May 12, 2009

(There is a picture of the Fox Theater that I cannot get onto the beginning of the blog . . .rats!)

Dear Children,

What a whirlwind of travel this has been since last I wrote! At one point as I was still very tired but my body kept waking me up, I relaxed that my body had no idea what time zone I was in. Thank goodness all our immediate family locations only cross a few time zones!

Grandma, Adrianne and I had a great time in St. Louis and on our side trip to Nauvoo. As wonderful as all that travel was with so many fun and great experiences, I think the most notable experience that stands out in my mind, oddly enough, was the great Sunday church service that we attended in St. Louis. We looked for a close ward meeting in the morning since we were driving to Carthage and Nauvoo that day (and everything still closes early there) and found the Pagedale Branch. It looked like it was in a renovated old funeral home as we drove up. The small room was packed so we had to separate in small groups to fit in.

Conducting that day was the branch president, a very animate large black man. I witnessed the most colorful sustainings I have ever seen. It was most enjoyable and allowed us to get a flavor of the warmth, love and acceptance of the great diversity that attends this branch which is so close to inner-city St. Louis. The meeting was very interactive and even the chorister, who was actually white, led the music with such enthusiasm like she was leading her own gospel choir. It was testimony meeting so you can just imagine how boisterous the amen’s were! Grandma noted afterwards that it was the first time that she had participated in a sacrament service in which every priesthood member providing the sacrament was black.

As a bonus, the Elders all bore their testimony that day and one of them was Elder Benson Payne, Ben and Heather’s son. I introduced myself to him afterwards and he said that he remembered playing on our air hockey table as a child.

We had arrived in St. Louis late Friday so Katie picked us up on her break and took us back to the news station so we were there for the 10:00 news broadcast and saw the taping on the early morning sports broadcast. We learned a lot about Katie’s work from the producer and the news anchor there that night. It was most interesting. We were all very hungry after her shift was over at 10:30 so we stopped at a pizza place in the U City district about which Katie’s station had done several broadcasts since it was Obama’s favorite pizza and the owner had been brought to the White House to make it. It was very good but I guess the irony of it all is that Obama found Chicago style pizza that he likes in Missouri over that of his own home town, Chicago!

We had an enjoyable time walking the St. Louis Zoo on Saturday. It is beautiful; Katie said that it was voted best in the nation. Our zoo is so wonderful here that the thought of traveling to see a zoo is almost absurd but it was well worth it. It would be nice to spend the day at the park that the zoo was in with its many lakes and museums. The weather was very favorable. That night we had tickets for Riverdance in the beautiful Fox Theater; I love that place! Riverdance was amazing also! We held a belated birthday celebration for Katie after the theater at a place by our hotel where she had a free appetizer coupon!

The timing was beautiful for our Nauvoo trip; very few tourists and very mild weather. We were able to have a private tour of Carthage Jail and visitors’ center (I remember huge crowds there ten years ago in July!). It allowed us to see everything about which the guide was speaking. It was very enjoyable to spend some quiet time there before traveling onto Nauvoo. We arrived in Nauvoo just after everything closed so we planned a quiet evening at the condo to rest up for the next day.

I feel like we saw just about as much as we could see with our timing. In several of the historic homes, we were the only visitors at the time. We were able to spend some time in the Family Living Center where they have demonstrations of everyday living in Nauvoo at the time of the early church. We made rope and saw the weaving and cooking demonstrations. We visited the bakery of course, the blacksmith shop and brickyard, some of my favorites. We started our tours on Monday morning with the carriage ride and wagon tours to get a flavor for the area and Nauvoo history through pioneer stories. They were great. On Monday night we attended the Rendezvous performed by the senior missionaries there. It was a very fun event with additional stories of Nauvoo histories. Prior to that, but just after all the homes closed, we walked down parley Street past all the plaques with quotes from the people who had to leave their homes behind. Every tour or event we attended reminded of the great tenacity, industry and sacrifice of the saints.

Grandma and I were able to have the privilege of attending a session at the Nauvoo Temple on Tuesday morning. That was a great experience. It looked like much of the furniture and decorations were from that time period. There was a beautiful spiral staircase that I would love to see up close next time I visits. I would love to return to Nauvoo in the winter sometime; I don’t know why . . maybe to get a better flavor of the early saints’ surroundings. I think it would be beautiful in the winter since I have the ease of staying warm in such surroundings!

