Dear Elder--Oct 6

Dear Elder,

Hi!  How are you? I sure hope you are feeling better than you did last week!  I am so sorry that you have been feeling sick, and we are so happy that Heavenly Father helped you to know to eat something so that you could feel better that night.  After reading your account, we decided that your parasite must have needed a midnight snack, ha ha.  Actually, having a parasite is no laughing matter, and we sure hope that medicine does the trick, but I have my doubts, so make sure you get more help if the problem persists, okay?  We are praying for you to be healthy, Matt, so that you can do the work of the Lord!

We watched the Saturday sessions last night, and I am so excited to be watching again soon, today.  Grandpa and Grandma are in town and they will be watching the morning session with us.  As a family, we will listen to the afternoon session of General Conference on the car radio as we drive to my brother Rick and his wife, Kelly’s house for a get-together.  Their son, Ben, is going to read his mission call, and we are going to celebrate Grandpa’s seventieth birthday.  Can you believe that he is seventy years old today?  I told him that seventy is the new sixty, ha ha.

Did you get to watch Conference?  Wasn’t it wonderful?  I have to admit, Matt, that I was a bit concerned going into conference that I would be overwhelmed with more things I need to incorporate into my life because I am still trying to incorporate my goals from the last general conference into my life.  Instead, conference strengthened me and reaffirmed the importance of my goals and gave me insights on how to go about meeting them.  As I listened, one of the impressions I got was to buy the book that my sister, Elizabeth recommended to me called “Every Day Missionaries.”   I bought both the Kindle version and the hard copy version which should be here by Monday or Tuesday.  Anyway, I have begun reading the Kindle version, and I really love it.  I am learning how we as members can be missionaries every day of our lives.  

The reason that Grandpa and Grandma are here is because my sister Sarah’s husband, James’s mother passed away this last week.  Do you remember her, Matt?  What a sweet lady!  She has been suffering from cancer, Matt, and has been sick for quite awhile.  James was able to be in town when she passed away which is a real blessing.  She died Wednesday, I think, and Sarah and the kids flew in Thursday for Friday’s funeral.  Grandpa and Grandma were going to come up for my brother, Rick’s son, Jesse’s baptism next week, so they came up early to attend the funeral as well.  I missed the funeral because of work, but Elizabeth also attended.  Grandma says the funeral was a very sweet experience.  I wish I could have been with them, and I am so happy that we get to see Sarah and James and their family at Rick and Kelly’s today.

Yesterday was a wonderful day, first, because of Conference, and also because Grandpa and Grandma and Elizabeth and her kids all came over for a visit.  We didn’t know whether or not we’d see them yesterday, but Julie’s son Richard called them and told them that he’d be opening his mission call at 5:00 pm and that they could watch him do it on Facebook.  When they tried to set it up at Elizabeth’s house, it didn’t work so Grandpa and Grandma came over here.  It was total chaos as we talked to Rick, Sarah, and Elizabeth on the phone while Richard’s family was on video.  The video ended up failing, and we heard the mission call over the phone after all.  Richard has been called to serve in the Rapid City South Dakota mission.  Richard was really excited because ever since Jacob got his call to Singapore, Richard has joked that he would be going to South Dakota.  He even told his stake president he would be going to South Dakota.  He was joking, but when the call came, it was official.  It is wonderful the ways Heavenly Father lets us know that He is in the details of our lives.  After Dad and Thomas and Grandpa left for the priesthood session, Elizabeth and her younger kids came over to join us and Grandma for a little party.  We ate pizza and talked.  It was so fun!

Well, Matt, we just finished watching the Sunday morning session of Conference.  Grandpa and Grandma joined us for conference because Elizabeth and her family had another family over to watch this session of conference with them.  I have to ask Elizabeth about the family they invited over.  I suspect it came about because Elizabeth had read the book she recommended to me.  She is pretty excited about it.  

It was nice to have Grandpa and Grandma over, and we really enjoyed this session of conference.  Now we are writing letters to you and eating and getting ready to drive to Rick’s during the afternoon session.  It makes me so happy that you are watching Conference, too.

Katrina missed conference yesterday because she was at the Shakespeare festival.  She had an enjoyable time, and got home while the guys were at the priesthood session.  Last year, she missed Saturday, too, but watched them between the Sunday sessions.  This year, because family has visited, and we have Grandpa’s birthday to go to, I don’t think she will be able to do that, but I have confidence that she will find a time to view it.  

