Cassandra Madlibs

Hey, Matt.  Just thought you'd want to read Cassandra's madlibs.

As of today, Cassandra is in the Eleventieth year of her life, and she is more slimy than ever!  Not only is she bouncing the alien task of Sherman-tank-training a toddler, but she is also going to give birth to a Nazi.  Two St. Crispin’s days ago, we had the amazing opportunity of going to Never land and seeing Cassandra in action in her own saloon.  Her house is so smirking, and we felt so sad with her and Shabooboo and the Shamwow salesman, that it is was one our slothfullest memories ever.  Then, this last Michaelmas, Cassandra and her bowling team came to our graveyard to visit, and we had a dreadful time.  Now, we look forward to having more boredom when we go to her pasta place again when heck freezes over.  Can life get any more pointless?  Yes, it can!  Because in an aeon or so, Cassandra will have a chunky elephant, and then there will be two little Cassandra-and-Emerson-apple-pies in the world!  We are so repulsed that we can hardly pummel it.  Cassandra is so lovely and so dedicated to hugging what is ridiculous that she is a glaring example to both the liberals and the pagans, not to mention her fellow tree huggers.


As of today, Cassandra is in the 26th year of her life, and she is more amazing than ever!  Not only is she braving the thankless task of potty training a toddler, but she is also going to give birth to a baby.  Two Christmases ago, we had the amazing opportunity of seeing Cassandra in action in her own home.  Her house is so beautiful, and we felt so much at home with her and Emerson and Lily, that it is was one our best memories ever.  Then, this last Christmas, Cassandra and her family came to our house to visit, and we had a wonderful time.  Now, we look forward to having more fun when we go to her house again in June.  Can life get any better?  Yes, it can!  Because in a week or so, Cassandra will have a baby, and then there will be two little Cassandra and Emerson offspring in the world!  We are so excited that we can hardly stand it.  Cassandra is so smart and so dedicated to doing what is right that she is an amazing example to both her parents and her siblings, not to mention her own family.

April 20--Dear Elder--Happy Easter!

Dear Elder,

Happy Easter! 

“He is Risen, He is Risen! 

Tell it out with joyful voice. 

He has burst his three days prison;

let the whole wide earth rejoice! 

Death is conquered.  Man is free. 

Christ has won the victory!”

  This Easter morning I have been thinking again about your questions concerning Mosiah 15:9-15.  I am thinking about how it is not only very important to know that God the Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three separate and distinct persons, but how it is just as important to know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are one, as in united and agreed.  I think this is true for many reasons, one is that God would like us to strive for the same unity in our relationships with our fellow man.  I think another reason is so that we will not be confused about their separateness. 

The Book of Mormon tells us that King Noah and his priests, to whom Abinadi was preaching in Mosiah 15, were idol worshippers, and that the people of King Noah became idol worshippers as well (Mosiah 11:6,7).   If King Noah and his people were anything like the idolatrous nations of the Old Testament, they probably worshipped many gods.  All the false gods Old Testament that I looked into were believed to be totally separate from each other with different dominions, goals, and requirements and they were even sometimes oppositional.  In fact, some pagans of the Old Testament taught that the god, Mott killed the god, Baal who then came back to life. 

Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, on the other hand are completely united.  When we obey Christ’s commandments, God the Father blesses us.  When we pray to the Father, Christ’s intercedes for us.  The Holy Ghost testifies of both the Father and the Son.  Christ did nothing except those things that His Father would do.   As the Encyclopedia of Mormonism pointed out, they are completely united in their desire to “bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” 

Not only that, they are all one in righteousness.  Immorality, murder, etc were a common part of pagan worship, and the gods themselves were notoriously wicked.  We know that King Noah and his people were participating in whoredoms and other evils, probably spurred on in their idol worship.  Our Heavenly Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, on the other hand are perfectly righteous in how they behave and how they require us to behave.

How marvelous is our God!  No fabrication of the human mind, religious or otherwise, has ever come close to the beauty, perfection, and love found in the truth.  The truth is that there is a loving God in heaven, and He is the father of our spirits, that His Son and our elder brother, Jesus Christ, is our Savior, who came because His father sent him, and died for us because of His everlasting love and kindness towards us, and rose on the third day with healing in His wings, and that the Holy Ghost is real, a personage of spirit, bound by loving covenant to testify to the children of men that God the Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ live!  I know these things are true, Matt, and they fill me with joy and gratitude on this beautiful Easter day!

It has been a good week.  Heavenly Father is helping me be more focused on the Savior.  He is also helping me to see my many weaknesses I have worked hard this week and have gotten a lot done.  I felt very blessed today as I took the sacrament and pondered on Jesus Christ and His atonement.  I know that He lives and loves me even when I falter.

Miriam's rice crispie bunny

Thomas's traditional alien bunny, this time done with rice crispies instead of bread

Bread Bunny--Whole wheat version for Dad

Tuesday, for family home evening, we did all the Easter goodies stuff because we knew that Miriam would be out of town today.  It was a fun evening.  Katrina and I made bread bunnies, and then when Miriam came home, she and Thomas made rice crispy bunnies because they can’t eat wheat.  Then when Dad came home, we all colored Easter eggs together.  While I cleaned up afterward, Dad and kids went into the bathroom and did our weirdest family Easter tradition which, as you know, is to dump the die into the toilet as it flushes and watch the different colors of swirl around and flush down.  May I just say, that is a tradition of Dad’s invention?  He and his brother used to do that as kids.  It’s one of the few traditions that Dad had growing up, poor guy. 

Then Dad and I hid the Easter baskets and then the kids found them.  It took less than five minutes, ha ha.  Jon came over, too, awhile later, and we had some more fun visiting going on.  I sent him home with his Easter chocolate and also rice cripies which he shared with his room mate.  He texted me the next day to tell me he was totally out of chocolate and needed more candy.  He was totally kidding.  I gave everyone waaaaaay too much Easter candy this year.

I also had fun sending an Easter package to Lily.  Dad and I bought her a sugar Easter egg with a bunny scene inside.  I also enclosed a little stuffed ducky wearing a raincoat and hat.  When Lily was a baby in newborn ICU, and I was staying at the Ronald Macdonald house with Cassandra and Emerson, they were giving out free toys, so I took the duckie and saved it to give to Lily when she was older.  Well, she’s older now.  Cassandra said she loves it.  I also made her an Easter card and sent her a Noah’s Ark board book with cute pictures.  Cassandra was planning to give her the book for Easter today.

Other than that, we have just done boring stuff like yard work, putting in a new bathroom faucet upstairs, etc.  Wednesday, Katrina and Miriam went to see Les Mis again, and now Miriam is out of town, so Thomas and Katrina have been the only kids at home.  Thursday night, Dad, Katrina, and I went walking along the river.  The weather was perfect and the air was fresh and smelled like trees and water.  I love spring! 