On our last day there we were also able to get a tour from the Community of Christ church of Joseph and Emma Smith’s homes. I wish I had read the letters from Grandma Bitter’s uncle, Samuel O. Bennion before going and seeing the new gravesites. Grandma gave me the letters when Adrianne and I stopped there on our way to Las Vegas. Grandma only learned about the letters (she already had heard the story through her uncle) when she was in Nauvoo herself on the tour and she mentioned to her guide that her uncle was a witness to the reburial of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. Her guide said that he was a missionary under her uncle and held a copy of his letters to President Heber J Grant and Joseph Fielding Smith so now she has those pieces of important family history!

Samuel Bennion was the mission president in Independence when he heard that Fred Smith of the Reorganized Church was digging up the secret graves that Emma had prepared and moving them. Samuel rushed to Nauvoo with three other church leaders so that the church had somewhere in attendance. In those days, travel was not as easy and the president of the church would not have been able to make it. Joseph Fielding Smith also wrote to Samuel to thank him for representing Hyrum’s family there since Joseph was his grandson and their family had not been notified in time.

We planned to get back to St. Louis in hopes that we could get into Busch Stadium for free during the last innings of the Cardinal game but they do not do that anymore. So we rested, well, not quite. After we got settled, Adrianne and I went to Katie’s place and packed up several boxes to take to Utah for her. This idea came about so that she could try and sell the Taurus in St. Louis before she comes back. That would be SO wonderful if that could happen. We had brought very little luggage with us since we knew that would be four of us traveling to Nauvoo so we were able to take advantage, coming home, of every bit of carry on and luggage limits for Southwest Airlines. We brought back so much for Katie to help her leave St. Louis with as little as possible; it turned out great.

On our last day in St. Louis we visited the Arch and Katie took us to Ted Drewes Frozen Custard which has been there since 1929! It is on the old Route 66 highway. It is a popular spot. Dad would like it since one of their specialties is called concrete, which just means that all the sundae toppings are mixed into the frozen custard instead of poured on top.

Speaking of Dad, Adrianne and I came home from St. Louis to fresh baked bread and omelets when we arrived from the airport. Plus, he had gone shopping for us for “car snacks” since he knew we were leaving very early the next morning for our trip to get Adrianne and her car to Las Vegas. That was so nice of him!

While Adrianne and I traveled to Las Vegas, Dad spent the weekend with Adam at Adam’s stake’s Father and Sons campout. They had a great time of course. They stopped beforehand to pick up some Mother’s Day gifts and naturally, a big net for salamanders! They had fun with cooking and building fires plus they did a big work project to improve the property where they were camping. Adam loves catching salamanders; he is holding two of them in this picture. Dad said that they were the last people to leave, except a few leaders and that the last thing Adam did again this year was to ring the big gong. Adam loves being busy and squeezing as much fun as he can on any of his visits so it is always in question whether he is satisfied with a visit with his grandparents. So, Dad felt really pleased when they drove away and Adam sat backing the van chair and said, “I had fun.”

After traveling most of the day on Wednesday to return from St. Louis, Adrianne wanted to leave the next morning for Utah at 4:30am (we needed to pick up her things at Grandma and Grandpa Bitter’s in Orem)! We had so much to do that last evening that I talked her into an extra hour of sleep. Her car traveled well and anyone of you who know Adrianne, can guess we only stopped three brief times (she never needs a rest stop . . . that is why we call her a camel). She was very smart to buy the car in Portland so it got Dad’s attention, he did some nice things for her while we were in Missouri and Illinois. She said she could make the drive alone but we convinced her it was a good idea to have a companion while driving that long with a new-to-us used car. We stopped in at Heidi’s to make a delivery to the girls, a pioneer outfit from Nauvoo for their new Barbies. Rebekah was impressed with the “modest” style! The next night they were looking forward to a sleepover at Granma Bitter’s; they were so excited to tell us about it. It sounded like so much fun; I wish that we lived closer to be able to do that with them.