Dad has worked every spare moment installing the furnace at the laundry.  He took time off to watch both conference sessions on Saturday because I begged him, too, and of course he’s not working today on the Sabbath, I’ve been praying that it will be a good day of rest for him.  He is really getting burned out.  He says he never wants to accept a job just for the money again.  I hope not.  Its not worth it.  If he hadn’t said he would do the furnace, Vic would have just hired someone else, but Dad saw dollar signs, poor guy. He also has been working very hard teaching.  I think that things are beginning to get better, though.  I am so glad for that answer to prayer!

Since Dad was working so much, I went to Thomas’s football game on Thursday in his place.  Because he misses football for gymnastics every week, Thomas is not allowed to play in the games even though he makes up the absences by doing twice as many monsters as required. Well, Thursday night, one of the coaches obviously didn’t get the memo that Thomas isn’t to play in the games, and he played Thomas!  It was so wonderful to watch him out there giving his all to the team, and I was very happy for him.

Besides working, Miriam has been going shopping and also a co-worker couple invited her over to their house for dinner.  She and Preston have cooled it off for awhile, maybe permanently—we will see.  I know it is hard for her because she has spent so much time for him, the rest of her social life has suffered.  I know she’ll make it through.

I also got to talk to Cassandra and Lily this week and Skype with them.  When I called, Lily was in bed after her nap and didn’t want to get out of bed.  Cassandra was trying to convince her to get out.  Finally, it was Lily’s desire to “show” me her toys (we were only on the phone at the time, not Skyping) that got her out of bed.  She is so cute!  She sang songs to me including “Hip, Hipooray for the Piglet and the Pooh” and “Let’s Go Fly a Kite.”  She put her owl pajamas on over her clothes to show me how they looked.  I am so glad she likes talking to me on the phone.  Cassandra is very patient to hold the phone for me to talk to Lily and to talk to me, too.

I got to visit with Jon on the phone for a couple of hours this week, too.  He is doing well.  He also helped Dad with the furnace for a few hours which I know Dad really appreciated.  He is lookin so good!  He has an awesome goatee and ‘stache.  When I went to Costco on Saturday to buy pistachios for Conference, he was there, which I always love.  He was wearing some very cool shoes which turned out to be slippers he’d bought there at Costco, so I bought some for Thomas for Christmas. Shh…, don’t tell  

And what have I been up to?  Hmm…well, have I mentioned that I love my job?  I love my job!!!  I had such a rewarding week teaching and tracking amazing students.  Besides that, I’ve been home being a mom.  Did I mention that I love being a mom?  I LOVE being a mom!!!  And that includes being a grandma.  I’ve Skyped with Lily, driven with Katrina, eaten dinner with Thomas and Miriam, and done various and sundry mom things that make life worthwhile. I also love being Dad’s wife!  Dad was going to work all Friday, but he was so burned out, he decided to only work till 5 and then go out on a date with me.  We had such a wonderful time!  We drove to the ski resort and ate at an incredibly delicious barbeque place that Dad discovered the last time he was there.  We also walked up and down main street and it was really fun and really cold.  We had lots of fun talking on the drive up and back, too.  When we got home, we ate ice cream (surprise, surprise) and watched TV.   Life is beautiful, Matt.

That is our week and our life.  How was your week and how is your life?  Please tell us everything.  Have you found Christina?  What about Jesus?  Is Erik totally out of the picture?  I really really hope you have been feeling well.  If you haven’t, don’t just suffer, GET HELP!!!  I love you, Matt.  

Love,

Mom

Aug 19--Answering Matt's Question

Hi, Matt.  What was I doing at 12:20?  I think I was outside in the back yard, thinking and praying.  At first, I was unhappy, but then I felt better and enjoyed the beautiful night.  Why do you ask, I am so curious!

July 3--Dear Elder: Phone Call Follow Up, Yard Work, Talking to Cass and Jon, Family News

(Blog note:  This is today's exerpt of a letter that I am compiling to send to our missionary son, Matt on Sunday the 8th).
  

Hey, Matt.  It’s Tuesday.  You are in Mexico (I hope)!  Wow, it’s hard to even imagine.  It’s so exciting!  I just looked at your account.  It looks like you paid the airline $40 and that you ate at MacDonalds, and that you spent a bit at the MTC before you left.  It’s cool to see where you went and what you did!  Yes, I am stalking you, ha ha.  I hope that it was a safe and pleasant trip.

