February 13, 2011

Dear Children,

We are in Utah again as was the case the last time I wrote (which was a while ago I admit)! This time Morty gave us the crazy notion to stop overnight in Las Vegas to celebrate his birthday. We feel so honored that he would suggest that to us. What a fun idea! And, all the while we realize what a huge privilege that we have through Katie to be able to fly and connect with all of you. We are so grateful.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MORTY!!!

Today is Morty’s birthday; big 33. As we were joking last night as we were laughing about some Jimmer Fredette mania happening in Provo, he is Jimmer plus 1!He was kind enough to get up at 6:15 on his birthday to shuttle us to the airport. He provided great service even informing us of our gate number and its location from security with a few tricks to get around the crowds. We learned last night when he looked up our chances of getting on our standby flight this morning that had only 4 seats available for 16 standby passengers, that Sunday is a difficult day to get out of Las Vegas on standby. He rerouted through a flight first to Reno and then onto Salt Lake. The late night nonstop to Salt Lake was very open but then we would have missed Jena’s family birthday party (her birthday is this Friday).

We had a fun visit with the boys last night. They all have a unique sense of humor and keep us smiling. It was very refreshing to me to be there. Aaron picked us up a the airport and then we met Morty and Aaron at a beautiful new resort called M not far from their home. We went to dinner at a very tasty restaurant known for its home cooking style and huge servings. We all shared a few entrees and took a HEAVY take-out bag home afterwards. I made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting and the boys and Dad all enjoyed warm cake dripping with thick chocolate frosting at midnight as we sang happy birthday to Morty. We slept, not long enough, in their beautiful guest room. They have it fixed up so comfortably.

I don’t know where to start this letter as I really do not remember much about the last few weeks. Dad and I did travel to Utah in mid January to help Heidi with some of her packing. They were blessed to be able to find renters for their town home so that they could move into their friend’s home who will be on an eighteen month mission. For that period of time they will have more space and a yard! We are so thrilled for them and especially the girls to be able to play in their own yard. The new place is just down about a block from where they were. We are excited to see it.

We were hoping to get in on a family night deal at Sundance ski resort while we were there in January but they weather was not good enough; it was raining at the resort. We haven’t skied at all this year and our usual anniversary trip to Timberline will be replaced with celebrating our anniversary at the open house in Hughson. Maybe we can hope for some late snows this March like a couple of years ago, just as long as the weatherman gives us a beautiful last weekend in February!

We did more wedding planning in Utah in January and made some interactive TO-DO lists to alleviate some of the stress of one person remembering everything that must be done. Blake and Adrianne have made several documents that need to be watched closely, like the wedding budget, into Google documents so we can all view and update them. This has been very helpful. I heard someone refer to Adrianne’s sit down dinner reception as extravagant and I thought how little they knew about the power of careful and creative planning with a lot of leg work. I know that we have accomplished this wedding with a smaller budget than most of our friends have put on a reception at the church.

Most of our weeks since that earlier Utah trip have been focused around wedding details. Dad hasn’t had any concrete work so he has been able to help more than usual. I think that he has made more dinners in the past month than our entire married years; it has been very nice for me. Dad is starting to do more bids now so the spring is looking more positive. We don’t expect that the business will ever be the same again since the builders are just not as active anymore but we have received a good amount of referral business from previous customers for homeowner work by using our SendOutCards business to help market the concrete business. It is nice that we have that reference as we show other businesses the incredible tool that it can also be to business. Through the wedding planning, I have tried to stay as active as possible with SOC to keep the momentum going. I have a couple of distributors that have also made goals for their own that has boasted my business. I LOVE the fact that I can be working on the wedding part of the day and my business is still growing elsewhere!

Morty came for a Blazer weekend just shortly after we returned and we met one of his cute friends Abby. She is from Cannon Beach. She is also a fun game player and was very wiling to learn some new ones. He got in a couple of Blazer games and was gone again. While he was here, Dad and I went to a meeting in Seattle. We flew there in the morning and returned that afternoon; SO COOL! We rented a car and it cost us so much less to do it that way. Thank you Katie again.

My annual girl’s weekend with my previous Young Women group was at the end of January. It was so nice. We played tons of games, ate, walked on the beach, ate shopped, ate, talked and laughed, ate and just had wonderful time together. We all look forward to the break each year; it is rejuvenating. I didn’t completely put a halt to the wedding planning while there as I brought some things to brainstorm with them. It was at the beach that we designed our “bargain” centerpieces.

