October 25, 2010

Dear Children,

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! My first childhood memories of Christmas weather was the sound of wipers blades on the windshield when we went Christmas shopping. Last night, we drove through a driving rain storm to take Morty to the airport. The fall weather is finally here; we have been very lucky up until now.

Morty was here for the weekend. I saw more TV than I have in many months. It was kind of nice just to relax when I chose to sit with him and watch a game instead of scrapbooking while the TV was on (everything is still out on the ping pong table until I get Grandma’s books done: two more years left!). Morty loves his sports! He was patient enough to stay at our home to watch his games even though he could only watch one game at a time and on blurry TV compared to his. He did have his iPad and lap top showing some games at times.

He was also very kind and patient to go with me to help me make a decision on Adrianne’s reception spot. Last week we learned that the place we hoped to use had been booked for our day so I have spent much time and worry searching for something in our budget allowance. Friday, both Grandma and Morty traveled with me to Rock Creek Country Club and learned it was not going to work out so we decided we better get our deposit in for Hayden’s Restaurant in Tualatin. They have been very accommodating and best of all, they will do all the work! So we should have a fairly relaxing day; won’t that be nice? The manager even suggested that he would set up a side room with a video for the young children if they get bored.

Morty met up with Seth Feinauer and went to a Winterhawks game. Seth’s company gets box seating. Morty’s friend, Nicole, came down from Moses Lake to see him and go to the hockey game. Morty also showed me all the new features introduced from Apple this week. He got the new software and was organizing all his photos in iPhoto. It was very convenient to have Morty’s organized (by event and date) photo files here since I had a couple of questioned as I worked on Grandma’s books.

I am excited to spend this next weekend with Shawn and Aubrey’s family; it will be fun to see them over Halloween. After that I will head be in Utah for a few days to help Heidi organize her basement. They are supposed to have sunny weather that week. That will be good so it won’t be so cold.

Aubrey did another Nike half marathon. I forgot if she said she beat her last time. Just the fact that she did it was wonderful! She was able to go to Time Out for Women and sent me her notes. This year the theme is hope. In Ardeth Kapp’s message, she said we should hope for the Holy Ghost companionship more than anything else. That goes along with several of this last general conference messages. Last week my class discussed President Eyring’s conference address about trusting God when he taught us to listen to the prophets’ words by which we may live to find the security and peace that God wants for us. He said as we find out what God wants us to do and do it, our power to trust Him increases. He said: listen, learn, repent, go and do.

This week we discussed President Uchtdorf’s address on self worth. It was great as he used the example of a pilot reducing speed to safely navigate through turbulence, he reminded us to slow down. I loved his story about ball point pens in space and his quote from daVinci, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” My institute teacher says that B.U.S.Y. can sometimes mean “being under Satan’s yoke” when we neglect the things that matter most. President Uchtdorf reminded us the importance of relationships, that they don’t just happen, and that love in families is often spelled TIME.

Not to completely ignore President Uchtdorf’s message, but I did not slow to an optimum speed through my circumstances of last week when I had a holiday card party here to show the neighbors how fun and EASY my service was for getting out holiday cards and then the next morning being prepared to teach a whole wheat bread making class for Super Saturday! I couldn’t have done those without Dad’s help. He was right there cleaning up behind me all the way. After my class, I drove home, turned off the engine and immediately fell asleep sitting in the car in the garage!

Both events went very well and I am re-excited to start baking with wheat; I am on the quest for baking a loaf that is similar to Killer Dave’s bread with lots of seeds and nuts at Costco! I made a pretty good attempt on Sunday afternoon. I wanted to send a loaf home for the boys with Morty but he wouldn’t take it on the plane!

Anyway, I caught Dad’s cold from running faster than I had strength. I think I am almost over it. Last night, I kept falling asleep as I tried to write this so I headed to bed at 8:30! I stopped long enough to vote and then fell asleep. It felt SO good; why don’t I do that more often!!! I was going to get up early and make bread to send to Las Vegas with Katie but she isn’t flying there today.

I got to the temple a couple of times in the last couple of weeks. Kimberly Williams, Adrianne’s’ friend, is leaving for a mission in January. She came home and went through the temple so I went with her. Dad and I went to the ward temple night and were able to be the witness couple last week.

Very good news for Aaron: he got the job at UNLV working with their web design for the distance learning department. He will be excellent at that and be able to learn a lot to improve his skills. He starts class there in January but they let him start his work right now. He and Morty are busy setting up a retail business selling TV as they hope to have it going in November for Christmas and then Super Bowl sales. Aaron is setting up the store front right next to campus.

My Auntie Katherine passed away on Sunday (Johnny’s mom). I was going to try and fly down and back for the day for her funeral but they are not going to have a service. It is hard to realize that Grandma is the only one left in the Maldonado family of that generation! As I was thinking about my memories of my Auntie Katherine and Uncle Tony, I remember how I used to take my tricycle to the side yard of our Joanne Street home where there was gravel. I would ride my tricycle on the gravel to pretend that I was going to Uncle Tony’s house (they had a gravel driveway when they lived in Niles). I loved going there; we would play with the animals or play games all evening.

