The Road Trip

The Road Trip

The Road Trip “Adventure is not outside man; it is within.” George Eliot In the summer of ’76, my close friend Scott McNatt and I decided to take a little drive from Los Angeles to the Olympic Games in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, over three thousand...
The Treehouse

The Treehouse

The Treehouse “I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else.” Pablo Picasso When my cousin Stephen and I were about fourteen and fifteen, respectively, we decided to build a treehouse near my aunt and uncle’s cabin above Lake Tahoe. We asked if...
The Queen is Not Pleased

The Queen is Not Pleased

The Queen is Not Pleased “Sometimes the unexpected makes the best memories.” Anonymous When I was a teenager, my whole family was nuts about old cars, Model A Fords especially. And we liked to take them on road trips in the summer. Sometimes, we would have...
Pure Joy

Pure Joy

Pure Joy “What day is it?” “It’s today,” squeaked Piglet. “My favorite day,” said Pooh. This is my son, John, at about seven years old. We had been fishing and catching crawdads at Incline Lake, Nevada, where my aunt and uncle...
The Crow

The Crow

The Crow “Delight in the little things.” Rudyard Kipling Dr. Thomas Phalen, child psychologist, was once asked, “How long does adolescence last?” He famously replied, “For a while.” That is because we all grow up at different rates. Some seem mature at 12, and others...
Mary McMurrin Frazee

Mary McMurrin Frazee

Mary McMurrin Frazee “The most important of the Lord’s work you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes.” Harold B. Lee My mom was an awesome mom. She had been a fashion model as a teenager and through her twenties. They wanted...