June 24, 2012
Dear Family,
Nate
surprised us at the beginning of the month saying he was coming up on his way
to a Seattle business trip since he would be
gone much of the time that we would be in Las
Vegas. He then
decided to come up a few days earlier and run in the Starlight Race with Dad
and Katie. I was amazed that Dad could
do that since he biked in the Canby Century that morning!
I think it would
be fun if more of the family could come into town for either the Starlight
parade or the Rose Festival Parade. We
found out though, next year’s convention is going to be the weekend of the
Starlight Parade so maybe we should think about planning a gathering around the
dates of the Rose Festival Parade instead.
I need to book a place on the beach in case any of you can travel to Oregon next summer so
give me some ideas of your best times.
Let me know who is interested.
Let me know your last day of school dates for 3013 please. The Rose Festival and July 4th
dates might be gone on the beach by now; so let me know your preferences
We had a fun
visit with Nate. We checked out the food
carts where the Goodrich’s have two carts but they weren’t there unfortunately
when we were. We saw Katie’s new place
in Portland. It is very charming with beautiful hardwood
floors. She has more space than her last
studio apartment and is still right on the MAX line. I think it would be fun to live right down
town except I would like my own parking garage.
That part makes me nervous to think about.
We had a
training evening already scheduled before Nate came so he was a good sport and
went with us to Hagg
Lake. We biked around the lake and then Dad and I tried
out swimming in the lake with our wet suits.
Well, it was COLD! The key is, it
started pouring rain during the last of the bike ride so I was already
chilled. With the clouds, and because it
was after work, it started to get dark so swimming in the water felt really
creepy. I usually am not bothered by
swimming but I couldn’t see past my goggles in the water and the eerie feeling
of what might be under my feet was getting the best of me! Silly I know, but I couldn’t help but think
of the Lockness monster! Even so, it was
an adventure. We cleaned up (sort of)
and met Katie and Grandma at where else but Mongolian Grill, since Nate was in
town!
Speaking of
being a good sport, I talked Nate into going with me to my Tuesday night
volleyball game. Hey, he is a great
player! He didn’t want to go since he
thought it would be all old ladies. I
think he saw that there is some good competition after all. The ladies were all impressed with him of
course.
Wednesday Dad,
Grandma and I were flying to Las Vegas and Nate
was flying to Seattle. All weekend we had tried to find a strawberry
U-pick field that was open but they all were postponing their openings since
there has been a problem . . . no sunshine.
Finally, we learned Bagenstow’s opening day was Wednesday. So we ran out in the morning and came back to
wash the extra mud off the strawberries and make jam so that I could take it to
Las Vegas for
Nate to have. I never have picked muddy
strawberries before!!! Luckily, we finished
in time for our flights and I was able to pack some jam for Las Vegas.
Our convention
was so cool this year with lots of fun announcements. Even though I have a dumb phone, I am excited
about the new Ap for the iPhone and Droids that will be coming out soon that
will allow you to use SendOutCards to do cards and even attach gifts right from
your phone. I have several customers who
use mainly the iPad so this will make things easier for them. And, someday I will get an iPhone or
Smartphone. Now, even our back offices
will be accessible by the phone. But
what I like about going to convention is to get a feeling for the company and
the leadership of SendOutCards. I also
like to hear people speak who come from different backgrounds in life. My favorite emphasis from convention was the
30 Days of Gratitude Challenge. I love
it.
I loved being
around the boys. They always make things
so comfortable at the house. Aaron had
lots of yard projects going and I didn’t even get to help with that. We had time to go eat dinner at Morty’s TV
shop in between sessions. He has made
several nice changes. We didn’t get over
to Nate’s pool though. We go to Las Vegas again in
September for Aaron and Dad’s Century (PLUS)
bike ride and to go to Wicked with Nate.
Nate has season tickets again this year to the Broadway Show Events like
Beauty and Beast, West Side Story, etc so he got extra tickets for Wicked for
us.
Nate came over
on Sunday and we had an early birthday celebration for him. On his last visit to
Oregon he
decided that maybe he needed to upgrade from using a back pack type travel bag
to a small carry-on so his clothes don’t get so wrinkled since he travels for
work on some speaking assignments occasionally.
His next speaking assignment is this week. They are putting him a room in the Montage at
Laguna Beach
for two nights. His siblings were trying
to figure out reasons to get down there to get a chance to see the inside of a
hotel that costs $800.00 a night for a
stay! Katie has tickets to the
Price is Right in Burbank
but decided not to go and I think Morty is meeting up with Nate but after the
conference at the Montage is already over.
Sunhee is here
right now and is SO excited for Nate to see his birthday card from her and
Meeja. She spent a long time grabbing
images from the internet to add to his card!
It is a funny one about something which Nate jokes around. She and Meeja have an incredible memory for
detail. They were talking about a
special way of saying “peel” for a Banana-grams game during a visit with some
of what Sunhee termed, Katie’s bug friends, and then named them all! Amazing!)