Our family had two big moves this month with Heidi and Bill’s move to 11491 Wexford Way with their city and zip code staying the same. Heidi also received a new calling in her ward Relief Society as the Second Counselor. That will keep the Brady family moving at a fast pace. Shawn and Aubrey’s family moved into the apartment complex that many of their friends live at 143 Virginia Hills #C keeping the same city and zip code also. They have been watching for an opening there in a particular spot and then Aubrey luckily heard it through visiting teaching before anyone else knew. She is going to fix it up so cute; she sent me one of her pictures. We are anxious to see it. We just might be able to on our way home from Adrianne’s open house if we don’t fly. We are planning on driving since we will have all the unopened gifts to take down for them to open the day after the open house. But, we would love to fly; it would be cheaper and easier of course. So, we are going to try and send some boxes of gifts home (pack them up right there after the reception) with some of the Severson’s returning to California. We can’t send any with Shawn and Aubrey since they are flying Alaska and have to pay for luggage.

Adrianne came home the first weekend of February for a special shower given by her good friend and mentor, Sharon Gueck, for all of her Cheveaux Training Stables family. They planned a very nice event for Adrianne and included some of the friends that she grew up with. After the shower her best friends of the group took her on an overnighter to a spa resort and treated her to a very relaxing time.

We have had a couple of days of nice weather this week, which gives us hope of a beautiful weather day next Saturday . . . hope, hope! One gorgeous day the sun was shinning and the birds were singing and it even smelled like spring was not too far off. When the sun is shinning, it makes even the grays and the browns look more beautiful. Dad was at the temple for a bid and the daffodils, heather and even early rhododendrons are in bloom. Yes! Oddly enough, Dad is working on a summertime bid, during the closure, for the bride’s door. The brides and grooms no longer exit from the main doors of the temple. They go out one of the lower doors so there is not so much congestion and they want to make that area where people now need to wait, more beautiful.

Lately, I have been catching up on my important reading by walking at the gym instead of outside. There is a book slot and I am happy to say that I think this is the first month that I have finished the whole Ensign in the very month that it was received. I know that sounds crazy since I should be able to accomplish that in any given month. So I hope to keep that going. I feel so lifted when I leave the gym after having just exercised AND read something uplifting. You all know me well enough to know that I do not LIKE exercising but like the feeling after the fact. Reading something uplifting while walking takes my mind off of what I am doing. It is great! Right now I am reading a book called The Single Voice by Kristin Oaks. It is SO good; I would suggest it to everyone. I felt odd buying it but my good friend, Jeannena, suggested it to me saying that her thoughts in the book are great suggestions for everyone.

My last institute class was so good. It seems that lately, as soon as I get close to arriving at class, I get a phone call that I need to take and it keeps me from attending. This week we discussed Elder Holland’s general conference message. We played a Mormon Messages video clip called, Good Things to Come, depicting a message from one of his talks awhile back (about the young family driving across country in a car that kept stopping and needing repairs in the same spot just outside of their departure city). It was very moving. I would suggest that to everyone also! His message was: Don’t quit; don’t give up. For those who love and follow the Lord, it will be alright. There are more good things to come.

Trust God and believe in His power to help you live fulfilled lives and return to Him. As I told my Primary children last week, it is absolutely amazing to think that we all have the Godhead rooting and pulling for us to live so that we may be happy and fulfilled and return to them.

I love you and am so happy that we will be together in a couple of weeks to celebrate and support Adrianne and Blake on their wonderful day.

Love, Mom

January 11. 2011

Dear Children,

We are traveling back from Albany tonight. We have two birthdays to celebrate this weekend in our family: Gregory turns four and Alina thirteen! Since we will be in Utah for the next week, we drove down to take Alina to dinner and have her open her birthday gift. I was wishing I could have her up here for her birthday so we could practice with one of her gifts, a decorating set. She is a good little baker and enjoys making cupcakes so she will have fun with this. She is having some friends spend the night on Friday and then on her birthday, she has a church basketball game. Her ward has a women’s basketball team, most of them Beehives. She said it is so much fun since most of the girls have never played basketball before. We haven’t heard any plans about Gregory’s birthday but did you see the picture of Bryson’s new hair cut? No curls; he looks like a little man!

It is always a delight to be with Alina. We went to Red Robin and she ordered a burger that she could hardly get her mouth around. She is taking half of it to school tomorrow for lunch. That is, if they have school . . . the BIG storm is supposed to come!!!

