Hi! How are you doing this week? Thanks for your letter. I appreciated your telling us about stopping to talk to 3 different men. It was interesting to read each of their responses. I liked your conclusion, "I think the Lord sometimes tests us to see if we are going to follow Him or not." I think that you are right, and I have been pondering on that idea a bit since reading your letter.
You don't have to apologize for telling the me the man was smoking "weed." I like hearing the truth. What I don't like, however, is hearing the truth spoken in inappropriate or irreverent ways. Even then, however, I would rather hear it than not, it if that's the only way my kids can express it to me. Thankfully, you all know how to express yourselves courteously.
It has been a nice week so far. Monday was a nice day except for the fact that Miriam failed her test again. This is getting really expensive! Poor Miriam, when she finally passes this test, she has another one to take. On top of all that--she works late every day. Last night (Wed) she worked till after 8:00 and missed attending LDS Institute.
Monday was Thomas's birthday, as you know, and he didn't have much planned to celebrate it. In fact, he had work after school till 7. I started thinking about it and decided it was a shame for his friends to not even know it was his birthday or for them to celebrate it with him in any way, so at lunch time I ran to the store and bought him peanut butter bars. They are huge, so I had the bakery cut them down the middle so that he had 20 bars. I scribbled "Happy Birthday, Thomas" on the package with a Sharpie and dropped it off at the school just before lunch. He said that, yes, he shared them with lots of people at lunch, yes, they tasted good, and yes, lots of people wished him Happy Birthday. So there you go.
I know that I didn't do enough stuff like that for you older kids, but time and resources were very scarce back then. I always wished that I could do more. Like I told Jon awhile ago, every time you see me do something for the younger kids that I didn't do for you older kids, you can be sure that I do it with you in mind. I love you guys so much!
After teaching, Dad came home to finish up the front flower boxes. It was a real sacrifice for him because, #1 he was exhausted (after getting to bed late, someone accidentally woke him up ridiculously early in the morning. Can't remember who...ha ha), and #2 Vic really needed him to work at the laundry. But he stayed home and did what he said he would do. I had to leave to take Thomas for work. When I got back, Katrina was outside keeping Dad company, which was very nice.
When we were done with the yard work, we drove with Katrina to the high school where Dad and I split up, Dad to go watch a play Katrina was in, and which he really enjoyed, and I to attend a football meeting for Thomas. After that, we dropped Katrina off at home to make dinner, and Dad and I went to get Thomas at the water park. When we got back home, Miriam came out to meet us, and shooed Thomas inside. I couldn't figure out why till we got in, and there were Abby Melton, another girl from the ward, and another girl from school with cupcakes for Thomas. It made his day! After they left, we ate delicious Meatloaf and baked potatoes and sweet potatoes made by Katrina who is a very good cook, and then we ate ice cream and all told Thomas what we would get him if we could get him anything in the world. I said I would get him on Student Council. Lame, I know, but that's all I could think of.
After that most of us went outside to enjoy the weather, and it wasn't long before Thomas had wandered across the street to talk to the "cup cake girls," who were over in the front yard of Abby's house. So I guess it turned out to be a pretty happy birthday for Thomas after all.
All weekend I had been planning to make Thomas, and Miriam too, a Madlibs, but never got around to it, so I figure this isn't the year for that tradition. We didn't send one to Cassandra either. So, count yourself lucky, young man, you are probably the only Mad Libs recipient of the year.
Tuesday was way cool because I took Thomas to a weights competition, and guess who won for his weight category??? Well, I'll let Thomas tell you about that, but here's some pictures for you:
BTW, yes, I forgot to take pictures on Thomas's b-day.
Katrina made dinner again Tuesday night--Mexican food. Well, our version of Mexican food which is a far cry from the real thing, I am sure. Still, it tasted good--meat, beans, cheese sauce with green chilies, chips and tortillas, lettuce, tomato. Only she, Dad, and I were there to eat it since Miriam was still at work and Thomas was at a Jazz thingy. Later when Miriam got home, she and I worked on making her graduation announcements.
When I got home yesterday, Wednesday, I got to Skype with Cassandra and Lily. My favorite part was when she would run around and around the couch yelling, "running! running! running!" Just to mix things up a bit, I showed her my cow puppet. She liked it alot, and said moo, cow, and wow alot. Her mommy got her to say, "Oooooh, yaaaa!" to me in a very low voice, and it was hilarious. While I was having fun Skyping them, poor Dad was at the dentist getting a broken tooth fixed.
So, guess who made dinner last night...you guessed it, Katrina! I asked her what she is going to make for dinner tonight (Thursday), and she said, "Nothing!" ha ha. Last night she made spaghetti for herself and the other kids because Thomas and Miriam were at work and Dad and I were at a work dinner for Dad. We got there an hour early, which is just as well since he was still a bit numb from the dentist. We took a nice walk along the river trail while we waited for it to be time to go.
Matt, have you ever been sitting there, standing there, walking around, and suddenly, joy just washes over you? It's very cool. Interestingly, it usually doesn't happen when I'm doing something particularly amazing, just in the normal course of things. Last time I remember it happening, was about a year or so ago when I was driving the kids home from something. Suddenly I realize that I'm deliriously happy, and the happiness washes over me and the joy lifts me almost physically. It is the reward that comes randomly for all the work, sweat, and tears of life, I guess. Anyway, that happened on my walk with Dad, and I told him about it and that the feeling was wrapped up in love for him. He said the feeling comes from loving Heavenly Father more than anyone, even him, and I said that loving Heavenly Father more than anyone else increases our capacity to love each other, and he agreed.
Back at the dinner, we ate steak and salad. There is a lady in Dad's department that makes the most amazing bread pudding that you have ever eaten in your life, and I know what I'm talking about because I'm not usually real fond of bread pudding. It has pine nuts and dried cranberries on it and a sauce to pour on top. Well, Dad and I don't really eat sugar or white flour, and I would have eaten some if Dad had given in, but he didn't, so we had to go buy some sugarless ice cream to eat after that, ha ha. BTW, Dad got a pin for teaching 18 years.
After we ate our ice cream, Dad, Katrina, and I joined Jon and Thom outside. They were playing pictionary on their phones, so I got it on my phone, too. It is the first game I've ever downloaded on my phone and it is addictingly fun, ha ha. Jon, Thom, and I played till pretty late, with a brief scriptures and prayer hiatus.
So, today is Thursday and I have spent a couple hours writing to you, ha ha. I will go make dinner soon since I'm sure that if I asked Katrina to, I'd have a mutiny on my hands. Work has been nice. One of the kids I teach is a tiny little girl who is a dwarf. She is in our stake and her mom and I are good friends. Today she wanted to go down the slide on someone's lap, so we did that a couple of times. It was fun. When is the last time I slid down a slide, ha ha.
I finished reading "Sarah Plain and Tall with the sixth graders. I don't know whether or not they appreciated it, but I absolutely loved it. I read out loud to them some of the time, and had to swallow the lump in my throat because random parts of the story choke me up. Another book that always makes me cry is "Good Bye Mr. Chips." Weird, right?
Sarah called me awhile to let me know that she and Rosie are visiting her inlaws. They will be in our area tomorrow night, and we get to go to the park and visit with them and Jessica and Henry. It will be so fun! Tonight at 7, Katrina has a piano recital, and then we plan to spend family time together reading your last letter and a couple of emails sent to us by great grandma. I look forward to it all.
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