Friday Dad and I went out on a date, and on Saturday we bought some Mexican food from a lady who has three kids.  Her husband was deported, and she is trying to survive.  The food was fantastic, and we enjoyed talking to her and encouraging her.  I hope everything works out for her family, and I hope we can buy some of that good food from her again soon!

Today we are going to walk around the temple and then sit in the grass and talk about the resurrection.  We are also hoping to Skype with Cassandra and Emerson.  Jon called today.  It was sure nice to talk to him for awhile.   

I love you, Matthew, and hope that your Easter is one filled with joy and love for the Savior and with the Spirit of God.

Love,

Mom

Jan 27--Dear Elder

Dear Elder,

Hi.  How are you doing?  Did you have a nice birthday?  I hope you were able to teach many people the gospel on your birthday and throughout the week.  I am so glad that Ellery went to church and that he is really interested in the gospel.  What a wonderful thing!  Martina sounds like a neat lady and I wish I could have seen the demonic chicken that chased Martina's grand kids.  So funny!  What happened this week with your investigators?  Have you been to any conferences lately?

We had a nice week. Monday was a day off for all of us which was really nice.  What a wonderful feeling on Sunday evening to realize that there is no work the next day!  Abby and Paige came over and watched the first few hours of the BBC's version of Pride and Prejudice with Katrina, Thomas hung out with Hayden, etc, and Dad and I went to a movie about a transport ship that was captured by pirates.  It is a true story and it was very good.  Later that night we went out to eat for grade rewards and had a wonderful time as a family.  Then we had a family home evening lesson given by Miriam.  It was based on a talk given by President Eyring to the student body at BYU Idaho and was a very good lesson.

Tuesday and Wednesday are a bit of a blur, but I tried hard to be productive and do the right things.  I didn't remember Jesus Christ as much as I want to, though, and I recommitted while partaking of the bread and water today to remember more faithfully this week and trust on the strength of the Lord.
Wednesday, Miriam got mixed up and gave me flowers and balloons for my birthday.  She was going to take them to school and give them to me there until she found out that my birthday was later, ha ha.  I'm so glad she didn't bring them to my work, but that I could enjoy them in the quiet of our own home.  They are beautiful.

Thursday at work we went on a field trip to see an art exhibit. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by all there is to see at art exhibits, but this time I determined to concentrate on the faces in the artwork.  I examined each face and tried to understand how each person was feeling.  The very first painting displayed was of Christ being comforted by the angel as he suffered for the sins of the world. I've seen this painting before, but have been distracted by the angel and the wings that almost dwarf the suffering Christ, but this time I gazed into the face of the Savior and saw the suffering there.  It touched me very deeply, Matt, and deepened my love for Jesus Christ.

Wednesday, Thomas hung out with his friends again and the girls and I went shopping for clothes for me.  It was very nice of them to go, and I actually found some things, so I am a happy lady.  It was very fun to be with them.  Dad went to his old teacher, Mr Brady's, viewing that night.  He was Dad's favorite teacher, a humble World War II veteran who taught Dad much about the sorrows of war.  

Friday Miriam sent me to school with treats to share with my students, which was very sweet of her.  The students loved them.  After school, I slept and then Dad and I went out to eat and then we came home and watched the new Superman movie which was meh.

Saturday Katrina and I went to a youth camp leader breakfast for this year's girl's camp.  Katrina doesn't really like camp, but she said the meeting went well without me even asking her about it, so I know that it was a good one.  The girls did a lot of planning for camp.  My job was to do a gathering activity for the girls, so I had them make "little sisters" out of sticks, cloth, etc.  The girls were to take care of the little sisters they made throughout the breakfast and the ensuing planning sessions.  Whenever we found an abandoned "little sister" we confiscated it.  The girls who still had their little sisters at the end of the meeting got a little prize.  At camp, these girls are assigned to be big sisters to some of the younger girls, so we used this activity to remind them to look over their little sisters at camp.  They really liked it.

After that, I took a nap.  I think I got three naps that day, ha ha.  Later we went out as a family and had fun walking around some shops even though it was very cold.  After that, we went home and ate steak made by Dad and then Dad re-hung my throw depicting Christ helping two children climb up rocks.  Remember it, Matt?  I had Dad take it down when we repainted the house.  I taped back the fringe so it doesn't show and bought new rods to hold it up  in order to update it's look.  Dad was not thrilled about having to re-hang it, but I told him that's what I wanted for my birthday, so he did it and it went quite smoothly.  It was very sweet of him, and it looks wonderful.

Today I went to 5 hours of church because I went to another ward's ward conference as well as our own ward.  It was a wonderful blessing because I was able to partake of the sacrament twice, which I needed since the first time I took it today, I wasn't as focused as I wanted to be, but the second time I was focused and was able to repent and renew with a sincere heart.  I can feel the strength from partaking fervently of the bread and water.  I needed that strength because before that I was feeling overwhelmed and discouraged.  I needed that second opportunity to humble myself before God and put my life, once again, in the Savior's hands.

When I finally got home, we had a birthday celebration.  It was so wonderful having Jon there celebrating with us!  The family bought me a mirror to go over my dresser, and Dad got me a new Hello Kitty watch because I asked him to fix my old one for my birthday, but he bought another one on clearance instead along with a special two-year warranty so that I can be guaranteed of it's working for me at least that long.  I thought the gifts were very thoughtful, and I love them.  We also ate potstickers, which were delicious, and then we had root beer floats.  It was so fun doing madlibs for my birthday and also just visiting with the family.

After that, I visited Sylvia next door.  Kellie and Christ have moved to Texas and she is alone until Bob and his family move in come May.  I know it is lonely for her, and it was good to visit with her.  I also invited her to come watch the Joseph Smith movie with the family tonight.  She declined, which I figure she would, but I think she knows I care, and I hope she will come over one of these long winter evenings so that we can keep her company.

Then I had two more hours of meetings which went well.  Actually, I was a half hour late for the first meeting because of visiting Sylvia, but I wasn't real worried about it and didn't miss much.  While I was at the meetings, Dad, Katrina and Thomas watched old home movies, and when I got home we had Family Home Evening.  Katrina gave a wonderful lesson on the Holy Ghost and then we watched the Joseph Smith movie which was also wonderful.  I have been studying the First Vision lately, Matt, and was able to hear President Geslison speak on it again today at the ward conference I attended.  I am know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to the prophet Joseph!  What a wonderful manifestation of God's love for His children that he still speaks to us through prophets today.  With God with us, what can be against us?

Well, that is our week, Matt.  What is yours? I can't wait to read about it!  Have a wonderful day and a wonderful week.  I know that you are doing the work of the Lord and that He will continue to guide and bless you with His spirit.
Love,
Mom

P.S. I forgot to tell you about the present I got from Lily.  Cassandra took a video of her and on it she said, "Happy Birtday, Grandma," and "I love you!"  She also sang a song.  It was so cute, and the perfect present.