Have a good week ahead and “never suppress a generous thought! (Camilla Kimball)” I love you! Love, Mom

October 10, 2010

Dear Children,

I am glad that I am not the one driving to Sweet Home tonight. It sat in the car, started guessing some words for the Catch Phrase game Sunhee started and promptly fell asleep until almost Salem! I guess that allowed me to be able to stay awake for Dad all the home. We have had a weekend full of board games, bike riding, backyard fun, basketball and hide ‘n seek. Alina, Adam Sunhee and Meeja are full of non-stop energy and fun as they played all weekend together plus, they can hide in amazingly small spaces so they are great at hide ‘n seek!

There was no school on Friday so Dad and I drove to watch Sunhee’s soccer game Thursday evening. Friday afternoon was spent at the zoo. Dad left very early in the morning to check on a job so he could join us. The weather was just barely damp so the animals were all out and entertaining. We saw several feeding times which is always fun. I was surprised how much the older children loved the zoo; they have been a lot so I thought it wouldn’t be as exciting, but they all love learning. Alina was especially excited for her zoo trip since her entrance ticket said she was an adult!

This was the weekend for bread. Dad made lots of Halboji bread: cinnamon, wheat and white. On Sunday the children and I made a batch of whole wheat in my new mixer (well, it is over a year old but I just don’t use it much). They helped me form the loaves. It tasted great but didn’t rise like normal. I have to keep practicing since I have to teach it this Saturday and I have to be used to a new recipe and mixer (I can’t find my old K-Tec recipe).

We celebrated Adam’s birthday on Friday evening. He, with Alina’s promoting, chose shrimp pasta. Alina was a great helper in the kitchen and learned how easy it is to make. She took home some basil from the yard so she could make it at home. She also made our cupcake frosting on Sunday (We took dinner to the Andrew and Brittany Westhora family Sunday afternoon since they had their baby this week) so she has two more recipes in her repertoire.

More than anything, the grandchildren just loved playing in the yard and being together to just think of nothing but having fun with each other. It was a great weekend; it would be nice to do many more weekends like that and also be able to have weekends to have alone visits with the grandchildren but we have Bryson and Gregory who we haven’t visited in their home since Bryson was born! We are trying to make our Christmas plans with the Oregon grandchildren earlier this year so we don’t interfere with their own family Christmas celebrations. We might combine it with Kyre’s birthday celebration at the beginning of December.

I started another term of my institute class. Among other gospel principles, we will be studying a conference talk each week. That will be wonderful. We discussed President Monson’s great talk on gratitude this week.

I also started a Family History class this week on Tuesday evenings. It should be interesting. I hope I can just get information without getting too involved. I know that sounds horrible but I have other projects to finish before I can allow myself to start doing family research again. I love it and have a hard time just doing a little at a time! Getting back into it seems overwhelming to me. Sister Call talked to me at the class and signed me up to be an Indexer or Extractor. I don’t know if they are interchangeable; I don’t know that much about it yet. All I know is my email quit working the day the site was downloaded on my computer. I will have to figure that out this week when I have time. Aunt Denise just received a calling to work in the Oakland Family History Center so she is going to become an expert. Yes!

I hope AND PRAY that this week is a good one for each of you. Katie thought she would be getting an apartment this week but the apartments that she is looking at are getting rented immediately. She left the grandchildren some of her cupcakes that she prepared for her Singles Ward so we had a fun dessert tonight.

I love you, Mom

October 5, 2010

Dear Children,

What a wonderful week this has been. I have been in Utah since last Friday morning. Dad and I went for a visit and to watch a BYU football game for this season. Boo hoo; they lost right in front of our eyes. That was hard to watch after these many years of usually picking a winning game to see in Provo. It was a VERY warm day and our seats were at the tip top of the student section so the sun didn’t stop beating down on us until 8 minutes until the end of the game! It felt like summer. In fact, I have been so cold since returning late Sunday evening as the weather while I was there in Utah has been BEAUTIFUL!

The first day that we were in Utah we visited with Grandma and then went to Daybreak so Bill could go to a dinner to prepare for his half marathon the next day. Heidi was at a conference for Dazzle Apparel; she is planning on taking that back again from Bill’s company. We had a fun time with the girls after dinner just playing in their driveway and looking for rocks. Jenna loves rocks! Dad was hoping the girls would see the moon come up before we went in. When Bill and Heidi came back, we forgot all about the moon until Dad and I were driving home and saw the big, beautiful moon in the sky so the girls missed it!

On game day, Dad and I headed to the school and rented ourselves bikes so we could ride to the canyon. Our goal was Bridal Veil Falls. I did my best but my bike was too large for me since all their bikes my size were checked out. I never could sit back in my seat correctly so I was quite uncomfortable. I did make it to the first park in the canyon and then Dad raced up to the falls while I rode back. I thought he would catch up to me but he stopped to chat along the way . . . of course. It was an incredibly beautiful morning.

The Brady’s came down for the game and Adrianne watched the girls while Heidi and Bill attended the game. Adrianne and Blake took the girls to the park and kept them busy with fun activities. Then Adrianne made them a fresh fish dinner! They lucked out having Adrianne in charge. After the game Adrianne and I ran to Wal-Mart to find something to make a scooter cover on Monday. Well, for me to make while Adrianne was in class.

We had a barbeque and invited Blake’s sister, Amber, and her family. They had lots of fun in Grandma’s backyard . . . all children love Grandma’s backyard!!! Heidi and Bill were able to come down also. Blake and his sister brought the dessert, strawberry pies!

