Life in a Northern Town: FAMILY LETTER 10.12.14

Dear Loved Ones, 12 October 2014

I wish there were words to express how edifying and uplifting the past two weeks have been. Certainly from Women’s Conference on 9/27, to General Conference last weekend, and a joyful Sabbath today, we have received so much strength and vision. But we’ve also enjoyed happy times with family and friends, beautiful weather, productivity, opportunities to serve, all adding to sense of hope and well-being in spite of the chaos and tragedy happening around the world.

Monday 9/29 was back to the grind. I did laundry and made potato salad for dinner with the Elders. We had a summer BBQ dinner with burgers and salads, then they taught our FHE lesson about the power of the Book of Mormon and challenged the whole family to read ad gain or strengthen our testimonies of the book. Addie and I went to Community Choir and then got hot cocoa at McD’s and worked on her math homework. Turns out I am no help when it comes to positive and negative integers and practicing the order of operations (thank heaven for the Khan Academy app!).

Tuesday 9/30 was Rich’s last Scout Training day so it was just me and the kiddos at home. Addie had a he project to work on, so I couldn’t attend James’ first Pack meeting, which made me sad. He had a great time and is always working on his scout book. Wednesday was Activity Days, and YM/YW, so I just had James, Niles and Ammon at home. They went to sleep so nicely, I continued some sewing projects. Addie got her Personal Progress all updated—she is doing awesome! Heidi is falling in love with church basketball.

That weekend we were so happy to have the Postum cousins with us from Helena. Amie was doing her doula training and certification in Bozeman, so Matt brought the kids over on Friday after lunch. He and Amie brought a yummy dinner of enchiladas, beans and rice. Amie got home from her class at 6pm and we ate and watched old home videos from their wedding and watched the kids play together. It was a perfect family night. Saturday morning we had a smorgasbord of cereals and fruits and watched general conference. The weather was so beautiful; we took lots of walks and trampoline breaks. We had a sandwich bar for lunch and leftovers for dinner. Rich, Matt, and Cody went to priesthood meeting while Amie and I took care of kids and watched “Hook.” Sunday morning, Rich went all out on a big breakfast—YUM! We were nice and full when Music & the Spoken Word came on at 9:30 and we settled in for another day of conference (I collected notes/comments from everyone, which I will put in another document). We had chicken noodle soup and cheddar bay biscuits for dinner and sang Happy Birthday to Uncle Sam via facebook. The Postums packed up and went home after dinner. Cody also had Zecklin here for the weekend, so Matt and Amie took him back to his mom in Helena. It was good cousin fun for everyone.

Watching conference during our favorite Elder Klebingat:
Addie, Ammon, Zecklin, Cody, Matt's knee and Rich's knee.

Conference Babies! Ammon & Zeck

Emily and Niles going on a nature walk
between Sunday sessions

Niles and Emily collecting wildflowers for their nature bags.

Sunday afternoon lego aftermath
Beautiful chaos!

This past week we enjoyed more amazing weather. This Indian Summer is spoiling us! I did TONS of laundry Monday and started organizing all the choir stuff for my “church job” as music chair/choir director. The last quarter of the year is my busy season, since the ward history is due at the New Year (I’m the historian, too), and everyone one loves music during the holidays. I found so much great music for the holidays, including an amazing piano/flute/soprano solo that is a medley of “For the Beauty of the Earth” and a Bach piece. I am so excited to start practicing Christmas music when I get home from my trip! Speaking of choir, the girls and I went to Community Choir, but they went to a cool honors choir concert at the high school for the first hour. I love doing music with them!

Tuesday was our first night home together as a family in a long time, so we did a project after dinner. We cleaned and organized the play room and donated two trash bags full of toys. The room looked great when we finished and it was nice to work together! Wednesday Heidi joined Addie for a fun beehive activity where they painted these cute wooden black cats for Halloween decorations. Rich and his scouts came up with a wonderful fundraising idea. After taking inventory of all his scout stuff, Rich realized that they really don’t have the camping gear they should have and he has been filling in with his own equipment for years. So he proposed to the bishopric that the troop purchase a small trailer and stock it with camping gear. They composed a really nice fundraising letter for local businesses (many of which are run by troop 524 alumni) and have already received several commitments. I am so excited that Rich has this calling—it has been fun to see inspiration and ideas come to him since he was set apart. I believe he will work wonders for the troop and bless the lives of the deacons in his group.

Thursday 10/9 sweet little Ammon finally had his 4 month check-up—the day before he turned 5 months. He had three shots and two of them made little injection site reactions on his right leg. He was pretty sad and whiny on Thursday and Friday, so I just took those two days to love on him. He is doing great, super healthy and happy and developing well. He is 17lbs 12 oz and 27” long…average for a 10 month old (no wonder my back hurts!) I sure feel blessed to be his mama!

Saturday 10/11 Terry Carter and I hosted a belated Bridal shower for Stephanie Larson O’Dell (Mom & Dad, so you know Carol O’Dell? She is Steph’s new mother in law and she was the life of the party, I tell ya!). It was a cozy, overcast day and the party was over lunch time. We had a fall theme (“Fall in Love”) with comfort food for lunch, like my chicken noodle soup and mini-dutch apple pies, Terry’s wheat rolls and pumpkin bars, and hot apple cider. I really enjoyed it. Afterward, I took a nap with Ammon while Rich went out to the ranch to check on things and do some wood work. Later, I took the kids out to roast hot dogs, brats, and s’mores with the Jones Family. There just are no words for the beauty of the fiery trees, the river, the mountains, the beautiful sunset, and 13 gorgeous children at play, having a ball. Of course, we love spending time with Robyn and Lope, so it was an all-around wonderful night. We are doing our best to savor this breathtaking season.

Today’s church meeting was absolutely wonderful from start to finish. We got a new Young Women’s presidency: Lynn Moore as president, Robyn Tyner 1^st counselor, Bonnie Speas 2^nd counselor, and Jenn Claar secretary, with Lynette Kapp as advisor/ Personal Progress leader. The Elders Quorum Presidency gave inspired talks in Sacrament meeting about being Christlike in our family relationships. The talks were a perfect blend of doctrine and personal testimony. I just love Ryan Speas; he will do a great job as Elders Quorum President. Relief Society lesson was so excellent, about Loving all of God’s Children. Such a good discussion and so many great quotes in that lesson! Here’s just one I loved: “…Through the aid of the Holy Ghost, it is possible for us to stand united together seeing eye to eye and overcoming our sins and imperfections. If we will do this, respecting all the commandments of the Lord, we shall be a power in the world for good; we shall overwhelm and overcome all evil, all opposition to the truth, and bring to pass righteousness upon the face of the earth.” I love that thought! Reminds me of the Christina Rossetti Christmas Poem:

Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine,
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and Angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead,
Love Incarnate, Love Divine,
Worship we our Jesus,
But wherewith for sacred sign?

Love shall be our token,
Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign.

LOVE shall be our token! By this shall all men know we are HIS disciples.

So our love goes out to you! We are so grateful that our sweet niece Sariah is home from the hospital with a diagnosis and effective medication for ventricular tachycardia. Our prayers are with her for a strong heart and inspired doctors. We wish you all a happy week with lots of Indian Summer sun!

Love, Rich and Jamie and Family

PS: From Facebook this week...