Jan 19--Dear Elder

Dear Elder,

Happy Birthday!!!  Do you realize that in less than a day after you get this, you will officially be twenty one years old?  Yay!!!!  So...did you get the SD card.  If you've gotten it already, it's a miracle.  Also, please, please, please tell me if you got our Christmas package.  It was not the one Grandpa and Grandma sent you, it was another one.  I really need to know if you got it.  Please, right now, before you read any further, send me an email telling me if you got the package or not.  Do not read any further till you DO THAT!

Whew.  Okay, back to my email.  Thank you for your last letter.  It was very informative, and I really enjoyed reading it.  To keep me from having to ask the same questions in every letter, just remember one "who" and two "what's"  Who did you teach last week?  What else did you do?  What are you studying?  Ha ha.  I hope that your week was good, Matt. I am glad that you are teaching Ellery, and I hope you keep me posted on how it is going.  I'm glad that you are working up a storm!  Are you still the Zone leader, or are you in a different zone now?  As a Zone leader, how do you choose topics to teach about?  I'm sure it has something to do with a still small voice, ha ha.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Mosiah 4.  I like how your words about the scripture put into perspective our total dependence and utter reliance on the pure love of Jesus Christ.  None of us deserve any blessing, any help, and certainly none of us did anything to deserve the atonement.  We are all beggars, unable to earn any part of His suffering, and yet He gave it freely.  No wonder King Benjamin also says that if we spend every minute of every day praising God, we would still be unprofitable servants.  There is no way we can repay him!  All we can do is to use the gift He freely gave to become like Him and, when we return to Him, to find that we know Him because we have become like Him.

It has been a good week, except for the middle where I had to stay home sick from work one day and go to the doctor and get antibiotics, but on the bright side, I was back to work the very next day, and during that one day at home, I got a lot of sleep and I read a lot.  I finished reading North and South the day after.  I think I told you that it's not a book about the Civil War, but about a young woman who moves from Northern England to Southern England and how she overcomes the prejudices she has of her new southern neighbors, and how her associates have to overcome their prejudices of her.  You know, even though those who shout "prejudice" the loudest would flatly deny it, prejudice is rarely one-sided.  Anyway, because of being sick and because of having a good book to read, I didn't get much done this week, ha ha.

I need to backtrack a little and tell you that Monday night we went over to the Taggs for a neighborhood get-together.  It was really fun.  We watched the video of the neighborhood's productions of "Scrooge" which you were too old to be in, Matt, but Miriam, Katrina, and Thomas were all in it.  It was so cute!  Miriam had an overbite because it was when the orthodontist had just finished over-correcting her under bite, Katrina had the fanciest costume in the play, and Thomas was supposed to pass out candy canes during one of the songs, but somehow never got around to it.  I loved seeing all the kids of the neighborhood the way they used to be.  I couldn't even recognize some of them.  They also wanted to watch their production of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," but Thomas violently opposed the idea of everyone seeing him on stage in green tights as Grinch Jr.  For whatever reason, we didn't end up watching it.

On Thursday, Katrina took luggage to school and she with the others of her drama group who were going headed off to the theater association's workshop thingy.  She didn't bring a phone, and I didn't hear a thing until about 4 on Saturday.  On Friday I was still taking it easy and Thomas was at Hayden's, so after work, Miriam and I watched a documentary about how horrible all the food we eat is.  She likes to watch documentaries, and it was fun to watch it with her and try to separate truth from scare tactics.  After watching it, we both vowed to go to the farmer's market every Saturday when spring comes along, ha ha.  I think Thursday she and I also went out on an ice cream run.  It was fun to spend time together.  After watching the documentary, I drove in to the laundry where I had the great privilege of helping Dad seat a new toilet.  After that we ate out and then...you guessed it. We came home, ate ice cream and watched a movie--a John Wayne movie, which we were too tired to finish, ha ha.

Saturday I cleaned and also worked hard on compiling stuff about you, Matt, for the ward history.  I had started it earlier, and only had to add pictures and captions, but that took me a long, long time.  I really felt impressed to do it, though, and I got it done.  I also cleaned the house, and Dad and I went to Thomas's game.  They didn't do so well.  They were missing their "star player," and were playing tenth graders for the first time instead of ninth graders who have been easy for them to beat.  Anyway, those two facts kind of freaked them out because they were playing no where near their abilities.  If they had been, they would have given those guys a run for their money.  After that, Dad, Miriam, Thomas and I went to the mall.  Dad and I mall walked while Thomas and Miriam dinked around.  Well, before that we went to the car wash, which ended up being good because we waited at least 15 minutes for our turn, and had fun talking together.  After the mall, we got dinner at Wendy's and ate it together at home.  Katrina got home around 9:00 and it was fun to hear her tell us all about her trip.  I hope she writes about some of it to you, Matt.

Today I went to five hours of church, and now I am home writing to you.  I went to lots of church because it is ward conference time again, so I join the other members of the stake young women presidency and visit wards for their ward conferences.  We had two today.  I taught part of the lesson given to the youth, and I got the best part to teach because I get to talk about an amazing article from the New York Times.  I love the article and the whole lesson topic which about the importance of sharing family stories.  Other parts of the lesson were on gospel-centered aspects of the subject, but it was nice to also bring in this article to find out what a major publication was saying about it.

Basically, Matt, kids who learn family stories are better equipped to handle the ups and downs of life.  They are able to better deal with stress and to overcome trials.  They also have a more positive outlook on their family's past.  What this last point means to me is that, though their pasts may be no better than other people's pasts, they have a more positive memory of it.  It's pretty cool, Matt.  And what is also totally cool is that if you get on family search now, you can add family photos and stories, AND you can see the photos and stories of your ancestors that other people have added    Later on we will be having family home evening.  Miriam is giving the lesson, so I look forward to that.  Tomorrow is a holiday, so we are all off work and school.  How cool is that!  We haven't decided what we are going to do.  We'll probably talk about it during family home evening.

Okay, Matt, now it's Sunday night.  We did a Mattlibs for you, but this time Dad wrote it and inserted the changes, so when you read it, don't blame me.  Just kidding.  He did a good job for a rookie.  I hope you like it, Matt, and that you have the best of birthdays serving the Lord and our fellow man.  I love you!

Love,

Mom

Dec 30 P.S.

Hi, Matt.  I forgot to enclose Thomas's gift from the heart, so I will do it here.  I hope, btw, that you liked the "gift from the heart" that I sent you about our morning with Lily complete with pictures.  I also encouraged Thomas and Katrina to send you a gift from the heart.  I know Thomas did--his memories and thoughts of you.  I think Katrina did, too, but I'm not sure.