Big storm! We rushed back for an appointment I had with the florist to finalize pricing so I knew how much was left to create 18 low cost centerpieces (not using a florist for that many flowers!) and learned it was cancelled due to freezing rain. The florist lives minutes from my home. I was not happy. In fact I started to feel like I was going to lose it like George Banks in Father of the Bride. I had already cried much of the way down to Albany out of sheer frustration. Today, few people were coming through with the simplest tasks I have asked of them. No one seems to be on a deadline except me and everyone seems to think I should help them remember their assignments even when I have asked for so little help.

My George Banks moment came when I ran into Albertsons since the roads were NOT the treacherous obstacles that caused everyone to hole up. I just needed some frozen shrimp that was on sale this week and we are leaving town early Thursday morning; my tomorrow being packed with preparations to leave with additional deadlines due to being away for a week. I originally had only planned to be gone a few days. When I ran to the frozen section and found only one bag of shrimp for the BUY ONE GET ONE special I thought I would start crying right then and there. Luckily, I found some more in another freezer or I think I would have let out a blood cuddling scream; the one I have suppressed all day long.

The shrimp represents my frustrations over this silly diet (oh excuse me, lifestyle change) that I have been on since the week before Thanksgiving. I am getting sick of it! OK, so I wasn’t going to tell anyone because I am embarrassed that I am out of control enough to have succumbed to the desperation of one of those crazy diets that you pay a terrible price to eat unreal prepackaged, forever preserved, dehydrated, powdered substances in the form of chalky shakes, freeze dried soups and “delicious” bars of soy (Hey, maybe that is what is tipping me over with all those female hormones in the soy but, maybe that is an old wives tale. HA!). Today all I can say is yuck. Well, maybe it is not actually forever preserved food as I have tried some of a friend’s old food to try and save a buck or two since Dad hasn’t worked since Thanksgiving. It was hard for me to get used to the taste of eating preserved food and then I introduced myself to the added pleasantry of eating old preserved food. Maybe that is why I am “slightly” cranky right now. Anyway, to look on the bright side of things, I am losing a lot of weight. I wonder how much my mind weighs since I am certainly losing that!

Well, there you have it: My update for the week so I may leave for Utah with a clean slate on the family newsletter home front.

I forgot to mention that Morty was in Phoenix for the championship football game. He called to have me record KOIN TV since he is on it. How does he get on TV so often; hey, he should be home selling them!!!! I did see him on TV talking to me on his cell phone at that very moment. But when I get time, I need to rewind it to some point to see his more than one minute of fame, live from the Dick game. Too bad they had to lose such a disappointing loss.

I love you. Promise, next newsletter will be more upbeat! No pictures this time since we left our camera in Albany at the Red Robin. I hope someone is honest there and put it aside. Too bad as there were some cute ones of Alina! I am putting my body to rest for a better tomorrow. In the middle of it all is a funeral in Hillsboro for Lori Kygier’s husband. He was in his 30’s; diagnosed with brain cancer this year. Love, Mom

January 4, 2011

“Because of the Savior’s birth, life and Atonement, there are no unsolvable problems. There are temporary tragedies and difficulties, of course, but they need not be permanent or unconquerable. Can you imagine anyone having a problem that God cannot solve? . . .

The Atonement is the vehicle to solve life’s major problems. With the Atonement, God puts us in the driver’s seat of our divine destiny, provided we follow His will.” Elder Tad R. Callister December Ensign

Dear Children,

What a Christmas season this has been. With baby Jack’s passing, the birth and subsequent life and Atonement of Jesus Christ held so much more meaning this year. While I ache for the sorrow and emptiness felt by everyone in the missed opportunity to hold and raise that darling baby boy, I love the knowledge of Heidi and Bill’s temple sealing to know that this little boy is part of our family forever. Such a perfect baby boy lay in the miniature little casket, it seemed to me he only needed to open his eyes.

Dad and I felt so lucky to be able to join with the Brady family and many other Payne and Bitter family members at John Robert’s graveside in Provo. Morty also traveled to Utah with us. Thank you Katie for the flight privilege! She had hoped to go but couldn’t get all of her shift covered. It was a perfect day. Dad gave the family prayers and Heidi shared her feelings about Jack being such a gift to their family. Bill dedicated the grave. It was a very sacred experience.

Early in the week our holiday celebrations included time in Seaside with the family that was here early for Christmas. The trip was strategically placed in between holiday Trailblazer games. We tried our hand at crabbing off of the bridge but had no luck. Dad and I will have to practice our crabbing skills by going to the coast more often. We played a ton of games and ate equally that much food. Grandma and Katie joined us for the first night but Katie had a heavy work schedule with holiday travel so they returned early.

