March 29, 2009

Dear Children,

This has been a great time of birthday and Spring Break fun. Thank you for all your reports of the exciting events in your lives. Our biggest news in this letter, of course, is the birth of Shawn and Aubrey’s son, Bryson Kent Bitter on Thursday, March 19. Now, he begins the string of March birthdays in our family since he is one day before Klaire! He weighed 9lbs 11oz and was 21.5” long. Aubrey went back home as quickly as they would let her and looked great. I love this family picture that shows Bryson staring up at his mom! There are more pictures of Bryson on Shawn’s Facebook. Dad and I are anxious to see Bryson and family andhave tickets to travel to the blessing on the weekend of May 17th. We will go down on Thursday and stay in the hotel by their home for three nights, stay with Aunt Denise in Antioch on Sunday night and then she will take us to the airport on Monday.

We celebrated Klaire’s birthday with Dad at Red Robin in Albany with Kyre, Wendi, Adam Sunhee and Meeja. It was so much fun to observe the children and see how good they are with each other and how the were buzzing with news to share with one another. Dad and I observed that the three grown ups could have disappeared and they would not have minded a bit since they were having so much fun being together.

Dad also celebrated his birthday on the actual day, Sunday, with a dinner of his choice and the chocolate dream cake that he loves. This time I used ganache to cover it. I was so glad that we would have Sunhee and Meeja here the next day to help us eat it! I invited Grandma to dinner and at her church meetings there was a

young woman from Alaska working here for a week, so Grandma included her in the party. She was very grateful to have somewhere to go on a

Sunday. She had some interesting stories to tell about living in Alaska and also about growing up in other countries since her father is a contractor that builds church buildings mostly in Central and South America. Dad’s birthday goal was to bike his age in one day. He met half that goal and decided maybe he would just bike his age around his birthday. He is getting in much better shape and says it is all ski prep.

Bill came back from his Canada trip in time to celebrate his birthday with his family.

I am sure the girls had lots of fun plans for him to enjoy. Heidi and the girls have been sick quite a bit so Heidi was worried that she could handle all the preparations for Rebekah's fun "Old Stone birthday party on Rebekah’s birthday on Friday but she managed, as always. Rebekah was so animated as she described her birthday to Dad and I. They ended the day by meeting up with Bill in Park City at some type of conference he was attending. The all got to stay overnight there on his last night.

Adrianne was surprised the morning of her birthday by a visit from Grandma Bitter with a doll cake that she made for Adrianne. She had made great plans to have a campfire in the canyon for her birthday. She planned for S’mores and banana boats.

Adrianne called during the day as she was scouti

ng out places in the canyon that might have a little wind protection for the party since they were experiencing very cold weather and high winds that day! As expected, the party turned out successful with her determined personality to meet her goals! Her roommates gave her a farm animal waffle iron. I can’t wait to see it. She ended the birthday celebrations by going to a David Archuleta concert on Friday night with some of her friends.

Dad and I teased Adrianne that we were celebrating her birthday by skiing for her. Her birthday, on Thursday, was the most perfect ski day. The weather was very cold but the sun was shinning the entire day. Therefore, the snow stayed perfect all day long despite the sun. We invited Ella Dahlgren to go with us since she hasn’t been able to get her parents to take her this season. In fact, she also bought a spring pass hoping we would take her up again. I thought that she would have fun going when Adrianne comes home for a few days after Nate’s graduation. Dad and I also skied on a pretty decent day the week prior realizing that we have now skied more times this season than any season for many years. In fact, it was the prior Tuesday and that night I had some friends over for a girls’ night out to play games here. Jo Black asked me if I had seen Shawn’s comments about the “parents getting ski passes”! I am glad that I am Facebook challenged so I miss all of that! Dad does enjoy sending pictures of the mountain to Shawn since he is the most fun to tease. After the very sunny picture last time, Shawn threatened that he wouldn’t be Dad’s ski buddy anymore. So, I guess I will have to be!

Digging deeper, skiing has been our Walden Pond as Elder L. Tom Perry described in his October conference talk. It is our place where we can go to forget the complications of life. He said of his visits to Walden Pond, “It offered us so much hope for simplicity and provided such a renewing escape from our overly complex lives.” Like Dad says, “When you are on the mountain you put everything else out of your mind.”