Thomas's gift from the heart to me:

We all know the story of the shoemaker and the elves, every time a poor shoemaker goes to bed ,little elves make amazing shoes for him to sell the next day and before too long, he and his wife are very well off.  Too bad we can't all have elves like that, right?  Sometimes it seems like we do though.  Ever gone to bed and it seems like the house is cleaner than it was when you went to bed?  I may not be an elf, but I do have one thing in common with elves.  I have a problem with sleeping.  So this year you're not getting a gift with ribbons and bows, no, none of that.  Your gift can't fit under a Christmas tree or in a box and you can't really touch it.  That doesn't mean it's worthless, though.  I'm sure you've guessed what my gift is by now, but I'll say it anyway.  I've been your little night elf.  why has the floor been swept really bad in the mornings?  I'm bad a sweeping.  That night that you heard someone doing dishes up stairs?  Yup.  That was me.  So for the gift from my heart to you for being your little elf, if ever my ears are feeling pointy, I'll come in and do some more elf magic.  You won't get rich like the shoemaker and his wife, and I can't make toys like Santa's elves do, but I can do what I can do to make your life just a little bit easier.

Love,

Thomas

Dec 22--Dear Elder

Dear Elder,

Hello, and Merry Christmas!!!  First, the eternal question:  Did you get your package?  I really hope so, Matt.  Next questions, How are you doing?  You said last week was hard in many ways.  I am so sorry!  Are you feeling well?  I hope so.  How was it hard?  You can tell me because I have faith, not fear.  I'd rather know than not know.  That is really great about Gregorio, and I hope that he comes to church today.  How long has Elder Sullivan been your companion?  This last letter of yours is the first time you have mentioned him by name.  Is he a gringo?  I'm guessing he is since he said he is "fantabulous," ha ha.  How long has he been out?  I'm glad your little branch is growing and that members are now giving talks in church.

Okay, now for the biggest question of all...Do you get to Skype with us on Christmas??? I heard that you may not be able to.  I find that very hard to believe, and plan on getting to see your face and hear your voice, okay?

How were all the awesome things that you were looking forward to this week.  How was the Mission Christmas Activity in Mazatlan?  Did you get to hear Elder De Hoyos? What did he say? What is a Posada?  Was it fun?  Did you hear any general authorities speak at your multi-zone conference?  And lastly, but probably most important, were you able to go to Cosala and teach the three people that love the church?  How far away was it?  Did they respond well to your message?  You really had an amazing week, Matt.  I hope you will tell us a bit about it.

I'm glad your shirts are holding up, but are they still white??

Guess what?  Cassandra, Emerson, and Lily are here!  They got in at 1:00 in the afternoon on Friday.  We have had so much fun since then!   Katrina and I got to take Lily shopping and she did very well.  She especially liked the samples at Costco, ha ha.  Dad and I took Cassandra and Emerson out to eat last night and had a very enjoyable time.  Dad bought us a book about Christ that is a harmony of the gospels and modern scripture that give a chronological account of Christ's life.  It is comprised completely of scripture, and what I have read so far has been wonderful!

Cassandra wanted to surprise you with the news that she is pregnant in this week's email to you, but i guess Thomas spilled the beans.  Isn't it exciting?  I'll let her tell you what she's having.  We are all very excited.  Hey, I think we'll try to go out without Cassandra tomorrow somehow and buy an outfit for the new baby.  How fun!!!

So, mostly we've just been home playing lots.  For my email Christmas gift to you, I have taken pictures and am compiling a pictorial commentary of our Sunday for you.  I am sending it in another email in case it doesn't send well, in which case, you'll still get this one.  Emerson, Dad, Thomas, and Jon have been playing lots of games.  Jon was over yesterday and is planning to come over again today after 7:30.

We have all enjoyed getting reacquainted with Lily.  They got in before I was off work on Friday, and Lily was quite surprised to see me when I walked into the family room after work.  She wasn't quite sure how to handle it at first, so she ran around the room talking about "Gramma" for awhile before she led me upstairs to feed me cereal.  After we'd bonded with food, she was my best friend.  In fact, food was a valuable aid in solidifying the bond between her and each one of us.  She loves the stairs and climbs up and down as often as possible.  In fact, she's inviting me to go down with her right now.

Okay, three minutes later, we're back.  We all just had breakfast for lunch and are now getting ready to go to church which starts in 15 minutes.  Lily knows lots of Christmas songs, so I hope she'll have fun singing the hymns today.  I hope that she enjoys nursery in our ward.  I hear that she gets pretty obsessive about snacks in nursery, ha ha.

It was a good week.  Now that I'm a teacher, I get lots of Christmas gifts from students and co workers, many of which are sweets, so needless to say, I am not doing the best job keeping my weight down.  I figure if I lose 20 lbs a year Jan to Aug and gain back ten every Sept-Dec, I'm probably doing okay, ha ha.  I really need to start exercising again.  That's what January is for, right?

Thomas finished his cooking merit badge this week.  Miriam finished her finals, and Katrina did stuff.  Monday night we went to Festival of Lights with Elizabeth's family.  It was very fun.  First we had dinner together, then Joy told us the Christmas story, and then we went to see the lights.  We had all the girls in our car and Daniel and Elizabeth had the boys in their car.  Later I realized that meant that they didn't get to have any little kids in their car to get excited about the lights.  I didn't feel too bad, though--they get to have little kids around all the time, ha ha.

Friday night, Cassandra's family went to bed early, and the rest of us went to a Christmas party at Renee's house.  It was nice to spend an evening with Dad's sister and her family.  At the party we got to meet Becky's friend, Jim.  He is a very nice guy, and we like him a lot.   The rest of us (Don and Renee, Bethany, and Brett's wife and kids) had a nice time eating, visiting, and singing Christmas carols.  I'm so glad that we could go.

Well, those are the highlights of our week, Matt. It is now 7:32 Sunday night.  It feels more like 9:30, I'm so tired, ha ha.  I'm glad the longest day of the year is behind us and that now the days will get longer and longer.  I can't believe that Christmas is almost here.  Soon, Christmas will be a memory, and we will be celebrating your birthday and mine.  Time sure flies when you're old.  Can you imagine how fast time must have flown for Methuselah?  Weird, really.

Courtney and her family are over visiting, and everyone is having a wonderful time.  Katrina is exhausted, though, because she's been chasing Lily all day long, and now she is playing with Courtney's girls.  She has been a real trouper.  Katrina and Thomas have also been doing their part.  Periodically, the doorbell will ring, and we will open it to neighbors dropping off more goodies.  It is good to have Courtney's family here to share them with.

Jon is supposed to be coming over, but we haven't seen him yet.  I texted him, so I hope I'll hear from him soon.  Okay, he's here now and visiting with Cassandra and Courtney.  Thomas went outside and says it's perfect out there.  So, now you know, 27 degrees is the perfect temperature, ha ha.

Well, Matt, I'd better go.  I hope the pictures get to you and that you like them.  I also hope that you have a very Merry Christmas.  Most of all, I hope that we get to Skype with you on Christmas day.  I know its chaotic, but I love seeing your face and hearing your voice.  It will be the best Christmas present ever!  We love you and miss you.

