College Football Picks Week 1 Results

1. Lisa -12 tiebreaker 47
2. Tammy -13 tiebreaker 59
3. Clint -13 tiebreaker 62
4. Rex -14  tiebreaker 40
5. Michael -15 no tiebreaker

actual tiebreaker 44

The Best Is Yet to Come

The Second Coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is coming soon.  Prepare your lives now for that glorious day.  Turn to Jesus Christ by building and increasing your faith in Him.

“My dear brothers and sisters, in a coming day, Jesus Christ will return to the earth as the millennial Messiah. So today I call upon you to rededicate your lives to Jesus Christ. I call upon you to help gather scattered Israel and to prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord. I call upon you to talk of Christ, testify of Christ, have faith in Christ, and rejoice in Christ! …

“… The best is yet to come because the Lord is hastening His work. The best is yet to come as we fully turn our hearts and our lives to Jesus Christ.”

President Russell M. Nelson “The Lord Jesus Christ Will Come Again,” general conference, Oct. 2024

I love this quote by our beloved prophet, President Russell M. Nelson.  A lot of people look at the Second Coming and the last days prior to it negatively, and fear it.  But President Nelson said the best is yet to come.  We are living in the last days.  We are in the last minutes of the final hour before His glorious return.  If we are prepared, and have faith in Christ, we have no need to fear.

I, for one, am excited and very much looking forward to our Savior's Second Coming.

The best is yet to come.

That's my two cents.

Awards for 2026 Myron Hampton Stone Memorial Two Mile Run

We just got the awards for next year's Memorial run.  I'm super excited.  They turned out awesome!  I did the same trophies as last year – even though I had to design each one separately.  Also, this year I was able to upload the design for next year's race and put them on the medals!  So I'm pretty excited about that as well.  We didn't take pictures of the ribbons but there will be ribbons for 4th Place through 10th Place, as usual.  Here are the photos of the trophies and medals for next year.  Ribbons will be the same as previous years.

I hope y'all are as excited as I am about next year's race.  Start training now so you can earn one of the awesome awards.  There will also be a drawing as usual with some fun prizes.

Saturday, July 25, 2026

Eatonville High School Track

Eatonville, Washington

10 AM

Be there or be square!

That's my two cents.

2026 – Seventh Annual Myron Hampton Stone Memorial Run

I know we just finished the Sixth Annual Myron Hampton Stone Memorial Two-Mile Run.  Thanks again to all who participated.  It was a blast.

I would like to announce next year's race date to give people plenty of time to mark their calendars and plan ahead.  

Next year the Seventh Annual Myron Hampton Stone Memorial Two-Mile Run will be held on Saturday, July 25, 2026 at Eatonville High School Track at 10 AM.  Same time, same place.

Mark your calendars.  Start training.

Already looking forward to next year's race/reunion.  Hope you can all make it!

That's my two cents.

Reach Your Potential

"Sometimes we feel discouraged because we are not “more” of something—more spiritual, respected, intelligent, healthy, rich, friendly, or capable. We may not see ourselves as good enough. But our Heavenly Father sees us as His children and sees our potential of who we can become.

If you trust God and start to become the person God intended you to become, you will see God’s hand in your lives.

God will take you as you are at this very moment and help you become your true self, even greater than you ever thought possible. All you need is a willing heart, a desire to believe, and courage to trust the Lord, Jesus Christ."

– Dieter F Uchtdorf, July 27, 2025 Instagram post

I love this quote by Elder Uchtdorf.  Many people get discouraged because they have wandered off the covenant path and don't feel like they can get back on it.  But Elder Uchtdorf reminds us that God sees our potential of who we can become. We are His children.  He loves us infinitely.

Heavenly Father will help us reach our potential, and become greater than we ever thought possible, if we turn our hearts to Him, desire to believe, and trust in our Savior.

The Lord loves effort.  And with a little effort and hope, desire, and courage, He will help us reach our potential, and become our true selves.

That's my two cents. 

Festivities from Sixth Annual Myron Hampton Stone Memorial Run

Lisa sent me more pictures from Dad's memorial run on Saturday so I posting them to my blog.  We all had such a good time.  The run was fun then we came back to the house and ate hoagies as per tradition.  Rex made smash burgers for dinner and Lisa made potato salad, Aunt Evelyn Jell-O, and fruit salad.  Everything was delicious and we had a great time visiting with everybody.