The perfect ski day on Saturday was an excellent birthday treat for Dad. I am more of a fair weather skier but Dad says it is a perfect ski day and long as the snow is not a glistening sheet of ice! He can ski on anything and in any kind of storm. A snow storm to him just means fresh powder. During these two weeks, Dad worked on “my” (really Katie’s) skis since they would get stuck if I stopped for any length of time (snow would freeze to the bottom). I would have to keep shuffling my legs to keep friction working on my side. After he worked on them I realized I had been scoo

ting, not skiing. It was such an improvement!

It sounds like Aaron has the backyard project finished. Morty called to talk last week when he was waiting for the gravel truck delivery for the area around the air conditioner and the planter boxes. Katie spoke in sacrament meeting last Sunday but I forgot the topic. I was impressed though, that she was looking for some text to an earlier talk she gave and she was doing it early in the week, not at the last minute! I taught Relief Society last week. Dad and I are tired of missing some important Beaverton Ward family milestones so we had already determined that we would be in Beaverton First last Sunday for Jace Green’s talk (leaving for Portugal on April 1) and Josh Brandt’s talk (came home from Puerto Rico). By the way, Josh spent much of his mission on the islands that used to be part of Nate’s mission. I was a little disappointed to have to teach when I was looking forward to feeling relaxed and at home for once at church. But, the good part was I wasn’t asked until three days before so I didn’t have to spend a long time worrying about it. Anyway, both young men did an excellent job. Jace especially was impressive in his preparation and his best comment I believe was, “Working to do better is all that is asked of us.”

Ivan and Ramona Jones’ mission cal to the Dominican Republic to work in the temple there has been changed. They now leave earlier, on June 1 and will be the executive secretaries to the area authorities there. They will put their talents to good use wherever they are.

Sunhee and Meeja were here at

the beginning of the week. We all had a great time; they are so much fun. We squeezed a lot of activity in a few short days: playing games, biking, visiting the parks around our home, jumping on the tramp and playing on the bars, making cookies for all their siblings, teaching Sunhee how to play the piano, roasting marshmallows and going to the zoo. Sunhee helped teach Meeja to use her brakes instead of skidding her shoe tops to stop. Meeja is a very determined soul. We had to restrict her bike riding to the driveway (good thing it is so long) as she has no fear! At one point she yelled back to Sunhee, “You can take the training wheels off my bike now!” There were no training wheels!!! When we rode around to the parks around our house (and played at each one), Meeja rode in the bike basket behind Dad’s bike. She is not yet street ready to ride!

Dad was able to go with us to the zoo. He kept remarking on all the “new” zoo exhibits and I realized that he has not been on any of the daytime trips to the zoo with the grandchildren! He has been to the zoo only after work for concerts and Zoolights! He loved the Northwestern exhibit and being able to be so close to a bald eagle. We all enjoyed watching the new baby elephant. It was also a surprise to get such a close look at the giraffe for once; he was in his enclosure and looking at all the people with his nose plastered to the glass!

We had an additional moment with Adam this week on Saturday. Aunt Lynn brought him to Tigard for a root canal on a problem tooth. Dad and I met them at the dentist office which was by the good bread store so we brought a loaf for their family and for Kyre. It is that yummy cinnamon chip bread. Even the nurse remarked as she brought Adam out that he was the best young man ever! They followed us back home and we enjoyed Mickey Mouse waffles and scrambled eggs to get something soft and warm in Adam’s stomach so he would be more comfortable on the way home when the numbness wore off. He played some ping pong and played us some of his music on the piano. He has memorized lots of his songs, Army of Helaman being one of his favorites!

Aunt Lynn and Adam were anxious to get back to Albany to help Kyre move. She had been given the keys on Friday and the missionaries (her new neighbors) and lots of ward members helped move her things on Saturday morning. We were lucky enough to be able to get inside and look at her new place on Wednesday afternoon after we took the family to Red Robin. She has a lot more room now and a living room which is a real plus. I already like her neighbors better. Irene, her next door neighbor, has already offered to help her with rides.