I’m so sorry that you weren’t able to get a hold of Dad or anyone else after you called us.  I know that must be really hard for you.  Dad was sad, too, but he understands.  His phone wasn’t getting any reception in the classroom yesterday, so that’s why it didn’t work out.  He wanted to know every thing you said, and I feel like Heavenly Father blessed my little brain to remember every detail for him.  It really made Dad happy to hear it all.  Thanks for calling us!

I loved yesterday.  Thomas didn’t go in to work at all, and Katrina didn’t go in till 2:30, so I put them to work in the yard.  Katrina mowed, Thomas weed wacked, and, I pulled weeds.  Boy, does the yard look good.  Dad has been way too busy to do it and I was so glad to get it done.  Later, I had Thomas sprinkle Preen on all the weeded area so that no new weeds will  germinate.   Preen sure is good stuff.  The apricot tree is full of apricots in various stages of ripeness, and I need to get the word out for people to come pick.   It did post it on Facebook.  Anyway, the yard is so pretty with big cannas growing in the front and the humongoloidious apricot tree in the back and everything nice and mowed.
 

In the middle of mowing, Cassandra Skyped, and we got to talk to her and Lily!  Cassandra and Katrina were talking about Kindles because they both each got one.  While they did that, I laughed and talked with Lily.  I hope we didn’t irritate Cassandra and Katrina too much, but we two had a good old time.  And then Thomas started making faces and Lily made them right back.  It was lots of fun.  We are thinking that our Christmas this year will be to go visit them.  That will be so fun!

I also got to talk to Jonathan a bit.  He got his birthday cards out of the mail yesterday, and he loved them.  He was very surprised to find birthday money from Grandpa and Grandma.  He didn’t expect any because they helped him out so much when they were visiting in June.  He was really grateful.  He already got a present from us, but we each made a coupon for him of things that we would do for him and stuck it in the card from us.  My coupon was good for doing all his laundry, Dad’s was to take him coyote hunting, Miriam’s was for a batch of cookies, Katrina’s was a promise to buy him something at Disneyland, and Thomas’s was good for Jon getting the bottom bunk whenever he visits and permission to wake Thomas up  and make him move if he ever forgets and falls asleep on the bottom.  It was fun to talk to Jon.  We are praying that he will get a job soon, he could use your prayers, too!

Kat, Thom, and I also took care of Grandma and grocery shopped before we drove Katrina in to work.  It was very nice to have them with me.  When Dad got home, Thomas played at Garred’s and I helped Dad package up a bunch of currency he sold on Ebay.  He’s pretty excited because it went for lots of money.  Grandma had been asking to put on shoes so that she could walk outside all day yesterday.  Well, of course, she can’t walk, but after packaging the currency, we did put on her shoes, loaded her up in the car, and took her with us to the post office to send off the currency.  We also went to Costco and then we picked Katrina up at work and came home where Miriam and Thomas were waiting for us so that we could have Family Home Evening.  By the end of the drive, Grandma was telling Dad to slow down quite a bit, but I still think she liked it. 

For Family Home Evening, we ate at Taco Bell as a family and then went to the Fourth of July booths by the old courthouse.  The kids went to the hair design booth and got their hair done.  Miriam’s was swept up big on her head and came to a point at the crown—the whole thing, head and all was kind of shaped like a tear drop.  Katrina got hers swept to one side and pinned in pretty curls against her head, and Thomas went for a faux hawk.  We got many interesting looks as we checked out the booths.  It was really fun to be with the family just hanging out.   No one bought anything, but we did get some free ice cream.   We read scriptures on the way home and prayed in the car when we got there.  Then Dad went exercising and I put Grandma to bed.  The kids came in and sang a song to her and kissed her good night.  It was such a nice day!

Today has started off well.  I saw Dad and Miriam off to work, and Katrina and I had yogurt together for breakfast.  I love yogurt!!!  I had it with almonds and uncooked oats mixed in.  It’s amazing that the oats taste so good in it and don’t confuse my palate J  While we ate, I told Katrina about what I studied in the scriptures this morning and she was so nice to listen.  Now she is downstairs watching a show (that won’t last long, bwah hahahah), and I am here writing to you. 

Yesterday I shared what I learned in the scriptures with Miriam, Thomas, and Dad.  Thomas shared something with me that fits right in to my studies.  He said that at EFY, he tried to act on every prompting he felt, and once he felt like he should sing and so he did and afterward, someone came up to him and told him how much they needed to hear that song.  You know how I am trying to have the words of Christ in my thoughts, words, and deeds?  As I said before, I figured I’d have them in my thoughts by pondering and in my words by sharing with others, and now Thomas has helped me figure out how to have the Word in my deeds—by trying to act upon every little prompting from the Holy Ghost that I receive throughout the day.   I love how Heavenly Father guides me to study and hear things that all come together and that point me to His Son, Jesus Christ.

