December 16, 2008

Dear Children,

I am getting so excited for Christmas with all of you! Dad and I have been working to make more sleeping areas so everyone is as comfortable as possible. We transformed Adrianne’s room, amazingly the largest bedroom in the house, into a great room for the Brady’s. I know many of you older children, who lost your “home room status” shortly after leaving home, will be secretly (or not so secretly) thrilled that the “baby” has lost her room-staying-the-same bragging rites.

Along with all of you, we have had some severe weather this week. It was a great blessing that Dad was able to gather larger crews last week and finish the last large job in Vancouver. Now he is checking it to see that the freeze didn’t ruined the fresh concrete. Upon learning that Dad would actually be done with the job days before all of you started arriving, I was so excited to know, with the forecasted storms, that I would have him home to help get the last things done before Christmas. I have been working on a big project that was going to need more than a few evenings of help from him so I am VERY grateful! My goal every night is to be in bed before the outdoor lights, on timers, go off. There have been a few nights that I have made that goal. Dad and I have had some fun projects for which I am SO excited!

The last of the decorations and outdoor lights are all in place and the tree is beautiful, as always. We did have a shock the other night, just before leaving for dinner at the Chandler’s home, when Dad discovered puddle water covering the fireplace marble and rug around the tree. Luckily the tree stand was not the culprit so we didn’t have to somehow replace that with the decorated tree intact. Dad pulled the tree from out of the corner and everything is drying up nicely, even the gifts that were touched by the water. Dad put the outdoor lights on a timer. My goal every night is: be in bed before the outdoor lights go off. Well, I made it a few nights!

Grandma shopped all around to find a fake tree, but only four foot, that looked real; she finally found one at Ludeman’s. I went with her to pick it up and Dad put it together for her. It looks pretty close to real. It reminds me of the nobles we used to get in California when I was young, a little sparser than the nobles we cut down here. The tree already has lights on it so when we left Grandma’s home that night she said, “Thank you for the tree lighting ceremony.” When Dad told her she was welcome and that he learned something new also, I asked him what new thing he which he was referring (after we were in our car). His rely was, “How to put those dumb trees together!” It is hard to convince an Oregonian that any fake tree is wonderful, no matter how pretty. I wonder how many years it will be before I have to eat my words and succumb to the curse of wanting a fake tree more than the work of a fresh one!

Except for the red and green fudge to go with our neighbor and friend gift of soup makings, I haven’t done much baking this holiday. So, in preparation of having family and especially the grandchildren, I spent a day making different cookie dough and freezing them into dough balls. I hope we get time to bake with the grandchildren and any of you that would like! We have a lot of dough balls in the freezer. I added snickerdoodles to the selection since that used to be the favorite cookie of some of you when you were in your teens.

I love being socked in by a snow storm but this one is really bad timing for those who had a lot of shopping left. Luckily, most of my preparations yet to be done are mostly projects at home. Dad put the chains on the Taurus so we could go to the Chandler’s for dinner on Sunday evening as planned; they had also invited Grandma. We would have never been able to get up her hill without the chains! We are just leaving them on as these chains are allowing me to get other commitments done such as finishing up my visiting teaching and picking up some things for Grandma plus some extra project supplies for me. I don’t like driving on icy roads but am getting the hang of it. I guess it is good practice so I can help Katie drive to St. Louis in January but that would be very nerve wracking to drive that trip as slow as chains require and I don’t necessarily want to be responsible to put them on!

The forecast of a snow storm was for Saturday or Sunday but Saturday night it still hadn’t snowed here. We deiced that maybe our Utah children would bring it with them later in the week. We laughed that Adrianne was no longer as snow crazy as she used to be while praying for snow days growing up. Although, she told me that she still loves the snow in Oregon as everything comes to a halt here when it snows. Dad made sure that he mowed the lawn on Saturday. She called during the storm to say our high and low temperatures were the same as their temperatures in Utah.

When asked why he mowed the lawn, he said that he had to vacuum all the remaining leaves up because a snowman isn’t pretty with leaves. The snow was actually so dry that very few snowmen were constructed in our area. We woke on Sunday morning to the quiet sound of snow; the snowfall became greater each minute and soon the deck was covered with deep snow. Dad said that we had Bill to thank since the snow came from Canada but after the snow on the deck crunched as he walked outside, he came back and exclaimed, “This is Utah snow, skiing snow!”

Morty called as I was maneuvering the snow packed roads on Monday afternoon to excitedly tell me that Las Vegas was getting a dose of snow. He took some pictures and sent them of the Red Rock area with its snow covered palm trees! This weather is crazy!

I called Morty one day while looking for salsa at Costco (not finding the one I like) since I know he buys his there also. He couldn’t talk long as he was rushing to catch a plane. I wondered where he was going this time. Then, that night, while Dad and I went to Grandma’s to do something there, we noticed the Blazer-Jazz game on TV and I remembered that he told me he was flying to Salt Lake for that game and for a BYUY-University of Portland game at the Marriott Center. We searched and searched for Morty, Katie or Nate in the audience of the game but never had any luck so we really enjoyed the pictures that Morty sent us. Katie had a media pass and was courtside so we were sure that we could get a picture of her on the TV but the camera angle was unreasonably focused on the game!