We all gathered back in Beaverton in time for Christmas Eve day and planned an early evening for Bryson and Gregory. We added shrimp cocktail to our traditional clam chowder and spinach salad dinner which I think we should keep each year. Adrianne added the most delicious smelling homemade rolls which is another keeper if we get to have her for Christmas next year! Gregory was so cute to leave cookies for Santa by our fireplace. And then, surprise, we found some time for more game playing before we headed to bed so Santa could visit.

Aaron came in late Christmas Eve so Katie brought him home from the airport and guess what; they opened their Christmas Eve gift also. Morty and Aubrey were campaigning to open all the gifts so Katie wouldn’t have to miss it! Luckily for all of us purists, Katie reminded us that it was not Christmas yet! Katie had a 12 hour day on Christmas so we got up earlier than we normally would have so she could see what Santa brought her, eat breakfast with us and then open up her other gifts. The rest of our day was fairly relaxed and our gift opening lasted surprisingly quite a while. It was a fun filled but also relaxing day.

The rest of the holidays were spent playing lots of games and doing a lot of eating. With the food carts getting so popular in Portland, most everyone wanted to try several of them and there was also a stop at VooDoo Doughnuts of course to be reminded of the famous motto of our fair city, “Keep Portland Weird”! I preferred the stop during the holidays for warm doughnut holes at Sesame Doughnuts!

Except for not getting to the Encore fireside, I think we did just about everything we had hoped over the holiday. Christina Brandt held a benefit concert for Risa Whitaker. The doctors have turned Risa over to an organization that helps families prepare for death while Risa has been trying some alternative medicines and feelings some strength, having better days. The concert was fabulous. Christina is ready to go back to school as a continuing voice student after having her TMJ jaw surgery this fall so the concert was a validation that she is ready. It was beautiful. When she sang “Think of Me” from the Phantom my mind went to Nate as a very young boy. Phantom had come to town and we took some of the older children. In his school assignment to draw something for which he was thankful, he drew ears and labeled it: “I am thankful for ears to hear Phantom of the Opera.”

We were able to say goodbye to the Dougall’s over the holidays. They left this week for their mission in Washington D.C. Their son will live in the home while they are gone.

We played games on New Year’s Eve at the Stangers with the Waltons from Summerlake Ward. We took Grandma with us. She wasn’t going to go at the last minute since she didn’t want to stay late but we convinced her to go for an hour promising that we would take her home. We kept asking if she wanted to go home all night. She lasted until 3:00am! We broke our rule of not starting Progressive Rummy after 11:00pm!

So, I AM the reigning ping pong champion of 2011 of our ping pong table. Before we put up the ping pong table, Dad and I played a 2 out of 3 match for the championship. Hopefully, next item you all visit; the table will not be covered with projects so you may try your hand at beating me! HA!

Have a great week and DO YOUR BEST! I love you, Mom

December 21, 2010

Dear Family,

What a mixture of feelings it has been this past week with everyone starting to come home to be together to celebrate Christmas and also the passing of baby Jack. We are looking forward to flying to Utah for the graveside service this Thursday at 1:00 at the Provo Cemetery. Thanks to Katie’s benefits and Morty and Katie’s sleuthing for some flights that might have a couple of extra seats right before Christmas, Dad and I are so happy to be able to be with Heidi and Bill for this special time; scared time.

On Friday, Heidi went into her regular doctor check up but because the doctor could not hear a heartbeat, she was sent to the hospital for further tests. She learned there that her baby was no longer living. He had just been moving the very night before when Blake and Adrianne were visiting. She of course was devastated; we all are. Being a month from his delivery date, she needed to be prepared to deliver him. The hospital told her that she and Bill could go home to explain to the girls what was going on and then come back to the hospital for the delivery in the afternoon, warning her that the delivery could take a long time since her body was not ready yet. Before leaving the hospital, they gave her a drug to start the process.

On their way to pick up Rebekah at school Heidi started hemorrhaging so they rushed her back to the hospital where she received a blessing and the hemorrhaging miraculously stopped so that she did not need an emergency Caesarean. They kept her there and started another drug to start contractions so she would deliver Jack. He was finally delivered at 2:25 am Saturday morning. The hospital allowed them to keep him for many hours so they could say goodbye to him. Heidi told us that he has a perfect body and just looks like he is ready to wake up. He was 18 inches long and 5 pounds 2 ounces (not much smaller than Rebekah).