(Blog Note:  That's it for today!  Stay tuned for tomorrow's installment.)

Dear Elder,

Hi.  How are you?  We are good.  I tried to send a letter by pouch so that you would have it in Mexico soon after you arrive, but it disappeared into the stratosphere.  I will try again later.  The pouch deadline is not till Monday the 2nd.  I hope you will get the letter the same week.

I guess you weren't able to email yesterday, but we hope we get one more letter from you before you leave.  Hopefully it will come tomorrow so that if you ask for anything, we can get it to you.  We will send you a package with the rest of the stuff you asked for on Saturday.

Yesterday was a good day.  Thomas was home from work and had to go get a physical.  His mother, who wasn't thinking very brightly, got him an appointment with the female nurse practitioner which was pretty embarrassing for him, but he handled it cool-ly.  He got a well-deserved ice cream cone afterwards.

Thomas helped me out a lot by hanging up Grandma's clothes and cleaning with me.  He also had fun Skyping with EFY friends and swimming at Jayden's.  The Taggs moved, but TJ and Loretta are renting the house across the street, and Jayden goes over there to swim.

Katrina got home later on and we went to the grocery store together.  She watered the plants (which takes about a half hour) and sat with Grandma, and watched Smallville.

Grandma is really attached to the kids.  Last night we all said prayer in her room and then about 15 minutes later she asked me if I knew where they were.  When I told her they were just in the other room, she said she was just making sure they weren't lost or something.  The other day, I was sitting with Grandma, and Katrina made a loud noise in the kitchen.  Grandma said, "that's one of the babies."
She still remembers Thomas's name, too.  He quizzes her on it every day, just to make sure.

When Dad got home, he put more of his currency up on ebay and that took him the rest of the day.  He worked from the time he woke up till the time he went to bed, pretty much, except for meals.  I slacked in the evening and wasted time on Pinterest.

Today I made dad oatmeal and boiled eggs for breakfast and a sandwich, apple, and pickled eggs for lunch.  I also baked muffins for the kid's breakfast and cut up a head of lettuce and packed it up along with dressing, apples, peaches, and muffins for Miriam so that she will have food to eat at work. Now I am writing to you :)

I didn't hear from Jon any more yesterday.  I hope his back got to feeling better.  I wonder when his roommates will show up.  I hope he gets another job, soon!  Last night Grandma called to get Jon's address so that she can send him a birthday card.  I'm glad he will be getting that since he already got his birthday present from us.

It was fun to talk to Grandma and Grandpa.  Great Grandma Haws came over on Sunday to stay with them for a week, but she went home again yesterday.  I guess she just plain wanted to be home.  I can understand that.

I've been wanting to share this post by Cassandra with you, it's so cute!  Here it is...

"Never leave your computer during an email chat:

me:
 
  any idea when I should expect you?
2:21 PM Emerson: Regular time.
2:22 PM me: k. love you
2:23 PM ..
  ..
  .
  .
  .
  +.
  .3321413652
  51
  3.
  .
  .3302004.04500.
 Emerson: um
 me: 2
  ..0.
2:24 PM 33333333
 Emerson: do you think you're using excel?
 me: .035.0..45.
 Emerson: or is that Lily?
 me: 47..303.00000000000.233333333333333333333333333.00000000000001
  ..33333.
  96
  .
  .
  +6
 Emerson: Hi Lily"

Isn't that cute!


How did I do on my study goal yesterday?  Not real good.  It is so hard to apply what I've learned!  Still, I'm learning that it is a process.  Yesterday and the day before, I remembered what I learned throughout the day even though that rarely translated into living it.  Still, it is a step.  The word of God turns to spirit and fills our hearts with the Holy Ghost.  So I'm still trying to move the word from my mind to my heart, and I feel like I am making progress even though I fail often.

Well, have a wonderful day, Matt.  May the Spirit of the Lord be with you as you prepare to go out into the mission field to teach God's beloved Mexican people.

Love,
Mom

June 20--Letter From Matt!!

We were so excited to get this letter from Matt in the mail yesterday.  I think he must have written it on Saturday June 16.

Hey, Family!

