November 28, 2010

Dear Children,

Today has been a fairly relaxing birthday. I did ALL the things that I wanted to on my birthday: most especially talk with my children and finish decorating for Christmas! Perfect! Thanks for all the birthday well wishes. Dad made a great salmon dinner; it had a nice smoky taste since he had mesquite chips on the grill. Katie surprised us this morning as we walked in from church. She had made pumpkin French toast made with real French bread and crushed cinnamon crunch on the top. It was very creative. She had the Christmas plates set and balloons in the dining area. We ate and then she rushed to church. It will be a very busy night at the airport for her tonight. Since she can’t get Sundays off regularly, I am glad that she has a schedule that allows her to get to her ward. She also made her divine pumpkin cheesecake cupcakes. She will have to make them for everyone over Christmas.

Yesterday was the day we planned to cut down our Christmas tree. Rain was in the forecast for the morning so we put it off until the afternoon. I got involved in placing some Christmas gifts orders online and gave us a late start. I was so mad at myself since I took too much time all afternoon trying to save a few dollars! As we drove towards the tree farm, knowing we were going to barely get there in time with enough light, the clouds darker, lowered and dumped their rain. I burst into tears since I was so frustrated with myself since the most important thing for the day for me was getting the tree so I could get it decorated today. When we turned the van around knowing it was not going to work to go to the farm, we noticed that Al’s nursery had trees. Last year we bought a tree from a lot and it wasn’t too bad so we decided to try again since our plans were foiled. We laughed at most of the trees and gave up.

Luckily, we had planned to grab some produce at the grocery store on the way home and lo and behold, Haggen had trees! We found one that was suitable and as I bought the groceries, Dad put the tree in the car. How easy! Maybe we have found a new method of getting a tree (as long as none of you are here to go to the farm with us). I did wonder if our grocery store tree would measure up to Adrianne’s expectations of her “last” Christmas tree as a child in our home! Well, I guess you all are still children in this home still.

Dad and I finally went on the trip to Las Vegas about which we have been talking for months. We were there from Friday evening to Tuesday evening. We spent the first two nights at Aaron’s and then took advantage of a Hilton deal we had and stayed on the strip the last two nights. We had SendOutCards meetings Friday night and part of Saturday. They all were very beneficial; I am continually impressed with the company.

Morty was in Portland (we passed him there the day before we left!) for the weekend and Aaron was trying to finish the last details on their TV shop so Dad and Aaron worked together on Saturday to complete a bunch of tasks.

We had a blast in Las Vegas. It was great to be around the boys, help at the TV shop (Dad and I love to be able to assist any of our adult children when we can) and go exploring on the strip. We also enjoyed the singles ward and meeting Heidi, Nate’s friend, again. It is obvious that Nate is a favorite guy in the ward. He was planning the FHE pie eating contest and trying to put a creative “Nate” twist on it to slow the eating down so he wouldn’t have to buy so many pies. I also was able meet Melissa, who knows my high school friend, Joy Burleson. It was interesting to speak with her about Joy’s family. My friend Joy was not a member of the church but she married a non-active church member. His family, being in Las Vegas, took their three girls to church when they were young and the girls are all members. Melissa is a best friend to Joy’s oldest daughter, Joni.

Aaron does Bountiful Baskets, like Heidi, so he had a bunch of new produce that he used to grill on the barbeque after church. After a relaxing afternoon, both the boys headed to ward friends’ homes to play games and we headed to the Hilton. We took a walk after checking it. Las Vegas was fairly cold that weekend but it is just fun to explore, see the architecture and watch the people. Plus, lots of places had their Christmas decorations up, which was fun to see. Morty came into the airport later that night; we had his car so we picked him up and he dropped us off planning to meet up the next day at the their store.

I loved to see how the boys had worked to organize the store and make do with what they had. It looks great. We did a little more work with them on Monday and then went back to the hotel and did our big excursion of the strip. We had been given some money towards meals so we went to a nice steak house and then started walking! We walked all the way down to Bellagio to see the fountains but it was after midnight when we got there so they were not working. We went inside to see if they had Christmas decorations up but they still had their harvest displays, which were BEAUTIFUL. I love that place. We did a ton of walking and had lots of fun.

We made time the next morning for soaking our sore muscles in the hot tub and visiting the new city center until Morty picked us up for the airport. The boys wished we could go on a later flight but I had a Primary meeting at our home. Just as we were about to walk into security I got a text message that our meeting might be canceled due to the snow. Yahoo! We asked the desk if there was room on later flights and Morty cam back for us. THANK YOU Katie!!!

