Tools to make dreams a reality

My Dad is an outdoorsman. He has always been, from the time he could walk. When he was about five, his mother asked him why he couldn’t just stay in the yard. He replied that it was “all wore out”. At about seven, he declared that he was going to find some snakes, went up into the mountains and brought back two rattlesnakes.

When he was young, he envisioned himself as a fish and game officer. Somehow as children, we know what we want. His dad however, discouraged him. So, when he went to school, he looked at the  catalog, said, well, I guess I can make a living doing this...and that is what he did. Day in, Day out for  forty years. He didn’t enjoy it. But he did it because he had a family to support. Now, I have to tell you, that I love my Dad for this sacrifice, but I wouldn’t wish it for him.

Today, at Sea World in Florida, as I was watching the dolphin show I thought, “That is something I would LOVE to do. In elementary school, living in Southwest Michigan we often visited animal refuges and I knew that was my calling in life! But I didn’t. As I pondered this, three things came to mind. Three things kept me from following childhood dreams.

• Lack of imagination. Sometimes we know what we love, we just can’t see how to make it profitable. 
• Fear- what if I fail? What will other people think? 
• Self Discipline- The work ethic it takes to do something hard.

I thought of one of my daughters. She is so much like me. She likes so many of the things I liked. She has tons of passion. She is way more athletic than I ever was and she has the desire to do something great. It is too late for me to do some of the things I once dreamed of, but not for her. However, I know that if I don’t help her to prepare for those dreams, there are three things that will stand in her way.

Lack of Imagination: We can help children with this by exposing them to many possibilities. Then we can talk about them. Traveling with children is a great opportunity to expose children to new ideas and cultures, but it is expensive. There are many opportunities close to home if we look for them. AND, there is the internet. We can help our children to find their passions and then look for how they can use them. Instead of discouraging them, help them to enlarge their imaginations. I couldn’t see as a child where my interests and talents could be used and made profitable.

Fear: What if I fail? What will other people think? There are so many fears that children, and people in general have. Fear is the biggest reason people don’t go after dreams. As parents, we don’t have to make it worse. Maybe their goal isn’t the most practical. Maybe we don’t know anyone who has ever accomplished such a thing. Maybe we know thousands of kids who want to do the same thing. Maybe we don’t even know that the goal IS a thing. Who are we to decide or even negatively influence what our children adventure to accomplish. I allowed fear to keep me from opening my eyes to possibilities.


Self Discipline: All the dreams in the world will go no where without a work ethic to go with it. Life is hard. To be able to make great things happen, we have to be able to do hard things. We don’t wake up one day and say, I’m going to do hard things today. It takes years of training.

So many of my cousins are going to look at this and think, "Hard?" But I'm going to use this example because at the time my children thought I was crazy for attempting such a thing.

I wanted to bury our trampoline. I wanted it set into the ground for both safety and aesthetic reasons. My husband was opposed to it, so it took me years to come to the point where I was willing to make it happen. It was between two fruit trees that were growing to the point that there just wasn’t room for it. So this spring, I told two of my boys we were going to did the holes with shovels. I had a few cousins, very athletically inclined, who had done it so I figured we could do it.

My sons Reuben and Tobler somewhat reluctantly opted in. At first it was a bit of an adventure. As the weeks wore on, it became harder. Having Reuben with his sense of humor was a life saver. He joked about digging to china and sometimes made me laugh so hard I couldn't breathe, let alone dig! I adore that boy! He is the light in all of our heavy. It took us a month, but we did it! It became something we looked at to remember we could do hard things!

Improve Your Digestion!

Every year I grow lots of purple cabbage. I do this so that I can make sauerkraut! A few days ago I harvested all of my cabbage. Cabbage Harvest Means Sauerkraut Time! It doesn't take long, just a few minutes. I chop up my cabbage, it doesn't matter how finely. I like mine more coarse for two reasons. It's faster, and I like mine more crunchy. Finely chopped cabbage makes a more soft kraut. 

After I chop it, I put it in my crock and sprinkle salt. In my 2 gallon crock I put about 3 medium to large cabbage and about 4 tablespoons of pink salt. The salt helps to release the juices. Then I pound it to finish releasing the juices. This is a little exercise and takes about 5-10 minutes.

Then I place a plate fits rather tightly in the crock over the cabbage. Then for weight I place a Ziploc bag with a few cups of water sealed in it. Then you are done! Place the crock in a cool place and let it sit for 1-4 weeks, depending on how strong you like it. 