Love,
Mom

May 26--Dear Elder

Us at Miriam's Graduation.  No, I didn't style my hair that poofy, the wind did, ha ha.

Now it is Sunday.  It has been a wonderful week.  Why?  For one thing, the weather has been beautiful.  For another, we've been together lots as a family because it is the last week of school.  I love this time of year!

On Monday Miriam and I went to her college orientation.  I really enjoyed being with her.  We learned a lot of cool things the school has to offer, but as Miriam pointed out, she works so much that she will not be able to participate in much.  I really hope that she'll be able to juggle work and school.  She's swamped!  Dad had to attend graduation, so we didn't have much of a family home evening, but we were able to read a conference talk.

Tuesday after work and school I took Thomas in for an ultra sound because last fall the doctor at the children's hospital said that we needed to have him checked to make sure that his spleen is not enlarged before he plays any contact sports, and football is starting.  Thomas has been joking that he got an ultra sound to see if his spleen is a boy or a girl, ha ha. Anyway, it is not enlarged, so he gets to play football.  Tuesday night we went to the awards assembly at the junior high where Thomas received a gold presidential award for academic excellence signed by President Obama.  Awesome, right?

Tuesday or Wednesday at school, we took the kids out to the playground and watched the junior high kids run past on a 5K that most of them ran for fitness day.  Thomas was running it, and I was able to cheer him on as he ran past.  He ended up getting 21st place.  Wednesday was my last day of work till next school year.  Yay!  I got a card in the mail that asked if I wanted any work over the summer, and Dad kinda wondered if I should say yes, but I said no way.  I am not going to be away working while my kids are at home.  I can't wait to be with everyone this summer!

Anyway,  Wednesday afternoon, I ended up driving Thomas and Garred in to the water park for training, and Dad and Katrina went shooting.  She's been wanting him to take her shooting for awhile now.  Why?  Because she wanted to shoot her math work book now that it's all filled out and she doesn't need it any more.  Apparently her math teacher collects math books that various students have destroyed in creative ways at the end of each school year, and she wanted to add a target-shot math book to his collection, ha ha.  I am so glad she and Dad had a fun time together!   I stayed in town and shopped for camp stuff.  After that I drove Thomas and Garred back home, and we took Miriam out to dinner for graduation.  She chose to eat at PF Changs.  I loved their lettuce wraps! 

Thursday Thomas stayed home from school because the school went to the amusement park, and he went last week.  We went out for tacos together around noon.  It was my lunch and his breakfast, ha ha.  Then we checked out "That Thing You Do" from the Library and had fun watching it.  Later after Katrina got home, the kids and I drove into Miriam's work and dropped off a sandwich and her graduation robe.  She drove straight from work to graduation.  After that I went home and crashed.  I slept so hard, we almost missed Miriam's graduation!  Luckily Dad called and called until one of the lazy teenagers around here finally answered the phone.  The kids woke me up and we took off.  We got there about the same time Dad did and were not late, but Don, Renee, Becky, and Donny were late because they went to the high school thinking graduation was there.  They called us and we set them straight, and they weren't all that late.  We had a wonderful time cheering our graduate when she got her diploma.  We are so proud of her!  Afterwards we all went out with Don and Renee etc for Fro Yo.  

Friday was the last day of school.  Matt, I do not know what it is about the last day of school, but I love it!  I have such a sense of fun and freedom on that day that I look forward to it every year.  This year was no exception.  Thomas and Katrina went to school half-day and then had parties with friends.  After doing my morning work, I went out and shopped til I dropped.  There is a little thrift shop down town that is very picky about what clothes they sell, and their stuff is real nice.  I got a pair of jeans, a pair of capris, two pairs of sandals, and five shirts, all for $40.  I had so much fun.  After that, I got to Skype with Cassandra and Lily!  Could the day be any better? I submit that it could not.  Lily is so cute, and she is really talking well these days.  After that I went into the laundry to help Dad.  He is doing a big project and needed some help.  It is looking real good.  After that we went out to eat Mexican, and I got a tamale and some very yummy soup.  

While we were gone, Katrina came home from her party, but Thomas stayed at his.  He and the other guys walked all over town and then they walked all the way to the Hari Krishna place and toured the Hari temple.  A lady told them all about the religion and she was ready to convert Thomas on the spot because he understood their philosophy real well, ha ha.  It was a good experience for them.  After we ate, we drove home to take Thomas from that party to another party and then we went and got ice cream for us and Katrina.  Miriam worked way late, poor kid!

Yesterday we did our traditional Memorial Day grave visits.  Jon bought some beautiful mums for us at Costco.  We started by putting flowers on my cousin's graves--Michael and Amanda and Neisha.  Then we worked at the laundry for awhile.  The kids earned money cleaning and Dad and I worked more on his awning project.  Then we drove up to Grandpa's grave.  We stopped at the ski resort and ate at the Teryaki Grill.  It was delicious!  After putting flowers on Grandpa and Pauline's graves and her first husband's grave, we drove to Grandma's grave and put flowers there.  We said a prayer at Grandpa's grave, but forgot to at Grandma's.  I wanted to thank Heavenly Father as a family for the opportunity we had to take care of Grandma in our home before she passed away.  I hope we can remember to do that at family prayer tonight.

Miriam didn't go with us because she had to work, but by the time we were done, she was home, so we went and got her and then went to the park for a picnic.  Our neighbors, the Meltons were there, too, and we had fun visiting with Brother and Sister Melton while Thomas kicked a soccer ball around with the Melton girls.  It was a nice time.  After we got home, Dad went to try out his new metal detector in the basement of the laundry.  It's such an old building that he was hoping to find treasure in the dirt floor.  He asked Vic if he could do it and he promised Vic half of anything he found.  Vic is now thirteen and a half cents richer, ha ha.  I visited with our neighbors Kellie and Sylvia and then cleaned the house for Sunday.  Today I am substituting in nursery.  I don't have to give the kids the lesson, just be there and help out. I can't wait.  Too bad it's not Lily's nursery class!

Jan 28--Dear Elder: Letters from the Whole Family

Dear Elder, Hi!  How are you?  I really hope you are doing well, and I pray for you to be able to hang in there and accomplish the work our Heavenly Father has for you to do.  Thanks for all the pictures you sent, we really loved seeing them.

This week was my birthday.  When I got home from school, there was a big beautiful gold-wrapped package waiting for me and on it was a card that said the following:

Once upon a time, there was a yellow crock pot.  It was Mom’s pride and joy until one day, a huge piece was chipped right off if it!  She stared at it in bewilderment.  How could this possibly happen to her beloved crock pot?  She could never again bring soup to a ward function.  We all had to suffer at the hands of the other women’s soup!  For years, her little crock pot was used for nothing but home cooking.  The poor little crock pot was hidden away in a dark cupboard, waiting for the day when it could finally be replaced with a new, better, stainless steel crock pot.  We now leave our old crock pot.  Will she stay hidden in the cupboard or will she be replaced?  Open the present to find out!!  Happy Birthday!  Love, Dad, Jon, Miriam, Katrina and Thomas.
As you guessed, the present was a beautiful new crock pot.  It is awesome!  Miriam is the one who wrapped it and wrote that cute card.