The weather has continued to be full of snow and ice this week. Katie surprised Dad and I on Thursday morning. She was supposed to arrive on Saturday. She has known for weeks that she was coming home earlier! Luckily, there were extra tickets to the concert, Michael Allen Harrison at the Old Church, Thursday night so that she could go with us. She sacrificed a Blazer game to go; her friends were stuck in Eugene and couldn’t go with her. Adrianne arrives on Thursday afternoon. Both of the girls came home tired; having little sleep all week with finals. It is fun to have the girls in the home again. We just love it!

We will see all of you in a few days or LESS!!! Remember to bring warm clothes and bring clothes for our family picture on Wednesday morning at 10:00 am. We have a great outdoor waterfall and rock shot planned but chances are, the weather won’t cooperate so we have found a suitable substitute indoor spot over by Doctor Barney and Goodrich’s offices. There is a nice wide indoor staircase that we could use. We are wearing jeans or tan pants and any combination of white or blue tops. I figure those colors should work for anyone.

Good news for the Jorgensen family: I had Logan here while they took Tate to his follow up appointment after the surgery to remove his eye. They doctor just received the report from the lab that the eye was destroyed by an aggressive form of Coat’s disease, not cancer. So, he will get a new eye that will be attached to muscles and track just like his good eye. They are understandably relieved.

Scott is looking forward to your visits. We had a nice quiet visit with him this week with being able to go midweek!

See you all soon! I love you, Mom

December 9, 2008

Dear Children,

I have so much about which to write that it is overwhelming to begin. I believe I will begin from the end and go backwards since so much has happened in the last couple of weeks.

Last night was our family home evening when we planned to deliver our neighbor and friend gifts. This year, in my efforts to make a more homemade, back to basics Christmas, I experimented with a recipe for bean soup for which I could make a dry mix to give to our friends. I knew I wanted to do something with my canning jars when I cleaned out my storage room and opted to give many of them away this fall to some of the young mothers in the ward. The gifts turned out really cute and the soup is VERY delicious also. I added one little treat, red (raspberry) and green (mint) fudge on the side. Grandma came over in the afternoon and helped me put everything together; it was fun to have someone helping again. It made making 23 gifts much more enjoyable rather than just a task to finish. I wanted to have it finished before Dad got home so he and I could spend his time delivering. We got a late start so we will finish tomorrow night when we deliver treats and invitations to the singles ward “ugly Christmas sweater” Christmas party.

Last night we could only go to the homes where they didn’t have small children since we were late but we did first stop by the Jorgensen’s to let them know we were thinking about them. I haven’t told all of you but they have had so much with which to face in the last year. First, Jaime’s dad was diagnosed with cancer and was in treatment. He is doing well. He was actually getting a cancer treatment two floors up from Jaime when she was in the hospital in August having their third son, Carter. In September, her mother, Kathleen, was diagnosed with a rapidly growing cancer and she had surgery immediately and is doing well also. But sadly, Jaime’s four year old, Tate, has had several diagnosis with the loss of sight in one eye. They were relieved when it was something other than cancer until last week, when the doctor changed the diagnosis since the damage was spreading. He was scheduled for a MRI today to learn if the cancer has spread to his brain and he is scheduled for surgery this Thursday to remove his eye. I know you all care for Jaime and her family. She could use your prayers.

Dad is still leaving in the dark and returning in the dark with the goal of finishing this last large job before any of you start arriving for the holidays. We feel extremely blessed to have the work and that the weather has held out this long on the most critical days. He is determined that the forecast for a winter chill this weekend and into next week will not thwart his plans. He did distract himself last night wondering if the tractor tires needed to be replaced so that he would be prepared to build a snow mountain in the cul-de-sac if the opportunity arose! The two neighbor girls across the street stuck right with him the evening that he was working to repair our Rudolph and sleigh light display, reminding him that Rudolph’s nose needed new lights, so there are more children in the neighborhood that would benefit from a snow mountain here. Dad misses not having Nate here to lift the display onto the roof but it actually shows up quite nicely on the front corner of the house. I like it there also, fewer chances to fall!

Dad and I enjoyed watching the First Presidency Broadcast on TV on Sunday evening. All the messages were so great and the music, as expected, was wonderful. Some year I would like to go to that in Salt Lake. I loved the emphasis in the messages of extending a willing hand and a loving heart to those in need. I enjoyed President Monson’s challenge of making a conscious, committed effort to bring Christ into our lives and home. He told us that down through the ages the message has always been the same, “Follow me.”

I keep forgetting to ask the boys if they threw streamers at the Missouri/Oklahoma game this last Saturday. Morty, Aaron and Nate were all in Kansas City to be a part of that play off. Dad caught a bit of the game on TV and remarked that he saw yellow streamers fly through the air after a touchdown; definitely a tradition of the boys!

