A new piece by Josh

Read This

Recommended to me by my sister and now I am recommending it to all three people who read my blog. Sad, but so much of it rings true, especially after my Sunday School class' discussion of Alma Chapter 30 today.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's Address at Harvard in 1978.

Katie is so cute

What's a Slither?

Apparently, it has a snake body and eight feet. It's as long as my dining room wall and as wide as my dining room table. The babies are small enough to get into your house through the toilet. They have, according to Alek, "adjustable thumbs." The bottoms of their feet are sticky and the only part of their bodies without scales. They have spurs on the backs of their feet, like a rooster (I had no idea those were called spurs. Alek learned this on the farm, apparently.) They are very intelligent -- almost as intelligent as apes. They live in the water and eat other sea creatures. They can come on land, too.

But don't worry, they don't eat humans.

July 10, 1999

I'm a little late posting this. I meant to write yesterday about a very significant event -- Alek turned 9.


I've been trying to figure out all day what to say about my little boy. I don't know where to start.

Alek made me a mom. Alek made me grow up. Without Alek, I don't think I would have survived the worst time in my life. Not only did I survive, I smiled and laughed every day. Alek tells me stories and draws me pictures and makes me cards. Alek cries when I cry. Alek wants to spend time with me. Alek reads stories with me and plays board games with me and dances with me.



Alek has an amazing imagination. Alek is a great big brother. Alek is affectionate and funny. Alek idolizes his dad (Josh). Alek loves to learn. Alek loves to be outside. Alek has more energy than any other three children combined. Seriously.



Alek is very sensitive and can sometimes get upset easily. But he rebounds pretty quickly and easily about 99% of the time. He is a big believer in justice and in questioning everything I say to him.



When Alek believes in something, he defends it. He recently stood up for the right in a situation that would have been scary for just about anyone.



I love Alek. Happy Birthday, little guy. Sorry I don't know how to wax eloquent about you, but nothing I can say would even begin to cover it.

The Roots of Christianity

Stories like these astound me. See, in my life, there has never been any question at all whatsoever that the story of Christ's death and resurrection was part of ancient Judaic tradition. Christianity was not some new religion that sprung up after Christ's death; Judaism was Christianity and Christianity was Judaism. Although Christ had not yet come to earth, the Hebrew people worshiped him and looked forward to His coming. I mean, that is what the Old Testament is about. The animal sacrifices that were done were symbolic of Christ. The passover was symbolic of Christ. I've understood these things since my youth. The split between Judaism and Christianity occurred during Jesus's ministry, as people either accepted Him or rejected Him as the Messiah.

So for someone to suggest that a tablet written in Hebrew prior to Christ's birth that foretells the story of his death and resurrection is somehow going to shock me and make me question my theology is ludicrous. It confirms what I already know to be true -- that for thousands of years before His birth, Jesus Christ was prophesied of and His life, death and resurrection fulfilled those prophesies.

What does shock me is that theological history is so widely misunderstood, even (or maybe it is especially?) by so-called theological experts. Do other Christians really not understand and/or believe that their religion started way before the birth of Christ? If not, then why read the Old Testament? I honestly don't have the answers to those questions, so if any non-LDS (non-Mormon) Christians can enlighten me as to what is taught in other churches, I would appreciate it. Perhaps it is only these intellectuals who are shocked and not people of faith. Let me know.

Random Pictures on my PC

Charlie, in the early days of eating solid foods.

Katie's 2nd birthday.

Alek sipping non-existent tea, using the set that Katie got for her birthday.

A walk down memory lane -- look at how cute my husband is!

Latest Artwork by Josh

I really love this.