Dad and I went out the evening of my birthday and had a nice time being together.  He got me a few things I needed and we ate at Brick Oven, then we went home and finished “Martin Chuzzlewitt,” a film based on Charles Dicken’s book.  I love Charles Dicken’s books made into movies!  Pickwick Papers, Bleak House, Old Curiosity Shop, they are all excellent!  I wish I had read Dickens growing up.  Now, sadly, I don’t read much.

Yesterday we had a little birthday celebration for me with the family.  Jon bought and made me a roast in my new crockpot.  It was delicious!  Katrina made me birthday Madlibs and here they are:

My Birthday Madlibs--By Katrina

Well, another year has come and gone and The  Supreme Poohba’s another year purple and another year slinky.  How is she slinky, you ask?  Well, this past millisecond she’s learned that her ompah-lompahs are little slurpees.  For instance, no blue-man (with the exception of Wilberforce) has ever put away double their left-handed drill number of Phillip head screwdrivers.  We have all confessed to her.  She’s also learned that the Doctor can be creepy, hard as it is to believe.  She’s learned that she didn’t flee her zombies to slither well enough.  One of them has already forgotten typewriting almost entirely!  In another millennium, it will be completely.  She’s learned that taking care of hipster can have its round moments, with some knobby moments as well.  She’s learned that Mr. President will never be tired of going to the Bahamas.  I’m convinced that they’ve gone only because every time Mom thought it would be the last.  She’s learned that having -2 kids having a job fifteen minutes away may be good for the kids, but it’s hard on her thing 1 and thing 2.  She’s finally found her favorite, non-religious quote: “No walnut tastes as good as a walrus feels,” –Dubrikisha.  We all wonder what Mom will be sprinkly about next year.

My Real Birthday--Also by Katrina

Well, another year has come and gone and Mom’s another year older and another year wiser.  How is she wiser, you ask?  Well, this past year she’s learned that her children are little liars.  For instance, no child (with the exception of Thomas) has ever put away double their age of objects.  We have all confessed to her.  She’s also learned that Dad can be thin, hard as it is to believe.  She’s learned that she didn’t teach her children to speak well enough.  One of them has already forgotten English almost entirely!  In another year, it will be completely.  She’s learned that taking care of an older lady can have its funny moments, with some inappropriate moments as well.  She’s learned that Dad will never be tired of going to Disneyland.  I’m convinced that they’ve gone only because every time Mom thought it would be the last.  She’s learned that having three kids having a job fifteen minutes away may be good for the kids, but it’s hard on her time and gas gauge.  She’s finally found her favorite, non-religious quote: “No food tastes as good as skinny feels,” -Jonathan Cole.  We all wonder what Mom will be wiser about next year.

She did such a good job!  It was really nice of her to go to all that trouble.
Thursday Elizabeth and I went out just for fun.  We did some shopping and I actually bought myself a skirt and blouse which only took me 10 minutes or so to find and try on.  That’s got to be some sort of record or something.  I wore it to church and felt very pretty.

Most of us are a bit sick these days.  The inversion causes the air to be really bad and I think that’s a big part of the problem.  It hit me pretty bad Saturday night, and it’s been a long time since I’ve gotten sick—years—so I’m quite a baby about it.  It doesn’t keep me from going where I need to go or doing what I need to do, so that’s good.

Saturday Miriam and I drove with Elizabeth and two of her girls to Jessica's bridal shower.  It was done by her other grandma and was lots of fun.  I am so glad Jessica is marrying Henry.  He’s a truly amazing guy!  I am going to their wedding in February and will get to see Emerson, Cassandra, and Lily while I am there.  Yay!  In March I will be going to Celeste’s wedding.  Elizabeth and possibly Rick also will be on the same flight!

I have been teaching the young women in the stake about being converted unto the Lord, and it has been going good.  We are also gearing up for girl’s camp.  I worked all last week and again today.  I can’t wait till that’s over!
I love you, Matt, and hope your week is wonderful.
Love,
Mom

Dear Matt
Thanks so much for you letter and pictures and even the video!  You really crack us up!  So there was the family all gathered in the kitchen and then I got to the video and Mom said, “hey everybody, here is a video of Matt!”  and so everybody gathers around the computer and ‘wizzz!’ there we see a lovely picture of your feet!  You big tease!  We all laughed, somebody said “is that it?-we only get to see his feet?” it was very funny.  I especially liked the pancakes and the slingshot.

 It is a little less cold here, hovering at just over freezing  during the day, it is actually pleasant.  Thomas and I went up the canyon yesterday and shot a few rounds, I wanted to test some reloads that I was making, we spent most of our time picking up brass other people had left.

Mom is going to be going to Celeste’s wedding soon, There is an airline that flies out from here now so we got a really cheap ticket on that flight, it was like a hundred bucks round trip, plus we save the hour drive to the big airport and the gas times two.  She is also flying to Jessica’s wedding and is going to stay a whole week there so she can see Lily.  Do people think it is cool that you have a niece with a Mexican name? Citlali?

Mom and I just finished watching a BBC adaptation of Charles Dicken’s  “Martin Chuzzelwitz”  I had never heard of it before but it was excellent, typical Dickens and we loved it.

What I haven’t done is finish the work I need to do on the house, I have been lazy, but I did take down the Christmas lights  and pull up the green carpet last Monday, its just that there is so much to do.  Oh yes, I also went and paid Grandma’s final Electric bill, it is kind of strange to think that Grandma is gone and so is the house that I grew up in.  Renee wrote a story about the house, I’ll have to forward it to you .  Well, I can’t wait to hear about your week, I love you very much and am so proud of all that you do.
Love, Dad

Dear Matt, Yes I still sleep with a lot of blankets but not as much as I used to, stuff is going pretty good, I am waking up every morning at 4:30 to do insanity and run then I go to early morning seminary afterwards, it’s pretty crazy I have to go to bed at like nine, but usually I have something keeping me up so I stay up later. Everybody seems to be sick lately and Miriam especially, I was feeling sick after school during play practice and I fell asleep on the stage haha it was pretty funny. Speaking of the play I am starting to get my Jamaican accent down, here I’ll show you. Say “beer can” with a british accent. Say it out loud. Okay what you said is “bacon” with a Jamaican accent. Haha I don’t know if it will work for you with your Mexican accent but it works for me. In school I have this computer tech teacher that doesn’t know anything about computers at all, she like doesn’t know how to log on to the internet, and she thinks that everybody in the class doesn’t know anything either. Its really stupid, anyways I have to go to seminary now.
-Thomas


Dear Elder,
I hope you had a good birthday!  Cleaning.  That sounds… fun.  Oh well, you’re a missionary.  You don’t know what’s fun anymore.  :P This week has been really busy for me.  I had a DECA competition on Wednesday.  Miriam and I placed 3rd.  I had UTA on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  It was fun.  I have to make up my school work for all of those days.  I’m going to school now.  Blah.
Love,
Katrina
Matt, Sorry that Miriam hasn't had a chance to write yet.  I know she would want me to tell you "hi" for her. --Mom

Mattlibs

It is our tradition on birthdays to do birthday Madlibs, and here's one for Matt.  First, the real story:

Matt's first "whale sighting"

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Matthew.  He started out as a chubby little teddy bear with blonde hair, the only blonde baby his mommy ever had.  As he grew, his mommy realized that he was also the most mischievous baby she’d ever had.  It was not that he was naughty, he was just curious.  He got into everything he could find, and it was a good thing that he was so cute so that his mommy could never get mad at him.