Shawn caught me off guard when he called on Saturday afternoon with a band blaring in the background on his cell phone. He thought I might like to hear the Hayward High marching band. They were at a Christmas parade in Oakland (Their family does so many fun things). To tell you the truth, it never dawned on me that Hayward High’s band ever marched formally. Except for the time they marched behind us at the Downtown Rally (annual pep rally; not a protest rally!); I didn’t even guess that they performed anywhere except to play at games so we could perform our routines. I believe that I have admitted that I selfishly thought my dancing was the reason for a band! I have paid dearly for that selfish notion in the years I volunteered for our high school band. Speaking of which, both the Southridge band and football team took state championships this fall!

Kyre had fun on her birthday. Alina was the first one to phone her in the morning. Alina is so good to remember her mother’s important days! She also got to go to lunch with Meeja, Sunhee and Wendi. Her sister, Angie, brought them into Albany that afternoon.

This week was the week that Katie heard that she got her dream internship that goes from January to June. It sounds like a perfect opportunity. She will definitely be a poor, destitute student now as that is six months without earning an income but she is making a tremendous investment in her education and career training. Luckily, she gets to work three of the five days a week on sports broadcasting in the main St. Louis TV station, KSDK (two blocks from the Cardinal’s stadium). She will be in sports heaven; I wonder if she will take all her Cardinal memorabilia for her desk . . . well, I guess it wouldn’t fit on a desk really!!! She has already made a connection with someone in the singles ward there since she has to quickly work on a place to live. Carol has a relative in St. Louis but she hasn’t heard from them yet. When she asked if I would help her drive there I thought that sounded like lots of fun until it set in that I would be driving through the Rockies and icy plains of the Midwest in the dead of winter. I am trying to convince Katie that we need to take more than two days to drive it!

How will Katie want to leave St. Louis right in the middle of baseball season? Well, she may be very anxious to get back in time for Bill and Heidi’s baby to be born. Yes, I have been dying to announce their news but they hadn’t been able to correspond with everyone until now. They are expecting a baby in June, and Shawn and Aubrey in March so that will be nice that the two cousins will be close in age.

Dad and I ended our Thanksgiving week at a memorial for Mrs. Gueck on Saturday evening. Sharon outdid herself to create another nice gathering. This one was supposed to be the more public gathering but the family service, when she was buried just spontaneously grew. Sharon made even more displays of Mrs. Gueck life in pictures. It was held in a hotel in Wilsonville. Most of the people who spoke were former Gueck girls who felt that the opportunity that Mrs. Gueck had provided to them had changed their lives.

The Friday after Thanksgiving was a big day for me. That evening I drug Dad to do a little more shopping with me and to use my free hamburger certificate at Red Robin that Shawn and Aubrey sent for my birthday. In the afternoon, right before it started to get dark, we cut down our Christmas tree. Shawn sent Dad and I a picture message of himself looking for a Christmas tree in his shorts, sunglasses and T-shirt. I told him that I wouldn’t trade even though it looked pretty comfortable. I did my usual early morning run to get after-Thanksgiving Day specials and came home in time for a birthday party. Uncle Scott and Aunt Carla were leaving that afternoon and Dad had to work that morning so we planned a lunch get together; nothing sounded as good as leftover turkey sandwiches! So, Carla made a cream cheese-chocolate dessert that I love and we celebrated at home. There was so much we still wanted to do with Scott and Carla but we had a very enjoyable visit while they were here.

Thanksgiving was quiet but nice. It was very relaxing with three cooks sharing the work. Grandma made her jello, Aunt Carla did the pies the night before and we bought these great cranberry ciabatta rolls so Thanksgiving morning was a breeze. We even went on a bike ride to Grandma’s place after I stuffed the turkey. We figured that would allow us a piece of pie! Klaire and Kyre called to wish us Happy Thanksgiving. Klaire would say “giving” over and over again. And then when she called for my birthday, she would say, “Happy to you.” The Brady family sang to me on my birthday. I thought it was almost a solo from Rebekah, which sounded very excellent, but then I later learned that Rebekah was holding the phone for the rest of the family!

All the single siblings were in Las Vegas for Thanksgiving. It sounded like they had a great time. They were all invited to the family dinner at Aaron’s N9ne Steakhouse. Morty described all the foods they had: turkey, prime rib and shrimp. Katie said she had the best pumpkin cheesecake that she ever has tasted. That would be a fun destination next Thanksgiving! Nate and Katie had to get back to Provo early so they left on Friday but Adrianne stayed until Sunday afternoon allowing her to go with Morty to do their own early morning after-Thanksgiving Day sales shopping. It sounded like they had lots of success. The rest of the weekend Adrianne spent time cooking for her brothers: egg puff, chicken enchilada casserole, etc. Morty said she was “cooking up a storm.”

