Dear Children,
The two birthday weeks of March were fun for us.
Since we had seen the Brady family earlier in the month and all of the Oregon grandchildren over Spring Break, we hoped that we
could make a quick dash to Martinez
for Easter Sunday to be with Shawn and Aubrey's family. It was a BIG hope since
it was Easter weekend and as it ended up, the flight's did all fill up. So, we
planned a trip for next week and are happy that we can be there for one of
Gregory's Little League games. He will be so fun to watch!
Kyre, Alina, Adam and Klaire came up for the
beginning of Spring Break. Alina had a softball game on Friday so they came up
on the train on Saturday morning. Did I tell you that Alina tried out for high
school softball team and is the only freshman on the JV team! Unfortunately,
she hurt her shoulder so she can't play up to her potential right now. We get
to see her play in Woodburn in a couple of weeks.
While they were here we went ice skating, went to
the zoo and went to the movies. We played several ping pong tournaments and
tons of board games of course. We have them all hooked on our game, Ticket to
Ride! After they left I received a wonderful report from the Deacon's Quorum
leader saying that he enjoyed having Adam in his class on Sunday describing
Adam as insightful. In sacrament, a new sister spoke. Having played college
softball, she used a sports analogy about forgiveness. She explained that in
baseball, a player with a 300 batting average is a good player. That means that
they are missing more times than they are hitting the ball. Her dad once told
her that you have to have a bad memory when you are up to bat; not reminding
yourself of all the times you strike out. She related that to forgiving
ourselves.
We celebrated Dad and Klaire's birthday on Sunday.
Alina wanted to replicate Katie's famous strawberry cupcakes but, being Spring
Break, it was hard to reach Katie. She worked long hours at the airport. Alina
made them up and they were fabulous!
Kyre and the children left on Tuesday night and Dad
picked up Sunhee and Meeja on Wednesday morning. Again, we played lots of ping
pong matches, basketball games, rode bicycles, lots of board games and saw the
new baby elephant and the flamingos at the zoo. We also decorated Easter eggs.
Meeja and Sunhee went home on Saturday so they could be home to celebrate
Easter.
As I stated, we ended up being home on Easter so we
made the traditional ham and funeral potatoes at Katie's request. She was able
to come for Easter dinner. We went to Grandma's for dessert as she wasn't
feeling well enough to come for dinner but didn't want to miss seeing Katie.
We have a wonderful garden full of tulips this
year. Dad replanted fresh bulbs for this season and we have more than I can
ever remember in a gorgeous array of colors. Dad has been giving them away
right and left. Everyone loves them. We have been able to have fresh flowers in
the home for weeks. He even brought a full bouquet down to put in front of the
TV during general conference saying that we needed to have flowers below the
“podium” like the conference center!
I was at an event all day on the Saturday of
general conference so I haven't yet gone through all those recordings. I sure
miss not hearing all the Saturday messages in order which usually helps me
remember who said what. This conference I heard several references to giving
our family and loved ones our priority and the need to take a break from being
connected from technology. From our experience during the cruise I can personally
say that a total disconnection from technology is like a rejuvenating Sabbath,
a regular and needed change from our daily routine . . . so refreshing!!! I
loved the talk from Rosemary Wixom reminding us that we all can be a good
influence to children by allowing them to hear encouraging words often. Her
message relating to how we treat children could be general life lessons of our
treatment of everyone. I loved the close of her talk when she used a story from
many years back about the man in captivity who was finally allowed to send a
message to his family of 25 words after much time away from his family. She
asked us to think about what we would say in 25 words. This exercise helps us
think about what are the most important things to us.
There were great talks on marriage which reminded
us that marriage is a gift from God and our gift to God is the quality of our
marriage. I liked the reminder that obedience is liberating and needed to be
reminded to give Church volunteers a break since God only has imperfect humans
with which to work in leading His gospel. I also like Neil Anderson's visual to
“paint” a missionary badge on our hearts as we invite people to learn of Christ
and to come back and see once more. All in all I loved how most of the messages
directed us to loving others.
With conference fresh in my memory, I especially
enjoyed our Easter gift from Grandma, Les Miserables on DVD. Dad and I had
never gone to the theaters while it was playing. We had seen it a couple of
times on stage but we loved following the movie on screen with the ability to
follow the story through each person's role more accurately on the screen. We
were both riveted through the entire movie! At the end was the message from
conference again, “To love another person is to see the face of God.”
I heard a great presentation from a woman who helps
people love their work or transition to new work. The lessons are also helpful
life lessons. She said to embrace difficult conversations. She asked, “What is
the impact of continuing to not have an important but difficult conversation?”
She teaches a great job skill: that being to know what your manager is measured
by and let them know you are there to make them look good saying occasionally,
“What could I do to make you more successful today?”
It is hard to believe that this year could be
screaming by as fast as last year. I already have a feeling of a pit in my
stomach as I anticipate figuring the food for Girls Camp in June. I need to add
some warmer dishes to the menus since we will be in a colder part of Washington (by the Puget Sound)
earlier in the summer. We are expecting some rainy days.
The
family April birthday weeks started today with a visit to Scott. He looks good
and was successful running a marathon last weekend. He asked for a blessing
from his Branch President as he has a court date scheduled for Thursday to
bring up his defense for not understanding his plea bargain. Please keep him in
our prayers.
We will be in Oakland
this weekend and then Heidi comes right after we return next week. Dad and I
may head to Seattle
over the next weekend but return to celebrate Katie’s birthday Sunday evening.
We talked with Aaron whose birthday is next Saturday. He just may come to Beaverton for a good
portion of the summer if Dad has enough work to give him part time work while
he works on some computer projects. I have a lot of computer projects myself
with which I could use his help!
It will be May before we know it. Dad and I still
hope to get in enough training to be in a bike ride in Clovis in the middle of May. Our convention
is in Salt Lake City
this year at the end of May and then Girls Camp is around the comer starting
June 17. Yikes! Summer is here before we know it.
We love you and look forward to anytime to be with
you. Love, Mom