I went to Vegas yesterday to get my Visa.  I’m actually on the plane home right now.  It has been pretty fun but I’m glad to be on my way back.  How are you guys?  Thomas, Sarah sent me an email with your (Facebook) post on it, I miss you too bud.  I miss you all.  I’m leaving for Mexico on the 2^nd of July.  I don’t know how you can send letters, as far as packages go, I won’t get any you send most likely.  Are any of you reading/studying?  I love you all! 

--Matthew

PS Do you have my other pair of Gortex ECCOs (the new ones that we bought)?  If you could send them to me, I’d love that.  Oh, and a back scratcher!  PLEASE!! Ha ha, thank you for the other packages including the pictures! 

PPS  We just saw sister Sheri Dew yesterday (On Sunday.  Yes I know, I should have gotten this to you long before.) and she was awesome.  I’m writing this because, Mom, don’t you like her or something?  DON’T forget the BACK-SCRATCHER!!!!  Please…J

June 13--Dear Elder: Jon Home, Working with Katrina, Barbecue!

Dear Elder, Hi! Today is P-day which means that today you are going to the temple, doing your laundry, emailing, and …what else? I have no idea. Probably some exercise, right? Let us know what you do on your preparation days. We get emails from you today, hooray!!! I can’t wait. I had such a nice day yesterday. Miriam and Thomas started work early, so till 1:00 it was just Katrina and me at home. We cleaned up the kitchen and the fridge and worked outside. Outside we gave the flowers plant food and re-repaired the Adirondak chairs with new zip ties. It was so fun to have Katrina with me! We really had a nice time. At one o’clock I got her to work and stopped by Walmart on the way home. I bought stuff for a barbecue and some outdoor fabric. When I got home, I tried to sleep, because I am always a couple hours shy of a full night’s sleep, but I couldn’t because I was so excited about my plans to use the fabric I’d bought. I popped out of bed and started to make a hammock, which is what I bought the fabric for. I was interrupted when Grandma’s friends from the old 19th ward came over to visit her. Sisters Hoover, Garrard, and Emma I, and Bishop Dunklee come over often to check on Grandma. I got Grandma out of her bed, and she really enjoyed visiting with them. She even remembered the name of Sis Garrard and Emma I. I have no idea why Emma I is Emma I. No one ever just calls her Emma, and I have no idea what her last name is or what the I stands for. It may be Emma Eye for all I know. Ay ay ay! Well, Dad got home in time to catch the end of the visit. It was very nice to see him and after Grandma’s company had gone, I tried to stay awake to keep him company, but I couldn’t, so I left him to fend for himself and crashed in bed. When I woke up and went upstairs 15 min later, Jon was home! Hooray! He stayed only awhile—long enough to give us hugs and donuts and ketchup potato chips. Then he went to Weston’s for the night which is where he is staying till the cousins, who will arrive this afternoon, go home on Saturday. Wow, it was nice to see Jon. He said he’d be back today. So he left for Weston’s and Dad left to hike. With everyone gone, I had fun making the hammock on the swing set outside. I didn’t sew it or even tie knots, I just slipped the fabric through the rings of the old hammock and zip tied it in place. It was really fun because it’s been eons since I’ve been able to do anything fun and creative. Now I have plans for an awning and a cover for the swing chair. I will try to send you picts when it’s done. As you may recall, we switched family home evening from Monday night to Tuesday night, so when everyone got home around 7:00, we had a barbecue with hamburgers, corn on the cob, and baked beans. We wheeled Grandma out on the deck to oversee the activities. We had a very nice meal despite the sun. I have got to get an umbrella! Afterward, Miriam convinced us all to go to the park for a nice walk and bike ride. We loaded up the two bikes in the pick up and when we got there we took turns biking and walking the trail. That has got to be the most beautiful trail in the world! Anyway, Thomas was exhausted from work and in lots of pain from his Monday work out with the football team and didn’t want to come, but he was a real trooper and waddled along beside us, complaining cheerfully. Well, today I have a meeting. Yuck. Not because it will be unpleasant, but because there are so many other things I need and want to do. Still, it will be fun to visit with the rest of the stake young women’s presidency. They are fun and awesome friends. Well, here are my thoughts after studying Preach My Gospel this morning. First, Gal 5:22-25 says in part that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. The next verse basically says that through the Holy Ghost, the affections and lusts of the flesh are mastered. It is interesting to me that the fruits of the Spirit are not things vauled by the world, with the exception of joy, yet these are the very things that bring joy! I’ve also been thinking more about commitments and covenants. I made a commitment yesterday morning to eat wisely. I started out fine but then the donuts arrived.  I did not keep my commitment; I planned to eat only one, but I ate more.  I am beginning to realize that every time I keep a commitment, it strengthens my ability to keep my covenants and every time I don’t keep a commitment, it weakens my ability to keep my covenants. So when I keep commitments I am in essence keeping my covenants. Well, Matt, that’s all for now! I have to go make Miriam a salad to eat at work for lunch. I make enough for me to eat for lunch, too. I love you very much! It is so nice to write to you every day. It helps us keep in touch with you, and brings our whole family together. Have a great day! Que Te Vaya Bien! Mucho amore, Mamacita. PS. In case you get this letter before the email I just sent, it says the following: What?? Weird!! You sent an email on Tues. What's up with that? How awesome to get on the email this morning and be surprised with a message already. So fun! Do you get to be on the email today, too? I hope so! (Blog note:  The email said, "Thanks, Mom.  Lily is really cute!"  I had sent him 3 picts of Lily with Pooh Bear and Piglet)

