Dear Children,
Happy Halloween and Happy-Believe-It-Or-Not-November! Yesterday was a mixed weather day with enough dry skies and sunshine to completely clear away the rest of our vegetable garden. Any have any good recipes for green tomatoes? Last year I tried to hang the vines and let the green tomatoes ripen but I forgot about them mostly! This year I have bags of them waiting for a recipe of some sorts. Sammy’s absence was very noticeable as we worked in the garden on Saturday. Usually she is right behind me as I bend over in the dirt, barking so that I will through a rock to her. Dad and I cleaned up Sammy’s last vegetable garden; she always loved the fruits of our labor! Maybe that is why she lived so long; due to all the fruits and vegetable that she enjoyed! It began to rain as Dad and I finished our yard work and headed for the pool to stretch our muscles. But, then by the time for Trick or Treaters, it was dry again. Perfect!
We had a treat on Halloween. Grandma took us to P F Chang’s to take advantage of a Halloween discount coupon that she had and then we only ordered appetizers on their half price appetizer deal that is usually between 3:00 and 6:00 in the evening. They are always yummy.
It was fun to see the neighborhood children on Halloween. We had more children than in previous years. Ginny and Bill Larsen came with the Faulkner’s children. They asked about all of you. They enjoy their farm in
Lastly, on Halloween evening, we received a text from Adrianne to wrap our arms in foil and go to Chipotle for a free burrito. We went online to learn if our Chipotle was running the same special and read that we could wear any costume for a free burrito on Halloween evening. I got my witch hat and one of your black graduation gowns and Dad grabbe
d tape and foil (good thing) and we got to Chipotle just before they closed. Sure enough, we got our free burrito (which we saved for dinner today since we were already full. . . perfect quick dinner after church for Fast Sunday). But, the cashier did ask where my foil was since we were supposed to be dressed like a burrito or taco salad at our restaurant. Thank goodness they were feeling generous. This is Adrianne’s picture of the dead beauty queens; her stake had a Halloween part and then, on Halloween, someone in her apartment complex had a party. She made Grandma Bitter’s recipe of Snicks for her Halloween candy that she was going to hand out. She wanted something special since Rebekah and Jenna would be coming to her place. That is a great treat!!!
With Halloween over (I am not usually sad about that; usually taking down Halloween decorations as I am passing out the candy) I can look forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas; much better holidays in MY book. For Dad and me, we will be heading to
Grandma Maldonado will be in
Digital Kitchen Scale, Aquatronic Style that has a zero out feature
Small Make Up Bag, like the size I have now (that is falling apart)
Olfa Rotary Blades, 45 mm regular blade
Knitting Needles (I don’t know any size; I just want to learn)
Wedgewood Nativity Scene Ornament (Bed
Workout Pants with a pocket (I like the calf length)
Large (18” Reusable) Decorator Bag
Sport Socks with extra cushion
Kitchen Booster Chair (like the one that Heidi has loaned us)
With all the sad news I had to report last week, I have some good news about Barbara Block. She has been very ill since last Christmas with a debilitating disease attacking her nerves. Two weeks ago when she also died not being able to breathe (thinking the disease was starting to attack her heart and lungs) they discovered that she really had a slow growing tumor in her trachea blocking her air. In fact, they realized that is what caused the nerve problems back last December. They shrank the tumor and she is feeling so much better. I visited with her this week and she was so upbeat to know what has been causing her problems for the last eleven months even though she will probably not be able to regained the fine motor control in her hands and feet again. Aren’t life’s problems relative? She is so relieved to have cancer. And, tomorrow she learns if the cancer has spread her bones but she knows the treatment of chemotherapy is better than the last eleven months!
Robin Whitaker addressed perspective in her testimony today. She said she read a funny article that talked about life’s struggles and said, if we put a historical slant on our troubles, they wouldn’t seem so bad. For example, if we thought about one of our specific struggles and pictured us having to deal with it in while living in the 13th century; it would be a LOT worse!!! But then she added, we are blessed with the gospel perspective that adds a wonderful perspective to our earthly struggles, which is so true!
Jared Green was here for the weekend and bore his testimony. It was great to see and hear from him. He bore strong testimony of the importance of finding happiness in the confines of the Gospel and gratitude for His plan of happiness. Because today was our practice for the Children’s Sacrament Meeting Presentation, I didn’t have a chance to stop and talk with him.
Shawn and Aubrey wedding anniversary is this week. They celebrated at a cabin in
Dad and I listened to the Young Adult Fireside tonight on BYU TV. If you had to miss it, it will be rebroadcast next Sunday, November 8 at 8am, 4:00 and 10:00pm. It was President Uchtdorf and of course, was excellent. He started by commenting that combining the titles to the two songs sung before he spoke: Praise to the Lord and Do What is Right would be a good daily motto by which to live. His talk covered several subjects of which he receives most from young adults, but mostly centered around our potential. He said that Shakespeare was wrong when he coined the phrase, “To be or not to be, that is the question.” Instead President Uchtdorf said he would rephrase it to say something like this, “Knowing that I am a child of God, what do I need to be and to do to live up to that potential?”
As always, he used some great analogies from his flying experience to use some stories. He described in DETAIL the glorious beauty that can be seen in certain types of thunder storms but said, no matter the alluring beauty, a pilot is taught to steer clear of them to survive. He strongly cautioned us to avoid the harmful storms in our lives. He said temptation wouldn’t be a temptation if it wasn’t made to seem beautiful, fun and enticing.
He also used some very endearing personal stories to talk about the question he receives often about finding the perfect soul mate. He reminded his audiences that there isn’t a “one and only” and that once you commit to a person, they become your soul mate by turning from looking to creating perfection together. It was a great talk with lots of personal comments and stories that made it very enjoyable. If you missed it, you should watch it next Sunday.
Dad and I saw Scott today. I have been worried about him; he seemed discouraged lately and rightly so. He has been trying to work on his post conviction relief and says he feels an overwhelming helplessness. He says it is much easier to help others work on their legal work instead of face the realities of his. He described his feelings well as he described how he feels during his races (his last for the season was this week; he got third place). His races are 18 laps but the mental struggle is hardest from the second to the 16th lap. He feels like giving up and the only reason he doesn’t give up as he decides it is best when he must finish what he starts. He had a disappointing stark realization with his last test evaluations that, even after feeling good after his interviews, the evaluations came back with poor results as he faces the professional belief system that a person cannot make that kind of change in their life. We left after trying to help him realize that he may never be able to convince an outsider of his change but that what was most important is to know himself that he has changed and to continue to work on any little thing that those evaluators may point out. He works so hard to be and do good. His cell mate was transferred to a minimum prison so he has a new roommate, Chuck Potter. He is in the same cell and they both requested each other as their first pick. He is very excited to have a cell mate that is willing to prayer together every night.
Have a great week ahead! Love, Mom
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