There is a service in the Salt Lake Area, “Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep”, that comes to the hospital to take pictures of families with still born children and make plaster casts of his feet and hands. The family that was babysitting the girls woke the girls up at 3:00am so that they could go to the hospital to see Jack. The girls were quiet and loving; the nurses were amazed at their behavior. Heidi said it was a very sacred and spiritual experience. After the girls went back to the friend’s home, Bill said that they could feel Jack’s spirit and knew he was a mature spirit. Bill held his little boy until the mortician came in the early afternoon to take him.

As we look back, there were many miracles associated with this tragedy. They found out that Baby Jack bled to death when his umbilical cord ruptured from the membrane. Actually, the connection was very weak since his cord was uniquely attached to the membrane and not the placenta. In most cases like this, after the baby bleeds out, the mother starts bleeding unknowingly. We feel very lucky that Heidi’s regular appointment was right when this was happening, although it was not diagnosed before she left the hospital. But it sounds like the drug they gave her before leaving the hospital caused enough pressure that it forced that internal hemorrhaging out of her body so they knew to go back to save Heidi. We feel very blessed.

Sacred is the word that I keep associating with all these feelings. When the Primary children sang the words from the song, Picture A Christmas, “Picture a stable in Judea. Picture a sacred, silent night.” my mind was picturing the sacred, silent night that Heidi and Bill had just experienced in the hours after John Robert’s delivery. I know the veil was thin and his spirit was close as he wanted to comfort his dear mother and gentle father in their pain. What a meaning this gives to our Christmas as we realize if not for the Savior’s birth and subsequent mission fulfilled in the Atonement, our little baby Jack would be gone forever instead of ours forever. How grateful I am to know without a doubt that these things are true and I have a loving Heavenly Father who with His Son, created a wonderful Plan of Happiness so my family can be together forever. What comfort this gives to me.

Another tender mercy of this past weekend was the fact that Shawn, Aubrey and the boys were driving from California at just the right moment that they could stop and send Shawn in to visit with Scott for a few minutes so he could be told of the news in person. Family news such as this is so hard for him to bear all alone.

On a light note, on their trip up here, Shawn’s family stopped overnight in Medford and went to the Harry and David store there before leaving town. They noticed a Santa and real reindeer there and went over only to be filmed on camera and broadcast that night on Medford’s local news as the one child interviewed about the Santa. When Greg was asked what he wanted Santa to bring him he replied matter of factly, “bubble gum and candy”. Here is the link if you would like to watch it (click on Pictures with Santa; it was a broadcast about the local softball team fundraiser):

http://www.ktvl.com/

Morty has gone to three Trailblazer games while here already taking various family members with him. One night he invited Grandma Maldonado and was able to sit in seats down much lower than his ticketed seats!

On Saturday, Dad, Grandma, Blake, Adrianne and I went to Vancouver for the Portland Mormon Choir and Orchestra concert. It was beautiful again. As I sat in listened to the beautiful music I couldn’t help but feel sadness that I was there enjoying beautiful music as our daughter was sitting to talk with a mortician at the same time but then, gladness that the music tells the story of the power of the event and joy for that message that is so personal to us all. After the concert we looked for a bite to eat before heading to the waterfront to watch the Christmas ships. Adrianne came up with the idea to go home and make a batch of cioppino so we crazily stopped at the store to buy what was needed and did just that; a late night cioppino dinner.

We had a wonderful Christmas program at church; it was nice to have so many family members with us. Shawn and Aubrey asked to have a night away as a Christmas present this year so they left shortly after church. I was a little worried as to how Bryson would do since they haven’t left him before but luckily, Morty was a huge help. Morty has traveled up to the Bay Area enough that he and the boys are close buddies. At 5:30 in the morning when none one else could console Bryson, Morty could do the trick. He is so kind to those boys.

We tried something crazy after our Sunday turkey dinner. Katie had invited us all to come out to the airport and have our picture taken with Santa. Besides a free picture at the Southwest gate, Southwest gives you, in the picture packet, a $20.00 coupon for a future flight. She arranged to meet us at security with passes for all of us and take us through quickly. Even running through the airport didn’t get us to Santa in time; just missed him by minutes! But, it was kind of a fun adventure even so.

Yesterday morning Bryson and Gregory helped me make wonderful loaves of bread while Blake and Adrianne made our chili (Bill’s chili). The boys love helping and they made our visits to all the widows and widowers in the ward a lot more fun especially when Gregory was so cute to hand them their bread and say Merry Christmas.