Stephanie, Weston, and Dylan along with Preston and Amelia drove up from California for the memorial run.  And Michael drove down from Lynnwood to participate in Dad's memorial run and actually ran it two days postop!  Juliet drove over from Idaho with Kylee and her friend, Arianna, and spent the week with us prior to the race.  Kingston flew in and spent the week with his cousin Brandon.

We all had a nice time visiting with lots of laughter making memories.  The kids made fast friends with each other and had fun playing together.

Poor Michael wasn't able to eat any of the good food except he did enjoy some ice cream.

Thanks to everyone who made the effort to come honor Dad.  And thanks to Lisa and Rex for doing all the hard work setting up, officiating the race, and preparing all the food.

As usual, we all had a great time and look forward to next year's race!

That's my two cents.

 

Myron Hampton Stone Memorial Two Mile Run – Photos

Yesterday we held the sixth annual Myron Hampton Stone Memorial Two Mile Run at Eatonville high school track.  Again, this year we had family travel in from out of state to participate in the event and festivities and honor Dad and his legacy.

Congratulations to all who participated, especially to our overall winners Preston and Juliet.  Everybody did a great job and fun was had by all.

Here are some photos from the race.

And they're off
Amelia, Weston, Ariana, Brandon, Elijah, Michael, Kylee, Savannah, Juliet, Preston

Awards table

Overall winners – Preston and Juliet

Group shot
Rex, Tammy, Lisa, Weston, Stephanie, Dylan, Savannah, Arianna, Kylee, Juliet, Michael, Brandon, Elijah, Preston, Amelia, Kingston

Rex, Tammy, Lisa, Weston, Stephanie, Dylan, Zach, Savannah, Arianna, Kylee, Juliet, Michael, Brandon, Elijah, Preston, Amelia, Kingston

Top three female finishers
Kylee – third, Juliet – first, Amelia – second

All female participants
Stephanie, Arianna, Kylee, Juliet, Amelia, Savannah

All male participants
Dylan, Weston, Preston, Michael, Elijah, Brandon

Top three males
Preston – first, Elijah – second, Brandon – third

Thank you to all who came and participated in Dad's Memorial Run.  A special thanks to Lisa and Rex for all their hard work in making this event happen.  Without them this special annual event would not be possible.  Thank you so much, Lisa and Rex!  And thanks to all who traveled from near and far to come and honor Dad.  It was sure fun seeing you all again.

Hope you can all make it again to next year's race!

That's my two cents.

Sixth Annual Myron Hampton Stone Two-Mile Memorial Run – Results

Men's Results

1. Preston – 12:56
2. Elijah – 14:04
3. Brandon – 19:01
4. Michael – 19:13
5. Weston – 21:45 (completed 1 mile)

Women's Results

1. Juliet – 15:12
2. Amelia – 17:29
3. Kylee – 21:44
4. Savannah – 22:30
5. Ariana – 23:19
6. Stephanie – 21:45 (completed 1 mile)

Six Years

 Six years ago today Dad graduated from mortality.  Life is not the same without you, Dad.  I miss you so much!

Dad left quite a legacy.  He is loved by all.  I feel so blessed to be his daughter.  

I love you and miss you so much, Dad!  God be with you till we meet again.  

Today also marks the 32nd anniversary of my mission homecoming.

Service

This quote was in the "Come Follow Me" lesson for this week.  I liked it enough to post to my blog.

“When our lives are filled with purpose and service, we avoid spiritual apathy; on the other hand, when our lives are deprived of divine purpose, meaningful service to others, and sacred opportunities for pondering and reflection, we gradually become suffocated by our own activity and self-interest, risking losing our savor. The antidote to this is to continue to be involved in service—being anxiously engaged in good works and the betterment of ourselves and the society we live in.” Elder José A. Teixeira “Bonded to Jesus Christ: Becoming the Salt of the Earth,” general conference, Oct. 2024

This quote from Elder Teixeira is a good reminder that focusing on serving others rather than ourselves and our own interests, is how we stay close to our Savior and avoid spiritual apathy.  More and more the world is focused on selfishness and self-serving activities.  The more we focus on ourselves and what's in it for me, the farther we drift from our Savior and our divine purpose.  True happiness is found in trying to be like Jesus, in serving others and following His commandments.

That's my two cents.