Uncle Jack (Elder Hoagland) sent this quote and attributed it to Lincoln. I wanted to send it on to all of you so, after some research to learn if it was authentic, I learned that it was from a

Reverend William J. H. Boetcker, who lectured around the United States about industrial relations at the turn of the twentieth century. This wisdom spoken so long ago has stayed pertinent throughout the ages:

You cannot bring prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
You cannot further brotherhood of men by inciting class hatred.
You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

Ben Bitter received his mission call to Brazil. He leaves on July 8. I have a new term starting this week for institute class. We needed last week at the end of the book of Revelations. I realized that the big theme to me in that book is “overcoming versus being overcome”! This term we will be studying the teachings of the living prophets; perfect start with conference coming up.

Dad and I got behind in our October General Conference reading challenge so now I am reading the talks out loud whenever we drive a distance. I love reviewing them and look forward to next weekend’s counsel.

I had two nice visits with Scott this week. I was able to leave the house very early on Monday morning so I could spend come time with him before picking up the girls from Angie at 9:00 am and then Dad and I had fun early Sunday morning relating all the experiences we had with his children and even Kyre this past week. I like those kind of visits where Dad and I are able to share those events with him as I feel I can uplift him best that way. Although there are a few important family observations that are helpful to discuss with him, they can be interspersed with the fun and the joy that I feel and his family feels. Reporting that joy is the best thing I feel that I can do for Scott besides pray, fast and write to him. When you get notes from his family or even Facebook or phone news, I know he would love to hear about that.

Scott looks good. He ran two 10K runs last weekend and felt very accomplished about his times, plus he has spent time on a stationery bike working out. As I talked with him about our chances of late to ski more often, I reminded him that he needs to stay very active and healthy so that he can return to skiing when he gets out! Besides Dad, Scott is one of the more beautiful skiers to watch with his great balancing skills. I remember watching him ski down moguls in one of the bowls at Meadows or Bachelor with Katie skiing between his legs! He had rubber legs that took the impact of those bumps with seemingly ease!

I told him that Heidi would visit him on his birthday in April to make sure that he check that Heidi was not removed from his list. She will return to Utah with Dad, Grandma and I the day after his birthday for Nate’s graduation ceremonies. Scott said that his weekends usually revive him for the following week. He takes advantage of lots of leadership opportunities in his branch on Sunday morning. During the week he continues his leadership in the law library being careful to uphold the trust that is given him there. That level of trust that he has earned has afforded him many more benefits than otherwise would be available to him. Have a great week. I love you, Mom As you can see, I am having some challenges with the blog!

