Dear Children,
Oops, I see I accidentally put a business blog post on the family blog site. I hope that I corrected that on my CardsbyLoriBitter blog site!
We
started these past few weeks with an early Mother’s Day celebration with Kyre
and the children. It was so kind of them
to invite us and Grandma Maldonado down for a dinner out. Kyre was so excited to take us to Izzy’s; a
great place where the children and adults can pick what they eat. We all ate to our heart’s content and then
sat back and relaxed for a while. We had
fun back at the house where Kyre also planned for Mother’s day and Father’s Day
gifts plus Adam hand made some grandma gifts.
They were so thoughtful to think of doing a special evening for us.
We had a fun
time in Utah
to celebrate Rebekah’s baptism and be there for Mother’s Day. Rebekah’s baptism was attended by so many
family and close friends. At the last
minute, Katie was able to get the off so she traveled with us and we took her
back to the airport that evening. The
Brady family planned a very nice program asking for several family members to
share a baptismal memory or experience with the Holy Ghost. Afterwards, we headed to the Brady’s home for
dinner. We think there may have been
about 60 people there. Heidi and Bill
had planned and prepared some of the family’s favorite recipes for everyone to
enjoy. Besides the wonderful feelings
felt at the baptism, my favorite part was sitting with the family after the
dinner to relax and remember the day.
Mother’s Day was
also a fun family day. Dad and I went
with Grandma to her ward and then headed to Blake and Adrianne’s to help with
dinner (we had some of the ingredients that Adrianne was using for the
duck). The two ducks looked just like
you would buy them at the store but, as you know, they were their ducks, Taco
Bill and Gumbo, before Mother’s day.
They barbequed the ducks and the flavor was amazing. When we got there, Adrianne was plucking pin
feathers out of the ducks! Blake’s
sister, Amber, and her family also came over.
They brought barbequed turkey since there wouldn’t be enough meat with
the two ducks.
The weather was
beautiful so we planned to eat out on their picnic tables next to the
playground behind their gate. That way,
after dinner, the adults could relax at the tables while the children played, a
perfect plan. The wind picked up just
before the Brady family arrived with the mashed potatoes and dessert so is
wasn’t as comfortable to eat out there.
But, most of us enjoyed the outdoors anyway. The evening was a fun experience and the Brady
girls loved having the playground right there.
We did some
things around the house at Grandma’s on Monday and then went to Pleasant Grove
to help Adrianne and Blake with their garden.
That was fun and it is fun to see how Adrianne uses her Thrive food to
cook up some quick meals since she made us lunch.
At home, we
finally had the Taco Soup and Chicken Salad that Adrianne and Blake put
together in a gift jar for our Christmas presents. It tasted great and took only minutes to
prepare. They are now consultants for Shelf Reliance after using
the product and learning more about the company. Their first goal is to help pay for the
medical bills for Blake’s hand surgery.
Speaking of
Shelf Reliance, Blake met the person over the IT department at the convention a
few weeks ago when he went to Salt
Lake to help
Adrianne. The man liked Blake’s ideas
and interviewed him for a job. I think
he signed papers this week so both of them will be working for Shelf Reliance
in Pleasant Grove. Blake bargained for
longer work days and Friday off so he could still do computer work for other companies
(and play volleyball).
Guess what! Even though I have not done a bit of
gardening, we are eating from it! Last
year Adrianne convinced me to plant an artichoke. Nothing came of it until this year. We have had 3 BEAUTIFUL artichokes already
and I believe that there are three more on our plant. I think I will plant another one this year;
they are SO good! I hope to plant the
rest of my garden on Memorial Day.
Dad and I went
on a bike ride around Hagg
Lake and went to the
Hillsboro Farmers Market on Saturday to pick up some vegetable starts. We mapped out several more rides and future
swims in the lake with wet suits to get Dad ready for a July 7th
Hagg Lake Triathlon. I just may sign up
also but not do the run part yet.
We have wedding
guests here this weekend again. These
guests are family here for Jace Green’s wedding. Today we ar headed to Grandma’s for a salmon
dinner. She bought one of those salmons
on the plank dinners. I remember
ordering those in Seattle
many times years ago when I used to do the Gift Shows. Last weekend Katie’s
friend Jamie Harrsion got married and some of her family stayed with us. It is enjoyable to meet these people and
provide an easy place for them to stay.
I never know though when they will be here for meals so I just try and
plan breakfast stuff here for them.
Bill also
visited last weekend. Usually Heidi comes out about this time of year to
visit Scott for his birthday but Bill came instead since Heidi’s baby is due in
a couple of months. They both loved all their
visits; Bill was able to go three times!
We were able to spend some good time with him
and play lots of games even. Grandma
Maldonado was able to come by one night while he was here also.
While Bill was
in Salem on Saturday, Dad and I traveled up to Belfair, Washington
to visit the kitchen of the Girls Camp that our stake is using. I was relieved to get to see where I will be
working for a week at the end of July.
It is up toward Olympia
and then west so it is three hours away.
It is a great facility; I wish it were closer as you can rent parts of
it for family reunions.
We had Google
directions and then plugged it in our GPS.
We deiced to follow the GPS since the directions were different. Had we followed the Google map we woud have never come upon the find that we
did. We were following the borders of Hood Canal. It was beautiful. We couldn’t figure out why the shore line had
no sand and looked like just rocks. We
also were enjoying spotting at least three bald eagles perched out on logs in
the shallow water. Then we came upon a
huge group of people picking up something on the beach. Come to find out the shores of this part of
the Hood canal are all natural oyster beds. We got out at Twanoh Park
to watch the gatherers and after speaking with them, we learned they were all
tribal members working for one company.