Monday through Wednesday we went to Long Beach with Aunt Carla, Uncle Scott and Grandma. We had never stayed there before. It was wonderful. We hit some pockets of great weather so it was perfect for exploring the area. Long Beach is a much more outdoorsy beach town although they have some very nice shops and an incredible bakery! They have a great bike path. Dad and Scott went on several rides. There was a long boardwalk right behind our place; Carla and I walked down to the end and then on the beach. It was very mild. They even have a whale skeleton right on the beach. The last day that we were there we took a hike to one of the lighthouses. I personally thought we were lost part of the time. I would love to go back and do more exploring around the town. We had a great time relaxing and playing lots of games. We didn’t convince Carla and Scott to go out to the pool in the rain (really sprinkles) though.

That part of Washington is called the Cranberry Coast. We even visited a cranberry museum and cranberry bogs! Dad was in seventh heaven; even gleaned some leftover cranberries right out of the bog and tried to convince us that they were sweet! It was a fun trek to the bogs and even educational. We tried to find Osterville where they bring in the oysters from the oyster beds but decided to turn around and go back to our place.

We really saw enough huge piles of oyster shells along the way. It is a very quaint area; I am anxious to go back. I booked it as soon as I heard that Carla and Scott were coming up. We stayed in their marketing room and made Scott and Carla attend the dreaded 90 minute presentation!

While we were in Long Beach, Shawn called us to give us the good news. He has a new job already! His goal was to get a new job within 30 days and he made it. He is working for an insurance company called Unum that writes disability insurance for large companies. It is right by their home so he doesn’t even have to get on the freeway. He said that he put a lot of applications in for work in San Francisco and is very glad he found this one so close. He likes the people that are working with him and says he is learning a lot. He worked very hard to get this new position.

Dad and I are getting very excited for the family to gather. It will be great fun to be together. For our family picture on Wednesday morning, do you all have jeans or a pair of khakis that you can bring? Maybe, if everyone also has a blue or white top, we could coordinate that much. Let me know if that won’t work for you as soon as possible please. Remember, if the weather is dry at that moment (Wednesday morning at 10:00 am), we will be taking the picture outside by the manmade lake at Grandma’s condo so bring warm white or blue tops. Thanks!

Dad and I had a nice visit with Scott. He told us about his first Thanksgiving at OSP. Olives are not usually served (last time was New Year’s day), but served that day. He convinced several other men to give him their olives. He took them back to his cell so he could put an olive on each finger and then eat them one by one in true holiday fashion! This will be especially hard for him to go through the holidays; last year was such shock and turmoil for him through the holidays since it was in the middle of his transfers from Washington County to Coffee Creek and then to Salem. I am sure he would love you all to send your Christmas cards and holiday news to him. He looks forward to seeing as any of you as possible.

His choir is performing several times there for the inmates and also The Singing Christmas Tree is going into sing to them. Plus, I believe that he said a choir form Keizer Stake was coming as my mind went forward several years to the off-chance that Alina could be in that choir and go in and sing (not that anyone would ever let that happen but it was my dream).

Thank you for sending Baby Ruth bars for Kyre’s birthday. She called after receiving ours and was so happy. She left a phone message saying, “How did you know that was my favorite candy bar? (then paused and said) Of course, Scott, he told you!” She can use any positive memory of the past.

Thank you for the small and simple kindly things you do for your family members. You are following the prophet’s counsel to lift others in need. Everyone has a need to be lifted.

I love you, Mom

Heidi-Scott’s cell mate is from Brownsville and I remember that one of your first Ricks College roommates was from there but I couldn’t remember her name to tell Scott.

November 23, 2008

Dear Children,

There is so much to tell you about in the last two weeks. I feel like I have hardly been home; but there has been much done here also. I enjoy this time of year: finalizing the garden harvest, preparing the yard for the winter, looking toward these great family holidays and visits and preparations for Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year I have been busy trying to include more homemade gifts. I used to love making most of my gifts so I thought I would try to do a few “gifts from the heart” (not saying that much heart isn’t put into all the other shopping and planning the hopefully “perfect” gifts). Lately, we have enjoyed some experimentation in planning our friends and neighbor gifts for the year; a soup mix. I have made it several times to get a good recipe prepared; it is quite delicious. I thought people might prefer that over more sweets right before the holidays. Soup just feels like a good theme for the world’s woes and my quest to make this more of a homespun Christmas (if only a little). Plus, I have had fun being busy with some sewing for a humanitarian project this month; I really would like to get back to more sewing in my life. I love the feeling of accomplishing a creation.

Dad has been very busy also trying to get much work accomplished before mid-December (that is his deadline on a huge project). It is odd; he has absolutely no work lined up for the winter but has so much right now. It is a wonderful blessing after such a slow late summer. He leaves in the dark and comes home in the dark and tries to line up as many extra workers as possible. He has even added Saturdays into some of his work weeks. His favorite extra worker, Jesus, has a regular steady job Monday through Friday so he asks Dad if he can work some Saturdays. Did I tell you that his brother, Francisco, is now working with Dad?

