Hey friends, 

Recently I had open heart surgery. For years, I have had a mostly symptom-less, genetic, mitral valve prolapse in my heart. The bill came due this year. I wrote the piece below about it. We are a cheerful blog, en generale, but we are also real, and sometimes life takes you by the shoulders and shakes you for loose change :D. It has been said that life can be “brutiful”, both brutal and beautiful.

Yes. My recent experience was the yin and yang of both of these elements. Here you go:

If you ever have to have major surgery, which I fervently hope you do not, you may wonder what the hospital recovery experience will be like.

Since I recently had open heart surgery with full sternotomy (they open your chest, via incision through your sternum),

https://www.cedarfort.com/products/i-can-feel-it-in-my-heart-a-childs-guide-to-safe-media-choices

It’s 1987. I am standing in our small New York City, apartment, likely doing “mom-related” things, on behalf of our two very young children. 

Out of nowhere, a little voice inside me whispers. You know this voice-it’s the kind one that prompts us to help others, to forgive, and to do a multitude of other good things. It’s the opposite of the voice that accuses and condemns us. We always want to steer clear of that mean voice.

It was the gentle, honest, and loving voice that had my attention. “Would you please help fight pornography?” it whispered.

Huh?

Why me? I had only heard the word pornography maybe a handful of times in my life, and I had never known anyone involved with pornography. I felt like a clueless recruit.

Still, I said “OK” to no on

When I behold little ones, with their shiny innocence, their unabashed love for their families, their wholesome wonder and laughter., I marvel…you too? 

Don’t we feel like we want to protect them from the harmful things of the world? Of course, yes!

But how can we help?  One way is to read them the new book “I Can Feel it in my Heart.” It can be pre- ordered here. Use the code safehearts20 for 20% off.

This book is about helping little ones know what to do, should they bump into inappropriate media images, including pornography.

I hope it can be shared widely, to help protect small children in this higher-tech, higher-risk digital age. You may know of someone who

If the heart of the home is the mom, my siblings and I can never complain about Valentine’s Day (at least about non-romantic applications).  We received an enormous, forever heart of love when we were brought into the snuggly baby embraces of our mutual mom, Mary Elizabeth Gannon Schuette. 

She wasn’t Snow White, but she did resemble her, not only physically (above) but in cheerfulness, patience, and long-suffering. She had some definite suffering to deal with, including growing up with a severely disabled brother named Frank. Frank wasn’t able to talk, but he was a constant presence of love. She once shared with me that she would pray at night that Frank would be able to talk. Now she is in heaven, and Frank is still on earth, for a bit longer. How awesome will i

Brooke Walker of KSL TV’s Studio 5 had so much fun again recently on her great show! You can check out our silliness/seriousness about health and fitness in the Senior chapters of our lives here:

Fitness is so incredibly important as our cells and bones, et al, grow older. With care, these can be some of the most fun years of our lives! 

Another recent source of inspiration for my husband and me has been the LIMITLESS series with Chris Hemsworth. If you haven’t already seen it, you will w

I know, Santa is mapping out your neighborhood. The reindeer are practicing their roof landings.  The chimneys of the world are on the North Pole radar. All metaphorically, of course. We are in holiday “Go” mode. 

You now might be realizing, like our little grand girl on the far left, that you need a few last-minute gifts. You want something unique, but fun, also helpful, and not too expensive. How about that Costco bestseller (only it’s sold out of Costco now-but there are other places-hang on to your sleigh!) The Pursuit of Happi-Nest…how to help your family soar, even while winging it! You can learn more about this family building/bonding/bumbling book of bounciness from the reviews (links just ahead).

If you live in a state with a Deseret Book store or a Se

Far and away the best thing that has happened for grandparents that live far and away from their grandchildren is technology. Here are a couple of tech-based joy and connection bringers:

1. Our pandemic buddy Zoom, is still going strong on a number of fronts, and one of those is the family connection front. We can read books to our grandkids over Zoom! We can do this live, or make a recording and send it to them. I have found it helpful to have someone next to me, holding the book and turning the pages). A “fam fav” here is The Velveteen Rabbit, because it’s not too short, not too long, and it’s super engaging. it’s so well written!! Not feeling the read-aloud vibe? you could also send them a link (see Youtube) to Meryl Streep’s rendition of this timeless classic. If you are visi

Hey friends, 

As you can see above, our podcast, Moms Meet World, is now in the top dozen of 90 podcasts for 2022. It’s true that we are # 11, but hey-still in the top dozen!