March 15, 2009

Dear Children,
Dad and I had such a great time on our anniversary get-away in Vancouver and Whistler. I would love to go back in a moment. British Columbia is so gorgeous with all of its evergreens and snowy mountains. It reminds me of the landscape around here except on a grander scale; that is a VAST countryside.
We had some challenges trying to get away with our computer screen completely shutting down and our furnace going out the night before (it is a blessing though that I needed to get something from the storage room so I could smell the gas and know something had done wrong). Luckily, Ron Whitaker came over late Monday night and thought he could have the furnace going again with a few new parts (this is not the time to have to buy a new furnace!) while we were away and so we just needed to find a repair shop to take the computer on the way out of town. Our plans to leave early were changed but that also was a blessing. I woke during the night feeling very worried that my stomach pains that had been getting worse the last few days might be something to get checked before leaving the country the next day. When I called my doctor early that next morning for advice on whether it was safe to travel with the symptoms, she scheduled lots of blood tests, an ultrasound and even a CAT scan (one right after the other; I have never experienced such quick service!) to rule out any of their concerns. They did just that and said to go on our way!
So, with the later start I realized I could be disappointed with all of our changed plans or to look forward and be happy with our rearranged adventure with adjusted new plans! Dad kept mumbling in a “sick” sort of way about the disbelief of the road conditions from the last time he drove north to the Seattle area (that December trip really traumatized him). We arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia after dark. Thank goodness for the GPS; it was a time saver! Especially when we couldn’t see the tiny WorldMark sign on the building in Vancouver but the GPS lady said, “You have arrived!” We actually put the GPS manual that was on a disk in the lap top and went through it on the drive up. We learned a lot more applications.
Even though it was dark, we walked down some of the streets around our place. We were blocks away from a huge shopping area called Robson Street. The shops were all closed so we just looked at the window displays. We saw the cutest candy apple dipped in white chocolate with covered marshmallows to look like cheeks! We were on the 22nd floor right in downtown Vancouver. Amazingly, for a big city, we were able to park our car without cost in the underground parking structure. The apartment-type units have floor to ceiling picture windows to view the city lights. It really is a nice place to stay for only $42.00 a night!
The next morning we took a walk along the sea wall by English Bay. They have clean beaches and the water was very clear. I wished we had bikes so we could have traveled the entire sea wall around Stanley Park. We bought our Wonderbars that all Canadians rave about and checked out. Sally Farb used to always bring back a bunch but they sell them in the cute candy store in Seaside we have found. I am not a Butterfinger fan, so they don’t impress me since they remind me a little of that taste.
Luckily our place allowed us to keep the car parked until we left town so we walked to the water again and took an Aquabus across the False Creek to a darling little shopping area called Granville Island. In reading about Vancouver, I heard that the best fish and chips in the world were sold there at a shack called Go Fish. We searched them out and they were as we were told, the best “we” have had since we are not world travelers and don’t usually order fish and ships anyway! It was fun to find the place and walk around the island. They have an incredible market with every imaginable fruit, pastry, main entrée, etc. Dad bought roasted chestnuts.
We traveled up to Whistler, about two hours away, with the water on one side of us and the mountains on the other much of the way. The road to Whistler is under construction with a ton more that needs to be done before the masses of the Olympic crowds next winter. I hope they will be done! Our place in Whistler was just across the street from Whistler Village, the cutest little ski town with pavers for streets (no cars allowed). It was our anniversary but we decided to eat inside after a little walk in town under a light snow fall (so pretty!) so we would have time to rest our sore feet (from all the walking in Vancouver) in the hot tub before it closed. Our feet actually needed rejuvenating more than resting since Dad was watching the weather to see if we would ski the next morning!
By 7:15 the next morning Dad was ready to ski. I was nervous, not only to ski that enormous mountain after not really skiing for two years but also because I feared I would turn into a popsicle! It was 10 degrees Fahrenheit on that mountain (It warmed up to about 20 degrees during the day even though the sun was out)! It was beautiful ski conditions and there was a covering of fresh snow from the night before. Thank goodness I had Katie’s old skis and boots (my boots fell apart at Bachelor years ago) so I could put on an extra pair of socks (otherwise my feet are too loose in them anyway). The frigid temperature gave a good test to my new Patagonia thermals that Dad bought me for my birthday (with a special deal from Zappos!) and they really worked!!! In this picture, dad is standing by an Inukshuk at the top of the gondola. It is the symbol of this year’s Olympics. This one is ice since it is on the mountain but most are in stone; they are all over the area. Besides this symbol having deep roots in native culture, you can’t help but think it looks kind of like a hockey goalie!
Everyone I asked promised me that there were plenty of easy runs and they were right! I love the green runs on Whistler; they are really green (not the Utah green that makes Oregon green look like the parking lot incline)! They are also very wide, a lot like Stormin’ Norman at Timberline and I love that run. They were enough of my “no-guts-comfort-zone” that Adrianne might claim there wasn’t enough of an incline for a marble to roll! We got on the mountain after 9:00 and I figured I might make it a half day but we skied until the lifts closed at 4:30 with only one stop for lunch. Most of the day we skied on the Whistler side but we also took an amazing tram ride called Peak2Peak that did exactly that, crossed the valley between the two huge mountains and we skied down the Blackcomb side! In this picture we are suspended in midair across the canyon.