In school, Matthew learned math quickly, but had a hard time sounding out words.  Eventually he learned to read without sounding out and read everything he could find.  At home, Matthew liked to create and build, but never seemed to have the resources to do what he wanted to.  Still, he did what he could and that was impressive.

Matthew was a very friendly boy, and everyone loved him.  Kids his age enjoyed being around him, and even adults told his parents how much they admired him.  This made his parents very proud.  After he graduated from High School, Matt went to college where he did not excel.  His heart was not into it.  On the month he turned 19, he came back home.  He was kind of in limbo land as he waited his mission call.  As he waited, he worked at a very dull job filling very dull boxes with very dull things.  He realized how important college was.

Finally the big day came and Matthew got his mission call in the mail.  He gathered the family together and opened the letter excitedly.  Where would he go?  To Japan like his dad?  To Europe like Katrina wanted him to?  Then he read the call.  Mexico Culiacan Mission!!!!  Everyone was happy, except his niece, Lily.  His mommy, who was on Skype at Lily’s house, screamed with excitement and made poor little Lily cry.  Everyone else knew that Mexico was the perfect place for Matt.

Baptizing Angel

So Matt became an Elder, and it turned out that Mexico was indeed the perfect place for him.  Speaking Spanish came easy, and he seemed to adjust to life there very quickly.  Now he is working hard to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of La Paz.  He is good and he is happy and today he is 20 years old.  Happy Birthday, Elder!

Eating Cake with Elder Sumano

Here is the Madlibs version of the story:

Once upon a wedding, there was a munchkin named Matthew.  He started out as a squirrel-y little freakish bear with chartreuse big toes, the only fruity old man his mommy ever had.  As he grew, his mommy realized that he was also the most mischievous Walt Disney she’d ever had.  It was not that he was stinky, he was just smelly.  He got into everything he could rip, and it was a good thing that he was so bored so that his mommy could never loathe him.

In the state mental hospital, Matthew learned sewing quickly, but had a hard time sounding out fat people.  Eventually he learned to vomit without sounding out and operated on everything he could find.  At the landfill, Matthew liked to slip and stress, but never seemed to have the scuba suits to do what he wanted to.  Still, he did what he could and that was barnacle-y.

Matthew was a very rich boy, and everyone tickled him.  Kids his age didn’t care for being around him, and even cannibals told his parents how much they admired him.  This made his parents very doing-y.  After he graduated from Plots R Us, Matt went to charm school where he did not excel.  His heart was not into it.  On the month he turned 102, he came back to the gas station.  He was kind of in dumpster land as he waited his jail call.  As he waited, he whined at a very tall job filling very frosty boxes with very rude things.  He realized how important pawn shops were.

Finally the big chicken came and Matthew got his fingernail call in the mail.  He gathered the robbers together and opened the letter slothfully.  Where would he create?  To Afganistan like his dad?  To Jupiter like Katrina wanted him to?  Then he read the call.  Kmart Southwest Mission!!!!  Everyone was afraid, except his second cousin, Lily.  His mommy, who was on Skype at Lily’s house, cleaned with excitement and made poor little Lily forget.  Everyone else knew that Mexico was the perfect son for Matt.

So Matt became an Elder, and it turned out that Mexico was indeed the meddlesome place for him.  Speaking Flemish came easy, and he seemed to adjust to diapers there very quickly.  Now he is working hard to spread the gospel to the people of Neverland.  He is annoying and he is juvenile and today he is 20 years thick.  Happy Girlfriend Day, Elder!

Jan 1--Dear Elder

Dear Matt,

How are you?  It was so nice to Skype you on Christmas!  Here is a run-down of our past week.  On the Friday and Saturday before Christmas, we drove for many hours to get to Cassandra and Emerson’s house to spend Christmas with them and little Lily.  The drive was long, but we had fun talking, joking, and reading together.  When we got to their house, Lily was asleep, but we enjoyed visiting with Cassandra and Emerson.  Their house is so nice, and they had it all done up for Christmas.  We loved getting the grand tour.  They really picked out a lovely place to live, and they are doing a wonderful job making their house a home.  We must have been noisy because Lily woke up and we got to see her!  She is such a fun baby.  The kids played and played with her.  Her absolute favorite thing to do was to lay in a blanket and have the kids hold the edges and swing her back and forth.  It made her laugh and laugh.

The next day we went to Cassandra’s ward and then we had a delicious meal afterwards.  Cassandra made us the most wonderful food while we were there!  I think my favorite was the turkey cooked in her crockpot.  We spent most of that Sunday just talking to Cassandra and Emerson and playing with Lily—just getting reacquainted. 

On Christmas Eve we went to “The Egg and I” to eat breakfast.  I think I already told you how delicious that was!  We also did some shopping.  Christmas eve night we did gifts from the heart which was really fun.  Jon joined us via Skype, and everyone enjoyed giving their gifts.  Lily’s gift to Dad was the promise of new pictures and videos to come that no one has seen yet.  Dad’s gift to Miriam was a promise to take her out to dinner, Miriam’s gift to Cassandra was a big notebook filled with Cassandra’s writings, drawings, awards, and photos from her childhood.  Cassandra’s gift to Jon was a promise to Skype him five times soon.  Jon’s gift to Katrina was a trip to the nickel arcade.  Katrina’s gift to Lily was a flower fairy abc book.  Emerson’s gift to Thomas was at trip to the game store to play board games.  My gift to Emerson was a pocket daddy survival kit, and Thomas’s gift to me was some cartoons he made about me being a mom.  They were pretty funny. 

Christmas at Cassandra and Emerson’s was so wonderful!  We got to watch Lily open her gifts which was so fun!  The gifts were few and well thought out and she loved them!  We played games visited more, and made dinner.  The highlight of the day was Skyping with you, Matt!  It was so good to see your face, hear your voice, and  wish you a Merry Christmas.  The time went way too fast, though.  Thanks for talking to us about the media we watch and having high standards.  It was a message I know we will all take to heart.  It was hard to say goodbye after 50 minutes, but I hope you had a nice time Skyping Jon.  While we were Skyping with you, the missionaries were over for dinner.  We didn’t plan on doing both at the same time, but it worked out okay because Emerson was very sweet and visited with the missionaries and fed them while we talked to you.  The missionaries understood, though, since they planned to visit with their own families right after dinner. 

