and what have my sons done to show respect for me. What a wonderful experience for both of us!  We only had about five minutes each, but we had given the topic some thought.  For Johannah, the most important thing for her is that boys treat her like a friend.  She doesn't want to be objectified by boys, and only seen as a possible girlfriend, or a trophy, or for lack of better words, a thing .  She wants boys to talk to her and to care about what is going on her life. I find that my children have successfully navigated this course through life.  I have always made it a point that we don't exclude people from our group of friends based on gender.  We have birthday parties that inclu

When the pizza guy came to the door last night, here's what John saw: It took a few seconds for John to process who the pizza delivery man was, but when he did, he was incredibly happy (and couldn't stop saying "heeeeyyyyy....".  It was Jared Moran, John's best friend. And me, I just knelt down, right then and there, and began repenting of all the lies that I have told over the last four months, hiding this most amazing surprise :-)  I told Sarah the other day that I was glad to see the light at the end of the falsehood tunnel, because if I kept this up much longer, I was destined to end up in liars' hell... Jared ran the Air Force marathon with John last year.  It was his first marathon, and from what he told us, his last.  However, he called in June and said he was coming again, but I was supposed to keep it a surprise from John.  I'm not sure what changed his mind, but we sure are glad he did.  John hates runnings marathons alone, and ther

Our family had a wonderful opportunity on Saturday.  We went to the temple together!  For the first time, all the kids are now old enough to go in the temple (and of course it's a bonus having children who are endowed as well). Three and a half years ago, I brought names to the temple.  Lots of names.  I think there were around 75.  I had been working on the Kennedy family and my Frank/Matchett family for a while, and the names just kept appearing.  Most of the names, I know extremely well.  In other words, I have researched them extensively, and in just about every case, I can tell my children exactly how they are related to them (without looking at any notes!)  We headed to Utah that summer, and we had the great experience of doing the baptisms for all of those names in the Provo temple with the Alpine cousins.  That was such a beautiful beginning. For the past few years, it feels as though there has been a righteous army of people attempting to finish the work.  Ethan, Mark,

{This post is strictly for my kids.  Nobody else will "get" it, so no worries.} The other day, I felt overwhelmed with all the “junk” laying around the house.  When I looked at the entertainment schrank, I noticed stuff up there that I hadn’t touched in a very long time, including Ramborghini, Lamborghini and Goaterghini :-)   So, I brought them upstairs to put them away, but in the midst of putting other things away, they just got dumped on the table at the top of the stairs. Hannah hadn’t been home five minutes before I heard the voice of Ramborghini.   He was coming down the stairs, wearing his birthday hat, bemoaning the fact that he had been brought upstairs.   Mind you, Hannah hadn’t touched him in YEARS before this!   He then sat down at the table to do Hannah’s homework with her, all the while chastising me for the fact that I had been planning on putting him in “the cradle of neglected toys” (you know, under the table upstairs).   Well, no

A miracle happened in my life about a month ago, and I completely forgot to record it. We were driving home from Interlochen in two separate cars.  I was driving the Honda Element with the bikes strapped to the back (on a bike rack), and Ethan and the girls were driving behind me in the Volvo.  For the entire trip, I had been able to see them in my rear view mirror. Somewhere on the Ohio Turnpike, I was on the phone with John.  When I looked in the mirror, I didn't see anyone behind me.  In fact, I had a horrible feeling that something had gone wrong with the bikes.  I wondered if I hadn't seen it, and if Ethan had stopped to pick up a bike from the rack.  When I looked closer at the bike wheels in my rear view mirror, I noticed that they didn't look at all like they had for the past four hours.  As I was telling John that I had a bad feeling about this, and that I needed to get off the phone, one of the bikes fell off the car. I was driving 84 mph in crazy, summertim

What a wonderful Labor Day weekend!  Ethan came home on Friday afternoon, and he's been able to stay until now (early Monday evening).  It's so nice knowing, that when he leaves, it won't be two more years before we see him again! He came home for two reasons:  us, and college football.  Man, we made the most of it.  Three Big Ten games in two days, lots of board game playing and even more really good food (pulled pork, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, cantaloupe, cherry delight and pumpkin pie with chocolate chip cookies as chasers :-)). However, when we weren't eating, playing games or watching football, we were watching The Walking Dead , an AMC television show about zombies.  John, Mark and I all watched it during the regular season, but with Ethan wanting to watch it, it became a family affair. Without going into the entire show (which I could do!), I want to talk about one character, Daryl.  While not one of the three main characters of the show, it's