Our other goal in Canada was to sample some poutine, a Canadian “delicacy” of French fries, cheese cruds and gravy, “aboot” which Dad had learned in his readings. It sounds like an awful combination of foods but in the middle of one of the 100 (38 lifts) or so ski runs on Blackcomb Whistler we stopped and had it for lunch at one of the several restaurants on the mountain. It actually felt good to have that a weird sounding combination of foods; kind of a stick-to-your-ribs comfort food combo!
Exhausted, we opted to stay in again that night and hit the hot tub after skiing all day. On a grocery run for dinner rolls Dad ran into and of course, struck up a conversation with a member of the Canadian skeleton (like luge but on a small disk going down the ice tube head first!) team. He was invited to go view their practice that evening, which he did. I was already out of my ski clothes and dressed for the hot tub when he came back and announced the chance to return to the ski slopes and stand watching the team practice whooshing by at break-neck speed in the ice covered. It sounded too frigid of an adventure to me so I opted to meet Dad in the hot tub when he returned.
Dad came back with the excitement of a little boy after his first major league experience where he might have snagged a foul ball. He had the wiggly voice to prove it as he joined me in the hot tub (with a couple that we had met the night before) to describe his personal viewing of the team practice. We learned the next day that Dad had passed many of the security barriers that are normally in force during the day and viewed up close and personal like no one else can! He described the team members huffing and puffings right after their 40-second-or-less-runs as he was right next to them and talking with some of them. The next day, after check out, we went back to view their next practice time but this time we had to obey all the rules and security regulations. We still got closer than most people will be able to get at the Olympics so it was kind of unique. It is an amazingly crazy sport. They ride down the ice chute on what looks like a cafeteria tray, head first getting speeds up to 150 Kilometers (about 100 miles an hour) an hour in some spots! I was lucky to capture some of them with my camera. I do have a picture showing how part of the run they are sliding on the slide (where that lettering is!) of the tube but Dad isn’t in that one.
After lunch in the village we stopped at the Olympic cross country and ski jumps venues before leaving town. We missed seeing anyone practicing there. We also drove past the winter area for eagles. They are usually gone by March so Dad wants to come back next year earlier to spot some eagles even though we can see them in Oregon on Sauvie’s Island! It was a beautiful drive back to our next destination, Blaine Washington, right across the border. We stayed that night in Birch Bay, a VERY small beach town, in which we couldn’t find anything of interest to keep us there past check out the next day. So, we traveled through some quaint towns in northern Washington and a beautiful drive through Chuckanut Drive, catching a beautiful sunset over the San Juan Islands, on the way home Saturday.
Along the drive we read began reading the November Ensign since it is our goal to read it all the way through before this April general conference. We read all of the priesthood session and were left with a renewed sense of the importance of being more service oriented. It reminded me of a quote from a previous institute class from Bishop Burton that went something like this: The things you do for yourself are gone when you die but the things you do for others are your legacy (very simplified).
We returned to a very cold house since the furnace had not been fixed; we should have figured such since we were relying on a “potato chip person” to fix it while we were gone. For the next couple of days we stayed close to the fireplace and Dad even wore a jacket liner and ski cap in the house. I gained a new found appreciation for the gas fireplace and our gas-run hot water heater.
Our leftover Canadian money and the Wonderbars that we bought for the family members who are attached to them (the Brady family of course!), was sent in an early birthday and Easter package to the Brady’s home since Bill is headed to Canada this week for his annual ice fishing trip with his brother at their cottage in the wilderness. He just learned though, that the fishing season was cut short last week in an effort for some sort of fish preservation this year.
We said a “Hi and Goodbye” to Grandma when we arrived as we took her to the airport the next day after we arrived home. She went to visit the boys in Las Vegas. She reported having a great time. They made things nice for her; they even considered bringing part of Aaron’s bed downstairs for her to make the guest bed more comfortable for her. She enjoyed watching Aaron work in his backyard. He is covering the rest of his yard, around the concrete walkways, with pavers. He also brought is two of the four trees that he is going to plant and making planter boxes out of pavers for them also. The yard is looking so nice.
Grandma missed getting to do a formal Zappos tour while there but she went and visited Nate at work on her way to the airport. Here is a link to the newspaper article called, “A Day in the Life of Zappos” in which Nate had his picture. He is the third picture to the right in the string of pictures. He is in a bean bag chair in his office next to his adjustable desk. Nate sent it to me but I am not certain he sent it to the rest of you. He wasn’t very impressed with the importance of the article since they didn’t talk about him! Nate is in Kansas City this weekend to visit his dad and go to a concert. The link:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/photos/galleries/2009/jan/23/zapposcom/