We had a nice
and relaxing Father’s Day celebration here.
Dad and I both taught lessons; his in Primary and mine in Gospel
Essentials. Right after church we
traveled to Salem
to visit Scott. It was great to be there
on Father’s Day and especially that they opened up the outdoor tables so we
could be outside with him. He is doing
well and working hard on his exercise goals.
He is the only “white” guy on the volleyball team that he joined and is
enjoying that sport now. He continues to
be a strength to the new men that join the branch services on Saturday mornings
and Institute on Sunday evenings. He loves receiving any mail to hear how you
are doing.
We came back to Beaverton to prepare
dinner for Dad, four missionaries and Grandma.
We had almost the exact menu of grilled sweet potatoes, vegetables, and
chicken, bratwurst and tri-tip that we enjoyed in Las Vegas at Aaron’s home. Dad wanted it almost duplicated plus banana
splits for dessert. Grandma added the
tri-tip idea and the missionaries loved that. It all came together very well. Father’s
Day was also Blake’s birthday so sometime, some year, Blake’s dad gets to
celebrate that day with his son. I think
Aunt Denise was born on Father’s Day; that would be a nice treat!
The Brady family
was in St George over Father’s Day weekend.
Bill was there for work; I am not sure if he was speaking at a
conference or attending it. He gets
asked to speak a lot also. They made a
fun time of his working assignment. Some
day, I would like to get to St. George.
I went one time in college but that was a few years ago.
Last week Dad
and I drove down to Albany
for Alina’s Eighth Grade Graduation ceremonies.
She also was presented with lots of awards. She left the day after school was out for her
trip to Washington DC. I
am anxious to hear all about it. Her
itinerary was very full.
While Sunny and
Meeja have been here it has been a little rainy so we have played lots of games. I heard about a new game from one of my
friends, Ticket to Ride, so I picked one up.
We all LOVE it! The girls went
with Grandma Maldonado to Big Al’s to bowl, then lunch at the mall by her condo
and then frozen yogurt. They really get
treated well at Grandma Maldonado’s.
They also spent the night with her one night since Dad and I wanted an
early start for our last training swim at Hagg Lake. We were supposed to ride our bikes again but
it was raining and our main concern we had was getting used to how cold Hagg Lake
is so we just swam. It was our third and
best time there. We traversed an inlet
of the lake and that felt like an accomplishment. Last week, when we practiced at Hagg Lake,
the sun was shinning and the water feels much warmer and not as creepy when
there is sun on the lake.
On Saturday of
their visit, we spent time at a ballpark after many years of a break from
that. Sunhee is on a tournament softball
team and they were playing in West Linn. She is a good little player and works hard
the entire game as the catcher. Meeja expended energy running the track next to
the ball field. I remember lots of years
of trying to keep younger siblings occupied and dry through the many hours at
the ball ballpark.
I was on the
radio again with the Hillsboro Chamber president this week! It went well.
Since I was on not long ago talking about SendOutCards, this time I
spoke mainly about appreciation marketing and also the 30 Days of Gratitude
Challenge. I hope it is some
exposure. I have a new webpage for the 30 Days of Gratitude Challenge; this is the link, enjoy! This week I have a 3 minute
spotlight at a Hillsboro Chamber ribbon cutting event and am presenting something
similar during a training I am doing with a bunch of practitioners from a
business of one of my distributor’s.
Most of the practitioners are a little woo-woo in their offerings but
still, they need to stay connected of course!
David Westhora is back in our ward for a
short time until they move to Arizona. He got a teaching job there and will live by
William Bradford! David is substituting
in Sunday School which is great. He is a
very good teacher and it is just fun observing him being an adult! I wish that he and Nate could have matched
their schedules while Nate was visiting this last time. Now, since he will live in Arizona, the chances will be slim.
Marilyn
Shayegi is a great Relief Society teacher and I was able to attend all my adult
meeting yesterday. Her lesson was on a
talk from the Young Women’s broadcast by President Monson, Believe, Obey and Endure. I loved one paragraph in particular:
“I have spoken over the years with many individuals who have told me,
“I have so many problems, such real concerns. I’m overwhelmed with the
challenges of life. What can I do?” I have offered to them, and I now offer to
you, this specific suggestion: seek heavenly guidance one day at a time. Life
by the yard is hard; by the inch it’s a cinch. Each of us can be true for just
one day—and then one more and then one more after that—until we’ve lived a
lifetime guided by the Spirit, a lifetime close to the Lord, a lifetime of good
deeds and righteousness. The Savior promised, “Look unto me, and endure to the
end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give
eternal life.”
Dad
and I leave this week for Clovis
to attend Aunt Carla’s “Boot Camp” to get us on track for the Lake Berryessa Triathlon. And I realize when I say triathlon it sounds
huge but it is really, now that I am more aware of the lingo, a triathlon
SPRINT!!!
All my love to
you, Love, Mom
Have a wonderful Fourth of July!!!