After dropping Dad off at the airport, I swung by the Brady’s home. Heidi was preparing for Jenna’s Joy School that she was teaching that day so I stayed and help with some of that. It is much the same as when Nate and Katie were in Joy School! Remember . . . Oh boy, I’ve got joy! That afternoon I worked on Adrianne’s scooter cover. I made it from a vinyl tablecloth. Adrianne wanted something lightweight to throw over the scooter in bad weather so it wouldn’t be covered with snow at the end of her school day. She stays long hours on campus with class and work. Luckily, she has lots more helpers in the research lab now with Doctor Roeder requesting (no demanding) that every student in her anatomy class do “volunteer” hours in the Sun Bear lab. Adrianne has organized them in groups so she doesn’t have to do so much training.

Adrianne and I got a little time to do some wedding planning on Tuesday when we found a place to print invitations. We learned that it is the same place that that Randy and Julie Young use for much of their printing so TJ told Adrianne to mention their name for a discount next time she goes in! YES! Adrianne wanted me to see the china she choose so we hurried over to Macy’s but they don’t have a good china department. I found that so hard to believe since it is in the middle or wedding mecca. They had a sample and it looks so close to Heidi’s china I thin that is amazing. I headed to Salt Lake for my SendOutCards meetings the rest of the week. Adrianne and I hadn’t had a chance to work on her Christmas quilt so I planned to come back on Thursday when she wasn’t feeling so stressed over a couple of tests that she needed to take before that date.

Adrianne is a great seamstress. I couldn’t believe how quickly she put the quilt top together when we had the chance on Thursday evening. She is putting a lot of hours into this project. She planned to do it last Christmas for Sharon Gueck but didn’t have the time so now she “thinks” she has the time!!! I will bring it back when I come the first week of November to help Heidi clean out her basement.

My meetings in Salt Lake were wonderful. I gained a huge appreciation for this company while there. I was a little concerned at how I would feel at the meetings but I came away SO IMPRESSED. The people are such good people. I wondered, “Does the SendOutCards product attract these kind of people or does it make these kinds of people?” I think it is a little of both. As you become a distributor, you are asked to become a product of the product and it is suggested that you try and think of one person each day to whom you send a heartfelt card. I have noticed, as I try and do that, I notice things for which to show gratitude to someone or I notice other’s achievements to express a congratulations; things like that. I used to feel good that I am lifting someone else when they read the card that I have sent, but I have learned that it changes my outlook on the day; it changes how I feel also. My benefit is huge from thinking of someone’s life to celebrate; it’s magical. I heard someone suggest to someone who was feeling depressed, to think of someone to send a card of gratitude each day. I see how that can work. I love being a part of something that is not only fun and an incredible tool to stay in touch personally and for businesses but it is really doing good in the world by simple means. I also loved the many stories of the moms in the business that have been able to return home to their children instead of working outside the home.

One of my favorite parts of being in Salt Lake this past weekend was getting tickets to Sunday morning general conference. That is always such a great experience to be right there. Adrianne and Blake came from Orem to join Carol Stanger and me. The meeting was wonderful starting with the Spoken Word’s beautiful music. The arrangement for the second song, “The Lord is my Shepherd” was so beautiful that you just wanted to exclaim, “WOW” at the end. Adrianne said she especially enjoyed their last song “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” since it was the same arrangement she played for the Portland Mormon Choir and Orchestra.

The messages of conference were so clear; I can’t think of a better word. I have loved the opportunity to listen to them over and over again as I walk with my iTouch. Thank you for all of you who bought that for us! In the Sunday morning session I loved President Packer’s promise, when he asked us to improve our moral standards, that the angels would coach us and priesthood leaders would guide us when we tried to stop bad behaviors. I loved Sister Mary Cook’s warning that the use of too much social media was really taking us away from valuable relationship time. I can see how this happens. I also learned that I should go to bed earlier; that is a good goal for me to set. I loved the speakers in Sunday afternoon with the accents that made me have to really concentrate as they talked! I loved it and that story about the cow breaking through the fence to the dangerous wheat! I can’t wait to turn my attention to the Saturday messages. That is usually my favorite day of general conference.

I felt that I had been primed to listen to the prophet’s message all week long at my convention workshops since he spoke on cultivating an attitude of gratitude. For years I have had a quote from him in the front of my planner that reads, “Think to thank; take things with gratitude rather than for granted.” He said that in 2000 and really expounded it on it in conference this time. He promised us that while we sincerely give thanks, we unlock the door of heaven and can feel God’s love. I have felt this! He asked us to focus on our blessings instead of what we lack and to refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought. This reminds me of something I ALSO have written in my planner from your wise Grandma Bitter: “I use and enjoy what I have and don’t make myself unhappy for what I am not or don’t have.” She told me that in 1989 and I have turned to that quote many times. President Monson promised us that a prayerful life is a grateful life; to not take people for granted and don’t wait to express love and appreciation.

I have had a great week and now, after going through more than a week’s worth of mail and emails, I am ready for Alina, Adam, Sunhee and Meeja to visit. We will have a great time this weekend. I will have them help me grind some wheat and practice making bread since I am teaching a workshop next Saturday! Ha! I had to laugh when they asked me to do that. I said, “Well I guess I better practice doing that since I haven’t made bread for years!” If Dad is willing, I may drag him along as he has been our chief bread maker for the last few years.

We will be celebrating Adam’s birthday on Friday; he has requested shrimp pasta (or Alina got him to request it!). He is 11 now . . . yikes! Can you believe it!