So, we were able to head back to the TV Store, help some more and then arrive home in Beaverton after 1:00 in the morning. We caught our breath and then picked up Kyre, Alina, Adam and Klaire at the train station later in the morning. They had fun riding the train. I want to ride the train one day! I have great memories of train rides to visit Grandma Helen in Colorado when I was young. We played lots of games during their visit, visited the zoo and had Thanksgiving dinner with them before driving them back to Albany late Thursday evening. Luckily while they were here, it was a preview night for zoo members for the Zoolights. Even though it was VERY cold, we bundled up and went early so we could see the animals first before dark. I don’t recall ever enjoying the Zoolights without a huge crowd. It was wonderful. We wore ourselves out and came home to warm soup and Halboji bread, plus, more games!

My favorite time during their visit was when Alina tried on her dress for the wedding and it fit her beautifully except one minor thing (I had to clip the neckline so she could get it over her head!) and she looked gorgeous in it! Yes, success! I also LOVED sitting at the table late Thursday night (when we should have been driving to Albany already!) and just hearing Alina and Adam talk and laugh together. Since it was later, Klaire was asleep. It was quiet and relaxed. It was hard to want to get in the car and take them back. We should have left earlier; we may have avoided a one and a half hour 5 mile crawl past the exit to the Woodburn Outlet Mall since Black Friday started Thursday night there! Consequently, we got back to Albany VERY late.

I had planned to entice Dad in stopping at the Woodburn Walmart if we were passing it after midnight but instead, we stopped at the closet Walmart in Salem in hopes to get in on some of the good deals. We missed some important ones so we hit the Wilsonville Target right at its opening at 3:00am thinking it wouldn’t be so crowed since it is more rural than Beaverton; not so! I couldn’t believe that we were rolling into our driveway at 5:00 am. We had just stayed up all night for Black Friday: CRAZY!

Dad dropped into bed (that was his first experience with Black Friday sale and what an experience it was!) but I knew that I couldn’t go to sleep and wake up before the sock sale ended at Fred Meyer. No, most of you don’t have socks since you didn’t tell me what kind you might need! So I headed to some other stores and retuned after noon: exhausted but energized that I had accomplished some of my list!

On Thanksgiving morning Shawn and Aubrey ran in a 5K race and Shawn came in third in his age bracket. Aubrey ran with her mom so she wasn’t competing.

Our Sunday sacrament meeting was about gratitude. Cal and Cathy Crandall spoke. They had some interesting ideas about gratitude having lived in Beijing for the last year.

I love you. Have a good week. Love, Mom

November 14, 2010

Dear Children,

I have had a ton of fun in the last few weeks. Dad and I traveled to California to be with Shawn and Aubrey and the boys over Halloween weekend and then I went to Utah to help Heidi and Bill and the girls and see Adrianne and Grandma Bitter. Plus, Morty was here in Beaverton last week as he came for a couple of Blazer games during this visit. This week, Dad and I go to Las Vegas and then return home just in time to pick up Kyre, Alina, Adam and Klaire for a Thanksgiving visits. We plan to go to the zoo the day before Thanksgiving and the preview of Zoolights that evening! I was excited to see that it was going to be while they were with us in Beaverton.

We have a fun filled weekend with Shawn and Aubrey and the boys of course. They pack a lot of fun into their time! We picked up our car and headed to Greg’s preschool. When we walked in Greg ran up, jumped into Dad’s arms and gave him the biggest hug. He showed us all around his preschool. Aubrey and Bryson met us there and then we picked up Shawn to head for the Jelly Belly factory close to Vacaville. They have a great tour; I am amazed at the engineering minds that think of every little detail to make the process of using machines more efficient. Plus, we had fun tasting a lot of candy of course! Each night we would drive to Aunt Denise’s to sleep at her home. She fixed up a room with a fireplace for us. It was very nice. It felt like we were staying at a resort spa with her candles and the way she decorates. Staying with Aunt Denise gave us the opportunity to visit both Shawn’s family and her! We would get there VERY late each night though so we had some late night-early morning fun.

We spent every minute we could on Saturday at Apple Hill, north of Placerville. I would love to do that trip again; it was a beautiful drive. I would say we ATE ourselves through Apple Hill visiting all the little farms and boutiques, each having their own special apple cider and bakery of course! I would go back for the fresh, hot apple doughnuts in a heartbeat! We rushed home to catch their ward dinner and Trunk-or-Treat. Bryson was a sailor and Greg was Woody from Toy Story; both darling!