News and a Letter From Matt

On Wednesday we had good news and bad news.  The good news was that we got emails from Matt.  The bad news was that they didn't say much.  What they did say is that he did, indeed receive his Cinco De Mayo package and liked it.  He also said that he hasn't taken any pictures and even if he had, he has no way of getting the picts to me unless he sends me the memory card.  Weird.  I guess I'll ask him to take them anyway so that he'll have them someday.  Then he said that he meant to ask me to send shirts, not shoes.  Well...  I'd already sent him brand new shoes earlier Wednesday, so now I guess I'll send him shirts.  He also gave permission to post his letters on this blog although he said he had no idea why anyone would want to read them.

On Thursday we had only good news.  Matt sent us a letter.  Yay!

Here is Matt's letter:

Dear family!

(insert upside down exclamation mark here)Hi!  How are you all doing?  I ask that rhetorically  because Mom writes me every day.  [Blog note:  Except yesterday.  :( Wahhhhh :( ]  

Thank you all (well most of you :)  ) for writing to me, especially Katrina for telling me multiple times  (okay, only twice) that she has Jon's phone.  I love getting dear elders, the only problem is that I can't see an email or mailing address to write them back [Blog note to Self:  Fix that!]

Stuff is the same ol' same here, um...I wanna just go to Mexico but there's stuff I need to learn.

Katrina:  I'm not fluent.  Cashering sucks : P  I'm happy for you (anyway).  We sit and eat and get fat at the MTC.

Thomas:  I'm glad you finished your Rub Golberg (or whatever).

Miriam:  Hi.  Hope stuff is going good for you and that you're feeling better.

Dad:  You're a walking contradiction (and I mean that with love, about your early life).

Mom:  Thanks for the constant letters! 

love-Matt

Good, Bad, and Ugly

Good:
Jon stopped by and visited for awhile on Sunday.  We had a fun time talking.
Miriam is on choir tour in San Diego.
Brian and I got to hear Thomas play his trumpet in a jazz festival today.  He did great!
Katrina and Thomas are at a Beauty and the Beast cast party tonight.
Sally (Brian's Mom) and I sat on the deck and gazed at the popcorn popping out on our giant apricot tree.
I got to go to the Relief Society birthday party tonight with the ladies in my ward (congregation).  The Relief Society is the LDS church's women's organization--the largest women's organization in the world.
Bad:
I'm kind of going stir crazy.  It's one thing to be a homebody by choice, it's another thing to be stuck at home because you have to.  Yesterday, I slept practically all day.  I did better today, though :)
The Ugly:
I changed 4 messy diapers today and four yesterday.

And that, folks, is my life.  It's a good thing that "Good" far outweighs bad and ungly!

Can We Do This Without Me?

Well, it has been quite a week.  On Friday Brian’s mother, Sally came to live in our home.  Also on Friday my parents came to visit for 5 days.  The reason for my parent’s visit was to accompany Matthew when he went through the LDS temple for the first time.  That occurred last night and was one of the happiest experiences of my life, se eing my son worthy to enter into the temple of God and make sacred promises of righteousness to Him.

My parents also went to Katrina and Thomas’s play, Beauty and the Beast where Katrina played “the aristocratic lady” and Thomas played “Le Fou.”  The kids did a wonderful job, and my sister, Sarah and her family along with my sister Elizabeth also attended.  Everyone was quite impressed with their work. Miriam was in a festival the day my parents arrived and we got to see her do that, too.  Her choir won for the whole festival!  My parents really enjoyed listening top her sing.  Jon was also at home for the weekend, which was so nice.  He, Brian, Thomas, and my dad worked on Jon's car.  They found out that he needed new tires.  It was deceptive because the treads looked okay, but were coming off of the tire in some places.  Weird.  Anyway, they got new tires.