I was in Utah while Morty came up for a Duck game last weekend. Luckily, I was able to see him in the airport. My flight came in just before his was leaving. We gathered by Katie’s desk . . . well, Southwest’s desk where Katie was working. She was at the desk that serviced both mine and Morty’s gate. It was pretty fun.

Dad has been working in Salem so he went extra early so he could have time to visit with Scott today. He is in good spirits. We were worried how he would react to Angie’s legal papers served him last week for guardianship of Alina. He seems to be coming to the realization that those of us outside working with the children may have a better understanding of their needs. He is good to be thankful for those helping his family and also fast and prayer for his children and Kyre. I love you, Mom

September 20, 2010

Dear Children,

I will try and write just a quick update for the past week so I don’t get so behind again. It is hard to break away from a huge Christmas project I am trying to finish before I leave for Utah. I want to be able to clean up my mess so Katie doesn’t have to look at for over a week while I am away! The stark reality of it being October when I return is quite a jolt. Besides all the fun preparations for the holiday, wedding planning and the visits we have planned (and are trying to plan with Shawn and Aubrey!) in the next couple of months, this can be the busiest time for our card business since it has such a wonderful system for sending Christmas cards. We are both excited for the months ahead.

It wasn’t a very newsy week for us. We are both busy with our projects and we feel very blessed that the concrete jobs have picked up in the last couple of months. Our immediate goal is to be booked up through November and create awareness with all our previous clients that we are still going strong so we might get used during the winter. New construction used to carry us through the winter but that is a thing of the past for the time being in this area. We just have been so pleased to stay as busy as we have been. We hear it is supposed to be a very cold winter this year.

This week we were able to use some Groupon coupons that we have had for quite some time. For Mother’s day, Katie had given me a manicure-pedicure coupon and bought one for herself. This week we finally got our schedules together to make it happen. I haven’t had a manicure for years. I like having my nails painted; it will be a challenge to keep it looking nice.

On Saturday Dad and I went on a Portland Bike Tour. It was another Groupon purchase; it was Dad’s Father’s Day present. We had great fun. It was a two hour tour of the Portland waterfront; up and down both sides. I want to follow the same trail again soon, so I don’t forget all the turns that kept us on good biking roads. It would be something that would be fun to do on one of your visits here. We stopped in some spots and heard a little history of the areas.

Speaking of bikes, the past few weeks, Dad has been following the Vuelta a España, a three week bike race all over Spain. He has followed where they will be to be able to also watch for the countryside that we saw. The day I enjoyed most was watching them ride up a ski resort road that was steeper than Weir Road, unbelievable! There is a bike ride coming up in October that Dad would like to try and do. It is on the second weekend in October when we have the grandchildren. He could choose one of the shorter routes that go through the country roads around Hillsboro. I think it would be kind of fun for the grandchildren to be able to watch him go by in some of the areas.

We enjoyed our visit with Scott this week. He seemed understandably down saying he has hard a hard couple of weeks with Kyre’s divorce plans and some of her other decisions about the children. It was great to hear him talk about how his roommate is someone with whom he is most comfortable. He is someone he trusted when he went to OSP in the beginning. Steve is applying for vocational training that is available in Salem so that means he may be able to stay until his release date in 4 ½ years.

Well, not much news but just an update. We love you and pray for each one of you! Love Mom

September 13, 2010

Dear Children,

I finally just spent the day in my garden and it feels great. The garden has had a weird year; with our unusual weather, so we haven’t harvested much. In fact, when Dave and Karla visited they brought blueberries. I froze some of those since we didn’t get enough blueberries from our plants to freeze this year. Today will be the first batch of tomatoes that I am freezing also. It has been slim pickings. But, our raspberries are sure growing. I have the scars today to prove that I tried to prune the old to help the new shoots for next year.

My early morning was spent in Marilyn Shayegi’s yard. She has beautiful hydrangeas that start turning a lovely bronzed eggplant color that will look wonderful for decorating Adrianne’s reception if I can get them to dry well. I have the garage lined with buckets and vases on this second round of drying; I did some last week from another friend. I am trying to figure out some creative ideas for decorations and such that will keep the costs down. Adrianne and Blake have chosen a date which is Saturday, February 26. She hopes that they can be sealed around 1:00 and then have a dinner reception at Oaks Park Historical Dance Pavilion. Oaks Park will let us do our own food which keeps the price down; Dad and I are in the experimenting phase right now for developing a nice looking but economical dinner for the reception. We had a great chicken Alfredo dinner last night that could work in the budget. Now I am having a bit of heart failure over the thought of finding someone that can run the kitchen and get 150 dinners out at the same time and be hot!

Speaking of food, do any of you have Newport Bay Restaurant by you or is that just in Oregon? They had a special day this week that you could have their fish and chips dinner and “name your price”. It was crowded of course but quite fun and now I know I like their fish and chips. I usually don’t order fish and chips!

In Adrianne’s last year of college she has finally earned a Pell grant; yes! She was so thrilled to learn the news. I told her that I was so pleased that one of our children was able to qualify and she responded by thanking us for not having any money this past year so she could! She also earned a life science department scholarship this year so she has worked hard to help pay for college expenses this year. You know that she is rooming with Grandma this year since she and Blake did not want to get into a housing contract since they were planning on getting married. She is going to be able to learn even more great tips from Grandma. She already loves bread making and has inherited Grandma’s affinity for making things with chocolate. She and Blake have made several dinners there with Grandma and they made yummy apricot jam that we tasted last week.

