FAMILY LETTER 11.09.14

Dear Loved Ones                                                    09 November 2014

Well, this week flew by! It was another warm and sunny week, but the wind picked up and we knew that winter was blowing in. It was 65 degrees Saturday. The predicted high for Monday is 25, and Tuesday? 10. TEN! It was fun while it lasted.

So last Monday the kids shook off their Halloween hangovers and headed back to school. We had a nice Family Night (skipped community choir) and went to bed early.  Tuesday was Election Day and we were pretty pleased with the results, although my friend Tammy lost her bid for County Treasurer (I was her secretary in PTO).  I cleaned and organized the pantry and did our menu that day and I’m enjoying cooking dinner a little better ever since.

Election Day!

Wednesday 11/5, was a gitter done kind of day. I got some Christmas gifts made, then between school and dinner time we took Christmas card pictures of the kids. We had the missionaries over for a pot roast-and-potatoes dinner. Niles is supposed to be doing some “kitchen homework” for preschool (helping me cook, learning about hygiene, cooking tools,  measuring, etc.) so we tried out a new simple recipe for biscuits. He really enjoyed helping and they turned out so good, I want to share the recipe with you:

 Seven Up Biscuits

4 cups pancake mix (Bisquick)

1 c sour cream (or plain greek yogurt)

1 c 7-Up or Sprite

½ c melted butter

 

Mix first three ingredients into soft dough. Knead it and pat it out and cut 12 thick biscuits with round cutter. Pour melted butter into 9x13” pan, then lay biscuits on top of butter and bake for 12-14 minutes at 425 degrees.

 

Both girls had activities Wednesday night, James had scouts, and so did Rich. Rich’s scouts planned their camp out this weekend.  The little boys and I watched several episodes of Team Umizoomi, Niles’ current favorite kids’ show.

 

 Thursday was like a Friday for us since the kids had Parent-Teacher Conferences. Thursday evening Rich had meetings in Bozeman and I had conferences for all three kids from 5pm til 7pm. We had a quick dinner and put the little boys down and watched Forrest Gump at the kids request. It turned into a pretty good history/culture lesson.

 

Friday we did some chores and hung out at home in the morning, then went to the park in the afternoon. Rich left at 1pm to camp with his scouts at the West Boulder cabin. From all reports, they had a great time and the weather was fantastic. At the park we met up with the Jones kids. Their parents were signing papers on their cool new house, so we followed them over to check it out. Later all the kids came over to play while their parents went and made a list  of all the things they have to so before they can move in. The kids had a blast together. We made pizza and played and did it again Saturday night while Robyn and Lope worked on the house (we figured we definitely need to pay it forward for all the nights people watched our kids while we worked on house projects).

 

 Saturday afternoon when Rich got home from the camp out, he showered and took James to a Bobcat Football game in Bozeman (MSU won). It was a treat from Safeco Insurance and they had a blast. After all the kids went to bed I had a get-to-know-you date with Robyn Jones and Sheryl Mills. We talked for hours over virgin margaritas and it was fantastic. Like a year’s worth of visit teaching in one night. I almost never do stuff like that, but it was a very edifying time and I am grateful Heavenly Father sends these great women to be my friends!

 

Father-Son Football Game 11/8

Today in choir we started Christmas music “That Peaceful Night” and Sally DeFord’s  “ O Come Emmanuel”. They are beautiful arrangements. There were about 10 investigators at church today, it was so exciting! I hope they had good experiences. We had short naps this afternoon and Rich is cleaning out his side of the garage to prepare for the winter onslaught this week. Were snuggled up by the fire right now, ready for winter! Happy Birthday today to our sweet cousin Hannah Beth! I can’t believe she’s already 7! Hope Angie had a great birthday Friday and hope Matthew’s baptism yesterday was special. We love you and miss you and wish you a great week! Keep Warm!!

 

Love, Rich and Jamie and Family

 

The girls both had activities that night, James had scouts, and so did Rich. Rich’s scouts planned their camp out this weekend.  The little boys and I watched several episodes of Team Umizoomi.PS: Some photos from our Christmas Card shoot...

day was like a Friday for us since the kids had Parent-Teacher Conferences. Thursday evening Rich had meetings in Bozeman and I had conferences for all three kids from 5pm til 7pm. We had a quick dinner and put the little boys down and watched Forrest Gump at the kids’ request. It turned into a pretty good history/culture lesson. Friday we did some chores and hung out at home in the morning, then went to the park in the afternoon. Rich left at 1pm to camp with his scouts at the West Boulder cabin. From all reports, they had a great time and the weather was fantastic. At the park we me tup with the Jones kids. Their parents were signing papers on their cool new house, so we followed them over to check it out. Later all the kids came over to play while their parents went and made a list of all the things they have to so before they can move in. The kids had a blast together. We made pizza and played and did it again Saturday night while Robyn and Lope worked on the house (we figured we definitely need to pay it forward for all the nights people watched our kids while we worked on house projects).  Saturday afternoon when Rich got home from the camp out, he showered and took James to a Bobcat Football game in Bozeman (MSU won!). It was a treat from Safeco Insurance and they had a blast. After all the kids went to bed I had a get-to-know-you date with Robyn Jones and Sheryl Mills. We talked for hours over virgin margaritas and it was fantastic. Like a year’s worth of visit teaching in one night. I almost never do stuff like that, but it was a very edifying time and I am grateful Heavenly Father sends these great women to be my friends! Today in choir we started Christmas music—“That Peaceful Night” and  Sally DeFord’s “O Come Emmanuel.” They are beautiful arrangements. There were about 10 investigators at church today, it was so exciting! I hope they had good experiences. We had short naps this afternoon and Rich is cleaning out his side of the garage to prepare for the winter onslaught this week. We’re snuggled up by the fire right now, ready for winter! Happy Birthday today to our sweet Hannah Beth! I can’t believe she’s already 7! Hope Angie had a great birthday Friday and hope Matthew’s baptism yesterday was special. We love you and miss you and wish you a great week! Keep Warm!!