June 30, 2010

Dear Children,

We spoke with Nate on his birthday Monday night. He was out to dinner with a friend. I forgot to ask him if they did anything special at work for him. This picuter is one of my favorite baby pictures of him. I have a big one and noticed a little drool coming out of his mouth and immediately thought of some of his shenanigans he does now with his “drool” with 26 years of experience behind him! I sent him a postcard of Nate’s drool 26 years ago and now!

Our Monday was a beautiful summer day here; we have enjoyed a little bit of summer warmth here and there. It sure makes you appreciate it. Plus, the sun has allowed Oregon strawberries to ripen finally. They aren’t as sweet as normal since there has been a lack of sun but they are big!

On Friday morning I took Katie to the MAX early so she could catch a flight to Oakland for a day of training, her first day as a Southwest employee! Afterwards, I headed to Jaquith Farm to pick a few berries as I am out of strawberry jam. I picked 22 pounds (I always get more than I plan) and made enough jam to last the year, strawberry that is. I need to pick Boysenberries and Marionberries when the time is right. I am not really a fan of strawberry jam but love the other berries.

On Saturday Dad and I rode our bikes over to Sherwood to Al’s Garden Shop. My basil finally died; the roots probably rotted with all the rain. So we packed up a basil plant in Dad’s bike bag. It was a nice ride. Dad rode ahead so he could get more exercise and then came back to ride at my pace. I liked that much better so I didn’t feel like I was slowing him down. He brought his road bike (the one Schwinn with the skinny tires). I wondered why since he didn’t need speed when he was riding with me. But this worked out well. It was even fun to see how far I could get before he would come riding back. It reminded me of some of the first times snow skiing with him when I feel in love with him by watching his “poetry in motion” as he skied so beautifully.

Adrianne was offered a job at the barn that she is volunteering. This time, it is with pay! She was asked to give riding lessons one day a week in the fall. She is going to have ONE BUSY FALL as she squeezes in some of her most difficult classes into her schedule to prepare for an August graduation. She still is working on the Sun Bear research job. I thought that would be done so long ago but it took so much work to prepare all the samples to be tested. I always thought research work would be fascinating but there is certainly a tedious side.

I don’t have many current pictures from this week so I will add an amazing one from last week. Morty sent it to me but I hadn’t saved it. I remember thinking that the people on the JumboTron looked a lot like Katie and Morty. But, when I saw a Happy Anniversary greeting next to it so I thought it was the couple to whom they were wishing a Happy Anniversary. Later, Katie told me it was really them on the JumboTron and Morty had amazingly captured a picture of it! Morty and Katie just have “a way” of getting on the TV screens!

Katie is testing out her new wings today. It is her day off and she is flying to Salt Lake to see her friend from high school, Lindsay, for the afternoon in the city. She works tomorrow so she must find an empty seat to get home tonight. It sounds like fun to me! This morning when she was up at 5:30 am I asked her if she was flying somewhere. When I learned she was headed to Salt Lake City I told her that I should have prepared Heidi’s birthday present for her to deliver! Now that would be a handy delivery service! But, Katie isn’t going to take any chances and venture far from the airport with such a small window of time. I have read that these “space available” seats can be kind of risky to plan on but it will be fun to see what it is like!

Today, June 30, is Heidi and Bill’s wedding anniversary. I am sure that they have something fun planned to do. I just got an email so here is our answer: Bill and Heidi must be in St. George with the family to celebrate their anniversary. Here is a picture of them at In-N-Out! It looks like it is warm there with all those red cheeks.

I love you and hope you are all enjoying the summer. I am. I just came home from picking up Sunhee and Meeja. They get to be here until next Tuesday! We have lots of fun adventures planned. They just helped me load my storage shelves with new canned goods we bought on the way home. They are great helpers. Now it is off to pick raspberries form our own plants. Dad and I have left the berries alone since we knew that the girls would have so much fun picking. They will get to pcik blue berries before they go home also! Love, Mom

June 20-21, 2010

Dear Children,

Happy Father’s Day! It doesn’t look like the day before summer’s official beginning since it is pretty drizzly here. I am glad that some of you are experiencing real summer weather. Most people in Oregon have had enough rain.

We sat out in a light sprinkle as we visited with Scott this afternoon. I made arrangements to swap Primary singing and sharing time so Dad and I could leave church a bit early to get to the prison as quickly as possible. I was concerned that it would be packed since it was Father’s Day. It was and they were hesitant to open up the outside benches since the weather didn’t look good. We were told if we went into a visit but it started raining, our visit would be over. We agreed to that just so we could at least get in. It was valuable to be there even though he called Dad at 7:00 this morning and they had a good chance to talk.

