Mystery solved

I thought our dishwasher was broken. From one day to the next it stopped getting the dishes clean. I washed all the glasses by hand to try and get them clean. Now I know why...see this article. Read the article to get tips on what to do to get clean dishes again. I guess I'll be buying vinegar by the barrel. Avoid Cascade, it's the worst. I've been using Cascade for years, but not anymore.

I don't mind recycling and separating our newspapers, plastic, boxes, etc. from the trash.
I don't mind trying to be careful and cautious and conserve water.
I don't litter.
I don't put toxic stuff down the drain.
I try and only use the heat and cooler when necessary.
But this is too much.
I can't stand these dirty, white film coated dishes.
Bring back the phosphate, please!!!!

30 on Jordan

My baby girl Jordan turned 30 last Friday, September 25. Wow, how can that be possible? I was out of town on an adventure and didn't get a chance to post a message wishing her a happy BD. Jord is an amazing young mother. Here are 30 things I LOVE about her:
1. She is steady and constant
2. Her feathers aren't easily ruffled, she almost always takes things in stride
3. She is super organized and she even helps her friends organize their homes
4. She is good through and through
5. She is a great problem solver
6. She is dependable and responsible. If she says she will do something, she does it
7. She is great at juggling many things. She keeps her home running smoothly
8. She doesn't sweat the small stuff (and it's all small stuff.)
9. She loves to read and knows a bunch of stuff about a bunch of stuff
10. She is a great mother. She has the perfect touch of being loving and setting boundaries. She's no push over.
11. She has many talents, one of which is playing the piano
12. She is great at budgeting. She and Jake handle their income very well. She's a cash and carry girl.
13. She has self discipline and can wait for what she wants
14. She is kind and helpful to many people and helps those who need help, even when it's not convenient for her
15. She has some spit fire in her, but she knows how to use it.
16. She is independent and self driven
17. She is a very conscientious mother. She doesn't coddle or isn't overly protective. She has the perfect touch
18. She is a great wife. She adores Jake and gives him the support he needs to do his job. They have a great relationship.
19. She loves do learn new things and try her hand at new techniques like gardening. She is a great cook and makes a home cooked dinner every night for her family. She plans her meals out weekly and feeds her family healthy food.
20. She exercises routinely and keeps in shape but doesn't go overboard. Mother of three? You'd never know it.
21. She is very practical. She just lives her life and isn't overly concerned about impressing people or worrying about what others think. She has great self confidence.
22. She loves to serve in the church. She went from Primary president recently to serving as Laurel advisor with the Young Women.
23. She has many friends from all walks of life. She is very helpful to people and they are helpful to her. What goes around usually comes around.
24. She and Jake enjoy being parents. They are good at it. They share the load and help one another accomplish what needs to be done.
25. Jordan is beautiful. She has a great smile.
26. Jordan has a lot of faith. Her actions show her commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
27. Jordan is a great daughter. She is a dear friend and we love to spend time with her.
28. Everyone loves Jordan. She has long time friends and lots of new friends. She makes friends easily.
29. She set a high water mark for her brothers and sisters. She set and pace and has accomplished a lot in her 30 years. They love being with her and she with them.
30. She loves the Lord and that is evident in her daily life.

I love you dear Jordan! For always and forever, my baby you'll be.

To see more pictures, check out the entry in 2009 and 2008.

Don't feed the animals

Customize a picture slideshow

Dave and Courtney went to Africa at the end of May to visit her parents who are serving a mission there. They had an amazing experience. I asked them if I could share some of their incredible pictures and they agreed. Get ready to enjoy some beautiful pictures of their African safari. Wow, what an experience!

Pornography = the scourge of our generation

The Deseret News has been running a series of articles detailing the real and damaging effects of pornography on our society. It's compelling reading. We've heard it for years from our church leaders and now more and more of society is getting on board, realizing the societal costs. Parents need to be fully aware of the evil that is so accessible in the comfort of their own homes. I feel that parents need to take every precaution that is necessary to protect their families from this hideous and descructive vice. It ruins marriages, families and the spirit and psyche of people who participate in it. It's the scourge of our modern society that leads to many of the other social ills that are becoming more and more common.

