August 19, 2012

August 19, 2012

Dear Children,

            Tonight we had a fun dinner, zucchini lasagna.  The most fun part about it was that it was a recipe from Adrianne from when we stayed at their home, plus I was able to use some of my Self Reliance products.  I love using the tomato powder instead of opening small cans of tomato paste from now on!  We all worked on the dish after church in Pleasant Grove and then I tried to make it from memory when we came home.  This time, I had her recipe and you would all be proud of me.  I opened my lap top in the kitchen and read the recipe from the lap top instead of paper!  Now that is something that I have seen Heidi and Adrianne do but not me; I have never done that!     

 We have had great visits with many of you this summer.  One of my favorite parts is the fun of learning new things as I watch you take care of your homes. It is so rewarding to watch all of you in your daily lives.  Our last visit to Utah was to help Heidi when William was two weeks old. What fun that was even though I arrived in Utah kind of exhausted from a week of cooking at Girls Camp but that is another story.

William is a doll baby.  The girls are so excited to have a baby brother to hold, kiss and cuddle.  He is going to have lots of mommies!  I left for Utah as soon as I could arrange to be there after arriving home from Washington and Dad followed at the end of the week.  This time we slept at Adrianne and Blake’s so we were a little closer to South Jordan since we would be driving back and forth each day.  Heidi and Bill are in their townhome now that the owner of their rental is back from her mission.  The townhome is just not big enough for guests. 

I had fun with the girls and doing some things to make Heidi’s days a bit easier, reminding her to drink lots of water and eat greens like a “cow” so she would have enough milk.  That is supposed to be funny but it is exactly what would go through my mind as I was tired and nursing babies. 

There is lots of do in a home with four children; you forget with time.  I didn’t even run the laundry but tried to help fold it. You wouldn’t believe how many vegetables go into Heidi’s spaghetti sauce!  That is another trick I learned! I followed her instructions one evening for dinner and then came home with Bill’s recipe for pulled pork with coleslaw and dill pickle sandwiches.  I know; that sounds interesting but it was yummy.  I have already tired it and it may end up on the menu for Girls Camp next year if I am the cook again.

We were able to spend one afternoon at Grandma Bitter’s which spread to the evening since it was so relaxing and enjoyable to visit with other relatives that came and went from her home.  Heidi’s girls love to visit Grandma’s home and could be happy spending hours upon hours there.  Dad needed to get to Provo to that day to rent his bike from BYU for the Ulcer Century the next day.

He did the ride faster than any of his other century rides saying that the trail had fewer hills than any Oregon ride.  Adrianne, Blake and I met up with him after the ride at Thanksgiving Point and just sat and talked with he and Uncle Jerry, who also rode in the Ulcer.  Dad is getting pretty good at these long rides.  He rode out to Hagg Lake yesterday and rode around a couple of times and needed up with an 80 mile ride for the morning.

On Sunday, Dave and Karla invited all of our family to their home for a barbecue.  It was very nice to be in their home. On Monday Heidi was able to take Rebecca school shopping while we stayed with Jenna, Ainsley and William.  We were too carefree about our return to the airport and almost missed our flight.  I don’t like cutting it that close.  I think there was only one seat left after us so that could have meant bad news for us arriving so late at the airport!

After we came home from Utah, Kyre, Alina, Amanda (Alina’s friend), Adam and Klaire cane to visit.  It was hot so the sprinkler was under the trampoline and we played a lot outside plus lots of game playing inside.  Alina was also determined to beat me at ping pong again but, she did not succeed this time!  She will needs to come back!  Conestoga was having their Big Truck day so Dad took Adam, Klaire and Kyre while Alina, Amanda and I went to the Cedar Mill Farmers Market to take a booth for one of my business organizations.  I was able to catch up with some of the weeds a little in my garden while watching the children play in the back yard.  We went ice skating and we also had a fire to roast marshmallows while they were here.