Sauerkraut has so many health benefits. 

• It will improve your digestion. Your body has a time digesting cellulose and fiber. We need bacteria to do it for us. 
• Sauerkraut is high in K2 and Vitamin C, Iron, Manganese, and so many other trace elements and nutrients.
• Sauerkraut builds a stronger gut lining to prevent leaky gut.
• Sauerkraut aids to strengthen your immune system. 
• Helps you maintaining healthy weight.

Countering Stress Response

Chronic stress is something we all deal with. It doesn't take a major event to over tax our adrenals. It is the everyday, constant variety that does the most damage. Most of us are suffering from adrenal burnout as our amygdala is constantly sending signals of alarm that activates the hypothalamus to send signals through the sympathetic nervous system to the adrenal glands. When this happens over and over our adrenals are taxed. The parasympathetic nervous system never gets to do it's job and we never feel at baseline. We never feel relaxed and ok. This has so many physical, social, and emotional consequences.

Studies are showing that b vitamin deficiency is linked to chronic stress. We are not able to deal with stress if our b vitamins are low. That certainly accounts for the huge increase in modern chronic stress. Studies also show that our food is lower in vitamins and minerals than it used to be due to our modern farming practices. Dirt that has been farmed for decades and supplemented with only three nutrients cannot possibly produce food that contains the array of vitamins and minerals that our bodies need. Supplementing is critical.

Also, adrenaline was made to give us energy to "do" something. When we don't use it, we become irritable, anxious, and easily angered . A few Sunday's ago I had given my daughters and niece instructions to straighten up a room they had destroyed. I left the room and soon heard one of them screaming bloody murder. I was sure I had an emergency room visit to make and I sprinted into the room, knowing someone had broken a body part. My adrenals sent all kinds of epinephrine (adrenaline) into my system to give me energy and focus to pick up the injured child and quickly get her to the emergency room. Only when I got there, there was no emergency. There was only two girls tickling the other. Well, I had adrenaline coursing through my veins and there was not nothing for it to do. So, it came out my mouth. I became super angry and sent the girls out of the house to contemplate their wrong doings. I spent days wondering why I exploded so easily. Then it occurred to me, that this is what someone does on adrenaline that has no place to go. Someone who lives in adrenal fatigue experiences this often.

So what do we do to combat this constant environment of stress we live in? We MOVE. That is what adrenaline was designed for. It doesn't take much. A 15 minute walk, a few flights of stairs, something that uses both arms and raises your heart rate. The benefits are enormous physically, emotionally, and mentally. You will be surprised what a few minutes of physical exercise can do to combat chronic stress. Sometimes we feel like it is too indulgent to take a few minutes for ourselves and take a walk. I often feel like I have too much to do. I have found however, that in the long run, I am more productive when I take time to reset through physical exercise. It doesn't have to be unpleasant if you aren't a die hard runner. It can look like taking a walk with a dog. Sometimes I love the excuse that my dogs need a walk, when it is really me! Today was one of those moments! It was a gorgeous afternoon and I loaded them in the car and went for a little hike. Free therapy!

If you are experiencing chronic adrenal fatigue, find a good supplement (let me know if you need suggestions), and move more!

Getting Ready for Cold and Flu Season

Power House Garden Remedy

I have three remedies that I depend on to keep us through the winter. One of them is my garden remedy. All ingredients but two came out of my garden. The odd ones out are turmeric and ginger. I have tried to grow them, but our growing season is just too short, even in my greenhouse. I love that most everything in this concoction was grown in my garden organically.

I waited until just before a hard freeze to harvest my horse radish. It is a key ingredient in this antibacterial, antiviral, antimicrobial remedy. I gathered a bucket of roots, but left a few in the ground to grow next years roots. 

I add onions, jalapenos, garlic, and raw homemade apple cider vinegar. The vinegar is last years because we haven't juiced apples yet this year. 

I strained a batch that has been incubating for a month or so. Here you can see the difference between the new and old batches.

While it doesn't look pretty, my mouth waters like crazy while I am making it! We finished the last bottle a week ago and my boys are ready to have a new one. They know that it keeps them healthy. With everything they are involved in, they can't afford to get sick. Swim season has started and they have serious plans. Since starting massage therapy school, I don't have time to get sick either. We will be making this part of our daily routine.