Katie was also traveling over this weekend; she was in Provo. She was having BYU baseball withdrawals! So, she picked a triple header weekend with the University of Utah. They won two out of three of the games.
Morty was true to BYU and bought tickets to three days to the basketball tournament held in Las Vegas. He got to see BYU win the first game and also to see UNLV lose which is why there were seats available to buy!
Adrianne spent her Friday night representing our family at two receptions; one in Toole for Zen Hathaway’s’ marriage and the other in Salt Lake for Laura Bradford’s wedding reception. Both families were very glad that she came and said to say hi to all of you. She spent time talking with every one of the Bradford family as they reminisced about their memories of Adrianne. Which, obviously, it was a LONG time ago when she was very young and most of them remembered that she wore her bathing suit with most of her outfits! She also spent some time in Daybreak on Saturday with Heidi’s girls so that Heidi could attend the funeral for Tim Dailey (Andrea Payne’s husband) who died last week when his heart stopped.
Dad and I went to a reception for David Christensen (Raleigh Hills Ward Christensen family). I realized that David didn’t remember us but he said he remembered Nate. We saw lots of long time stake families that said to say hello to all of you: Stahr, Dougall, Banks, Hunsaker . . . We even went to one of those “90 minute” seminars so that we could get “free” tickets to Las Vegas so we could see the boys again sometime soon. We are doing crazy things these days with not being on our usual schedule (well, my regular work hasn’t really changed any actually!). I also waited at a grand opening for a bank to open an account. Can you believe it? I waited an hour and a half and then had to get an appointment for a later date (which they were willing to do since they had too many people show up for their great interest promotion). The couple that I sat next to part of the time looked at me and we both said, “Are we really waiting in line to put our money in a bank?” While I waited I got a “free” lunch and chair massage though. That massage was nice since I had gone skiing the day before.
Another out of character thing Dad and I did this week: Whistler reminded us how much fun it is to ski and we have always wished that we could look at the mountain on a nice day and just say, “Let’s go ski.” So, Timberline was offering an incredible deal for an end of the year ski pass (until May 23) and we decided that was a great way to work to get in better shape (It is like doing squats all day and enjoying it) and Dad is available for once! We went to Timberline on Friday and the parking lot was so full but the lifts weren’t crowded since they have another lift. The sun was shinning all day and there was very little wind so we skied on the Magic Mile all day. The snow was best at the top of the mountain so we didn’t ever traverse over to Stormin’ Norman. Dad did a couple of runs on the new left but said the snow was getting slushy because of the warm temperature that day. It was a sunglass-ski day . . . yeah!
Shawn has called a few times about things other than the baby being delivered. Every time I hear his voice I am sure he is going to say the baby is here but no! Maybe they will have a St. Patrick’s Day baby! Aubrey was ready long ago to have that baby. It always seems much longer when you go over your due date.
I had lots of ideas to share from my institute class but this is too long already. We mostly discussed keeping an evil influence out of our homes, one single home at a time. A quote from the day is, “The chain that binds the devil is forged in heaven on the anvil of divine justice and its links are fabricated from hearts of righteousness and acts of faithful servants.”
Kyre is now sure that she is going to move to a larger place on April 1. Her new address:
432 Ermine Street SE
Albany, OR 97321
It sounds like a much better place for her and Klaire to live. The missionaries live next door and she will be right next to the park and Waverly Park Elementary School. Kyre and Wendi were surprised that President and Sister Child were their speakers for stake conference yesterday. The Child's were excited to see them and also Adam, who had gone with Kyre. Dad and I will be in Albany and gather all the grandchildren for a fun afternoon during Spring Break. Dad said we may have daffodils popping their heads out by the time that Sunhee and Meeja stay here next week. I look forward to that. I love you, Mom