All of you know the Brady’s good news from last week. They are having a BOY! Heidi looks great. We were there for three days the week before last. After our fun visit with Ben Sparks and Kay Lewis, we decided that we don’t see our cousins very much. When a Spendlove wedding invitation came, we decided to take advantage of Katie’s “travel service” and we flew to Utah from Thursday to Saturday morning. Everyone couldn’t believe that we were leaving before the game but we wanted to get back for Holly Payne’s wedding reception.

We got a real bonus since both Morty and Nate came into town for the game so we got some visiting time with them also. Nate had an interesting girl with him, Heidi Peters, but I guess they are not dating. She was cute and seemed nice, plus she laughed at Nate’s jokes! It was fun to get caught up on all of Nate’s excitement concerning his job possibilities. I told him that he must feel great to be in such demand for his skills. He interviewed with Omniture in Orem, Utah, an online marketing and web analytics company from a lead that Morty game him. He liked the career move for himself and was offered a lot more than he was making from Zappos. He loves Zappos though so he was having a hard time making the decision especially since Zappos offered a new assignment for him to work with FaceBook and go to London for a month or so! He was honest with Zappos that he had been looking elsewhere so they came back with a financial offer that made it too hard for him to leave. So, I guess we are all still able to buy shoes!!! Really though, it must be wonderful to be such a valued employee.

Aaron is working on his web design skills so that he can interview with Zappos. He would be great and would also have fun working with Zappos. His friends from here keep asking when he is moving back but with the housing market as it is, he will be in Las Vegas for awhile.

Aubrey reported that Shawn had another interview with Goldman Sacs. They like him and are trying to figure out where they can put him. I believe that means they would be moving to Utah, although I think that company is also in the Bay Area. Katie told me that she might be flying down to Oakland to see them this week. We are jealous; we have been trying to figure out a time to go there also.

Bill may also be looking at some job changes. The company that he has worked to build on his own is being looked at by his major competitor so Bill and Heidi have some hard decisions to make in the next little while. There are definitely some pros and cons to working for yourself. Bill ran his first half marathon; the Top of Utah in Logan. He looks good running across the finish line.

Speaking of work and working for ourselves, Dad has kept very busy the last month or so. It is great news; we hope we can keep this going for the next several months. Every indicator is that we are supposed to have a very cold, snowy winter.

We did another fair this Saturday with our SendOutCards business; this time it was just Dad and I. It was at Cook Park in Tigard. It was a celebration for the 41^st Brigade that just returned from their second tour of duty in Iraq. We offered a free souvenir with pictures of their family and the several pictures that we took from the parade. The day was beautiful for a parade and festival. You boys might be interested in the little fact that I borrowed the canopy that I used from Dan Lucas, son of Maurice Lucas! He looks just as tall as his dad but not a big.

Kyre told us that Alina is in the road show in their ward, can you believe that she is that old? Remember that I told you I was leaving the ping pong table down so Dad and I could practice so we could play the grandchildren? Well, it is still covered with scrapbook supplies and lots of photos. I am trying to finish catching up Grandma’s books to this year. She knows it will be her Christmas present from us. I have ten years to go! A lot has happened in those ten years.

I saw in the ward bulletin this Sunday that the Portland Temple will be on a one hour schedule instead of every 30 minutes during the week days. That is kind of sad to know that the sessions are small enough to fit on the hour. I get too busy to go to the temple if I don’t schedule it in. That is a great Back to School goal: I want to schedule in more temple attendance!

Now this picture was hard to get! I have wanted a picture of Katie with her uniform on since she started with the airline. She was at the front desk when we came home from Utah. We BARELY cooperated for this picture. And there was no one around so don’t feel sorry for Katie that she was being humiliated!

I love you! Love, Mom

August 22, 2010

August 15, 2010

Dear Children,

So much has happened since I last wrote; I do not wish this to be an epistle so I will briefly talk about the events of the past month. Biggest news in the family:

Adrianne is engaged!

Monday afternoon Blake Severson asked Adrianne to marry him over foil dinners in a park. He knows Adrianne! They were headed to his Severson Grandparent’s family reunion in Bear Lake for three nights so they made their engagement official at the family home evening that night in the lodge. If you want more details, you will have to ask Adrianne. Adrianne was very impressed with the lodging at Bear Lake for a reunion.

Adrianne is here this weekend so we are getting more details and making some preliminary plans. They are deciding between February 25 or the 26th which is surprising to some of the Severson family since they are from California and are worried the weather might be bad in Oregon. I guess coming from Oregon, February is a risk of ice, rain, snow or sun. No month is a guarantee of good weather so we treat every month the same, event planning-wise. What Adrianne does know for sure, and has talked of for years, is that she wants a sit down dinner reception. So, she knows that means she must invite fewer people. We are meeting with Eileen Daniels tomorrow to talk about possibilities. She is good at gathering information from brides-to-be and I want Adrianne to be able to give her a wish list and then make any necessary cuts later on depending on what matters most to her.

Going is reverse order, the next big event was having Alina stay in our home for the past few days. What a delight it was to have her cheery and totally sweet presence in our home. My eyes are watery as I write this as it made us SO happy and we have longed for this time with her. She used to be our fun buddy to spend the night years ago. When she was young and would call to come over, I would have to ask if she asked her parents first since she used to make her “own” arrangements! Now, she is a beautiful young woman.

