Dear Children,
April 17th, that is when I last wrote a
family newsletter! Or, at least that is the last record I have of writing and
saving a family update. I knew it had been awhile but didn't realize it had
been that long. I will try and catch you up. This is going to either be VERY
long or very vague!
May is a blur. We started with a visit from
Adrianne. While here, we had a baby shower. Deciding to play one game, Adrianne
came up with a clever one. We melted different candy bars (chocolate with nuts
variety mostly) and put them in disposable diapers. The game was to guess the
candy bar by smelling and even tasting with toothpicks. The game got quite a
reaction! The following weekend there was a family baby shower in Utah which was perfect
timing for me since I was there for the rest of the month of May!
One of my college roommates got married for the
first time and held an open house in Utah at the beginning of May and then Dad
and I had SendOutCards convention at the end of May so, without the benefit of
flight privileges and the fact that I can do my business anywhere, I decided to
make it an extended trip. Staying that amount of time allowed me to help
Adrianne with some of her pre-Bennett projects which was fun. Why is it so much
more fun tackling projects at someone else's home when I have the same needs at
out home? I tackled lots of weeding and yard projects with their plan to
simplify their large yard. Heidi had given her tons of William's clothes so we
also organized them by size. With that and the many gifts that she received,
Bennett will be a well dressed boy!
I was there for Mother’s Day so Heidi went all out
for Mother’s Day dinner having her special day to relax the next week! Shawn’s
family , Morty and Katie were all there as well and of course Blake and
Adrianne.
I was able to stay a few days with Grandma Bitter
and Natalie's family. Natalie has done so much with Grandma's garden that the
only project left was weeding the rose garden. I think I still have scars from
previous years of fighting those rose bushes but it was rewarding to find
something I could do to help Grandma and Natalie.
Thanks to Nate's extra flight points that were
about to expire and Katie's connections to make them work for me, I was able to
fly for a short visit to Las Vegas during my Utah stay. I stayed with
Aaron and Morty but spent a day with Katie to see her work and new place, help
her with some moving in and catch up with Nate as well. I must admit that when
we drove up to Aaron's home, I was impressed and RELIEVED that he re-landscaped
his yard. It looked beautiful and it meant that I wouldn't be doing any weeding
or trimming! My hands were already numb from overdoing the gardening in Utah, even though I do
love doing it.
Dad drove to join me in Utah for the SendOutCards convention. It was
a ton of fun and I loved the new day they added where we were able to have an
interactive area to see the new announcements. I am learning the sharing
platform called Sendcere where I can find cards that other creative people
share and use them myself. The best part is that my customers, from all
different industries, can also do that now so they don't have to be creative
themselves. This is one more piece towards the newest announcement of our
Global API plug in where any CRM will be able to send cards from SendOutCards
without moving contacts. The implications are AMAZING so that they can not only
track client contacts but now send a card right from the business's own
system!!! I hope that you will all help us as you all know businesses who need
to do better at relationship marketing (with the emphasis on relationships)!
And . . . now I am also able to send cards from my phone!!! We keep getting
better and better!
After our drive home, my main focus was ordering
and buying the food for Girls Camp and creating my daily spreadsheet for our
six volunteers. We were at a new camp so we had to get used to the kitchen. It
was a good year; I had a great crew and the food turned out well. I also stayed
the entire week to the surprise of all who knew Adrianne was due two days
before camp was starting!
Bennett Paul waited until Wednesday, June 25 to
arrive weighing in at 9 pounds 5 ounces and 20.5 inches, the exact weight and length
of Adrianne. Because he had to finally be delivered by Caesarian Section, she
was in the hospital longer so I arrived the night before she came home from the
hospital. Adrianne is a great little mom. It was fun to be of any help to her
that I could and holding Bennett any chance I could.
Since Bennett came a lot later than we expected
extending my stay close to the Fourth of July, Dad traded a Buddy Pass from
Katie's friend, Jake, for a Seahawks jersey and came to Utah for the holiday.
Katie and Aaron drove up from Las
Vegas to see Bennett and be there for the Fourth as well. We were also able to meet up with the Brady family and join in with their July 4th traditions.
The days sped past in between our Baby Bennett
visit and then our July-August road trip. We were gone almost three weeks. Boy,
I wish we could retire! We started with Shawn's family for his birthday. Dad
joined Shawn and the boys at the race track in Sonoma. This year they looked crazy wearing
swim goggles so they could get close to the exhaust and not have burning eyes
and nose! After race day, Shawn and Aubrey left for their trip to Texas so we watched the
boys for a couple of days and then left for Tahoe. I would love to have a
family reunion in Tahoe; it is so beautiful there. We enjoyed floating in the
lake, going on a boat tour and walking in town. We thoroughly enjoyed it and
would love to have some family with us next time. 
After Tahoe we drove to the Brady's to be there in
time for Heidi and Bill to go to a work retreat. We enjoyed playing at their
community pool. On that same weekend, Dad rode the Hotter than Heck Century
around Utah Lake with Uncle Jerry. The children and
I met him at the finish line and Bennett and Adrianne came out as well to ring
their cow bell! We stayed in Daybreak a couple more days after Heidi and Bill
returned. On Sunday evening we had dinner and campfire at Bill's Big Man Camp
in the American Fork Canyon.
We went down to spend a few more days in Eagle Mountain
with the Seversons. Grandma Maldonado and Morty came into town at that same
time, we attended Dad's 50th high school reunion in Orem
and then drove home to Oregon
to go back to work!
Since walking in Salt Lake City one day with sandals instead
of sturdy shoes for the amount of walking and stair climbing that we ended up
doing, I have not been able to get back to my exercising and regular pace with
my right foot. After x-rays and other medical guesses, my last treatment was
wearing a boot for six weeks. Didn't work. I am starting physical therapy this
week and some chiropractic visits for the other problems caused by wearing the
boot for six weeks! I have got to be able to step without pain again.
We had a fun visit in Sweet Home and then in Albany to visit the
grandchildren. We look forward to their Thanksgiving visit and then Meeja and
Sunhee's pre-Christmas visit in early December when they will help us create
and deliver neighbor and friend gifts. Or, maybe we will wait and do that when
Adrianne and Bennett arrive. At least Meeja and Sunhee will be able to see
Bennett for a few minutes; we will pick them up from the airport before taking
them home Sunday night.
We returned to Utah for Bennett's blessing the second week
of September. It was a fast but great family weekend. We are getting used to
driving again. Well, Dad still does most of the driving!
We have had some great visits with Scott. He has
some huge goals to meet for his exercising mileage with quite a bit left to go
before the new year. He enjoys his work in the Branch there and is staying
healthy.
Finally, Dad's work has become busy probably since
we had a beautiful fall. We hope to save enough in just these last weeks of
work to get us through the winter! The hurricane in Cabo changed our plans to
spend a week in Mexico
but we had used expiring Worldmark points so we had to rebook something. I
think it was a relief for Dad since he had just become busy with work. Grandma,
Aunt Carla and I spent a few days in Indio
enjoying the warmth and the lazy river there. It was a very relaxing vacation!
I am in full steam ahead for the holidays right now
and have already had fun with two Holiday Card Workshops where my attendees
just laugh at my enthusiasm and excitement for SendOutCards. I am thrilled to
say that I already had my Christmas card done in October!!!
I skimmed through describing our last few months so
I could start fresh during these holidays. I am sorry if I missed telling
something special about having fun with any of you. We have a lot of changes
happening in our family. I hope that you are enjoying a beautiful fall season
and are looking forward to the wonderful holidays ahead!
We love you, Mom and Dad