March 1, 2009

Dear Children,
There will be no pictures this week; no events to photograph. It has been kind of a catch up week. The big meals that we had while Morty stayed here last weekend have fed us all week except the one meal that we ate out. On Friday night we had a buy-one-get-one dinner at Azteca. Dad and I decided, even though it was pretty cold, that we would ride our bikes to help work off the dinner. Next time I think we should share a meal when we ride our bikes. There are no restaurants that allow us to pedal downhill on the way back home so it is much more comfortable to be biking if we aren’t so full of dinner! The chilly ride and exhaustion may have explained the timing of this cold-respiratory illness that has been trying to get the best of me all week to hit with a vengeance the next morning. I have little energy and hurt all over. I laid low all day Saturday as I need to be well by Tuesday. Early Tuesday morning we are driving to Vancouver, BC and then onto Whistler on Wednesday and Thursday. (Bill, what is your advice on changing our money: when and where? Plus, will there be extra fees to use our cell phones in Canada, our plan has no roaming fees in the U.S.) On Friday we will drop back down to Birch Bay in Washington and head home on Saturday. It will be a fun adventure for our anniversary celebration. There will be lots of driving so we are taking lots of reading materials. We will also catch up on our business goals and new ideas as we drive. Nate was so kind to be so concerned about Dad’s lack of business. He wants to help us set up a website. Bitter Concrete does not show up quickly when you Google concrete in Beaverton Oregon and Nate is determined to change that.
This week has been mostly quiet here. Still no work for Dad but he has been happy to be able to do several bids this week. I am also keeping my eyes open for any part time work in the area that would be flexible enough so that I could still do the things Dad and I have planned. And, of course, Dad has found many home jobs that go unnoticed for years like cleaning behind the washer and dryer and taking apart the bed to clean under it. Actually taking apart the bed has improved our mattress immensely since it wasn’t getting proper support after he raised the head of the bed (my doctor said to do it). We didn’t realize that it caused all the other supports to be weakened. It feels like a new bed! Dad took a part for the dryer into a shop to get a new one and the service man was amazed that our dryer was still running. It is over 30 years old. That dryer has served me well; and probably used more than the majority of most dryers. I contribute the longevity of my dryer to the fact that it is a “Mormon” dryer and has rested on the Sabbath each week. I know that it good for our health so it must also do well for an appliance to have a day of rest!!!
Speaking of health, we have been adding some unusual items to our food storage. We have joined a very energetic preparedness group which has stemmed from Joe Farb being in charge of the ward preparedness and his wife, Sally, getting excited about the whole process. One item we just purchased (that we had never heard of before) is a seed called Chia. We have been adding it to our everyday diet because of its health benefits but adding it to our storage since it is kind of a super food with its high protein, calcium and omega oil capacities. We also purchased a rocket stove; a small ceramic chiminea type stove that heats a large amount of water with just a small amount of fuel (small sticks). Many of you may have seen a version of the rocket stove on your mission since a huge percentage of the world cooks on them.
Have you been contacted by Shawn and Aubrey on guessing the actual date and birth weight of their expected baby in March? Dad and I put in our guesses and Dad wanted to know the prize. There is an actual prize planned (besides the baby of course) which is Aubrey’s famous chocolate chip banana bread (if you live close by). Jennie Marchant had her baby this week. They were due in March also so I thought Aubrey wouldn’t be very excited to hear other family members having their babies come early! Christian isn’t arriving from his assignment in Viet Nam until today unfortunately so Aunt Becky flew out the very next day. It caught everyone by surprise including Jennie who kept going back to sleep trying to ignore her labor. Finally at 4:30 in the morning she called Natalie to ask about some details for getting into the hospital. Jennie had planned to drive herself but Natalie had nothing to do with that and left her four week old baby with Danny so she could be with Jennie in the hospital. Jennie had the baby two hours later! I believe that she plans to name her Anneliese!
Have you seen that Katie has a blog now? She just sent us the blog address so Dad and I had fun catching up with her through that. Although, we do love phone calls still! Her blog is very clever: “Live from Left Field.” It sounds like she is having a great experience in St. Louis but sounding like she misses regular college life being alone so far away. I learned in her blog that she loves real mail, snail mail. The way all of you use Facebook, email and text messaging, I never would have realized any of you likes getting regular mail. I am taken by surprise that it would be appreciated. Here is Katie’s address since I sent it out wrong one time:
Katie Luman
7461-A Ahern Ct.
St. Louis, MO 63130
With March already here amazingly enough, I have been so happy to hear the birds singing in the morning and some glimpses that spring is around the corner. I also am excited to realize that General Conference is getting close. I look forward to hearing the remarks and teachings from the prophets. The September when we were newly called to work in the singles ward, their Relief Society was giving away the previous Conference Ensign issue. Their goal was to get prepared for the upcoming General Conference by reviewing the last conference messages. I thought it sounded like a great idea and would like to do that this month before this April Conference: read last November’s Ensign all the way through. Would any of you like to do that with me? We could make it a challenge of sorts! Any ideas?
I had another great institute class this week. I really like studying Revelations at this time since it covers some of the difficulties in the last days. Studying it is better than just reading through it alone since I am able to get more perspective on the prophecies. We are in chapter 13 which speaks of the beast and our discussion came down to avoiding being a casualty of the beast by following the living prophets. There are many personal applications to these verses in this day. My favorite of the class that day came from chapter 13 verse 10 which talks about the need for patience and faith. We ARE on the winning side and just need to follow through, living the commandments and HAVE FAITH.
Much of stake conference today went right along with some of the lessons learned lately in institute. The stake theme this year is Building Your House Upon a Rock. One excellent talk about strengthening our foundation was taken from an article in the New Era. Sister Tillet suggested three simple things we could do each day to help strengthen us and make a difference in the world:
1-Pray everyday
2-Read the Book of Mormon at least 5 minutes each day
3-Smile everyday realizing it is an incredible opportunity to live today
My favorite quote of the day, “cast out doubt, cultivate faith”, came from that talk also. One of the Parson twins, Chris, bore an excellent testimony as he described the temporary crumbling of his 18-year-old-foundation that he felt he had built during the time of his family’s tragedy this summer, the accidental death of his 15-year old sister at their family reunion. He gained a powerful testimony through earnest prayer and the recognition of Christ’s love through others.
A surprise at conference was that Ed (President) Stone spoke. I looked up and knew that I knew him but could place from where, since it did not compute why he would be at our stake conference. Ed and Linda recently returned from being the mission president in Nigeria. They served for two years. He said there are only 12 missions in the church where the mission president serves only two years instead of three due to the high stress levels of some areas of the world. Nigeria is one of the top baptizing missions but also one of the highest security concerns. He is now in the Oregon Mission presidency. He was my stake president when Katie was born. They were also personal friends since I had worked with Linda in a Relief Society presidency years before. He was kind enough to ask the ward leaders if he could serve as my home teacher in the first months of my single years; the support meant so much at that time.
Kyre called this week with the surprising news that she was trying to move this weekend. She had found another apartment in a better part of town that would give her and Klaire much more room but when she gave her manager the 30 day notice, she was told to be out as soon as possible. She was actually very excited about the move even so, if the other apartment manager was going to be able to make things happen. She will be in a different ward but is happy to make new friends. We are anxious to learn of the results. If she has been able to move, we will be able to see her new place in a couple of weeks when we meet in Albany during Spring Break with Kyre and the grandchildren. We are looking forward to that.
Scott told us today that he has been able to call Kyre four times so far. Unfortunately, calling Albany is fairly expensive (the rates in the prison system are horrible) since it is considered long distance from the prison (Portland is not!). If you want to consider a birthday gift for Scott, he may want money on his prison system phone card; you might ask him first. The visiting room was so noisy today. We waited over an hour to get in since it was so packed and had to wait for someone to leave. Grandma went with us since we left to go right after our stake conference. He likes the noise of chaos and children since he never gets a chance to hear that anymore! It sounds like he has been getting more exercise lately by running and also a stationary bike there. Shawn and Aubrey, he thought your baby would come by today so his new guess is March 3rd and weighing in at 8 pounds and 3 ounces! Scott looked good and remembered that we needed a new picture of him so I can try and get someone to Photoshop him into the sibling picture at Christmas.
I am sending restful wishes to Aubrey in her last weeks so she can build up some reserves for the busy days ahead. I love all of you and will be thinking about you this week as always. Love, Mom