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