With Alina, we played lots of games of course, trying not to let her “clean our clocks” so to speak. She brought a new game to us, Phase 10, and Dad really loves it since he won! She loves a challenge and we try to rise to it. We taught her ping pong and by the time she left, she was a challenge to beat at that also. She is also gifted in coordination besides table games. I remember when we took her skiing and as she learned so quickly, she exclaimed, “I am a natural!”

Alina and Adam are planning a garage sale to clean their play area of toys that are no longer being used. So, Alina’s responsibility, besides tagging and pricing, was to make signs. We spent a good portion of the day making quite a few signs. Alina claims to not be artistic but she is very creative and has darling penmanship. Alina said she likes being here alone since all attention was on her; every grandchild needs grandma and grandpa alone time! We adore all our grandchildren.

On the drive up here, Alina told me that she had just set up a FaceBook account before coming so she got the “Grandma Lecture” in the car about not saying anything on FaceBook that you wouldn’t say face to face to someone and that it is “better to be kind than to be right.” She asked me to help her put pictures from her visit on her FaceBook page, if you call it that. So now I am a little less FaceBook challenged since I had to learn how to do that. I love to learn new things. She searched for all her aunts and uncles and sent friend requests. You will have fun seeing the pictures of her; she is gorgeous of course.

She especially wanted to put up pictures of her at the Dew Tour with Aunt Katie. Since Katie worked for NBC at Salt Lake’s Dew Tour, even though she couldn’t get time off to work the event, they gave her an unlimited access pass to go see it. She got one for Alina also which put Alina about 10 feet away from the famous snowboarder, Shawn White. She said he was all sweaty.

Alina came right at a perfect time since it allowed her to spend a few hours with her before she headed to the barn to get ready for her horse camping adventure. They ended up camping on one of the horse owner’s property in Estacada which she said was absolutely beautiful. It was SO hot this weekend and it had a river on the property which was perfect!

On the only full day that Adrianne was here, she wanted to work on a Christmas Tree Quilt that she planned for a friend last December. I had never returned to the one I started for Grandma last Christmas! So, she got me started thinking about those again. I haven’t been able to stop working on them. There is something about sewing a creative piece that is so therapeutic to me. There are many things that I should be doing this week but loved the detour of sewing the tops of some quilts for future gifts.

It was sad to have Adrianne go back to Utah; we have so many things to do to prepare for her wedding. Plus, honestly, it is hard for Dad and I to see the baby of the family move on and get married!

Last Sunday all of church was dedicated to being a disciple of Christ and treating others kindly. We needed to teach that message in our Primary so I used an old visual I had made years ago and told the story of Zelmgid. It is a cute fable that teaches that we need to look for the good in others and be kind to those who are different. Sacrament meeting surprisingly had the same topic. Sister Shayegi was my favorite speaker. She talked about how living the gospel transforms us. Explaining that the Lord sees us a forever person and of course the best in all of us, she quoted President Uchtdorf saying, “Start where you are at to be a disciple of Christ.”

Before Alina’s visit, Adam came for five days. The Brady family was here for part of that time. Adam is a great family person; he loves being around his family. He enjoyed playing with his cousins and especially Uncle Bill. Bill gave him some pointers and taught his some ping pong strategy. By the time Adam left, he had improved so much. I am going to have to leave the Ping Pong table down to practice with Dad so we can be up to the challenge on the next grandchildren visits!

This next week, I will be leaving the table down as it will give Grandma Maldonado and I lots of space to work on her scrapbooks. For her birthday, I gave her five days devoted to catching up her scrapbooks that she and I (and Adrianne also) started the summer before their 50^th wedding anniversary. We got to the 1990’s so we have a ways to go!

August 22, 2010

OK, so it is no longer the 15^th, the day that I started this! I am devoting the entire rest of Sunday to finishing this, except for a short break to go see Brother Salter. Elizabeth passed away this week due to a stroke. She is the Ludlow grandma. I am sure any of your Ludlow friends would love getting a card for you. The Ludlow address is:

14456 SW Arabian Drive Beaverton, OR 97008

My plans this past week were to drive to Utah with Adrianne in her car and stay for Education Week. But, since she no longer was taking the car back to Utah (long story of her having to pay twice to get it fixed, replacing the engine in the end and it costing too much for her to keep any longer), I booked a flight to be able to get to a couple of days at Ed Week. But, I realize that I was just too behind and I wouldn’t be ready for the visit of Dave and Karla’s family if I left so I used the bonus days to sew this week!

Dave and Karla took their family to the coast for a family trip and stopped overnight here on Thursday before they headed to Idaho. It was great to see them. The first place their grown children headed . . . the trampoline! They stayed just long enough to teach us a new card game, Scum. They are the ones that taught us one of our favorite games, Canadian Salad. We have got to go visit them now since we didn’t have enough time for us to play another game that they wanted to teach us!

Dad really loves his biking. Uncle Scott gave him a real biking outfit of which he is very proud. He dreams of having a nice bike like the one that he rode on with Scott in Clovis. He was amazed at the wonderful ride he had there. He went on an early morning three hour ride yesterday and then rode with me to Al’s garden store to check out their crepe myrtle trees after he helped at Stephen Green’s eagle scout project. He got his exercise in!

The last time I wrote, was right before our trip to California. Katie was in Texas for a two-week training for Southwest Airlines in Texas. She sure enjoys her job and has had lots of fun taking advantage of her flying benefits (and so have I!). Adrianne had just arrived and rode with us to Clovis for our family reunion and Grandma’s 80^th birthday party. We left in time to land at the Sacramento airport to pick up Blake and travel to Hughson to his parents’ home. We had a nice visit there, staying the night and eating dinner at Blake’s favorite taco restaurant.