Keep Trying

I was looking for a specific quote by President Holland, but can't seem to locate it right now.  But in my search I found some other good quotes by President Holland.  This is from a talk he gave in April 2016 called Tomorrow the Lord Will Do Wonders among You.  Here are a few excerpts that I liked.

"Please remember tomorrow, and all the days after that, that the Lord blesses those who want to improve, who accept the need for commandments and try to keep them, who cherish Christlike virtues and strive to the best of their ability to acquire them. If you stumble in that pursuit, so does everyone; the Savior is there to help you keep going. If you fall, summon His strength. Call out like Alma, “O Jesus, … have mercy on me.” He will help you get back up. He will help you repent, repair, fix whatever you have to fix, and keep going. Soon enough you will have the success you seek.

“As you desire of me so it shall be done unto you,” the Lord has declared.

“… Put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good—yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously. 

“… [Then] whatsoever you desire of me [in] righteousness, … you shall receive.”

"I love that doctrine! It says again and again that we are going to be blessed for our desire to do good, even as we actually strive to be so.

…"Now, with that majestic devotion ringing from heaven as the great constant in our lives, manifested most purely and perfectly in the life, death, and Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, we can escape the consequences of both sin and stupidity—our own or that of others—in whatever form they may come to us in the course of daily living. If we give our heart to God, if we love the Lord Jesus Christ, if we do the best we can to live the gospel, then tomorrow—and every other day—is ultimately going to be magnificent, even if we don’t always recognize it as such. Why? Because our Heavenly Father wants it to be! He wants to bless us. A rewarding, abundant, and eternal life is the very object of His merciful plan for His children! It is a plan predicated on the truth “that all things work together for good to them that love God.” So keep loving. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever." – Tomorrow the Lord Will Do Wonders among You, By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, April 2016 

If we desire to do good and keep trying to do so, the Lord will bless us.  Trying counts.  Even when we keep failing.  But we need to keep trying and trust in the Lord.  He will bless us for our efforts.  He wants to bless us.

Here are a few more quotes from President Jeffrey R Holland that I really like.  I got these off of someone's blog and they didn't include the reference and I'm too lazy to look it up right now.  Sorry about that.  But they are still great quotes from President Holland. 

“However late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don’t have, or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement.”
Jeffrey R. Holland

“Whether you are not yet of our faith or were with us once and have not remained, there is nothing in either case that you have done that cannot be undone. There is no problem which you cannot overcome. There is no dream that in the unfolding of time and eternity cannot yet be realized.”
Jeffrey R. Holland

“No one has failed who keeps trying and keeps praying.”
Jeffrey R. Holland

“God is eagerly waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can’t if you don’t pray, and He can’t if you don’t dream. In short, He can’t if you don’t believe.”
Jeffrey R. Holland

The Lord loves effort.  He wants us to pray.  He wants us to believe.  He wants us to try.  We will all fall short, but that's what His Atonement is for.  None of us are beyond redemption.  I love Elder Holland's quote, "It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ's Atonement".  Never give up.  There is always hope.

Keep praying, keep desiring to believe until that desire becomes faith, then exercise that faith by trying to keep His commandments.  We have not failed if we keep trying.  We fail when we give up.

Trying counts.

That's my two cents.

Happy Independence Day

I love the fourth of July!  It's always nice to celebrate defeating the British.  :-)  This nation, the United States of America, is divinely designed, as God's promised land, to be free!  No monarchs, no kings, nobody ruling over us.  Independence!  Freedom!

I am indeed grateful for our founding fathers who signed and ratified the Declaration of Independence on this day, July 4, 1776 – 249 years ago – asserting our independence from Great Britain.  Our founding fathers recognized that our rights and freedoms come from God and not governments.  The Declaration of Independence and also our Constitution are divinely inspired documents.  God's hand was in the founding of this great nation and He has divinely preserved our freedoms throughout its 249 year existence.

I'm thankful for all the men who have fought and died to preserve our independence and freedoms over the last over 250 years.  Freedom isn't free.  It comes at a cost.  A big thank you to all those who have sacrificed so much to preserve our freedoms in this great nation.

Also, thank you to President Trump and all those in his administration who are working tirelessly to preserve our freedoms and undo the damage done by the previous administration and all those evil, conspiring men trying to destroy our great nation.  President Trump's life was preserved by God nearly a year ago for this purpose.  He has already done so much good to make America great again in the few months he's been in office.  This is why God preserved his life from evil assassins.