We leave this morning to go to the coast to try our hand at crabbing. A couple of years ago when Dad and I were in Newport, we noticed all the crabbing going on off the pier there. That Christmas Grandma Maldonado gave dad a crabbing basket and we have never had the chance to break it in. We will do that this time since December is a great month for catching crabs.

I love you all and am so glad that we will be seeing most of you by the week’s end. Love, Mom

December 14, 2010

Dear Family,

It feels very quiet. We had Sunhee and Meeja for the long weekend (They had no school Thursday and Friday) and on the way back to Sweet Home, we stopped at Kyre’s home to have an early Christmas dinner and celebration. We brought the dinner and fruit ice cream that their family loves and Alina made a special treat that she learned at a Young Women’s activity. They were vey cute; a pretzel covered with a melted Hershey Kiss and M&M. I didn’t know that Hershey Kisses came in candy cane flavor! The children really love to play and laugh together. They had such a great time.

Kyre had stockings for the girls and between Alina’s, Adam’s, Kyre’s and Kyre’s gifts to Sunhee and Meeja; the girls traveled home with a huge bag each of toys and treats. It was heart warming to watch Adam and Alina so excited to have Sunhee and Meeja open their gifts; they had earned their own money to buy the gifts. Alina was so pleased as she was in charge of all the wrapping and had wrapped even every candy item in the stockings! We thought we would have time to play games in the three hours but eating and opening gifts took almost the entire time.

Sunhee and Meeja’s visit to our home was so much fun. Plus, they were such a big help with our weekend projects. Dad ground flour and the girls helped me make 20 loaves of our wheat bread with seed and nuts. We put them in cute Christmas baskets with some of our jam and delivered them to our neighbors and friends. I don’t know which they were more excited to see, the treat we were bringing them or Sunhee and Meeja. Everyone is always so delighted to see the grandchildren.

The girls helped me make two batches of sugar cookie dough, and eat a little also, for the holidays which needed to be made that first day they were here since I had an appointment with one of the boys in Primary about to be baptized (and baking cookies during my visits is part of my tradition).

We spent all Saturday morning making several bathes of Aubrey’s famous caramel corn and packaged that up in bags for all 30 of our Primary. We attached the “Parable of the Popcorn” with a note thanking each one of the teachers and leaders. The girls were so excited to help with gathering supplies and all the many times we had to stir the caramel. I had to make an extra batch after they went to bed and it was so much more work without them.

I would have to say that this was Sunhee and Meeja’s “spaghetti” weekend. I made a big batch of spaghetti on the second night (the first night we went to Zoolights) and the girls tried to eat it every chance they got. They even convinced Halboji to have it for breakfast; which they did! But one morning Meeja had oatmeal with Dad. He was so thrilled to tell me how much Meeja loved his oatmeal filled with raisins and Chia. He said, “A grandchild of my own blood!”

When Adrianne was in her senior year of high school I questioned what I would do without any children at home during the holidays to help with all our traditions and she said to invite Scott and Kyre’s children to come over which sounded like a great solution. But then, that summer is when they moved so our plans were foiled.

The girls also sat in on Dad’s Webelos meeting and helped the Cub Scouts stuff Christmas Tree Recycle flyer hangers. Plus, Dad was teaching Citizenship while they were working on the flyers and I think Sunhee knew more of the answers than most of the boys.

But we didn’t work all the time. We played SO many games!!! We played each morning and each night and any chance in the middle of the day that we could. Given the choice between watching a Christmas movie or playing games, the games won out every time. We taught them Sequence and Meeja won the first time through. When I went to Grandma Maldonado’s to clean her place, they played games with her the entire time. Plus there was even a short break in the weather and they were able to play a little outside; Meeja even rode her bike. Plus, they had a great time on the piano. Dad taught Sunhee a couple of songs and Meeja watched intently. Then, when it was her time on the bench, she plucked out those same songs with not much help. They both have incredible memories and a great ear for the piano!

The weekend before Morty and Adrianne were here. Morty’s visit was a last minute surprise as he was able to obtain Civil War tickets at the last minute. When he called to tell me about it, he said his heart was just pounding since he was so excited. I suggested that he feel that for a girl instead of a football game! He also took Katie to a Duck basketball game on the Thursday night that he arrived. They play Missouri so Katie procured Missouri Nike wear from Brock so they could show their true colors! Adrianne was here to do some wedding planning and go to a beach overnighter with her horse friends. We squeezed in all we could. Two of the nights we closed down Macy’s as she worked on her wedding registry. That was so much fun to see what and why she chose some of her dreams and requests. Grandma Maldonado went with us the first night.