"A recently released study of pornography cites its damaging effects on mind, body and heart.

Titled "The Effects of Pornography on Individuals, Marriage, Family and Community," the study was authored by Patrick F. Fagan, a Family Research Council senior fellow and director of its Center for Research on Marriage and Religion.

"Pornography is a visual representation of sexuality which distorts an individual's concept of the nature of conjugal relations," wrote Fagan. "This, in turn, alters both sexual attitudes and behavior. It is a major threat to marriage, to family, to children and to individual happiness. In undermining marriage, it is one of the factors in undermining social stability."

Study says porn damages mind, heart - link here.

New initiative sheds light on pornography's impact on families - link here

Is porn a real addiction? - link here

Pornography 'grips you with claws' - link here

A generation gap in understanding porn of today - link here

Pornography research generates hate mail - link here.

"Those who are fearful, those who are addicted, those who are anxious are powerfully working against (efforts to understand pornography's effects)," she said. "There is an attempt in the industry to silence anyone who will talk. So every time I do an interview with a reporter, every time there's an article in the newspaper, I'll get hate mail.

"I'm an academic — and I get hate mail!"

Joseph Price, a BYU economics professor who specializes in distilling down large data sets dealing with pornography consumption, concurs with Layden's assessment that a gap still remains between establishing correlation and proving causation in the context of pornography's ability to harm the human psyche. Price, though, goes on to suggest that pornography research could follow a path to proving causation of negative consequences similar to that taken by the tobacco studies of yesteryear.

"Current studies don't necessarily speak to a causal effect of pornography, but they are suggestive of that," Price said. "I think that future research is going to better help us understand the causal effect of pornography on people. And in that sense, I view it as very similar to the research that was done a long time ago about tobacco. It actually took us a long time to come to an understanding of the causal impact of smoking on people's health."

Regardless of the road academics tread while continuing to study pornography's effects on individuals and society, Layden expects her steady flow of unhappy e-mails and letters to continue unabated.

"There's a backlash against those of us who speak out and say, 'Here's the research,' or those who do the research (about pornography)," she said. "Either interests that are moneyed or interests that are addicted or interests that are fearful or interests that are ignorant of the effect — they're all working against this."

The LDS church has launched a new web site called "Combating Pornography - replacing darkness with light" Check it out here. It has many good resources for addicts, spouses, families and others who are trying to help.

Andy at 22

Today my baby boy turns 22. Wow. Here are 22 things I love about him ~

1. He has the best heart.

2. He is fun to be around. There is never a dull moment. He keeps us up to date on current trends and happenings.

3. I love his friends. They are great young men.

4. He gets up and keeps going even when there are set backs...he doesn't give up.

5. He knows how to do hard things and he doesn't shy away from a challenge.

6. He has a ton of friends...everyone likes Andy.

7. He knows what is important in life and he stays grounded.

8. He tries to help people around him. Sometimes they let him, sometimes they don't.

9. He's a good looking young man who has his own sense of style.

10. He is funny and is always looking for funny things in life.

11. He's always been a great sleeper - once he gets to bed.

12. He is a hard worker and is responsible at his employment.

13. He has proven to himself that he can accomplish anything he sets his mind to. He can do hard things.

14. He is a friend to the underdog.

15. He LOVES his 4 nieces and enjoys hearing little stories about their growth and progress. He's so cute with them.

16. He "gets it." He has a strong testimony and he understands the importance of the gospel of Jesus Christ in his life.

17. He likes adventure and doing thrilling stuff. He is kind of fearless. He has broken bones to prove it.

18. He likes to take his parents better cars whenever possible and dislikes "his" car.

19. He loves anything Mongolian. Yesterday he got to speak to a Mongolian sister missionary for awhile and it brought him such joy to speak Mongolian again and to hear it well spoken.

20. He's a great son and brother. He loves to spend time with his family.

21. He's figuring out what he wants to do for a career and making steps toward a bright future.

22. He's loves his mom and dad and he knows that we trust him. He has earned that trust.

Happy 22nd son. I love you!!!

For more pictures see here for 2009 and here for 2008.