Another Milestone

Happy birthday Grandma Johnson. Today my mother is 92 years old. She has spent many years here in mortality doing much good in that time. It is an honor to have such a fine lady as my mother and I am grateful to her for all she has done to bless my life and the bless the lives of those I love. (Mom is also grateful to be blessed with Grandma Johnson as a mother-in-law who has always treated her as lovingly as she would her own daughter. Whenever we talk to Grandma, she always apologizes for not being able to visit or write and she instructs us to tell everyone how much she loves them.) Happy Birthday Mother.

The Birdfeeder

We have enjoyed watching the birds feed at Wendy's birdfeeder. We are hoping to have the same enjoyment at our home as the birds visit and feed. So, this last week we got a birdfeeder and so far, I don't think a single bird has visited the feeder. I guess I may need to grab a bird and take him by the beak over to the feeder and formally introduce them to each other.

Our birdfeeder experience is not unlike the gospel invitation. An abundant life-sustaining feast of exactly the nutritious food a bird needs awaits free for the taking and all a bird needs to do is fly to the perch and partake. As Nephi urged of Christ's invitation, "Behold, hath he commanded any that they should not partake of his salvation? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he hath given it free to all men" (2 Nephi 26:27).

Mom's Accomplishment

This week Mom brought a consuming long-term quest to closure with the completion of her final portfolio of her BYU course work. After spending her days at studying, writing, and reading in a race to finish her academic work while neglecting some other areas of her life, Mom is eager to get back to genealogy, garden, and home projects. She has a list of books she wants to read and future classes to take (in time). The family can also look forward to more homemade bread and other treats from the oven.

The Rest of the Story

This week Ashley's boyfriend Ryan Smith has been visiting from California. Ryan is an impressive young man studying finance at BYU. While Wendy and Steve took Ashley and Ryan to an Orioles game Friday night, Dad and Mom stayed with Amie and watched the season premier of our favorite TV program, Monk. On Saturday, we were at the Johnston's again for a cook out with yummy kabobs, burgers, corn, summer fruit, tex-mex dip and chips. All and all, a very pleasant weekend for us.

Nicole and her friend Julene Pierce went to see Batman Friday evening. Nicole declared the movie a winner.

Holly, Dave and Family

Holly and Dave and family have been in Utah visiting Dave's parents this week. Michael flew out a few days earlier as "an unaccompanied minor." Fortunately, the airline prevented any "Home Alone 2" incidents with excellent safeguards in place. They required Holly to remain at the gate until the plane was in the air and provided Grandma Olsen with a pass to go through security and meet Michael at the gate in Salt Lake City. Hoping that Michael had been seated next to someone kind and helpful on the plane, Holly questioned Michael about who he sat next to. Michael replied, "Nobody I know!"

A Thought from CS Lewis

No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later.

That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means - the only complete realist. (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 126)

A Visitor and Independence Day

A Visitor


We had a visitor for a few days this week. Jeff Bullock, a young man from Colorado came to see Nicole and spent the holiday weekend in our home. Jeff is very, very nice and we like him a lot. Even Dad who is not easily impressed was won over by him and came away very favorably struck by what he observed and heard.

Independence Day

Despite the rain and humidity so thick you could bottle it, we had a great July 4th celebration at Wendy's house. The rain diminished enough for Dad to cook the hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken outside on the grill. Besides the corn on the cob, chips, fruit salad, and potato salad, Wendy baked two pies from the cherries and blueberries she and Ashley picked in their yard. We also loved the homemade vanilla ice cream to go with the pies. It was truly a day to forget diets.

For entertainment, Ryan and his friend Ben Holt set off some great rockets. After dark, Michael and Dave presented our fireworks spectacular and we ended the day with the last of the sparklers. After many patient tries, Holly was to capture a fine photo of Michael writing his name in the air with a sparkler.

The Rest of the Story

Speaking of Michael, our boy wonder's latest interest is reading the business section of the Washington Post each day. How many ten-year-olds do that?

This past week we had the driveway repaved and our cracked and crumbling drive is now covered with pristine asphalt. Fortunately Mom was able to do her bi-weekly Costco shopping trip and carry the groceries and supplies into the house before the crews arrived and we had to park the car across the street.

Dad put in another productive Saturday with outside maintenance and yard work. With some help from Steve, he has fixed the loose gutters. Nicole has been keeping the flower beds tidy.

We were happy to wish Brett a happy birthday this week. We wish we could have had cake and ice cream together but Brett had some fine plans for the day -- out to lunch and the new Pixar movie after work. One of Brett's recent adventures has been a 300 mile bike trip up the California coast.

Here is a good financial post and at the bottom, President J. Reuben Clark is quoted and BYU is mentioned. I thought you might find it interesting.

Here is a thought from President Benson: “The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment."