Briana Stephen

I had an epiphany today while sitting in the oncologist's office. There's so much talk and paraphernalia about finding cures for cancer. There's bitter talk about why Heavenly Father would allow such suffering. I sat there thinking to myself, No. My heart tells me it's not like that at all! ... Think of the communities and families that have come together to love, serve, and mourn with one another.

Our Father in heaven provides opportunities every day for us to keep his commandments, to follow His ultimate example of serving, loving, caring for His spirit children, our spirit brothers and sisters. I get to experience firsthand on a daily basis how beautiful the hearts of mankind really are.

Turn off the news of contentious politics, crime, and adultery for a bit. You'll find a world of compassion. PLEASE ACCEPT MY GRATITUDE to all those who uplift and show me what leading a Christ-like life is really all about. Loads and loads of LOVE!!!

-Bri, March 2010



Thursday, October 30, 2008

"Not Joan"

During October, Leyna stayed several days with Eric's parents, Grandma Joan and Grandpa Larry. After some time with them, she was passed onto my parents, Grandma Teri and Grandpa Boulter. The funniest thing was that no matter how hard my mom tried, she couldn't get Leyna to call her grandma. Instead, when asked what her name was, Leyna would say, "Not Joan." Well, a few weeks later, our whole family went out to AZ for a trip. Even then, Leyna hadn't forgotten the name game. For the whole trip, she continued to call mom, "Not Joan." Technically, she's right, but how funny that a 2 year old would discern the two grandmas in such a way. We thought it was hilarious!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Too Cool for Kisses?

Well, it took until 2nd grade, but Kaden finally admitted that he doesn't want to kiss me goodbye at school in front of his friends. It's too embarrassing. He didn't want to hurt my feelings, either, so he told me he would kiss me two times at home to make up for it. I can handle that; sounds like a good compromise to me.

It reminded me of when I was in about the 3rd grade when I was distraught over how to tell my mom that I didn't want to call her "mommy" anymore. I thought I was too grown up and should just refer to her as "mom." Funny what little kids think and worry about, huh?