Before our trip to Utah, I had my big assignment to cook for Girls Camp at Camp Ensign up in Washington about 3 hours away, a new place to our stake.  I had a good crew of ladies and Adrianne gave up her week vacation at Shelf Reliant to help in the kitchen.  She came up the weekend before so we could pick berries and make jam.

Adrianne was an incredible help and I even came home knowing how to use the different blades of my Bosch!  She was good to think outside of the box for making the kitchen more efficient.  The camp photo was taken after she made cream cheese frosting with the Big Bertha mixer for two days of cinnamon rolls!

We went through a ton of food and so many sweets and desserts.  If I am in charge again next year I think I would like to cut down on the desserts.  We went through 900 fresh baked cookies alone!  When we served chicken Caesar salad for lunch, we cooked all of our 240 bread sticks thinking we would have leftovers for later in the week.  Not one bread stick left!

The weather was perfect and the camp was beautiful.  We had a lake so I tried to close the kitchen at least an hour each day so we could go swim.  There is something about swimming in a lake that just creeps me out so I need to practice for Lake Berryessa coming up in October.  I have this odd fear of not knowing what is under me when I swim!  It even makes me shorter of breath.

            It is hard to say we were exhausted Saturday afternoon after we returned home from camp when Dad came home not much after us after having ridden his bike for 100 miles for the Tour de Cure!  He rode it this time in six hours.  Last year was the year everyone remarked about his old bike so this year he was able to break his personal records with his new ride!

            Scott enjoyed a visit with Adrianne while she was here.  He loves any amount of visits with family.  And of course, he always loves it if you can drop him a note.  He likes hearing about what everyone is doing and he gets the Dad and Mom interpreted version if you don’t tell him directly!  He is continuing his running and now started playing with a volleyball team.

This week we welcome back Sunhee and Meeja and look forward to rematches of games that we play like the new one, Ticket to Ride.  Sunhee loves that one! Dad has another ride this Saturday to Stewart Stubbs Park and it is the neighbor party.  Then, Bryce Whisenant’s wedding reception is this Saturday.

It has been a fairly busy summer with SendOutCards.  I have done several outdoor events were I gather leads but my favorite part of the business is still sitting with one person at a time and showing them how to send a card.  It is always fun to watch their face as they realize the many features the service offers.

The concrete business has thankfully been very busy.  I keep hoping he can find stronger and better workers so the work can get done faster.  We are trying right now to figure out if we can squeeze in a day visit this week with Shawn and Aubrey and boys.  The plan would be to head down for an afternoon Oakland A’s game but Dad is worried about being gone right now for a day mid week.  There is another game we had planned to see at the beginning of September but we forgot the boys would be in school by then! Morty and Aaron were there this past weekend for a University of Oregon game. 

We will be in Utah two more times this fall.  William is being blessed on September 30 and Grandma Bitter’s birthday (and BYU vs. Oregon State) is on October 13.  On September 20 to the 23/24 we will be in Las Vegas to see Wicked and for Aaron and Dad to ride in a century there that is really 120 miles.

I love being in our ward on Sunday when DeLys Ostlund teaches Sunday School.  She had some great perspectives on Helaman and his warriors and the letters at the end of the book of Alma.  I walked out with a new resolve to be strong and stay true!

I completely forgot to mention our vacation at Aunt Carla's Boot Camp in Clovis.  We had a blast.  I look at it as total vacation: no schedules just relaxing and yet we had bike rides, swimming laps and walking around the lake in each day.  I was trying out Carla's older bike for Lake Berryessa.  They have a beautiful place just to relax and Aunt Denise joined us for a couple of days also.  On Sunday afternoon, we got a call from Katie asking what we were doing.  She also flew down and joined us saying that she didn’t have anything to cook for dinner that night!!! Relaxing by the pool; it was heavenly! We were there until July 4th afternoon so we got to see fireworks each evening up until the 4th since they have a waterpark right by their community.  We were also there the day Scott rode the Kaiser ride that is an excruciating long bike ride.  And then he did shorter ones with us ladies and then longer ones with Dad and friends the rest of the week!  Dad was in 7^th heaven to have such a great rider ride with him.  Besides the exercise, the social part of riding is fun to Dad.