I don’t know how I would have made it through the last few days if my parents hadn’t been here.  Not only did they help Jon with the cost of the tires, my mom has helped me restore the house to order after the upheaval of switching around rooms in order to make place for Sally, and my dad helped me with the heavy lifting, and since Sally can’t move her left side, there is a lot of that.  I have done more physical work in the past week than I have done for years, and it is quite a chore.

Still, we have had our laughs.  The other day Sally told me about someone who told her to go to “H-E-Double Q.”  I cracked up laughing on the inside.  Then there was the first time my dad and I tried to use a lift to hoist Sally from her bed.  We had no idea what we were doing, and Sally’s conversation rambled aimlessly as we turned and tugged and pushed at her, until she spoke up loudly saying, “Can we do this without me?”  My dad and I laughed quite a bit about that, and I told him that I wanted out, too.  Sally’s question sticks in my mind and I find myself asking, especially when her care becomes a strain, “Can we do this without me?”  It keeps me laughing on the inside.

Her Love's Masterpiece

Last night I dreamed I was in my Grandma’s house.  She was gone, but  I wasn’t worried; I knew she was happy.  Then I looked out the back door into the back yard and it was all paved over in blacktop.  At first I was excited like a child and zoomed around the smooth surface in an office chair.  I noticed that the back fence was gone and the blacktop of the yard blended in with the paving of the alleyway.  It was then that I realized the yard was paved for a parking lot to accommodate the house’s future role as a small apartment complex.  Distressed, I fled back inside and ran through the rooms, trying to drink in each feature with my eyes but I finally realized it was useless; looking preserved nothing.   It's strange I woke up crying; mourning the loss of memory-soaked ceilings and walls.  I wonder now why I cried less for my grandma than for her home, but then where does her home end and she begin?  Her heart is in every brick, every tile.  My grandma’s future departure didn't bother me till I contemplated losing the privilege of visiting and remembering inside her life's masterpiece of love.

Cafe Rio Me-o

On Valentine's Day, Brian and I went to Cafe Rio for dinner.  I know that's a bit lame, but we were too worn out to think ahead and make reservations anywhere shmauncy.  The food was great and the company was breathtakingly handsome, so t'sall good.

Brian and I are getting the hang of ordering at Cafe Rio although Brian still needs me to translate what the workers are yelling at him from time to time, ha ha.  And since I have finally perfected my Cafe Rio salad, I will record it here.  First, may I mention that if you order the regular salad, it will be gargantuan.  They will build it on top of a giant flour tortilla or 3 regular sized corn ones.  For this reason, I order a tostada on a soft corn tortilla with a small salad dressing on the side and ends up being just the same as a small salad.  Anyway, here's the masterpiece.

Tortillas:  Corn or Flour?  Corn.  Their corn tortillas are delicious, and I think their flour tortillas are so-so.
Rice?  NO RICE.  I think their rice is yucky.
Beans:  Black or Pinto?  Either.  Both good.
Meat:  Shredded chicken, grilled chicken, grilled steak, or pork barbacoa?  Shredded chicken.  Pork barbacoa  is sweet and not good and their most popular meat.  Weird.
Salsa?   No.  Their green salsa is gross, and I haven't tried any other kind.
Lettuce, cilantro, guacamole, pico, Mexican cheese, fried corn crunchies?  Yes!!!
Sour cream?  Nope.  Too fatty.
Dressing:  Cilantro lime or tomatillo?  Tomatillo, yummm!  I've loved it so much that I haven't even tried cilantro lime.

Well, there you go.  The result of much trial and error and very worth all the trouble.

A Love Note for Valentine's Day

I love my Heavenly Father.  He guides me when I stray.  He strengthens me to not turn back and answers when I pray.  He gives me courage I don’t have and calms my many fears.  He chastens me when I forget and dries my bitter tears.

Learning, Visiting, and Going to Meetings

Lately I have been learning my duties as stake young women first counselor.  I have also been visiting Brian's mom daily.  One day this week, I had two meetings for stake young women.  The kids really helped me out with cleaning (one meeting was here at the house) and cooking.  While they made dinner, I read the four conference talks that I had been assigned to read before the evening meeting.  The dinner was delicious! 