Being this busy this time of year is cutting into Dad’s home project time. I had to postpone our attic cleaning weekend to early in December; I am hoping that I can send a couple of your storage boxes home with some of you that are living in more permanent situations now. The rock man is about a third of the way done so Dad hung one of our new lights in the front; it looks great. He had to stop and make an emergency adjustment to our large gate over the driveway since the rock wall sticks out farther than our original wall on that corner. Dad did have to spruce up the yard since Aunt Carla and Uncle Scott were coming this week. He is hoping he took care of one of our last loads of leaves. When Morty was here he remarked that we probably have more leaves in our yard that most of Las Vegas has leaves.

I am sure that you have all talked to Shawn and Aubrey by now and heard their disappointing news of losing his Wells Fargo position. Aubrey says that he has been very proactive to seek new employment immediately. He is being very smart, as the job market is sure to get worse before things turn around; especially in the financial world (at least that is Wayne Pierson’s projection since that is his expertise). Aubrey said that Shawn was on his fourth interview with one of the companies in which he is interested. It appeals to him as it will teach Shawn even more things he wants to learn to achieve his goal of going into financial planning.

Katie’s plans are to graduate this summer so she is earnestly trying to set up an internship. A good internship seems to be the best key factor in getting a job right now for graduates. She flew to St. Louis to interview for an internship at a news room. Although she was disappointed that the whole interview was just a group interview and the questions they asked her did not allow them to understand her strengths in the field, most of the interview time was spent explaining the expectations of the job which Katie really loved. She is not really seeking an internship until this spring since a winter internship would delay her graduation a bit as th

ere are classes that are not taught in the spring that she needs. She was doing some volunteer work at the BYU basketball game this weekend and Grandma and Grandpa Bitter were thrilled that she made a point to come up in the stands and visit with them.

Nate says that his job is still waiting for him. He has decided to go back to Utah in April to walk through graduation ceremonies so we won’t be having an open house over the holidays to celebrate his graduation; just maybe a dinner out.

These two weeks were also filled with other sad news besides Shawn and Aubrey’s news. Last Sunday Bill’s Grandma Sabey passed away. Bill drove to Canada for the services and to be with his family plus he was able to spend some alone time with his Grandpa Sabey. I believe that the funeral was in British Columbia and the burial was in Southern Alberta. He did a lot of driving. Thank goodness he was able to meet up with Rob, his brother, to share the driving time. He returned to Utah this past Monday night after midnight.

Adrianne also received a surprise phone call last Tuesday that Mrs. Gueck was not expected to live more than 24 hours. She felt much conflict as that has been a big part of her life to run to help with the barn needs for so many years. The next day she had three mid-terms scheduled so she had to be far away during those last hours. Mrs. Gueck had taken a turn for the worse last Friday; her relatives from England were preparing to leave on Saturday. She passed away on Tuesday night and a family burial was planned for Friday. Because Adrianne has been away from school quite a bit lately, she opted to fly in Friday morning and back the next day. As soon as she came into town she began helping with all the arrangements. I had made arrangements with Bishop Orem to use chairs from our church building since the quiet family burial at the pio

neer cemetery by Mrs. Gueck’s place was turning into a larger event than planned as news spread of her death. Adrianne went directly to the cemetery to set up the chairs while I dropped off food for the luncheon. I arrived to help Adrianne at the cemetery just in time to be a “pall bearer” to assist Adrianne, Katie Born, her mom and the funeral home men carry the casket to its spot (since their are no regular cemetery workers on site). We remarked that it would probably be the only time we would perform that duty! Adrianne stayed back to be with the casket while everyone else left for other duties. She said it gave her the opportunity to “boss around” the funeral home men in the proper placement of the floral arrangements around Mrs. Gueck, a skill she said that she learned best from Mrs. Gueck!

The small gathering for lunch aft wards turned out to be huge so I am glad that I was there to help, especially since they allowed me to stay at the home during the service so I could get the food ready and set up while the family was at the cemetery. Working in the kitchen gave me the opportunity to understand better the workings of the horse community. Even the old client who called the house during the burial, not having heard about Mrs. Gueck’s death, continued to ask me what Cheveaux used in the stalls to prevent the horses from getting muddy! I offered that Sharon might be called in a couple of weeks to learn that information. I realize that the care of the horse cannot stop but all too much business was being exchanged during the luncheon I thought!

Adrianne has learned valuable leadership while in Mrs. Gueck’s employ. Combined with her knowledge of gospel principles, I witnessed how many other horse community rely on Adrianne’s calm authority. No wonder she loved working at the barn more than at home since she is the youngest of our large family who might feel a lack of respect for her authority! I did some reflecting on Adrianne’s Cheveaux Training Stable experiences during her pre-teen and teenage years. Laughingly, I pointed out to Adrianne that, for a girl who cannot seem to close a kitchen cupboard behind herself, she always took the extra time and care, with exactness, to close barn doors and gates to protect the horses. I also noted that, through those years, it was sometimes a struggle for Adrianne to want to complete her responsibility to pick up Sammy’s messes in the backyard and yet, one more than one occasion, I observed Adrianne, with bare hands, picking out specks of fecal material from a horse’s behind right before it was to go show in the area!