            I blew it on trying to get a WorldMark Oregon Coast property for next summer.  I can put us on the wait list for several options.  The Black’s just came back from Running Y in Klamath Falls, Oregon.  Would anyone be interested in traveling there and making day trips to Crater Lake?  It is beautiful down there but 5 hours from here and not by a convenient airport. 

See you all soon.  I love you, Mom

June 25, 2012

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 4^th 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!!!

May 27, 2012

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 7^th 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 13^th.  We are celebrating her 90^th birthday early so more family members can attend.  Mark your calendars for the weekend of August 17^th to 19^th.  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

Thinking of the Forgotten Women on Mother's Day

Do you know a forgotten mom, some woman who may not hear from family on Mother’s Day?  What a nice idea to send a Happy Mother’s Day card with a short, cheerful message about your gratitude towards your relationship with her!

 Mother's Day is the best reason to say

all the things you should have said during the rest of the year.

A woman doesn’t have to bear children to bless many lives with her divine nurturing qualities.  Think of the many women in your life, not including your own mother, who have influenced you for good; some women who may have children of their own and some without children.  There are many of them.  Wouldn’t it be nice if you took this week to send a heartfelt card of gratitude for the role that they played in your life?  This is a great month to think about the nurturers in our lives and celebrate those relationships.

Happy Card Sending!

May 6, 2012

 Dear Children,

It is sunny here in Portland today and supposed to hole this weather for a few days.  Maybe I will get out in the garden!  Yesterday, Dad and I went on a bike ride and it felt like winter still.  I couldn’t believe it; we were riding in winter air on Cinco de Mayo!  Right afterwards we worked in the kitchen at the temple and afterwards both of us were so sore.  Dishing up food and handing people their dishes across a steamer counter for four hours hurts your back but it was kind of fun.

This weekend we travel to Utah for Rebekah’s baptism Saturday afternoon.  We are flying on Saturday morning, the baptism is at 2:00 and then we will spend the evening at the Brady’s.  They have invited people over for dinner afterwards.  On Sunday, Adrianne and Blake have invited us for Mother’s Day dinner.  They are barbequing Taco Bill and Gumbo, their tow males ducks.  We may get to help Adrianne in her garden on Monday.  She was going to take the day off on Monday to play with us. 

Sad news for the Seversons: White Duck died last week. They are not sure what happened but she was one of their two laying ducks and she was doing fine up until her death.  They got two new ducks Tuesday night from a lady in Payson. They are Muscovy ducks.  Adrianne says that they are extremely ugly, but almost soundless. They have also laid a couple giant eggs already. Did you see the graphic photos of Blake’s hand surgery?  I am curious what it will look like this weekend since the pins are ones that have to be removed.

Our next plans to travel will be to Albany this Wednesday.  Kyre invited us to bring Grandma Maldonado that evening for an early Mother’s Day dinner.  Isn’t that nice?  Grandma is still feeling tired from her trip to Mexico with Aunt Denise.  The two places they stayed looked so beautiful and SUNNY.  Every warm place these days looks very inviting.  After Mexico, Grandma went to Antioch to celebrate Asteria’s first birthday with Wiley and Michelle.

Dad accompanied me this week to a very interesting event, Food Services of America vendor show to look for Girl’s Camp ideas.  Oh my, I was sick and THIRSTY afterwards having little samples of prepared foods isle after isle!  It was quite interesting and I may have gleaned a few ideas.  I need to squeeze a trip up into Washington at the end of this month to look at the camp kitchen.  Did I tell you that I am the Girl’s Camp Cook this year and they changed camp sites to three hours away in Washington?  Just the transportation of all the supplies is mind boggling right now.