I Resolve

I love both Christmas and summer time.  Everyone is home, we relax the schedules and have a bit more fun.  I also love September and January for exactly the opposite reasons--they are the season to retrench, refocus, and recommit.  Accordingly, we made New Year's resolutions in Family Home Evening.  These are mine.

Physical:  Exercise!!!  The problem with this one is figuring out when to exercise.  If it’s a day when I’m home, its no problem, but when I am testing or subbing, exercise goes out the window.  I already wake up to at five thirty to get everything else done, so I’d have to wake up at 4:45 to exercise in the morning, too. I don’t get to bed early enough to wake up that early!  So when do I exercise on those days?  I think the best thing to do is to get together with Brian and make a goal as a couple to walk nightly after family scriptures and prayer.  I’ll ask him about it right now.
He says he’ll make the goal to walk five nights a week with me after family scriptures and prayer, so there you go.  Between me walking in the morning either with my walking buddy, Emily or on the treadmill on stay-at-home days and walking with Brian at bed time, I should be good.  Will I lose all the weight I’ve gained lately?  Not so sure.

Eating right will help me lose weight.  Here  are my goals:  Eat definite meals—no grazing (a big problem when I’m home alone during the day)  Have a snack at 10:30 and one when the kids get home.  Put a reasonable serving on my plate and don’t have seconds.  No eating after dinner unless it’s a family home evening treat with the family and then only 2 cookies worth.  No eating sweets alone.  I don't really do that anyway.

 Spiritual:  I have already begun my spiritual goal of studying the scriptures instead of just reading them.  I have been highlighting my scriptures and taking more notes.  This has been helping me to see the themes in the scriptures that apply to my life.  My other goal is less concrete.  It is to have the right priorities.   I’m working on that.

Mental:  Sleep more.  I know that doesn't seem to make any sense, but I can’t think or remember anything when I am low on sleep, so my goal is to go to bed right after my walk with Brian every night.

Emotional:  Be more loving and connected with people.  I’m trying harder to put people before things.   Brian and I already walk once or twice a week, and it really helps us feel connected.  Imagine what five  walks a week will do for us.

Those are my goals, wish me luck!

Testing, testing...

Last week and this week I am working full school days doing testing.  We go from school to school doing benchmark testing in resource as well as mainstream classrooms.  You think those last two sentences I wrote were boring, you should try listening to kids read the same passages over and over every week day for two weeks and then coming back 3 months later and doing it all again. 

It’s the fictional passages that are really dull because I don’t really care if Kim and Anna are entering a jump rope contest or that Mother Kangaroo keeps loosing her baby.  But the non-fiction passages aren’t too bad because at least I’m learning something.  For instance, I now know that Big Ben has four faces so that it can be seen from every direction and that those faces are 20 feet wide and, the numbers are 2 feet tall, and the minute hand is long as a car.  I also know that Carl Gauss grew up in a poor family in Germany and could work math problems in his head by the time he was three.  When he was seven, his school teacher asked the kids to add up all the numbers from one to 100, and he figured out the answer almost instantly.  Kind of interesting, right? 

 Non fiction stories have their frustrations, too, however, since no one ever gets farther than half way through the information.  The passage about Big Ben begins with people climbing up it’s face.  It took me 5 days of testing before I got a kid who read far enough to find out that the climbers were actually cleaners.  What happens next?  Do the climbers fall?  Do they ever finish cleaning London’s clock?  I may never know.  I also may never know what amazing things Carl Gauss did after the age of seven.  I keep telling myself that I’ll go back and finish the good ones, but when I’m off work, I come to my senses.  Anyway, that’s what I’ve been up to lately.

Oozing With Talent

Very few people know just how talented I am, so today I am going to enlighten you all.
Here is my list of amazing talents:
Let's start small--I can say the alphabet backwards.  Amazing, I know.  But wait!  There's More!
I can wiggle my wig.  (Hard to explain this one.  Maybe I should post a video!  It's kind of like wiggling your ears, but your hair wiggles instead of your ears and looks like you have a wig).  Not impressed enough yet?  Okay, how about this:
I am a champion sneezer.  While others sneeze once, maybe twice at one sneezing, I rarely sneeze less than 3 times in a row.  My average sneezes at one sneezing is 5, I often sneeze 7, and my record is 8.  When I sneeze, no need to say, "bless you" because with a talent like this, I am obviously abundantly blessed already.  Still underwhelmed?  I saved the best for last.
I can recite "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" word for word.  Okay, there it is, now I've gone too far, and you are jealous.  I am so sorry.  Just try to forget all this amazingness and return to your hum drum life.