All in all, I would say that Adrianne was very lucky to find such a passion in life, to love and care for one of God’s beautiful creatures. And especially, to have such a wonderful opportunity to say goodbye to Mrs. Gueck while helping Sharon to give her mother such a grand tribute (and opportunity to say goodbye to so many friends and associates). The tribute was a great gift to not only Mrs. Gueck but everyone who came to celebrate her life and say goodbye. That sadly usually happens after a death. Adrianne ended that weekend at the beginning of November with the great chance to visit one on one with Mrs. Gueck and have dinner with her closest relatives at Sharon’s home. What a blessing to Adrianne and Mrs. Gueck!

Ramona Jones had given Dad and I the chance to use their place the weekend of Mrs. Gueck’s burial so we left a day later and packed our one night there on the coast with lots of fun events. We happened upon incredible weather. In fact, the day we walked around Newport it was 68 degrees, the warmest place in the state that day! The night we stayed at the condo was such a clear beautiful sky, Dad even saw a shooting star as we walked to the hot tub. It was gorgeous and relaxing. We just booked our long awaited and planned cruise to Hawaii so we imagined that there will be many more nights such as that on the cruise! When you have five “marriage-able” children you rarely book something out so far in advance but we chose a September date thinking that should be safe. Alt hough, I did learn this weekend that Adrianne has a favorite barn friend that is getting married around that time. I just warned Adrianne that she might be on her own getting back to the airport!

After attending the ward in Newport, we walked around that town and observed all the fun activities around that bay. I had never really noticed that area of the coast. We saw lots of people with crab pots catching a good amount of crab. I would like to go back.

I was only home part of a morning and returned to the coast, to Seaside, with Grandma, Carol Stanger and her mother. We have been trying to get away together for many months. We had great time and enjoyed pleasant weather there also. We played tons of games, did lots of eating and a little shopping. We learned a new game (to us), Sequence, and Grandma couldn’t get enough of it. That would make a great Christmas present for her.

Aubrey’s birthday was this week and per their tradition, Shawn took Aubrey to all the free birthday meals that

they could squeeze into a day (well, actually more than a day!). To top it all off, she and many other ward friends went to the midnight showing of Twilight! She will have to give us all a review.

I had a nice visit with Kyre and Klaire last week when I traveled down to Albany and had lunch with them. The main purpose was to pick up Kyre and take her to see her payee (though the state disability program) in Corvallis so I could cash the tax refund checks for Scott’s family and put them in n account for the children’s future. It is a relief to have that behind me; it never ceases to amaze me of how something simple turns into such a complicated mess. Klaire is just adorable and a great eater. She is going to a preschool twice a week and her teachers all love her of course. She was tested this week to see if she is up to level. The testers were blown away I would imagine! When we visited Adam’s ward in Jefferson for the Primary Sacrament Meeting Presentation today, Klaire sat with us and had a cute, pouty look at first. Her facial expressions reminded me of Alina when she was that age.

Dad and I visited Jefferson since Adam had a talk in the presentation and he told us about it months ago. He did an excellent job; his talk was well prepared and had a great message about covenants and being guided by the Holy Ghost. He is an excellent speaker and didn’t sound nervous at all. Dad and I were very happy to be able to be there.

Aunt Carla and Uncle Scott arrived this afternoon for Thanksgiving week celebrations. Carla was genuinely disappointed to learn that none of our children were going to be here! We are headed to Long Beach, Washington to try out a new place and do some exploring. For example we plan to go to a Cranberry Museum and see some real cranberry bogs. We also plan to visit Oysterville and walk through the little shops there. There are also several lighthouses in that area we hope to see. It should be fun. We will return before Thanksgiving.

Dad and I wish a fun and happy Thanksgiving to all of you. We are thrilled to hear many of you plan to meet in Las Vegas for Thanksgiving. Adrianne was going to plan a Thanksgiving feast but Morty called her and said that they were all invited to the family Thanksgiving dinner at N9ne Steakhouse! That should be great. Maybe we should all plan to meet there next Thanksgiving!!!

This time of year I am reminded of the challenge from Elder Bednar this past conference to pray with gratitude, not asking for things but pray for others. My institute teacher suggested, in light of the world financial affairs right now, we concentrate on what we still have and not what we may have lost. I have so much for which to be thankful; especially all of you!

I had two visits with Scott recently; one on my way back from visiting Kyre and Klaire last week and one with Dad today. He seems very settled in his new cell with his new cell mate. He has made the best of his situation and everyday we thank the Lord for his protection and for Scott’s ability to work where he does. There is much to be thankful for with the blessing to work. I was able to send lots of legal papers to him through his boss so no one else could see them. Scott has also arranged a locked file I the legal library. That gives me great peach of mind.

Scott would love it if you all would consider sending Kyre a birthday card next week and include a Baby Ruth bar. She would be so thrilled. He also would like to know whose number is 801-319-3088. Does that sound familiar? He still enjoys his assignments with the OSP LDS Branch as host and his teaching assignments that he gets. He taught this week’s lesson again and used the talk, “Lessons from Liberty Jail” which Grandma Payne copied and sent to him. He loves getting anything like that.