After May, we are headed to Las Vegas for the SendOutCards convention and to see the boys.  That will be lots of fun.  Dad wants to bike Red Rocks one of the days in preparation for the Las Vegas Century on September 22.  We are going a couple of days early since Nate got Wicked tickets for Thursday night!

Last weekend Aaron and Morty were here so we were able to celebrate Aaron’s birthday on his exact day on Friday.  The boys arrived on a very late flight the night before.  Katie was leaving for her cruise and would be gone on her birthday the following Monday so we did a late night quick birthday celebration for her the night before Aaron’s birthday.  She requested Tillamook chocolate peanut butter Oreo dessert; interesting. We stayed up late that night playing games since it was her only chance to be with the boys. It seems that our April and March birthdays can easily get bounced around.

We went to a new breakfast spot called Biscuits for Aaron’s birthday and then had, what else, sour cream burritos for his birthday dinner.  Grandma came also so we played more games. On Saturday he and Dad wanted to ride bikes into Sherwood.  He and Aaron are getting ready for 100 mile bikes rides this summer and fall.  Aaron had an old missionary companion that had moved here so they rode to his house and then Dad rode on to Newburg where he met Morty and I at Sunhee’s first softball tournament of the season.  Aaron stayed to visit with his friend and then got a ride into Newburg since he was quite sore already.

It was fun for all of us to be supporting Sunhee.  She is dedicated to whatever she is doing.  She is one of the team’s catchers so she has to work very hard all game.  Dad biked home and we all met at Grandma’s home for more dinner and more games.

I had broken my tooth late Thursday night so everyone enjoyed making fun of my lisp over the weekend.  Unfortunately, I had to speak in church and my sharp broken tooth was shredding the side of my tongue.  I didn’t realize how painful it would be when I was telling Dr. Griffiths that he didn’t need to come to his office on Friday to smooth the rough edge.  At the beginning of the weekend Dad’s advice was not to start my talk explaining why I sounded funny but by Saturday night, he was saying I should explain myself.  I decided not to say anything but speak more slowly.  About a third of the way through my talk I all of a sudden realized that I was avoiding the lisp altogether!  I was so thankful; my prayers had been answered.

My talk assignment was from Elaine Green since the Relief Society presidency was assigned to speak and two members of the presidency couldn’t or wouldn’t speak.  My topic was Love Work, Avoid Idleness and Help Other in Need.  I found a great article from President Thomas S Monson called “Hands” from 1991.  Isn’t it great how the words of our leaders never go out of style!  His talk pulled together those three subjects perfectly as it talked of the miracle of the creation of our hands; how an infants hand instinctively grips a parent’s finger tightly and a child’s hand opens up in perfect trust to be led by a parent to learn love, service and trust.  I used the Primary song below and talked about the idea of us praying for a blessing on our hands to understand the goodness and service that they can accomplish as we gain the Christ like attributes of loving work, avoiding idleness and helping others in need, which before this I had never noticed the power of that phrase. 

I have two little hands, folded snugly and tight.

They are tiny and weak, yet they know what is right.

During all the long hours till daylight is through,

There is plenty indeed for my two hands to do.

Kind Father, I thank thee for two little hands,

And ask thee to bless them till each understands

That children can only be happy all day,

When two little hands have learned how to obey.

In considering the teenage hand, President Monson said those years are perfect for learning to labor and laboring to learn. And then the adult hand reminds us of the lessons taught to us by devoted parents.  Lastly, I talked of our Savior’s hands and putting our hand in His hand to allow ourselves to be guided safely home and then told the story I had heard, but couldn’t find anywhere, about a statue of Christ in Europe that had been destroyed in the war.  Upon trying unsuccessfully to replace the hands that were destroyed, a plaque was posted at the feet of the stature instead: Our hands are His Hands. 

Thankfully, that one talk by President Monson was the foundation for those three subjects.  If you wish to read the complete talk, it was the First Presidency Message in the 1991 March Liahona.

