When creating a perfect room for an elderly family member, consider a few of the things I have learned over the past year. Protection – As people age, they have more health issues — many of which involve bodily fluids. Rather than installing a plush, fabric headboard (as we first thought), we used a leather-look [...]
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When I got married, in 1985, wedding rings were simple. Women got a yellow gold band with a big old diamond (usually round, maybe marquis) plunked in the middle. There might be a diamond or two (or four) added for embellishment on the side, perhaps channel set. Men got a relatively simple gold band. It [...]
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My mother died slowly, over years and years, bit by bit getting more lost in a cloud of dementia. She wasn’t officially diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, but the TIAs (transient ischemic attacks or mini-strokes — dozens and dozens of them) sure looked like it. It was her worst nightmare and a really horrible way to go. [...]
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When we planned the Mormon wedding for our daughter, we selected an indoor venue with access to a garden area. Given the volatility of April weather — especially in this odd weather cycle — it was a good idea. We had gorgeous, slightly cool weather on her wedding day, but one day earlier, it snowed! [...]
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A few weeks before the wedding, we selected the ceiling light package to decorate the reception venue. The winning bid came from Moon Light Holiday Lighting due to the owner’s presentation, enthusiasm, and very competitive package price. As promised, Nephi showed up on time and had the ceiling lighting completed before we arrived to [...]
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Finalizing the invitation for the wedding was, surprisingly, the most difficult part of the wedding planning. There are so many options with such cost variables that coming to a final decision was difficult for the bride and groom. (To be fair, the bride — with her graphic design minor — was by far the most [...]
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After castigating all potential partygoers for thinking RSVPs are just an old-fashioned, cultural artifact (they aren’t!), I have a public confession to make. Although I’m rather a student of formal etiquette (and an enormous fan of Judith Martin!), I don’t follow nearly all of it. In fact, sometimes I openly mock it. Yes, I said [...]
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One of the things we love about our wedding reception venue, is the movable ceiling grids. They can be decorated with lights, fabric, lanterns, or myriad combinations of things. Jessica really wanted to have a pretty ceiling decor package, and Noah’s has a subcontractor they work with, but the cost is prohibitive. Having married in [...]
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Having moved fairly frequently since we married 25 years ago, Sam and I don’t have long, trailing roots here in Lindon. Our friends our spread all over the country. So while the announcements will go out to about 400 people, we expect less than 150 at the actual reception. That’s a lot for a sit [...]
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A Mormon wedding differs from others in a number of ways, but there are many aspects that will be familiar to just about everyone. While there is really no “typical LDS wedding,” there are traditions that tend to surround them, even outside areas with lots of Mormons (like Utah, Idaho, California, Arizona, etc.). As you [...]
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Ever since I was a young(er) mom, running around Boca Raton with four daughters in tow, I’ve heard about what I had coming. Most times we were in public I heard shrieks — from senior citizens with strong New York accents — directed at our little estrogen-heavy clan of, “Oy! The weddings! The weddings!” At [...]
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Sam and I have different versions about how we went from living in the same college apartment building to kneeling at the altar in 1985. Suffice it to say, mine is correct. The greatest point of contention adoring differing of opinion is where and when Sam finally decided I was the woman of his dreams. [...]
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Radiology technician D. Snayten has been navigating the relationship field for nearly two decades and is considering earning a second degree through online classes to further impress the ladies. Unfortunately, arguments are a foregone conclusion in any relationship, but when done correctly they are a healthy way to clear the air about lingering issues and [...]
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When Jessica was five, I bundled up two-year-old Belinda and the stroller and the diaper bag and some snacks and my wallet and my keys and headed to Sandpiper Shores Elementary for the Kindergarten Circus! The only thing in the house I didn’t pack, was the camera. We had purchased a shiny purple leotard, tights, [...]
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This post brought to you by Hiltons of Branson. All opinions are 100% mine. Every wedding anniversary, Sam and I go on a romantic getaway together. With six children and a home business, being alone is a rare occurrence. More than just being alone, the complete isolation that being away from home brings is a [...]
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Every Christmas Eve we gather our family together to have a musical, spiritual remembrance of the real meaning of Christmas: Jesus Christ. We dress up (with bathrobes and sheets and towels and broom handles and foil crowns and anything else handy) and act out the story of the nativity. Over the years, I developed a [...]
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Rather than have a more traditional big holiday meal, on Christmas Eve, while reenacting the nativity, we have a shepherd’s feast. We sit on a blanket on the family room floor and eat by the light of the fire. While the food isn’t authentic to shepherd’s of Christ’s day by any means, it’s still a way [...]
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Need to warm up on a cold  night. This wassail is absolutely delicious. Sweet and tasty with just a little tang. Yum! Ingredients 2 quarts apple cider 2 cups orange juice 1/2 cup lemon juice 12 whole cloves 4 cinnamon sticks 8 whole allspice berries 1 pinch ground ginger 1 pinch ground nutmeg
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A number of years ago our second daughter, Belinda, was fascinated the grown-up office stuff in our home. So, I gathered up her own little set of office things for her to play with. She called it her “mailman kit.” This is a simple, inexpensive gift that — nearly two decades later — my younger [...]
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The power of love, devotion, loyalty, sacrifice. In giving his all for his disabled son, Rick, Dick Hoyt made his own life something he never dreamed.
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