We loved being in Clovis. The Tobler’s place is like staying at an elegant resort with the warm weather, beautiful pool so close and the wonderful clubhouse there. We were all able to gather for snacks all day and dinner the first night since Aunt Carla reserved their clubhouse. On Saturday we returned to swim and then headed to Reshea’s home for the big party. She has an excellent home for entertaining a lot of guests. Aunt Denise planned some fun birthday games for the party and Nate was an excellent MC. I think everyone had a fun time. Aunt Carla even had pressured hoses for a fun obstacle course. Any water games are fun in Clovis with the heat!

Most of the family had to leave on Sunday but we still kept the game playing going at the Tobler’s, playing Pictionary and a fun game of fast charades (I can’t remember the name) and of course, more eating. Aunt Carla did a fabulous job of planned for and creating wonderful meals for everyone.

That afternoon we were also able to celebrate Shawn’s birthday, it is not often when we are with him on his birthday anymore! This was really a treat. With everything else going on, Aubrey tired to make him his favorite banana cake. She didn’t like the way it turned out so she made a repeat just about a week ago and sent me a picture from Martinez!

After everyone headed back to their homes, Aunt Denise and Carla, Grandma and I headed to a relaxing trip to Windsor for a few days. We planned lots of pool time but it was actually colder than expected. It was a huge change from the heat of the Central Valley!

As soon as I came home to Beaverton, I participated in a fair with a booth for SendOutCards as an experiment. It was a lot of work but a great experience; I met lot of nice people. The last evening I rushed home since Kay Lewis and Ben Sparks were coming for dinner on their way out of town; I think it is so cool that they travel so much together. Adrianne was a huge help by preparing the house and helping with the dinner for the visit. Dad made most of the dinner and we played games afterwards. We taught them Canadian Salad. I never realized how much Ben looks like Dad. We need to go to the 24th in Cokeville someday again.

The next day, Heidi and Bill’s family came to Oregon for the Payne family reunion on the coast and stayed here through the week. I think the girls favorite thing to do was play in the yard. It was quite a treat for them since Meeja and Sunhee came to spend one night and then Adam came for the weekend while they were here. Plus, they went and visited Kyre, Klaire and Alina. Adrianne and I took the girls berry picking one morning; they had big purple rings around their lips! We picked boysenberries and we purchased an extra flat this time to make the trip worth while.

The week that the Brady family was here, our cul-de-sac was the place for a huge fundraising garage sale (I mean HUGE) for Risa Whitaker. We used the Jorgenson, Duda, Whisenant and our driveways. They had been storing donations for a couple of weeks at a storage unit and unloaded it with a U-Haul truck. The grandchildren had fun time spending their dollar with all the many choices. Jenna dove into the sea of stuffed animals asking if she could keep each one. She looked so cute. The garage sale earned over $7000.00 for Risa’s expenses.

Oh, I forgot to mention that we also hosted an 80^th birthday party here in Beaverton for Grandma’s friends up here. We had an amazing turn out and oddly enough, so many people were from Hayward! My cousin Connie came with some of her family, the Shumate’s, Marge Wallace, Karen Miller, Gwen Edmunds, Elinor Bailey, and Nancy Welch were all from Hayward First ward. Most of them have moved somewhere in Oregon. Then three of Grandma’s high school friends even came! Plus, lots of her Summerlake ward friends came to the party. We lucked out on the weather; it wasn’t too hot, just perfect so we could use the deck. It was a great gathering.

Dad and I had a nice visit with last Sunday. Luckily, the missionaries were very accommodating, coming later than usual, when I realized that I have invited them on the day we planned to see Scott. Scott has had some great visits with our family and Payne families that have carried him through a most difficult hearing (over the phone for him) with Kyre this past week. Although things didn’t go as hoped, Scott did an EXCELLENT job of representing himself against all odds and laid some great foundation for his ongoing legal work for his post-conviction relief. It will take a few years but if anyone can do it, Scott can! He has worked hard on his case and is now a legal assistant in the law library and has found the strength to work on his own case after finding it just too discouraging for so long. Scott has been running alot outside in the prison yard and also on the exercise equipment inside. He is keeping track of his miles and is running a loop through the western states to visit all the relatives!!! Next he plans to run form Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine.

Whew! I may have forgotten something else but think that just about covers the last month. I need a nap now!

I love you and hope you are planning some good goals for the fall. Love, Mom

July 21, 2010

Dear Children,

One weekend of fun after another: tomorrow we leave for California and last weekend we had Blake Severson and Adrianne here visiting so we went to the coast. They arrived on Thursday evening just in time to visit with Grandma Maldonado before she left for Fresno. On Friday we headed to Gleneden beach. I like that place. It has beach access but you are still on a little cliff over looking the ocean and the pool and hot tub have a view of the ocean. I loved the tennis court also and it would be fun to use their huge open fireplace in the evening behind the recreation room. We should plan a gathering there. They only have four large units though. I am on a waiting list for one in January for my annual Young Women’s retreat. And, it is right next to Lincoln City so there is plenty of shopping and Mo’s close by!

Although it was windy some of the time, the sun was shinning and the weather was clear all the time. We put our feet in the ocean for just a second, walked along the beach, had a campfire on the beach, played tennis, Adrianne ran, played lots of games, ate lots of food (even BBQ linguisa) swam and sat in the hot tub, did a bit of outlet shopping and stopped at Tillamook on the drive home (well, we purposely drove out of the way to go to Tillamook. We packed a lot in a little bit of time.