Yes, God's hand is still divinely guiding and protecting His promised land.

God bless America!

Happy Independence Day!

That's my two cents.

God bless America!

Last Saturday I happened to click on Instagram three minutes after President Trump posted that we had bombed Iran's nuclear facilities and had obliterated them.  My heart swelled and I was so proud of President Trump for being a true leader and for having the guts to do what his predecessors wouldn't do – which is to take out Iran's nuclear capabilities.  Apparently Iran was only weeks or months away from completing a nuclear bomb.  This would have been detrimental to the world.  The United States is the only country that had the military capability to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities.  Everyone in the world should be thanking us, and especially President Trump for saving the world from obliteration. 

This morning I watched Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, and General Caine give a press conference.  I loved it!  They explained the mission to take out Iran's underground nuclear facilities and the perfect execution by our military.  Again, it made me proud to be an American.  General Caine explained how two of our guys had spent 15 years watching one nuclear facility in Iran and gaining intelligence for 15 years to execute the mission, and how they had to keep it secret even from their families.  It was heartwarming. Again, it made me proud.  

I almost had to turn it off when they started taking questions because the fake news asks the stupidest questions.  I'm so sick of our media in this country who not only don't report the truth, but actively lie to try to destroy President Trump, his administration, our military, and our country in general.  Makes me sick.  But I persevered to the end of the questions and I was happy to see that Secretary Hegseth and General Caine put the media in their place.  It's nice to have leadership in this country that aren't pansies.

Of course the reason they had to do the press conference was because the media was spreading lies that the mission was unsuccessful, and dissing our military.  The truth is the mission was 100% successful in obliterating and destroying Iran's nuclear facilities.  And our military was top-notch in executing the mission.  People need to stop watching "the news" which in reality is propaganda from the Democratic Party.  If you want to know what's going on in our country, go directly to the source and watch the press conferences.  "The news" gets their information from the same press conferences and twists the truth into lies then feeds those lies to the American people to fit their evil agenda.

Also, in light of an anti-American Muslim con man communist winning the New York City Mayor Democratic primary, I would like to express my horror at the destruction of a once great American city and of the degradation of our society and of Americans in general.

We have so many foreigners, some here illegally, who are elected as politicians in Great American cities and states.  It's disgraceful.  Some of these people have only been here a few years and are infiltrating our political system and destroying our nation from within.  It's despicable and very sad.

How do these evil people get elected?  Evil people who want to destroy our great nation?  What is wrong with so many Americans?  I'm sick and tired of hearing Americans bad mouthing America.  It's bad enough when foreigners invade our country and wave their foreign flags while destroying American property and protesting being deported from the very country they have invaded and refuse to leave.  But to have actual born and bred Americans siding with evil, including illegal aliens, and evil regimes like Iran over their own country and over truth and right is disgusting, despicable, and unbelievable really.

Any American who sides with foreigners and badmouths America should be thrown in jail for treason.  And all the foreign invaders should be deported immediately.

I'm so thankful for President Trump and his administration for their leadership and patriotism.  I have always been proud to be an American but even more so now that we have strong leadership making America great again.

God bless America!

That's my two cents.

Happy Birthday Lisa

I just wanted to wish my angel sister, Lisa, a happy birthday.  Happy 53rd birthday, Lisa!  

She truly is an earthly angel.  I know there are angels from the Spirit World, loved ones who have died and crossed over to the other side of the veil.  There are also angels on earth.  Mortal angels who sacrifice to help others.  Lisa is certainly a mortal angel.

I have known Lisa her entire life, since the day she was born.  She has always been there for me.  Especially since my accident.  I would be lost without her.  She has been my primary caregiver for six years.  And for the nearly 23 years since my accident, Lisa has always helped out whenever she was needed.  Which was a major sacrifice for her and her family.  For that I'm eternally grateful.  Yes, Lisa epitomizes being an angel.

Lisa is always more concerned for others than herself.  Lisa sacrifices much to help others, especially me.  Lisa is a true disciple of Jesus Christ.  I'm so thankful to have an angel for a sister.  I love you so much, Lisa.

Thank you for all that you do for me and for everyone.  Thank you for being a wonderful example of Christlike service.

Happy 53rd birthday, Lisa!

That's my two cents.