Last week Dad traveled to a special sports award dinner at OSP with Scott hosted by the inmates’ sports club.  Scott could buy a ticket for one guest.  It was a catered meal from a local restaurant so it was quite a treat for Scott to eat that kind of food.  When he saw Scott enjoying it so much, Dad shared much of his food.  Dad enjoyed being with Scott in a more relaxed environment and especially loved the comments made from other inmates about Scott’s good qualities and his amazing thirst for knowledge.

I look forward to this coming week and seeing many of you.  Lots of love, Mom

April 22, 2012

Dear Family,

We are enjoying a beautiful weekend here.  The sun has popped out a couple of times this spring, giving us HOPE for better weather to come.  Truly, I hear about Aubrey and Adrianne planting their gardens, even having some blossoms on their plantings, and the thought has NEVER crossed my mind.  Well, I can’t say never, because I have glanced at our garden area longingly.  Dad says that we have three artichoke buds starting.  Growing an artichoke was Adriane’s idea last year and I just tried it.  Since nothing happened with that plant I thought I had done it wrong but maybe, it takes a year before you get the fruit.  We will see!  Working in the garden is very therapeutic.  I think it is because creating is such an important part of our being.

Some quick news items about Adrianne and Blake:  Blake broke his hand playing basketball at the church with friends.  He has received second opinions on what to do to make it heal correctly and is scheduled for surgery this Tuesday.  Because of the bones that were injured, he needs to have pins put in for six weeks and then they are removed; ouch!  He could use some cheerful calls or notes.  He is doing his programming work one handed.

On happier news for the Severson family: Their ducks are laying!  They go out in the little home they built for ducks and retrieve an egg each morning from their layers.  One of the ducks seemed concerned at first that her eggs were leaving the nest so Adrianne put a plastic Easter egg in there and the duck seemed content.  That kind of makes my Mother heart sad to think of the whole egg laying and “mother ducks wondering where their eggs are going” process; I had never really given that a second thought when eating an egg!  They had to sell two of their nosiest ducks to make a neighbor happy.  Gumbo and Taco Bill, their latest two ducks that they purchased, are due for slaughter and barbecue.  They are planning on doing that on Mother’s Day, May 13 this year.  That is nice of them to wait to do the barbeque when we are able to be there. Oddly, eating a pet duck just doesn’t have the same sadness that the whole “eggs being taken from mothers” carries!

On Mother’s Day weekend, we are in Utah for Rebekah’s baptism.  They have changed her baptismal date to Saturday, May 12 at 2:00.  If you have the May 5^th date on your calendar, be sure to change that.  We will be in Utah from Saturday morning until Monday evening that weekend.  We look forward to being there for the baptism and, as you can imagine, Rebekah is of course, excited to be baptized!!!

We spent a fun-filled weekend with Shawn and Aubrey and the boys.  We went last weekend while Aubrey had a large assignment with the annual auction for Gregory’s preschool.  We played with the boys so Aubrey could get things done and helped her with some of the decorating.  We had fun with batting practice, played kickball, played UNO and a funny chicken-egg game and enjoyed a hike in the hills with everyone.  The boys were excited for the hike that ends at a pond.  They went hunting for newts and frogs.  The warm air on the hike in the hills made the surrounding eucalyptus trees fragrance more vibrant.  The smell of eucalyptus is a great childhood memory from the canyon by our Patricia Court home.

We took Flat Stanley with us so he went bike riding with Gregory.  Gregory said that Flat Stanley must be saying, “Wow, this is like a roller coaster ride!” so we put that thought bubble on the postcard with the photo of Flat Stanley using our SendOutCards account. After I loaded the photos, Gregory and Bryson wanted to see them on my computer.  Flat Stanley had gone to work with Dad last week and “helped” do some jack hammer work.  When we sent that post card to Adam’s school I wondered what 12 year olds would even recognized what a jack hammer was.  Well, on my computer screen there was a tiny thumbprint of Flat Stanley on the jack hammer and Gregory immediately saw that and asked, “Is that Flat Stanley on a jack hammer?”  My jaw must have dropped to the floor as I was amazed a five year old even knew what one looked like!