Our ward Christmas dinner was the Saturday that Morty and Adrianne were in town. I had asked Katie if she would make some cupcakes for my dessert that I was supposed to take. She had friends over that morning helping her and they, with Morty’s encouragement made the most darling green and gold Oregon cupcakes since it was the day of the Civil War game. They made the batter swirl and that created some “O” designs on the top! After Morty left we called and said that he had done some figuring and he has been in Portland 33 days this past fall!

Katie has a double round of good news. She is going full time this week with the airlines and she has found a studio apartment to lease downtown by PGE Park. It is right by a MAX line so that will be a real help during the winter months of commuting to the airport. She now needs a couch and kitchen table.

Alan Ludlow came home from his mission in the past couple of weeks so he spoke on Sunday. He has changed a lot. Encore also sang for the ward that day; they sounded wonderful. It was great to have the girls at church with us. I was conducting in Primary and they blend so well in with the children that they already know that I forgot to introduce them as guests!

We had a great visit with Scott this past week. He has moved to the new level of the A Block to a new level of honor housing. We are thrilled for him. Dad will be emailing you a copy of his 3 year running log where, in his mind, he ran the miles to “visit” each of you! He planned it so he would be in your cities on many of your birthdays or special events! He keeps his mind thinking!!!

Dad and I went downtown Monday night specially to see the gingerbread display at the Benson Hotel. It was only one village; well, it was incredible but we are used to seeing all the variety in past years at Pioneer Square. So, we decided to go walk and look at the Macy’s windows. We even did a little shopping and bought something for Jack for Heidi’s shower in January. Heidi is having a bridal shower for Adrianne the first week of January and I will have a “blue shower” for Heidi while I am there. Thank you Southwest airlines (and Katie of course)!

I hope that you are enjoying some fun holiday traditions this week. I love you! Love, Mom

November 28, 2010

Dear Children,

Today has been a fairly relaxing birthday. I did ALL the things that I wanted to on my birthday: most especially talk with my children and finish decorating for Christmas! Perfect! Thanks for all the birthday well wishes. Dad made a great salmon dinner; it had a nice smoky taste since he had mesquite chips on the grill. Katie surprised us this morning as we walked in from church. She had made pumpkin French toast made with real French bread and crushed cinnamon crunch on the top. It was very creative. She had the Christmas plates set and balloons in the dining area. We ate and then she rushed to church. It will be a very busy night at the airport for her tonight. Since she can’t get Sundays off regularly, I am glad that she has a schedule that allows her to get to her ward. She also made her divine pumpkin cheesecake cupcakes. She will have to make them for everyone over Christmas.

Yesterday was the day we planned to cut down our Christmas tree. Rain was in the forecast for the morning so we put it off until the afternoon. I got involved in placing some Christmas gifts orders online and gave us a late start. I was so mad at myself since I took too much time all afternoon trying to save a few dollars! As we drove towards the tree farm, knowing we were going to barely get there in time with enough light, the clouds darker, lowered and dumped their rain. I burst into tears since I was so frustrated with myself since the most important thing for the day for me was getting the tree so I could get it decorated today. When we turned the van around knowing it was not going to work to go to the farm, we noticed that Al’s nursery had trees. Last year we bought a tree from a lot and it wasn’t too bad so we decided to try again since our plans were foiled. We laughed at most of the trees and gave up.

Luckily, we had planned to grab some produce at the grocery store on the way home and lo and behold, Haggen had trees! We found one that was suitable and as I bought the groceries, Dad put the tree in the car. How easy! Maybe we have found a new method of getting a tree (as long as none of you are here to go to the farm with us). I did wonder if our grocery store tree would measure up to Adrianne’s expectations of her “last” Christmas tree as a child in our home! Well, I guess you all are still children in this home still.

Dad and I finally went on the trip to Las Vegas about which we have been talking for months. We were there from Friday evening to Tuesday evening. We spent the first two nights at Aaron’s and then took advantage of a Hilton deal we had and stayed on the strip the last two nights. We had SendOutCards meetings Friday night and part of Saturday. They all were very beneficial; I am continually impressed with the company.

Morty was in Portland (we passed him there the day before we left!) for the weekend and Aaron was trying to finish the last details on their TV shop so Dad and Aaron worked together on Saturday to complete a bunch of tasks.