On Monday morning we left Denise’s by 4:00am for Dad’s early flight back to Portland and mine to Utah. Everything worked slick; thank you Katie! Heidi and I started working on her basement as soon as I got there. It felt like we worked non0stop; it was great! I don’t know that we really got rid of much but we organized and rearranged things so now they can methodically go through their things to throw out what they don’t need to save (when they have time) . . . Ha! I told Heidi that would be a great Christmas present to each other; Bill and Heidi sitting down in the basement and going through a few boxes together; laughing through memory lane and discarding what they can. Sounds like a fun date night; Dad and I could do that!

I was amazed at how well Jenna plays on her own while Heidi is working. They have the basement set up very cute with a table right in the middle for Jenna and Rebekah to do craft projects. They love working with their hands and creating.

I irritated Bill each evening as I felt the crunch to keep working while they ate their dinner (not eating with them) since I had so little time and I drove to Orem each night and back in the morning. One night, on the way home, I stopped at the Bradford’s home. That was great! It has been 15 years since I have seen Martha. You would have thought it was yesterday; we just picked off where we left off when she drove out of the cul-de-sac 15 years ago and I wanted to strangle David for taking her away! She looks wonderful. Dave seems happy with his new job. He is the Vita Mix guy in the Los Angeles area and sells quite a few, you can imagine how he would make it fun. I would love to see him demonstrating in person. One night I finished Grandma Bitter’s Christmas present, a Christmas tree quilt with lights, (I also worked on it at Heidi’s during lunch each day) and had her open it before I left. One night, Adrianne and I went looking for a temple dress but came home a bit disappointed. In fact we just laughed since everything we tried to accomplish that night failed! My camera broke in California so this is the only picture I have of my visit in Utah; Adrianne took this one.

Adrianne has a new address. With her need to get rid of her car at the end of the summer she has realized that going back and forth to Orem late at night on her little scooter is not going to work as the weather changes in Utah. Because some apartment managers are desperate to fill their remaining open spots this late in the term, she was able to find one close to campus that allowed her to not write a contract. It is a very small room that she shares with a roommate but campus and work are a lot closer. Her new address is: 130 E 700 N #15 Provo 84606. She will miss many conveniences of living with Grandma though.

Shawn and Aubrey celebrated an anniversary this month. They were going to go indoor sky diving. In fact, they were going to see if Gregory wanted to do it also! They didn’t end up going on the day that they planned; I think it is something for the future.

Morty was here for an Oregon Duck game and some Blazer games last weekend. In fact, he came into the Portland airport just about an hour after I did from my Utah trip so Katie picked us both up at the same time. I told him he should just leave some clothes here since he will be back this weekend for another set of games. I don’t have a picture from that visit but I do from his trip to Los Angeles in the meantime for a USC-Oregon game. He and Nate are with Shawn and Aubrey this weekend for another Oregon game against Cal Berkeley.

To prepare for Thanksgiving, Dad barbequed a turkey and made bread today. We haven’t done that for awhile but will probably have barbequed turkey for our real Thanksgiving. I am going to simplify the meal since we will just be getting home from Las Vegas. That will mean more game playing time with the grandchildren that day!

I have been enjoying my institute class each week; that is something that I am not giving up. I had to admit to myself that I had to delete my family history class on Tuesday nights. I loved it but this is just not a good time to put that into my brain. I do not have the time to get it out and work on it so I would just forget what I am learning. It is hard to get a free class with this particular teacher so that is why I tried to take it on right now.

One week we discussed President Packer’s conference address. It helped me to realize the importance of his remarks as we discussed potential and power of making and keeping sacred covenants. Another week we discussed Elder Nelson’s message about being an example of believers of Christ. My teacher quoted Chip Kelly’s motto, “WIN THE DAY; Do the very best today”. Since we can’t redo the past, we need to concentrate on doing our best today. In institute it was said, “If Satan keeps reminding you of your past, you remind him of his future!” Brother Stark challenged us to read a session of this past general conference each week, carefully notating each talk and we will be done by Christmas!

We had a fantastic stake conference broadcast from Salt Lake last Sunday. Sister Dalton reminded us to be faithful in the small things and promised us that “he who honors God, God will honor.” Elder Hales reminded us of the importance of individual, companion and family prayer and to use prayer as an expression of gratitude. President Uchtdorf’s talk was incredible reminding us that tough times never last but tough people do!

I love you and hope you are looking forward to having some wonderful holiday times ahead. Grandma and I have been busy working on dresses for the wedding. We are very focused on that project since we both leave town this week. I sure could use some Christmas gift ideas from many of you!

Be resourceful, committed and determined as you find ways to resolve or improve your situations. Never give up on a bad day. I love you. Have a great week! Love, Mom