They get paid by the dozens of oysters that they bag up. It was fascinating and something we wouldn’t
wanted to have missed along I believe we were on the slow route.
I wanted to
share a few ideas from the conference address that I chose to use for visiting
teaching this month. It was the article
from Elder Jeffery Holland: The Laborers in the Vineyard. I have often wondered about this parable and
Elder Holland does a great job of making me think about its applications. It is a great one to review. I loved how he pointed out that we should not
complain or be envious when someone gets an unexpected blessing or as he put it
that in this parable when the household pays all of the laborers the same, it
may be said, “Why should you be jealous because I choose to be kind?” Then Elder Holland says, “We are not
diminished when someone else is added upon. We are not in a race against each
other to see who is the wealthiest or the most talented or the most beautiful
or even the most blessed. The race we are really in is the race against
sin, and surely envy is one of the most universal of those.” I liked how he suggested that being jealous
or envious of others’ good fortune is like choosing to drink pickle juice when
we could just be happy.
His message is
packed with great quotes and here are my favorites:
- “. . . coveting, pouting, or tearing others down does not elevate your standing, nor does demeaning someone else improve your self-image. So be kind, and be grateful that God is kind. It is a happy way to live.”
- “So don’t hyperventilate about something that happened at 9:00 in the morning when the grace of God is trying to reward you at 6:00 in the evening—whatever your labor arrangements have been through the day.”
- “. . . surely the thing God enjoys most about being God is the thrill of being merciful, especially to those who don’t expect it and often feel they don’t deserve it.”
The
whole message gives me so much to think about and then he ends by reminding us
that none of us has traveled beyond the reach of divine love!!!
Today, Dad and I
finally sat down and put our calendars together to figure out our summer; yikes
. . . procrastination! We also did a bit
of fall scheduling. I think we will go
to the Oregon State
versus BYU game in Utah
this year since it is on Grandma Bitter’s birthday, October 13th. We are celebrating her 90th
birthday early so more family members can attend. Mark your calendars for the weekend of August
17th to 19th. We
sent out an email earlier about that but wanted to remind you again. We could find lots of trips to make this
summer but not enough time to plug them in!
The summer filled up fast being this late. We will be in Utah at least twice with a Brady
baby arrival, Dad’s Utah Lake bike ride and Grandma Bitter’s birthday reunion,
in Oakland at least once plus maybe an extra Oakland A’s game, in Clovis for
the Fourth of July to practice with Aunt Carla for our Lake Berryessa Triathlon
in October, in Vancouver Canada in July, Adrianne comes here in July to pick
“REAL” berries and make jam, Girls Camp in Washington in July and in Las Vegas
to see the boys and for our SendOutCards convention.
There is lots of
excitement brewing with SendOutCards convention less than two weeks away in Las Vegas. I am excited to see the boys also. We will be there June 6-11. One of the leaders started a new program called
30 days of Gratitude Challenge. I would extend that to all of you. The challenge is to watch for someone that
you are thankful for each day for 30 days and send a card thanking that
person. Then the challenge is, if after doing
that for 30 days you don’t feel the impact of looking for something good for
which to send a card, the person who signed you up will refund your money for a
greeting card a day. It costs about a
dollar a day to send a card, including postage.
I am taking the challenge even though I already have a goal of sending
out a heartfelt card everyday.
With this new
challenge, my cards will definitely be a thank you card for something I
observed that day or the day before (I try and write those kinds of cards in
the morning for the lift it gives me).
This is what I have learned from doing this and why this new challenge sounds
like such a great idea to embrace. I have always been a letter
writer. I was pretty good at writing cards to thank people for things
they did but I was much better at letters complaining about something if I felt
I had been served unjustly by a business or some situation. After using
SendOutCards and following the goal to write a heartfelt card a day this is
what happened to me:
First, when I started this goal of a card a day two and a half years ago (I of
course didn’t do it perfectly), as I wrote a card expressing how I appreciated
someone, I remember thinking I was going to make the recipient feel good.
It didn’t take much time before I realized that I was the one benefitting from
the simple process. Of course, the person getting the card feels good
also and I have had some many amazing responses to the cards. I also
realized that the energy to write a letter of complaint was draining, re-living
negative, angry emotions all over again as I wrote. So, sometimes when I have not received good
service and am tempted to write a letter of complaint now, I stop and think of
what business has served me exceptionally and write a note of gratitude
instead. It feels so much better!
Second, the best
part of my goal is that I am looking for the positive or to notice someone
doing something nice. It was changed my outlook. I love the
feeling. And all this from a card company who, when I first heard of how
it worked I said, “A card from your computer and not handwritten? It
won’t have any impact.” Not true. Even as strong of a card writer I
would have not had the experiences I have enjoyed if I faced the many obstacles
and cost of sending cards the traditional way.
I extend this
challenge to any of you who would like to take it. If for
any reason you have been feelings down or sad, I can guarantee that you will
feel better and have an added measure of light in your life after these 30
days. I would love that for any of you
of course! Some of you have points in
your exciting account just waiting to be used before they expire after a year!
There is a page
you can download and a short video that explains the challenge on www.30daysofgratitude.net. Let me know if you accept the challenge!
Have a great Memorial Day celebration!
I love you, Love Mom