We had a blast in Las Vegas. It was great to be around the boys, help at the TV shop (Dad and I love to be able to assist any of our adult children when we can) and go exploring on the strip. We also enjoyed the singles ward and meeting Heidi, Nate’s friend, again. It is obvious that Nate is a favorite guy in the ward. He was planning the FHE pie eating contest and trying to put a creative “Nate” twist on it to slow the eating down so he wouldn’t have to buy so many pies. I also was able meet Melissa, who knows my high school friend, Joy Burleson. It was interesting to speak with her about Joy’s family. My friend Joy was not a member of the church but she married a non-active church member. His family, being in Las Vegas, took their three girls to church when they were young and the girls are all members. Melissa is a best friend to Joy’s oldest daughter, Joni.

Aaron does Bountiful Baskets, like Heidi, so he had a bunch of new produce that he used to grill on the barbeque after church. After a relaxing afternoon, both the boys headed to ward friends’ homes to play games and we headed to the Hilton. We took a walk after checking it. Las Vegas was fairly cold that weekend but it is just fun to explore, see the architecture and watch the people. Plus, lots of places had their Christmas decorations up, which was fun to see. Morty came into the airport later that night; we had his car so we picked him up and he dropped us off planning to meet up the next day at the their store.

I loved to see how the boys had worked to organize the store and make do with what they had. It looks great. We did a little more work with them on Monday and then went back to the hotel and did our big excursion of the strip. We had been given some money towards meals so we went to a nice steak house and then started walking! We walked all the way down to Bellagio to see the fountains but it was after midnight when we got there so they were not working. We went inside to see if they had Christmas decorations up but they still had their harvest displays, which were BEAUTIFUL. I love that place. We did a ton of walking and had lots of fun.

We made time the next morning for soaking our sore muscles in the hot tub and visiting the new city center until Morty picked us up for the airport. The boys wished we could go on a later flight but I had a Primary meeting at our home. Just as we were about to walk into security I got a text message that our meeting might be canceled due to the snow. Yahoo! We asked the desk if there was room on later flights and Morty cam back for us. THANK YOU Katie!!!

So, we were able to head back to the TV Store, help some more and then arrive home in Beaverton after 1:00 in the morning. We caught our breath and then picked up Kyre, Alina, Adam and Klaire at the train station later in the morning. They had fun riding the train. I want to ride the train one day! I have great memories of train rides to visit Grandma Helen in Colorado when I was young. We played lots of games during their visit, visited the zoo and had Thanksgiving dinner with them before driving them back to Albany late Thursday evening. Luckily while they were here, it was a preview night for zoo members for the Zoolights. Even though it was VERY cold, we bundled up and went early so we could see the animals first before dark. I don’t recall ever enjoying the Zoolights without a huge crowd. It was wonderful. We wore ourselves out and came home to warm soup and Halboji bread, plus, more games!

My favorite time during their visit was when Alina tried on her dress for the wedding and it fit her beautifully except one minor thing (I had to clip the neckline so she could get it over her head!) and she looked gorgeous in it! Yes, success! I also LOVED sitting at the table late Thursday night (when we should have been driving to Albany already!) and just hearing Alina and Adam talk and laugh together. Since it was later, Klaire was asleep. It was quiet and relaxed. It was hard to want to get in the car and take them back. We should have left earlier; we may have avoided a one and a half hour 5 mile crawl past the exit to the Woodburn Outlet Mall since Black Friday started Thursday night there! Consequently, we got back to Albany VERY late.

I had planned to entice Dad in stopping at the Woodburn Walmart if we were passing it after midnight but instead, we stopped at the closet Walmart in Salem in hopes to get in on some of the good deals. We missed some important ones so we hit the Wilsonville Target right at its opening at 3:00am thinking it wouldn’t be so crowed since it is more rural than Beaverton; not so! I couldn’t believe that we were rolling into our driveway at 5:00 am. We had just stayed up all night for Black Friday: CRAZY!

Dad dropped into bed (that was his first experience with Black Friday sale and what an experience it was!) but I knew that I couldn’t go to sleep and wake up before the sock sale ended at Fred Meyer. No, most of you don’t have socks since you didn’t tell me what kind you might need! So I headed to some other stores and retuned after noon: exhausted but energized that I had accomplished some of my list!

On Thanksgiving morning Shawn and Aubrey ran in a 5K race and Shawn came in third in his age bracket. Aubrey ran with her mom so she wasn’t competing.

Our Sunday sacrament meeting was about gratitude. Cal and Cathy Crandall spoke. They had some interesting ideas about gratitude having lived in Beijing for the last year.

I love you. Have a good week. Love, Mom

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