Happy Mothers Day to moms around the world!!!!

I am grateful for my mother and grandmothers, for the wonderful legacies they have left me. I appreciate all the amazing women who have inspired, taught, befriended and supported me as a girl and as an adult. I love being a mother to my 5 children, now incredible adults!. Thank you!

• “When you look at your mother, you are looking at the purest love you will ever know.” —Mitch Albom
• “There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one.” —Jill Churchill
• “Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible.” —Marion C. Garretty

Coraima in the Dominican Republic is focused on her education so she can help support her mother when she needs it. “My motivation [comes from] my mom and being able to help her in the future. I always do things thinking about her.” (Photo by Carina Cruz, Agency Journalist, Dominican Republic)

My wonderful new neighborhood is gorgeous with flowers and trees in full bloom, quickly leafing out!

Fernanda, Julie, the younger girl cousins and I visited a native plant garden in West Jordan, ate tacos and drank horchatas, and then stopped at Gardner Village with cute shops and old houses.

It has been so much fun to watch grand kids play soccer, baseball, disc golf, football....just like when my kids were growing up!

Emily and I enjoyed an amazing production of Les Miserables at the Hale Theater in the round in Sandy....always a favorite! I was thrilled to see Mary Porter there from my ward in Palo Alto, now in Carlsbad. I love the small world in which we live. Connections are so fun!

Meet some of my new neighbors

Some of the flora is most welcome, others like the ubiquitous dandelions are not!

Lucie, Ken and I did a 1000 piece puzzle. Did the dog eat the missing piece?

George (bottom row second from left) and Kelly (center) sang in a fabulous Timpview HS choirs concert

University Avenue with Mt. Timpanogos very near my new house. The walking/biking path is great.

Kelly and her boyfriend Clay (on right) and other friends posed for photos before the junior-senior prom at their high school. So nice that some events escape all the Covid restrictions. 

And speaking of Covid .....

Japan’s Covid response has been so successful that it achieved a remarkable feat: Overall deaths declined in 2020, even as they were surging in the U.S. and much of the rest of the world. Japan kept its Covid toll low, and its pandemic measures caused a decline in some other fatalities, like those from the flu and vehicle accidents.

What did Japan do right?

It already had a culture of mask wearing to prevent illness, and masks became almost ubiquitous early last year. (This article by Motoko, from almost a year ago, compares mask habits in Japan and the U.S.) The government also virtually closed its borders. And it was quick to focus on the settings where the coronavirus was most likely to spread, warning people to avoid the “three C’s” — closed spaces, crowded places and close contact.