Kyre called very relieved this week to say that her court appointments with the DA’s child neglect case is postponed until further notice. I hope that it will be dropped altogether but even so, her attorney can make a fairly strong case that the court was not worried about Kyre’s abilities with the care of Klaire if they postponed the case.

I love you! Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Love, Mom

November 9, 2008

Dear Children,

This was another great week with another family visit; Morty came to Portland for two Blazer games and a Duck game! It is just lucky we live here to capture a few moments with him! We had a great time with him and he squeezed in enough exciting games to last him until . . . next weekend!!!

Dad and I both went to early temple sessions on Thursday (it was our annual stake Temple Day) so we could spend the rest of the day with Morty. He arrived around non on Thursday. We had tickets to the Blazer game that night. It was an exciting game; Morty only had to poke me a few times when I feel asleep . . . not due to lack of excitement, just lack of sleep.

The Blazers deserved to win; they were up about four to six points most of the game but it went into . . . overtime. The overtime was neck and neck until the buzzer. It looked like an impossible task with eight tenths of second to go but a three pointer went in. During the last timeout, Morty said, “It is either a chalupa game or we lose!” Taco Bell hands out coupons for chalupas if the Blazers score over 100 and the score was 98 or 99 with that partial second to go. We won the game and the chalupas coupon. Remember when Morty won the stack of chalupas coupons for dancing during a Trailblazer play off game?

Morty was able to attend a second Blazer game on Saturday night with Seth Feinauer. Seth had been given seats in a company suite. Morty was excited about that. That game created another last minute win which matched the Duck game for which Morty traveled to Eugene earlier that day. The Ducks also won at the last minute in a rainy game Saturday afternoon. The slogan is, “It never rains in Autzen Stadium.” The announcer said that it has only rained four times in all the years of the stadium. Morty said, “I was at one of those four games!”

Morty wanted to go to Grandma’s ward on Sunday and hopefully see Tyler Nelson. We all went to her ward and Morty did get a chance to visit with Tyler quite a bit since Morty was eager to “help” Tyler with his almost two year old son in the halls during sacrament meeting. Grandma had us over for dinner later in the afternoon before we had to pack Morty up and say goodbye. It was a very nice and packed weekend but we had some enjoyable conversations with Morty. It was great to be around him.

I learned through Morty that Katie and Nate also attended a Trailblazer game this week when they met the Jazz in Salt Lake. It was so nice to her that Nate and Katie went there together. It was also through Morty that I heard that Nate luckily escaped the 8% lay off that went through Zappos last week. These are very uncertain times and we will keep our fingers crossed fro Nate that he will have the job come graduation. Like I said before, it was great to have time to talk with Morty; we learned more about others I the family!

Well, Dad and I were expectantly disappointed with election results Tuesday night. Well, the cloudy weather matched my general mood as I anticipated all day the news to come. I think that I was more disappointed to learn on Thursday morning that the close race with Senator Gordon Smith, the last west coast Republican in the Senate, was lost. So, I certainly do appreciate my membership in the Church and for a prophet and leaders who prepared messages of hope at the last general conference so that my perspective these days might be lightened with the election disappointments and the economic woes. My main thoughts, after a period of disappointment, was to make the best of the situation and do my personal best having an attitude of hope for the future. I liked a comment I read about recently in the Church News, given by Jeffrey R. Holland at the September CES Fireside. He said, “I testify that bad days come to an end, that faith always triumphs and that heavenly promises are always kept.” That is on which I will rely!

In a separate article by Elder Richard G. Scott, I read his four guidelines to a better life. I want to be better at these:

• Work and pray: Quoting J. Willard Marriott, he said, “Work and prayer at the two greatest words in the English language.”
• Be disciplined: “Determination when supported by practiced discipline converts barriers into ladders to greater success, happiness joy and accomplishment.”
• Radiate a positive attitude: “The challenges you face, the growth experiences you encounter, should be like temporary scenes played out on the stage of continuing peace and happiness.”
• Establish a home and family: “Make one of the highest priorities of life the formation of an eternal family, then live to permit the Lord to guide you to that objective while accepting His timing.”

While Morty traveled to Eugene for the Duck game, Dad and I went to Andrew Harris’s wedding. That’s right, Andrew, Adrianne’s age, got married this Saturday. They were going to wait until they both were older but the Navy is sending him to Italy for two years at the end of this moth so they didn’t want to wait two years. It was a nice wedding ceremony, very small, and a fun dinner at a restaurant over by Jesuit High School, Ernesto’s.

Kyre called excited to say that Adam spent a day with her this week as he had a day out of school. A couple of weekends ago he and Kyre went to Petco and picked out a Betta Fish together. She said whenever Adam comes over, he is in charge of taking care of it. He named it Rainbow, so every morning Klaire wakes up and says, “Hi Rainbow!”