We were able to talk a lot about his children. It is very discouraging that he doesn’t have contact with them so this day is a hard one to face. Scott talked about his running. He ran in a race last Saturday and, since Adrianne was running a half marathon that very day, he convinced his running partner to just keep running until they had run a half marathon also.

Scott talked about the annual car and motorcycle show at the prison that was held on Saturday. He said that he had a picture taken of himself on the warden’s motorcycle. As he talked of the car show, I wondered if the Powells (I visit teach Karen Powell) ever were involved at all since they take their car to car shows. Today, just as I was leaving her home, I remarked that her shirt was cute. It had lots of stripes so she said she calls it her prison shirt and then said, “But they don’t really wear stripes, we were just there on Saturday.” They had friends that show their car so they took their vintage red California Special Mustang! She said it was very complicated to get through security so they probably wouldn’t show next year but maybe another time. I wonder if Scott saw their car.

Aunt Denise was here this past week so we had some fun dinners and played games some nights with her. I know that might be a surprise to you but Aunt Denise has, in the last couple of years, started to like playing games. She was even willing to learn a new one for herself, progressive rummy! We also went to the movies one day. Katie also joined us in some of the visits with Denise; they have a fun relationship. That makes me so happy that my children love to be around their aunts so much. Aunt Denise and Katie had quite a ball together when Katie and her friends stayed in Antioch in April before they headed to Hawaii. Aunt Denise was an amazing hostess and she just couldn’t say enough nice things about Katie and her friends. Since Aunt Denise was here for her birthday, Katie was able to treat her to Denise’s favorite cupcakes, red velvet, before Katie left for St. Louis.

Katie met up with Morty in St. Louis for some Cardinal games this weekend. It was Morty’s graduation gift to Katie. Is that so nice? Katie first stopped in Kansas City to see Joe, Carol and Mackenzie and it was while she was there that she learned she got the job with Southwest Airlines. She is so happy as she will be able to make money while at home and start paying off her college loans.

I don’t know if many of you know that Katie also had a broadcasting job offer. She was offered to be the director of a news station in Monterrey California just a week or so ago. It was a hard decision for her as she said that she liked the interviewer very much and I am sure that is an indicator of the working environment of a company. But, she very carefully weighed the decision and realized that the cost of living down there would not allow her to get out of debt. I think it was a very mature decision to realize that, in order to survive on her own with her first broadcasting job, she needed to first save up some money since there are strict contracts involved in accepting this sort of job. Plus, working for Southwest will be an incredibly interesting job, as jobs go, to get her out of debt!

With this new job, Katie learned that she won’t be able to be in the Seattle Rock and Roll Half Marathon this Saturday morning as that is the day she starts in Portland after a training day in Oakland. She has been training for that run for months. It was going to be fun to cheer her on in Seattle. I love that city.

Thank you for the Father’s Day calls; they mean so much to Dad. It was so cute to hear Jenna and Rebekah in their sweet tones to say Grandpa Bea-Ver-Ton. We had a delightful call from Nate that just reminds us of how fun he is to be around and how he makes us laugh. He talked of the Gospel Doctrine class he taught last week and then said, “I must have done a good job. Even people who wouldn’t want to date me gave me pretty good compliments.” I guess I don’t understand the singles ward protocol in that I didn’t realize that you only compliment people so they will notice you and ask you out!!! I remember when he was a freshman at BYU and was so excited to teach Sunday School since he thought it would be a “chick magnet.” Those probably weren’t his exact words.

Dad’s Father’s Day was made more memorable as he said that he wore one of Grandpa Bitter’s ties to have something of his father’s. And now, today is Grandpa Maldonado’s birthday (since I am STILL writing this letter into Monday). I am looking forward to Dad using my Father’s Day present to him since it is a guided bike tour of the Portland waterfront. That will be so cool! Grandma searched on line and found a place that sells packets of chocolate like hot chocolate from Spain!

Here is some family news: Grandma Bitter told us that Bryan and Allison Bitter in Las Vegas are expecting in December!