To Supplement, or not to Supplement: Sugar's Devastating Effects on our Vitamin's and Minerals

Our modern diet has left almost everyone with a serious deficiency in many nutrients. Part of this can be blamed on how our food is grown and harvested. Food just doesn't have the same nutrient value when it is grown in the same soil for decades with only three nutrients (Nitrogen, Potassium, and Phosphorus, all synthetic) being added back in.

However,  as I study nutrition, I think perhaps a bigger reason we are so nutrient deficient is a result of the sugar we eat. The chemistry of sugar in the body is quite alarming. If you eat much sugar (and it doesn't take much) your are probably deficient in Magnesium, Calcium, Vitamin D, Vitamin C, and Chromium. Research shows that for every one molecule of sugar, you need to intake a minimum of 7 and perhaps as much as 40 molecules of magnesium. That is a big deal considering that magnesium is responsible for promoting healthy sleep, relaxing muscles, healthy, regular bowel movements, and the big one...blood sugar regulation. No wonder diabetes in on the rise. Magnesium is hard to get in our regular diets. Then we compound that by eating more sugar than any other generation. My FAVORITE talk that illustrates this can be viewed here.

Sugar also causes vitamin D deficiencies. It produces an unhelpful enzyme that destroys vitamin D. In previous times that worked because people at sugar in fruit in the summer when people were outside getting lots of extra vitamin D. Now we just eat it all year long, without adding the extra vitamin D. Calcium absorption is linked to vitamin D supply. With low vitamin D levels, calcium will be low also.

It is clear that we need to lower our sugar consumption. The momentary pleasure is just not worth the long term effects on our body. However, we must be honest. That is really hard to do and even harder to get our kids to do. With our best efforts(which are still worth making), we will still need to supplement. When wondering whether to supplement, or not to supplement...read all the links above!

Fingernail Health a Window into Overall Health

My Aunt has been taking our #CaptianAmericaSerum for three months now. She is my mom's sister. Ilene has eaten the typical American diet most of her life. She has tried most of the diets out there, with fleeting success. Her health, and that of her husbands and reached an all time low when they started. Immediately she had more energy. I will get her to write all the amazing changes she has experienced, but I had to do a post about her fingernails!

There are a few areas of the body that act as windows into the health of our bodies. Two that I like to use the most are the tongue, and the fingernails.  When I saw my aunt's fingernails I was amazed. Look at these fingernails! You can see where she started to take her supplements. If that is a window into her health, that is a definite improvement of health. Fingernails don't lie!

Here is a picture after taking the supplements for about 6 weeks.

These were taken after about twelve weeks.

If I would only have known!

I was helping with child care for a Shakespeare play today and a baby, maybe 10 months old came in. I felt an immediate connection with him but the other child care workers were explaining his situation. He had been there the day before and been inconsolable. He had an ear infection and was on antibiotics. He had a rash on his cheeks and runny nose that is common with antibiotics. He looked like he didn't feel great. It brought me back to my young mother self and the health journey I embarked on during that time.

When Reuben was very young, he had a string of ear infections and sinus infections. He had antibiotics several times and then developed stomach problems. They got worse. The doctors thought maybe he had celiac. We saw a pediatric GI and we did many tests. He even had a colonoscopy/endoscopy, which found nothing. Soon after we took him to a functional medicine doctor. We started probiotics, digestive enzymes, essential oils, and some herbs. That was the beginning for me.

For all of my babies after that, I treated ear infections with essential oils, and have never needed an antibiotic. I found the tools I needed to keep digestive systems healthy through herbs, nutrition, and fermented foods. It has taken more than a decade to learn all of these things, but now when I see a baby suffering under the normal pediatric protocol I cringe. If I had only know when I started! My children could have avoided so much pain. I could have avoided so much stress! I also could have saved so much money!

I didn't dare stick my nose in that families business today. Oh, I wanted to because I adored that baby. Our world is pretty private and isolated. People generally don't want advise. If I could share what I have learned with parents to help keep the minds and bodies of their children healthy I would! I would start by saying feed them food! Not something out of a package! The most priceless possession we have is our children. Most parents feel this way, and think they are doing what is right for their kids. Sometimes that takes a lifetime to learn. It is too bad we can't share that info. Oh, if I had only know!