We extended our trip to stay all of Monday instead of going home in the morning s that we could see Gregory and Bryson swim.  We went to the YMCA by their place.  It has a great pool and inviting hot tub!  The most fun part of swimming to me was watching Shawn and Aubrey play in the water.  They know how to work hard and play hard.  It is a joy to see our married children laughing together amid the sometimes overwhelming responsibilities that they have.  I hated to go home.  We cut it close getting to our flight since we waited until the last minute to leave.  We were very lucky that our luggage made it.  When you are standby, there is no luggage guarantee nor luggage delivery.

That same night Morty was sitting in court side seats with Jeremy Luman at a Blazer versus Suns game in Phoenix.  He was on the TV for a bit.  Seems like Morty has that knack!  Hey, Dad and I might be on TV.  I forgot to tell you last newsletter that we got tickets to the Wheel of Fortune Portland taping.  The shows that we watched will be aired next Thursday and Friday, May 3rd and 4^th.  They scanned the audience a few times.  We may show up on the Friday showing since they moved us in between shows.  It was pretty fun and we have Wheel of Fortune light up button souvenirs to prove we were there!  I hope the world doesn’t judge Oregon by one of the VERY inadequate contestants.  I don’t remember which night he was on but it will be obvious.  I mainly was interested in the ticket lottery when my chiropractor said she had been chosen to try out to be a contestant.  That would have been so much fun to see her on it.  They said she wasn’t loud enough.

I ran into Sonja Morton the other evening.  She said that she was Heidi and Scott’s teacher at Cooper Mountain School.  I told her that I wouldn’t know her from that long ago and as I looked closely at her, I realized that she was Shane Morton’s mom.  She said that he lives in the area and is working for some non-profit in Portland after his mortgage business quit doing so well!!!

Relief Society was interesting this week especially since it was a general conference talk, A Time to Prepare, by Elder Ardern who is Jessica Chandler’s father-in-law form New Zealand!  He suggested that we be as quick to kneel as we are quick to text saying, “ I know our greatest happiness comes as we tune in to the Lord (see Alma 37:37) and to those things which bring a lasting reward, rather than mindlessly tuning in to countless hours of status updates, Internet farming, and catapulting angry birds at concrete walls. I urge each of us to take those things which rob us of precious time and determine to be their master, rather than allowing them through their addictive nature to be the master of us.”  He also said that there is no substitute for real friends who can give us hugs and look after our best interest as opposed to cyber friends.

Speaking of real friends and real hugs, an article in the April Ensign, Taking Time to Talk and Listen, brought me to tears as I realized the real expression of feelings that our family neglected to develop in younger years.  Oh, how I wish I could turn back the clock on some things!  As the article spoke of personal communication and stated, “The adversary would love to bind our tongues-anything to prevent us from expressing verbally the feelings of our hearts face to face.  He delights in distance and distraction; he delights in noise; he delights in impersonal communication-anything that would prevent us from the warmth of a voice and the personal feelings that come from conversing eye to eye.”  Oh how I wish we all could communicate our feelings better!

We got to sit outside in the sunshine for part of our visit with Scott on his birthday Saturday afternoon. Plus, his old cellmate brought him over a chocolate milk and pastry from the vending machines in the visitors’ room which was very kind.  Scott said that his block had promised him a burrito birthday party afterwards.  They have figured out a way to create a slow cook oven effect by filing a lined garbage can with hottest water and submerging plastic wrapped foods in the heat.  The ingredients to the burritos sounded rather unappealing but, you know Scott, he loves trying unusual foods; but really, ramen in a burrito???

I hope that you are experiencing some warmer days and fresh smells of spring as we have the past couple of days. 

I love you, Mom