The rest of the time went very quickly.  We shopped and visited and played more games and watched a movie.  I seem to remember eating lots and lots of ice cream, ha ha.  We left for home on Friday morning after Christmas and after staying over at the half-way point and visiting the canyon, we got home Saturday night.  

On Sunday we had some wonderful talks and lessons at church and I also had a meeting.  The highlight of Sunday was making New Year’s resolutions together as a family.  Some of my resolutions are to exercise daily, not eat sugar, and read the teachings of the prophets.  Do you have any resolutions, Matt? 

Today is New Year’s Eve and Dad and I have to chaperone at the regional New Year’s dance for the youth.  Dad is so looking forward to that.  JUST KIDDING!  He is so good to support me in my calling this way.  Also today, Dad and I are going to see Les Mis.  Yay!  I hope I can stay awake.  I’ve been having sleep issues lately and then when I can sleep, I do other things instead.

Well, Matt.  I hope you have a good New Year.  We have been praying for you guys, and  I know Heavenly Father will help you.  Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Mom

Dec 24--Dear Elder

Dear Elder,

Ho ho ho, Meeeery Christmasssss!  How are you, young man?  Santa tells us

that you’ve been naughty and have opened your Christmas package early.

Now what are you going to do?   Well, we will make sure you get some

pictures to look at, anyway, ha ha.  Are you having a nice Christmas Eve?

What are your plans?  I hope you can get out and Christmas carol or

something.  Remember to serve others.  They’ll never care about what you

know until they know that you care.  How are things going, by the way?

Like Dad said, we fasted for you and Elder Ruiz.  What is he like?  Tell

him “hi” and “Merry Christmas” for us.

It is early Christmas Eve here, and we haven’t left the hotel yet to join

Emerson, Cassandra, and Lily for breakfast at “The Egg and I.”  Everyone

told you how long and frightful the drive was, and I quite agree.  We

probably lost an hour because of bad navigating.  I guess they’ll have to

fire me, ha ha.  Yesterday we went to church with Emerson and Cassandra.

Emerson led the choir in singing Christmas Hymns, and the primary children

sang.  Emerson plays the organ in church.  It sounded wonderful.  I got to

go to Relief Society with Cassandra where we heard a wonderful lesson on

being a good Christian based on Elder Hale’s talk in the last General

Conference.  We had such a nice day at the house yesterday.  Cassandra

cooked us delicious meals, and Lily was so fun to play with.  I don’t

think the kids realized how much fun they would have with Lily.  It was

really nice to see.   At night we watched home movies of when you guys

were little.

Jonathan called last night.  He has today and tomorrow off which would

usually be a nice thing for Christmas, but I’m actually unhappy that he’s

not working because he will be alone anyway.  He picked up his presents last night and he’d

better not open then till tomorrow or someone’s in trouble, ha ha.

Tonight we plan to have a nice Christmas Eve dinner, and then tomorrow, we

will give each other gifts from the heart.  Santa’s gift to us this year

was our trip here, so gifts from the heart will be our gift giving

this Christmas.   BTW, last week was very nice.  We went to another of

Thomas and Katrina’s choir performances and we also heard Miriam sing with

her choir at Temple Square.  What a wonderful way to celebrate Christ’s

birth!

Matt, we got you a Skype account.  I am concerned

that if you can’t get on the internet, how are you going to download

Skype?  I hope it all works out.   We can’t wait to Skype with you!!!  Can you

give us a phone number in case Skype doesn’t work for some reason.  See

you tomorrow.  On Skype.  Yay!

Love,

 Mom

Dec 10--Dear Elder

Dear Elder,

Hi.  How are you?  Boy, thanks for your last letter.  It was wonderful!  I
really like what you said about Dad being the repairer of the breach,
because that is what he is, and so are all of you kids in your own way.  
Thank you also for your kind words about us teaching you when you were
young.    There are so many things that we neglected to do or did wrong,
but I know that if we stay close to Jesus Christ and do our best, He will
make up the difference.

So, you opened your Christmas present early.  I don't know how
Santa feels about that, ha ha.  Actually, I am glad you made such a
generous choice.  It wasn't much, but you managed to magnify something
small into something bigger.   I did wonder what you would do on Christmas
day, but with such a giving attitude, I know you will be filled with the
spirit of Christmas and find great joy.  Much of my joy that day will come
from being able to Skype with you!

You have written to us about doing missionary work as a family, and I'm
sorry that we didn't fast about it last month.  Maybe next month?  My
guess is that it will have to come from you, not from me, to get everyone
on board.  I have been praying for help to do missionary work as a family.
 The scriptures say that all things are possible with God.  If our family
actually had a successful missionary experience, it would certainly prove
that scripture, ha ha.  We did take Christmas gifts around to neighbors as
a family last night.  We got to visit with quite a few, and it was a
wonderful experience.

I'm sorry things are slow in your area right now.  I am praying for you
and your companion.  Dad says you are having more success now than he had
in any area of his mission to Japan.  When you start out with a bang,
though, it's hard to go down to a dull roar, right?

Thomas's tests came back and showed that he has had undiagnosed mono in
the past, so he doesn't have to stay home from school or anything.  He is
allowed to do anything he feels up to.  Well, I take that back, he can't
participate in contact sports till we have him checked by our doctor to
make sure he doesn't have an enlarged spleen.  He was going to go out for
wrestling, but decided not to and to try out for the school play instead.

Tuesday night, we went to hear Katrina and Thomas sing Christmas songs with the children's choir. We met Allen and
Becky there and the kids sang beautifully.  We had a nice time with Allen
and Becky, and they treated us to Subway afterward.  Sadly, Dad had to
work and couldn't come.  

Let's see,yesterday I had lots of meetings.  Last night, Cassandra
and I made plans for when we go stay with them.  I told the family at
dinner what she and I discussed, and we are very excited.  Jon came by
yesterday, too.  I thought he was going to bring by some shirts for me to
sew.  Maybe he will today.

Today I am subbing which I am going to begin doing again now that Grandma
no longer needs my care.  I don't know how I feel about it, but it will
probably end up being good.  Dad and I have been watching LOTR in
anticipation of seeing the Hobbit on Saturday.  I'm sure we will not
finish LOTR by then, but it is fun to watch what we can.  This week is the
ward Christmas party and also the neighborhood play.  Thomas is Mr. Cold
Miser.  The girls are supposed to sing, but I'm not sure whether or not
that will happen.  Tonight we will be doing toys for tots for family home
evening.  Have a wonderful  week!

Love, 

Mom