The Power of Specific Goals

In 2013, Dan and I got together with amazing friends and decided to make it an incredible year. We set goals with the idea of helping each other reach them. I set 10 rather lofty goals. I don't recommend setting so many, I haven't before or since set so many. However, that year was incredible. I reached all of them, even the ones I wasn't sure about when I set them. One of my goals was to figure out how to freeze dry food. I didn't know what a crazy goal that was. Freeze drying is really complicated. The first home freeze dryer happened to come out that same year, and somehow, we acquired one. I didn't know anything about Harvest Right when I set that goal. I didn't even know much about freeze drying, I just knew I wanted to be able to do it!

This year, I set some lofty, quirky, and random goals as well. I shared them with Dan so I would be more accountable. I wanted to loose 15 pounds, be able to climb a rope, swim a mile, and do 2 pull ups. That tells you how out of shape I was. The first few months didn't go well. I tried intermittent fasting, and didn't loose a pound. I started swimming and was enjoying it, but I had to swim 100 yard intervals. I heard Sally Fallon speak in January, and recommitted to following her ideas: bone broth, high quality fish oils, healthy fats, no processed foods...

Then in the middle of march our water polo coach introduced us to some amazing super food supplements. I started to be able to do things I couldn't before and it started this crazy domino effect. I lost 6 pounds, started running 3 miles day, could swim 2000 yards without stopping, and felt so much stronger. Then just when I'm feeling good about how things are going I learned about an arial silks class for adults. I didn't know when I set the goal to be able to climb a rope where in the world I was going to be able to do that. Well, there we go! I learned just how weak I was the first day! But, I will get there. I am confident that I can do it.

Goals I had set last year but didn't accomplish have even started happening: massage therapy school.  This is opening even more doors for health and wellness for my whole family. I am amazed at the power of setting goals and sharing them with people to hold you accountable. I can honestly say that it has not been me that is accomplishing these things. It is as if Heaven and Earth have moved to bring them about. All I have to do is be a willing participant. This year hasn't been the easiest of years in many ways. We have had a few set backs. But the goals I made will be accomplished.  I am so grateful! What is the difference? I don't totally know the answer this this except there must be a natural law that very specific goals, shared with others for accountability set things in motion. I look forward to the rest of this year and the changes I will make.

No More Adjustments!

For the last eight years I have gone to my physical therapist and chiropractor to set my SI joint regularly. So often if fact, that the physical therapist taught my husband how to set it. My body could not hold the adjustment. I did exercises and was careful about my activities, but even then I would have those days where I had to limp around through the day.

After discovering our new supplements, I wasn't having this joint pain and I stopped going. This week I decided to go to the chiropractor for a tune up since there is a great one in the same building as my massage therapy school. He did some adjustments to my neck and upper back, nothing major, and then I asked about my SI joint. He did some measuring of my legs and reported that it did not need adjusting. What?! Never in 8 years has it not needed adjusting. It had been 4 months since my last adjustment, and I still didn't need one. That is nothing short of miraculous to me.

Now, I can shovel and run all I want, and my SI joint feels no pain. I am feeling so grateful. Life is good. Not perfect, my hammock broke yesterday and my basement flooded, but my body is healthy and strong and I am grateful.

This is a post for my female friends!

For the last year or more I thought I was premenopausal. I'm a little young, but my symptoms followed what my moms were so I just figured, ok, here we go! I'm ok with loosing my period! For the past year and a half I have had irregular, spotty periods. That is a big contrast to the clockwork ones of the last thirty years. That was ok with me, except that they were accompanied by the painful cramps I felt before having children. That was miserable.

After taking my supplements for 6 weeks, it was like going back in time. I now have clockwork periods again of a healthy 5 day duration. I'm not thrilled about that, except that I know what a healthy detox it is. The part that I am thrilled about is that I have NO CRAMPS! If a period is an indication of health, I am in great shape!

Massage Therapy School

I have wanted to do massage therapy school for a long time now. I have spent 20 years studying herbal medicine,Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, yoga, and other alternative medicine aspects. I have done online courses and purchased book shelves of books learning all that I could trying to keep my self and family healthy. There is still so much I don't know!

This week I started a medical massage therapy course. It will last ten months. My family is doing really well at keeping things together for the four hours a day that I am gone. I am so proud of them! I can't imagine anything more fun than learning about healing the body. It is an indulgence for me. It's a sacrifice for my family, but as long as they are making it, I am going to enjoy it!

