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I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers, but there are moments when I feel that he hears the most specific details of what we ask him and he answers us in a way that is better than we could have imagined. Eight months ago, I was asked to be the director of our local genealogy library.  I was honored at the opportunity and a bit intimidated by the responsibility.  I had a lot of great ideas that I hoped to implement, and I was excited to get going. What I didn't know at the time was that there were some serious problems simmering between workers in the library.  These problems had in fact been continuing for years without any resolution, and there was incredible tension between several of the workers. I wanted to come into the situation, making no judgements.  Instead, I surveyed everything and everyone.  What was their impression of the situation?  Had they felt any conflict?  I personally spoke with several of the "offended" members, asking them if we could

As I am constantly pushing my children to get A's in all of their classes, I was remembering the few times that I didn't get an A in a class, and I thought I would share the stories. My lowest grade came in 10th grade English. We were studying Huckleberry Finn, and the teacher gave an essay test on the first few chapters. She was a teacher like no other. I believe she had been a college professor at some point, but she had enough money and was settled, and decided to teach at our high school. She was very bohemian for the 80's--she wore Birkenstocks daily (with socks when it snowed), and no bra on occasions.  She even had a hyphenated last name, which for the times, was unusual:  Marcia Swenson-Davis. Anyway, I failed the test. In fact, when I saw the grade, I couldn't process it. It was in the 50's (as in 50%), and I thought I was interpreting it incorrectly. Turns out, just about everyone failed the test. She had wanted us to become DEEP thinkers, spilling our

There are always curve balls in life, aren't there?  When I was 20 years old, I figured that by the time I was 40, I would have everything figured out.  Life would be perfect.  My children would be perfect (okay, they're pretty darn close in my eyes), my marriage would be perfect (obviously this isn't the case, but we keep working at it), and our financial situation would be perfect. Finances.  I remember people saying that the more money you have, the more you spend.  As a young mother, living on John's medical school loans, I couldn't imagine this could possibly be the case.  However, let me tell all of you young-ins, it's true.  Here are some of the problems that come with age, and with having more money: 1.  Taxes.  Taxes are killing us.  We estimate that between 30 to 40 percent of our income goes to taxes.  This includes income taxes (federal, state, and local) and property taxes.  Unfortunately, these bills come due within months of each other, and it

Bruce R. McConkie defined the Law of Consecration as "we consecrate our time, our talents, and our money and property to the cause of the Church: such are to be available to the extent they are needed to further the Lord's interests on earth." In the beginning years of the church, members of the church attempted to live this law under a movement titled the United Order.  They were hoping to achieve income equality, to eliminate poverty and to increase group self-sufficiency.  Unfortunately, people aren't perfect (both leaders and members), and it wasn't successful.  However, when Christ comes to reign on earth again, it will be instituted. Some higher-income people might feel that we are already living this law, through our government, and not by choice.  I can't disagree with many of my friends.  We pay almost 40% of our income to taxes, which when combined with what we give to tithing, adds up to 50% of our income.  We actually knew one physician who red

Through lots of hard work (and lots of blood, sweat and crushed fingers), John has successfully managed to build us our very own Garden of Eden, straight out of a limestone mountain.  This is my favorite time of the year, simply because of how beautiful the yard is.

In March, we finished up with our last litter of puppies for a while.  We had two litters last summer, and two this past winter.  Not only are our mama dogs tired, but we are too.  By the end of March, I felt like I had never lived without pups in the house--midnight feedings, crate training, socializing.  It's a lot of work. We charge between $700 and $800 per pup, depending on their colors.  The last litter was from Cherry, and her pups are always $700.  People can pay us however they wish--check, credit card, or cash.  I like it when people pay cash, because the money is used to pay for lessons, or when the girls tell me two minutes before the bus comes that they need $5 for a field trip.  It usually lasts just long enough until we have another litter of pups. This past litter, two people paid with cash.  This meant $1,400.  We were crazy busy.   It was Easter weekend, and Ethan came home.  The people gave me the money in bank envelopes which I casually left on the counter.

John and I just returned from a week-long trip to Grand Cayman, accompanied by Ethan.  Actually, the trip was Ethan's Christmas gift, so I guess it was John and I along for the ride :-)  I have hesitated posting about it, because I just can't do the trip justice with words.  It goes on my list of "Top Five Trips Taken by the Kennedy Family", and I would return and do it all again in a heartbeat. Most vacations we take are pretty stressful.  They are crazy fun, because we always have lots on the agenda and want to make the most of every moment.  This one was the same, but minus any stress.  In fact, I can't remember the last time I felt so little stress in my life.  No worries about kid activities, no worries about our animals or property, no worries about what we are having for dinner.  It was just heaven. For the record, the high each day was 85 degrees, with a low of 79 degrees.  We could hear rain during the night, but each day was sunny with bright blue sk