This weekend there were some exciting new changes with my SendOutCards business; they added a photo editor like Photoshop to the system. I am going to LOVE that feature! They also changed my web page and actually gave me two web pages to explain the wholesale/business side and the other explains the retail options of my business. Now, if a person just wants to use my system to send a few cards instead of paying a fee for the program, they can pay as they go. Of course, the 62 or 93 cent card they get with their own system is now $2.99 but that pays postage and they didn’t sign up for anything (just saved a trip to the store and mailbox). VERY COOL! I haven’t figured out HOW that works; I just now that is an option now. It is going to be very nice; I just haven’t had much chance to check it all out. Besides, they said more people have been on the site this weekend than on their biggest days during the holidays so it has been slow since they learned they needed to add bandwidths??? Another great addition is they are paying me more to train people to use the system . . . woohoo! It just keeps getting better! Check out my new webpage to see the new stuff at sendoutcards.com/cardsbylori.

Cross your fingers that summer will peak it head from behind the clouds and drizzle here! I love you! Love, Mom

June 14, 2010

Dear Children,

It is summer here! Or, at least it was this weekend. It was a good thing for all the Rose Festival celebrations over the weekend and also for Adrianne’s Helvetia Half Marathon. It was great to have her here for the weekend for that and for some visiting. She came in on Thursday and left last night just in time to pass Aunt Denise in the airport, who is here visiting Grandma Maldonado until her birthday(Denise’s) on the 17^th.

Adrianne had an excellent run. She had been sick earlier in the week so was a bit worried since she hadn’t been able to train for almost a week. But she and Sharon Gueck ran the half marathon in 2 hours and 17 minutes which is really good. You may be able to see form the picture that the run is in the country. Dad and I biked to about her 11 mile marker to get a picture of her. Then, in order to avoid the roads of the runners, we had to make a huge loop to get back to the end point at the Hillsboro Stadium but we didn’t get back in time to hear Adrianne’s name announced as she came in. She looks very happy in this picture but on Sunday, she could barely walk as her knees were hurting so badly. She wore her half marathon shirt from the Provo run that she and Aubrey were in. I am glad she did as it helped her stand out.

Speaking of Provo and BYU colors standing out, Adrianne had Dad open his Father’s day present early. It was wrapped in BYU paper and it was a BYU T-shirt. It is hard to believe that we are coming to the end of the BYU era in our lives with our last child graduating from there this next year. We had a quick Father’s Day gift opening in between Adrianne and Katie going to singles ward, having a quick dinner with Grandma here and then rushing to the airport before a Primary teacher meeting at our home last night. Adrianne also wanted to practice an ice cream cake that she was planning to make for Blake’s birthday this coming week, a German chocolate, four layered cake filled with chocolate chips, coconut, carmel, Score candy bar pieces, cool whip and two flavors of Tillamook ice cream. So, she made an ice cream cake for Miss Kitty’s birthday! It was yummy; too bad Miss Kitty didn’t get a piece!

Meeja was able to stay extra days here in Beaverton and with that extension, she saw Adrianne for a few hours. She went with me to the airport on Thursday morning to pick up Adrianne and to Portland to pick up Adrianne’s marathon packet and registration. We had time to kill before a hair cutting appointment so we went to lunch at Bridgeport. Then, Meeja and Adrianne kept them selves busy at Bridgeport waiting for me before we drove to meet Georgia so Meeja could return home. Meeja remembered going to Bridgeport to a concert last year where she spent lot of her listening time there playing on the slide and children’s playground. It was raining though so she couldn’t slide this time with Adrianne.

Katie was able to work with the singles ward on the Rose Festival floats for Family Home Evening this week. I have done that before and think it is fun. It is especially fun to watch the parade for “your” float after you have been a volunteer. I don’t think she got to the parade though. I am sure the parade was especially packed since the weather was so nice that day. Adrianne was at the barn Saturday afternoon while we spent the afternoon in the garden. I am excited to see what changes will be in the garden with some sunshine! It is also time to get out and get some strawberries for some jam.

On Friday afternoon, Katie and I were at a funeral for 13 year old Natalee Walton. I am not sure how many of the children of the Walton family were your ages; just the younger part of our family probably. They live in Summerlake Ward so they would have been Southridge students. She died of a rare form of cancer; it was diagnosed about this time last year. They still haven’t figured out exactly what Risa Whitaker’s cancer is but started her on a chemo for what it “might” be. They will know in a few weeks if this treatment has made any difference. There are certainly a lot of hardships going on right now. They released Robin as Relief Society president yesterday considering her efforts need to be turned toward Risa right now. Elaine Green is our new RS president and I think she will be great.