Adrianne was anxious to show Blake the horse barn so they left for Sherwood shortly after we arrived home from the coast. They didn’t get far and her car broke down again. The same thing happened that she had just paid over 500 dollars to get fixed. She is so disappointed; she had to tow the car to a garage that night.

Blake and Adrianne helped me out by teaching the Sunbeams. They learned the night before that they would have both classes since the other teacher couldn’t find a substitute. They had their hands full since Sunbeams don’t warm up to new teachers so quickly. Adrianne invited several friends over and had a BBQ Sunday evening. They stayed and laughed forever! It was a good mix. Railee was invited but brought Reanna also since they came directly from the singles ward. It was good to see them both laughing. Risa and her family learned this week that the chemo treatment isn’t working which means that the doctors guessed wrong on the origin of the cancer. They knew it was a guess. The doctors gave the Whitakers the name of an organization that helps prepare a family for the last few weeks and months of life with a family member.

Blake wanted to meet Scott so they drove to Salem on Monday morning and had a good visit. Last week he had a great and very promising interview about the job for legal assistant so that is a light of good news for him. We haven’t told him everything about the newest turmoil over his children. Kyre involved the police again and kept Alina for almost a week infuriating her family. Wendi doesn’t let her be alone with Alina and reports (maybe exaggerates) any negative thing she can to the Lane family that is going on in Kyre’s home. It sounds like Adam is acting out terribly while Alina is there and Kyre does not know how to deal with him. I KNOW that he is more scared than angry. I am sure he has overheard other family members saying that Kyre won’t be able to handle more of the children and I bet he is afraid he will lose his home life again. He may have even heard the one Lane sister threaten to report Kyre until she gets all her children taken away if she continues to keep Alina. I am not sure that Adam is even getting Scott’s letters anymore now that he is at Kyre’s home. Kyre has told the judge that she wants no contact with Scott and wants him to have no contact with any of the children. It is all just more pain for Scott to endure. He would love to hear from any of you; even a short note would help. He loves to hear any of your good news or even normal day to day life details. It helps him escape for a moment into someone else’s happiness. Although he has been amazing to find some joy and fulfillment in the worst of circumstances that he finds himself in, he is paying a very lonely, long and difficult price everyday for his poor choices. Our love can help him through these lows. He will have lots of “fresh, new” visitors during the beginning of August with the Payne family reunion on the Oregon Coast.

As of this week, Alina is back with Janara and the Lane family has settled down. I asked if anyone (that Kyre trusts as she has been very cool to us lately) could convince her to get some counseling help for Adam so he can have some help sorting through his feelings. Aunt Lynn and Uncle Mickey have kept guardianship of Adam for this very reason (so Adam cannot be easily displaced again should there be problems with Kyre). Kyre is still talking with Aunt Lynn so she and Mickey have agreed to help Kyre understand that Adam may need some help. He is going to spend several days with us the week after we get back into town. It will be nice for him to get away from the drama. Although the distance we live from those grandchildren has been a hindrance sometimes through all the difficulties of the past three years, it has also been a huge blessing to the children and to us that our home is a safe haven for them to visit and get away when things are too much in the Albany area.

Angie evens reports that Meeja is getting along better after her weeks staying at our home. Not that we did anything differently with Meeja but I think it gave all parties a necessary breather. Every time we have the urge to step in and try and “fix” their lives (if that truly could even be done), we realize the tremendous value it is to have our home be neutral and a loving, restful place for them to come to where they know they are unconditionally loved and adored (and pampered as they should be at their grandparents!). You all can help the children with your regular notes and calls. Most of them remember their aunts and uncles with lots of fun memories.

Cal and Cathy Crandall came home from their year in China last week. We had a dinner at the Chandler’s home for family home evening on Monday. They have some interesting stories; I hope we get to hear more of them when we are home for a space of time.

Adrianne and I were all set to pick tons of boysenberries or Marion berries on Tuesday morning to make lots of jam. But, we were disappointed in the ripeness and taste of the berries. We spent some time trying to search out good berries and finally gave up. I made only two batches of jam. That is too much time and work spent for making so little results. There were lots of people picking but they are picking berries before they get a chance to really ripen. Hopefully most of the pickers will lose interest and there will be some more mature berries next week before Adrianne has to leave town. Heidi said that she and the girls wanted to go pick berries so there will most likely be berries at the end of the week for them to pick. We will have lots of blueberries. This next week is going to be a big week for our bushes; I hope the birds don’t get too many of them before we have a chance to come back and pick them. Everything is very late and with less sun this year, things just don’t taste the same.

When I looked at the three containers of jam that our efforts yielded, I thought of a quote that I just read this week from President Monson. He said, “Time is the raw material of life. Everyday unwraps itself like a gift, bring us opportunity to spin a fabric of health, pleasure and content and to evolve into something better than we are at its beginning. Success is the ratio of your accomplishments to your capacities.”

We have enjoyed some great summer weather this past week. Dad and I enjoyed a beautiful evening at an outdoor concert at Bridgeport. They are always so nice and they are easy to get to which is doubly nice.

We are off to celebrate grandma Maldonado’s birthday in Clovis and then Shawn’s birthday on Sunday!!! Remember to take advantage of your opportunities today! I love you. Love, Mom