Health Challenge

I have decided to take part in a 90 day health challenge. When my fifth baby was born I didn't loose the extra 25 pounds I gained. I have made token efforts to exercise, but with my SI joint permanently damaged (that's what I have thought for the last 8 years) there wasn't much I could do. Now that I am healing and my body is so much stronger I have decided to set some goals. The ones I have set are:

• Be able to do 3 pullups (I can't even do one right now).
• loose 10 pounds
• Run a 5K
• Swim a consecutive mile

My boys are training me. The other day after I came in from digging weeds out of my garden for three hours Reuben asked, "Have you done your workout?". Ugh. So I attempted the push ups and weight exercises on my list.

Today, we spent two hours at the pool, stopping at the climbing wall first. I LOVE that my SI joint is healed enough to do this. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but to me, IT IS A BIG DEAL! Thanks to what Reuben calls our #CaptainAmericaSerum, I can do so many things I couldn't before.

#CaptainAmericaSerum

Marvel is a household name for us. My boys are pretty sure all the characters are real. Reuben's best friend has him in his phone as Steve Rogers. They make Marvel costumes and films in their spare time. When Garrett comes home, they plan to do a marathon with all the marvel movies. When we started taking our supplements, Reuben renamed it "Captain America Serum", and it stuck. They would never start at water polo game without it, and when I look at them, I think it is well named! I don't want to look like them, but I am looking forward to a little more definition!

End From the Beginning : Part 2

At the end of the swim season a few months ago, I wrote about a friend to all three of my boys. We were all heart broken that he didn't make it to state his senior year, after coming so close the two years before. It was so hard for him, and all of us. Jennifer Dotson, told me of her heart break in high school at not making the madrigal choir, and then how much more it meant that she made it into the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. She reminded me that we don't know the end from the beginning. Well, I have the coolest thing to report to put closure to this post!

David took Chem 1010 as a concurrent enrollment course at SUU this year year. Reuben reported last week that on the final exam, he got a perfect score. It was only the 5th perfect score in SUU history! The fifth perfect score of every chem student, not just concurrently enrolled students. It was such a big deal that SUU bought him a car! That is incredible! As a high school senior, competing will college students, to get a perfect score! Only the fifth in the schools history!

I love this because it is a very quick example to all of us, especially my children, that when God closes a door, somewhere he opens a window. God has a compensation plan! Life can be hard, but the sun rises, and a new days come, better days.

This time it's Sophie!

We have been taking our supplements now for nearly two months. Everyone is feeling healthier, but last week, something miraculous happened! My youngest, Sophie, has been struggling with some health challenges for a few years. More than three years ago she started having intense stomach aches. Like screaming bloody murder for hours. Early on, I took her in and each time the doctor did some tests, and called them stomach migraines, which means, "we don't know". I know enough about health, and having gone through IBS in the late 1990s I knew that gut health and probiotics  are critical. I started making sour Kraut and trying to get my authentically stubborn red head to eat healthy. My boys go on long fasts from sugar and center their lives around healthy eating and sports, but my girls....

Then two and a half years ago I noticed an alarming lump on her neck. She was snuggled up next to me in church and I found this large grape sized lymph node. It was so large you could see it from a few feet away. So I took her in, and they ran more tests. She had tons of blood work done which revealed dangerously low white blood cells. This led to more tests, including one for leukemia. They were all negative. So the functional medical doctor put her on lots of supplements to boost her immune system. The lymph node remained the same alarming size. She remained on the supplements for two years, with no change. I think her health was a little more stable, and we had a few less stomach migraines. We tried to incorporate lots of sour Kraut and fermented foods and immune boosting herbs.

Sophie started taking our new supplements a few weeks after I did and had been taking them for almost 6 weeks when one day I placed my hand on her neck and couldn't find the lymph node. Startled I searched more thoroughly. I found it, but it was very small. I was amazed! With grateful interest I watched it every day for the next few weeks as it disappeared completely. I can no longer find it at all! She hasn't had a stomach migraine in well over a month. She seems stronger and healthier. Once again, I did not expect this, but I am so grateful! Of all the improvements we have watched in awe, this one I am most grateful for. And I'm saving money too!

There is help out there! Sometimes it takes years of searching to find it, but I it is worth the search!

Since finding these supplements, my family and I have been on a healing journey. It has actually been a really fast one that has been quite miraculous. My mom called this morning to report the latest miracle, but I have to preface it.