What a difference a week can make! Last week we walked into church through torrential down pour and this Sunday it was beautifully warm on a sunny Sunday morning. We had a great sacrament meeting this Sunday. It is always nice to walk into church and be excited for who is sitting on the stand. That is the way I felt when I saw Kathleen Westhora up there. The topic was the Atonement. Both she and Eric Motto had very good messages. Kathleen reminded us of the principle of the Atonement “covering” our repentant sins because of the Hebrew meaning of the word so that is my final thought for this update:

Take advantage of the Atonement through repentance so that Christ’s gift to us is not wasted and CAN cover our sins. I love you all! Love, Mom

June 6, 2010

Dear Children,

Even though we had buckets of rain today, Friday and Saturday have smelled more like summer. Of course, the those two days it did not rain so maybe that is an important factor! One of the smells of summer (for me) is the sun hitting the wood deck; the smell of warm wood. That is one of the first smells of the day for me since our sliding door is usually open and I wake up to that smell (on days when the sun is unobstructed by clouds in the morning).

The dry weather for a couple of days allowed for more outings with Meeja. She LOVES riding her bike while she is here. She graduated to Adrianne’s Lion King bike. Even though it is a larger bike, Meeja has better balance on it. It also tires her out faster! We took her and Eden to Hiteon where they played quite contently in two different parks there. Still, they were able to find mud and Eden came home muddier than her brothers who we met in the cul-de-sac just as they returned from the Fathers and Sons campout.

Friday night, Meeja and I were invited to the Whisenant’s home for a “Girls Night In” since all the dads and brothers were away for the campout. We had snacks and painted nails. Meeja’s toe nails are purple with a splash of glitter. But Meeja has an early bedtime (she sleeps a long time to recharge for the next day), so we left before the Enchanted movie started.

Even though there are times when it is apparent that Meeja is missing her siblings we all extended her trip a few more days. She will stay here until Wednesday or Thursday. It is fun getting lots of attention when you are the only one here but it doesn’t compare to having playmates your age whom you love. She didn’t even have her Aunt Katie here to tease and joke with for part of her visit. This will be a long time for a five year old to be away for the first time; we will have to see how this goes.

This picture is of Meeja’s very elaborate tea party set up. All the stuffed animals and dolls were set up just so and even the silverware was placed with care. I was very impressed. She asked for me to take a picture but then asked me to redo the pictures “so everyone’s eyes showed up in the picture!” Grandma Maldonado was on her way over that day to pick up Meeja to go shopping and dinner at Dairy Queen. On her OWN, Meeja thought to turn the whole tea party set up so Grandma could see it without walking downstairs!

Katie went on a quick trip to Oakland for her Southwest job possibility. They asked her to fly there on Friday morning to get fingerprinted for their background check and then fly back that afternoon. Well, true to form Katie style, she connected with Aubrey during the day and got her return flight changed so she could spend the night with them and go to a, you guessed it, BASEBALL GAME! She took BART into San Francisco while Aubrey and the boys were in appointments and then met their family back at the Oakland A’s stadium for the game. One quick trip to California to get fingerprinted at Southwest plus a sourdough sandwich on the Wharf and an In and Out Burger before the ball game!

Even though most of Meeja’s days here were wet ones, we squeezed in a trip to the zoo. It was wet but the rain had stopped for a few hours while we were there. Adrianne’ Sub Bears were both out so we captured a shot of Vivian and Jody behind Meeja (if you look really close)! The zoo is always a great visit but it felt like we were there with every school in the area. There were busses galore as everyone must have been on their end-of-the-school year fieldtrips.

We had an early birthday celebration on Sunday for Meeja. Meeja called it the “fake birthday”. The first night we were here, Meeja wanted to have spaghetti since she knew Sunhee was having spaghetti for her own birthday. When I asked what we should have for dinner for her birthday celebration, Meeja asked for spaghetti again! Meeja has had fun making Halboji bread a couple of times during this visit.

We had Primary CD’s playing all day today and it was fun to hear Meeja singing along. I remember the days when all of Scott and Kyre’s children would set up a “stage” and sing with amazing recall and clarity any chance they got.

Katie is back home and waiting to hear from Southwest. They told her it could take about two weeks for the back ground check. She is pretty excited about this opportunity.

We were supposed to see Sunhee play softball earlier this week, on Tuesday evening, but it was rained out. So, instead, we took Sunhee and Meeja to dinner to celebrate Sunhee’s birthday the night before her actual birthday. I remember some of those rainy springs where it felt like more ball games were cancelled than played.

I love you. Have a great week ahead. Adrianne comes for a marathon this weekend!

Love, Mom