Our lesson in Grandma’s Sunday School was on trials and the teacher emphasized the positive part of trials saying we should try and open our eyes to see the good things during a trial. She quoted the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 123:17, “Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed”. I need to exhibit more faith by standing still and watching for the Lord’s wisdom.

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week ahead! Love, Mom

November 3, 2008

Dear Children,

Well, the consolation to the months speeding by and it being November already is that we are getting closer to the holidays! I love taking the Halloween decorations down as it signals Thanksgiving approaching and then . . Christmas coming! I have wonderful news: I heard back this week that Alina and Wendi will be coming to Beaverton for our early Christmas celebration. I am so happy and look forward to all the grandchildren being able to play with each other.

Even though Halloween was on a Friday night, we still didn’t get many trick-or-treaters. In fact, I only had neighborhood and church children come this year, all except one little girl that I didn’t know. I know the longer driveway causes some children to skip our home being that it is a long walk for a piece of candy when they could hit two homes in the same amount of time! This year though I passed out little containers of play dough with the candy. They were SO cute. I loved them and wished that I had set some aside for my grandchildren at Christmas time!

Speaking of Halloween, did you all get your Halloween card/announcement from Shawn and Aubrey? It was so cute! At first glance I thought, “Wow, Shawn doesn’t look too good!” and then as I looked closer my second thought was, “I never realized that Aubrey looked like Sarah Palin.” Finally, it dawned on me that it was a picture of their Halloween costume, a McCain/Palin look alike! It was so funny. And, now you all know that they are having a baby boy!

. . . Which leads me to my baby! Adrianne was home during the Halloween weekend. Well she was here but not home much. Sharon DeFord, Mrs. Gueck’s daughter, flew her home to help set up and attend a huge event to celebrate Mrs. Gueck’s life. It was held at the barn and they made it look great with displays all over and covering most of the walls. Adrianne was out there setting up all day and evening on Friday and then again Saturday morning. They had hundreds of people attend; some people Mrs. Gueck hadn’t seen for over 20 years. Mrs. Gueck said most of her previous barn girls attended, even some brought their own children. Mrs. Gueck has been in the horse industry since she came to the United States from England (well, before then also) so she is well known in the horse world. Her family from England also flew here for the week. Mrs. Gueck has recovered from many bouts of cancer but this time, the treatment was not working so she stopped and is not expected to live much longer.

Adrianne found that she was so preoccupied on Saturday and so many visitors were with Mrs. Gueck that she realized afterwards that she hadn’t had very much time with Mrs. Gueck. Luckily, Sharon invited Adrianne to their family dinner on Sunday so she had some alone time with them. The Guecks and the DeFords are a big part of Adrianne’s teenage years.

Adrianne visited the ward on Sunday; it has felt like a long time since we went to Beaverton First ward. I feel like an outsiders now when I attend there. I really felt like an outsider when I read this month’s Relief Society newsletter that they passed out yesterday and I was no longer on the birthday list; two other sisters have taken my place on MY date! Maybe that means that I will not get any older this year. Adrianne also gave Sammy some attention; she even got to sleep in Adrianne’s room.

Grandma came over Sunday evening for dinner and Adrianne made it back to the house for dessert before we started the packing process. I prepared some leftovers to travel back with Adrianne so she didn’t have to spend much time cooking the apartment dinner on Tuesday evening; she of course, has quite a bit of catch up school work to do with being gone. She also wanted to try taking home some Tillamook Ice Cream. We froze the carton inside another container so it is surrounded by an ice layer. I will be curious how it made it. Luckily, her flight was an early morning cold one! I also sent her back with some of my mint and orange chocolate so she could experiment. If you are interested you could get on her list of tasters.

And speaking of being gone, I have a hard time keeping track of what part of the country Morty is in. I spoke with him on Friday thinking that he was in Las Vegas for the weekend for sure since Nate had traveled down there for the weekend. Then, I get pictures in an email of Shawn and him at the Duck game in Berkeley that I know was this weekend! Anyway, he later explained to me that he was in Las Vegas until Saturday morning. He and Shawn got soaked watching the Ducks lose in a downpour. This weekend Morty comes here for two Blazer games and another Duck game!

The sad news for Dad is that his new worker, Jesus Gallegos, was called back to his original work and may not be back for a while. The good news is that he has a brother in Tualatin that has been working with Dad this past week. Dad says he is a great worker also, just not as good as Jesus. The best news is that Jesus was reminding Dad that he promised to bring him some Spanish literature about the church. The very day he did, moments later the parking lot started filling up with missionaries for a zone conference! Dad was able to get some Spanish speaking Elders to talk with Jesus and they set up a Sunday evening appointment. Dad later learned that he has another brother in Forest Grove who is a member and has been asking if “his boss” has given him any materials yet to read! This week they are working at the temple so that will be a good place to work for Francisco, his brother in Tualatin.

Well, that is about it for now. I am anxious to hear about Katie’s upcoming trip to St. Louis and Nate’s trip this past weekend to Las Vegas. I love you. Love, Mom