And that kind of feels like a miracle, given that out of like twenty things you are supposed to do to grow your podcast, I have done about two of them.

If you are a listener to this podcast that is trying to strengthen families, you get the credit! Thanks so much!! 

Also, The Pursuit of Happi-Nest book I wrote did not become a Costco bestseller without you either. Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

A number of people told me that they are looking to give copies of this book away as gifts (one mom told me “I love to give it away because it’s so unique, safe, not borin

Hey friends and fellow family builders. I would love to connect you with my friend KSL, Studio 5 TV. I have done interviews with them in the past (see the TV/Media tab on this website). They were fun! I have recently been invited to be their leading voice in a new series called “Nanahood.” This is delightfully interesting timing because I also happen to have a book coming out on this topic in the fall of 2023!

To this end, they have asked me to share my core philosophies regarding Nanahood. They are soon to share this information in broad, social media strokes. So, I needed to dig deep. This was my heartfelt, honest reply: 

Nanas may seem like real-life versions of fairy godmothers. This is because they shine light. But light from Nanas is even better than that which

Hey friends,

Sorry for the delay in writing. It’s been a blur. We have had another offspring family spring right into our area. My husband drove a 26-foot moving van over freeways and mountain passes for about 18 hours to help get them to their new home here. My son-in-law drove a car with three large dogs and two of their three young kids.  All these people have received medals of honor-not actual ones-but ones in my mind. #haulingheroes I flew with my daughter and her baby in a plane. #sorrynotsorry

And! A fresh, snuggly, baby boy was sent from heaven to another daughter and her husband. And, we have another dear daughter about to leave for college! I also have two more books in the contract process.

Have you heard the story of Snow White and Rose Red? Did you know Snow White had a sister? Turns out, in at least one story, she did! She and Rose Red were close, loyal sisters.  In 2016, Disney was planning to make a movie about these two-but it fell through. This is sad news for fans of strong sisterhood everywhere, and I hope we can talk Disney back into making the movie. #AnnaElsafanswriteaway!

I remember reading Snow White and Rose Red as a little girl and taking utter delight in it. I also had sisters I adored. In an embarrassment of riches, I also had a very best friend, Kathy Pyne, who lived right next door. We met as toddlers and played nearly every day until I moved away with my family at age 11. I still remember the laughter, joy, and fun we had continually. We ve

Note: the following is a story from my book The Pursuit of Happi-Nest, only you are getting the expanded version at zero cost! Thanks interwebs! (note: the book is on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, etc.-but it’s only 9.99 here and now: https://www.cedarfort.com/products/the-pursuit-of-happi-nest).

Back  to our story: Lori, (she is on my right, above. This was taken while I was recently a guest speaker, and I chose her as a guest, guest speaker in Aspen Grove). Lori is/on her way to becoming a goddess, only she lives on earth and she doesn’t have any idea that she is.  

She has blessed more people than I could count, and there are so many that only heaven knows about. I wish everyone could have at least an hour with her. She radiates mega light. Even h

THE GENIUS OF MODESTY

“The first test of a truly great man is his humility” [John Ruskin Modern Painters]

Coco Chanel, creator of the Chanel brand and the only fashion designer on the list of “The 100 Most Influential people of the 20th century”, once famously stated “Modesty is the Highest Elegance.”

Oh Coco. Why aren’t these words on billboards all over the world here in the confused world of 2022? We could really use your classic and timeless wisdom right about now. Come to think of it, “classic” and “timeless” are also words that remind me of your imitable style.

Do you love fun clothes? If so, me too! I love so many points on the sliding scale of wearables. I love refined

One of the greatest things about living in a basically healthy family is enjoying all of the healthy laughter available. Laughter is literally one of my favorite things on earth. But not “dark” laughter-not laughter that comes at the deep expense of someone else; not laughter that is crass or vulgar. But light, buoyant, joyful laughter? Please bring it!!! Our family is always on the lookout for “good fun”. Please email me if you have ideas for fun, clean media! I will add your sources to my list. Here is one we’ve really enjoyed. The lead girl in the flowered sweater here, Naomi, ad libbed much of this sketch. 

Hey new friends and old (I don’t mean “old”-you know:) this blog is all about supporting strong families, and one of the best vacation places ever created to help achieve that goal is Aspen Grove, Utah!