My Dad has had hand tremors for several years. He has seen neurologists and had CAT scans but all they could tell him was good luck. He started taking our supplements about 8 or 9 days ago, mostly showing support to me, not really expecting to see any change or feel any different. Then my Mom called this morning to say that his hand tremors were gone! That is AMAZING! It is amazing to see what the body can heal when you give it what it needs. I can't wait to see what is next!

I am a do it yourself person. I have exhausted myself trying to help my family be healthy. I have taken many herbalist courses learning how to boost our immune systems and treat any aliment we might get. I have planted, harvested, and made medicines out of those herbs. I spend my days making sauer kraut, sour dough bread, and all our food from scratch. The list could go on and on. I do not regret any of it, but I am feeling a little tired, and after the birth of my 5th child, and then hitting 40, I am aging! Really aging!

I had an unexpected find that has been a remarkable blessing. I am not a supplement person, because I have always been so busy making them myself. But I have learned that I cannot do it all, no matter how hard I try. So when I saw the nutritional science behind a company our water polo coach introduced us to, I decided to give it a try. I did not expect the immediate results I received. In my younger days I loved, loved to exercise. I could run or swim for hours and it was FUN! I haven't felt that way in a very, very long time. After two weeks taking the food based supplement, I was having fun again, like I never, ever though I would the rest of my life. My lungs have been the weak link for me for a long time. Now, I feel like I can push myself and it feels good. What?! I am enjoying exercise like I haven't since my early twenties. I really can't express that well enough. It was miraculous to me.

I have a list of things that I am hoping these supplements do for our family. I don't expect to see immediate results, but have already been pleasantly surprised. I was already spending a considerable amount on omega oils like fish oils and other things that are hard to get into our diet. These supplements rang true with everything I have learned over the years, all in one place. It sounds cliche, but I feel like everything I have learned prepared me to find this. The best part about it right now is...I don't have to do it all myself!

End From the Beginning

We are a swimming family. All of my boys have been swimmers. Good ones. Garrett, my oldest took state in the 100 breast stroke two years, and placed in other events. Reuben, my second son took 2nd his junior year, and 6th his sophomore year in the 100 breast stroke. Tobler my freshman, took 11th in the 100 and 200 freestyle. They have learned to do really hard things, and love it! They also have made amazing friends. This has actually been my favorite part. Somehow, swimming in our area, draws amazing kids.

One of those amazing kids is a senior this year named David. He was a good friend to my son who graduated last year. They swam together in club and high school swimming for three years. Last year, Garrett was really concerned that David might not qualify for state. He had worked so hard and was so close. He went to state as an alternate his sophomore year, and just as Garrett was concerned, also his junior year. How could someone who worked so hard, swimming twice a day, sometimes for a total of 12,000 yards, not drop time and make it to state?

This year, Reuben and Tobler became really close to David, as Garrett had been. They came home one day talking nervously about David making it to state his senior year. Surely, this year he would make it. He had swam all summer, working really hard. When region came around, David did not drop the time he needed to in both the 200 and 500 free. It didn't help that my freshman son counted wrong for him and he swam an extra lap (the clock stopped at the right time, but he still had to swim and extra lap!). Add insult to injury! We had prayed and hoped that he would drop time, and were devastated that he did not. So, for the third time, he went to state as an alternate.

As parents, we teach our children that with work, they can do anything they want. We tell them that they just have to believe it and set goals. We just know if they sacrifice, they will achieve their goals. What happens when that doesn't work? I stewed over this for a few weeks, until State. As I was sitting watching the events, I related some of this tale to my sister in law, who sings with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the best choir in the world. She gave me hope.

Jen told me that when she was in high school, she tried out every year for the madrigal choir. All of her siblings had sung in that choir and she wanted to do the same. Every year she was rejected. Then, 20 years later, after a rigorous three part tryout process, she was invited to sing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. This she has done for about seven years now. It has been an amazing experience, which she has shared with all of us in her family. This description really doesn't do it justice. The spirit she has felt, and opportunities she has had over those years with the choir, touring the world, practicing, and performing defy words. "So"..., she said to me, "you don't know the end from the beginning. This is a really hard thing for David, but you don't know what experiences are coming that will eclipse this one. And because of this hard thing, he will appreciate it so much more." If we take one segment of life, one snap shot in isolation, it may look tragic, or unfair. But if we look at life as a whole, we see that God has a compensation program. The trouble is, we can't see the end from the beginning. We must live on faith. So, I look forward to what life has in store for David, knowing it will be great!