I am anxious to be able to spend some time with their family after the baby is born. Since there is no room to stay there right after the baby’s arrival, Dad and I are going to go to Utah a couple of weeks after the birth and help out Heidi by entertaining Rebekah and Jenna during the day and maybe even with some overnighters down in Orem. We have tickets right now to fly in on the evening of June 27. That puts us in Utah to hear Ben Bitter’s talk in sacrament meeting on the 28^th (Nate’s birthday!) before he leaves on his mission. We have tickets for the Oquirrh Temple open house at Monday the 29^th at 10:00 am and are planning to take the girls with us plus Katie said she wanted to go with us also. Hopefully her class schedule will allow it. Let us know if any more of you would like to do that with us. We have a flight out on July 6 at 1:00 in the afternoon so we will have to celebrate Heidi’s birthday early but will need to get back to real life and work!

We have one more family trip planned before then for Bryson’s blessing this Sunday. Aaron will also meet us in Martinez for that great event. Also, we will be able to attend my Uncle Tommy funeral on Friday and the viewing on Thursday. He passed away early Monday morning; he was Grandpa Maldonado’s youngest brother and the last of that generation to pass away. We will be in the Bay Area from Thursday afternoon to Monday afternoon. We are staying in Martinez Thursday through Saturday night and then at Aunt Denise’s on Sunday evening. Did Shawn tell all of you about his commercial that will be aired on the internet? Yes, while all of us are looking for work, little Bryson has already secured employment! He and Shawn auditioned for a commercial of a military father and baby. They will let us know when to watch for it.

We would still like to try and squeeze in the Clovis trip at the beginning of June but it is looking unlikely with all the other work and travel commitments. We know Katie will be there, Aubrey has said that they want to be there and Morty is interested also!

So, I left us in Daybreak as I described the trip to Las Vegas. Adrianne and I spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa Bitter’s. The next morning she made us those fun omelets in a bag that we had at Jeff and Alisha’s baby blessing a couple of weeks ago. After sleeping in, we headed to Las Vegas. The boys were good to welcome Adrianne in and bring all her things into the guest room which she quickly organized and made her own.

It was warm in Las Vegas. Late Sunday evening when I was on the phone with Shawn, I told him (after looking at Morty’s clock in his office) that it was 80 degrees but that was really 80 degrees INSIDE the home (it was over 90 that late at night). Adrianne and I went with Aaron to help him pick out pots for his plants. He and Adrianne repotted everything and it looks so nice. I wish that I would have gotten a picture of that.

We also all went to Serendipity to have “frrrozen hot chocolate” in honor of Katie (who loves it so much and has had it in New York at the store there). We took some fun pictures of that but with Morty’s camera so you will have to look at his Facebook to see them.

On Mother’s Day I had fruit smoothies and eggs fixed for me before church and Aaron made a pasta dish afterwards with Adrianne’s help and some of Nate’s new healthier grain pasta. He is training for that September climb and trying to eat better. The pasta was made with quinoa so I will send him some chia and quinoa since I can get a better price here (actually, from our storage). I am also sending him some of my new chocolate that is 72% cocoa and loaded with good stuff! Adrianne also made a lemon poke cake, my Mother’s Day request every year! Their singles ward was a very good meeting and they gave everyone two individually wrapped white roses and a huge candy bar!!!

We heard from Wendi and she knows that she will be living in Chipman Hall on the third floor next year. Her graduation is an outdoor event and it is on Wednesday, June 3. I bet that she is getting excited. Kyre told us how excited she was that Wendi gave her a Mr. Bean movie for Mother’s Day. They have a crazy sense of humor!

I am looking forward to more institute classes when I am in town. I love reviewing the conference talks as they are filled with the many small things that I know I can improve upon to help me. President Hinckley once said that the gates of hell swing on small hinges. I promised in my last letter to share some thoughts on prayer from my last class but I am already at five pages so I will close with just a couple of ideas. We talked about how casual our society has become and how that can affect our attitude towards prayer. My institute teacher challenged us to take more thought of our prayers. He suggested we take a moment before our prayers to pause and think about what to pray about.

And one last thought that I heard recently in light of Uncle Tommy’s passing this week: “What I have done matters more than what I have owned. Those I have helped matter more that what I have left behind.” I love you. Have a great week ahead and live this week to be the person that God wants you to be. Love, Mom