Dear Loved Ones 16 November
2014
Well, last
Sunday night as I was writing you, the snow began falling and the temperature
plummeted. It stayed below zero most of the week, but today was near 20 and
that actually felt warm! It’s all relative, I suppose! The wood heat from the fireplace
is dreamy; we are very cozy.
Last week I
forgot to mention that we attended Addie’s choir concert on the 4th
and it was excellent. It’s great to see the kids improving so much from year to
year. They added some dance moves and had lots more stage presence than last
year. They sang 4 songs from around the world. We forgot to take a camera, but
she looked and sounded lovely.
So this past
Monday (11/10) after it stopped snowing we went to Bozeman for family night. We
had Mongolian Barbecue dinner then went shopping at Goodwill. We love thrift
shopping, and this time we found jeans for the boys who are growing like weeds,
and some 12m jammies and onesies for Ammon because he blew through 2 sizes in 2
months!
Tuesday I
did chores and worked on Christmas projects and Cody made a great Shepherd’s
Pie dinner for us. Addie and I went to Relief Society meeting that night and
made a Christmas craft. Wednesday turned into a crazy day. I watched the Jones
Twins while their parents worked on their house. I picked up Niles and Kenny
Howell from preschool and dropped some lunch to the Joneses. Nile, Kenny, Rex,
and Bea played happily all afternoon (Kenny’s mom was celebrating her birthday
with a spa day). They helped me make a chocolate zucchini cake for Kim Strupp’s
birthday. At 4pm, I went to the doctor for my regular blood work and a weird rash
on my ankle (we’re trying out some steroids and stuff, checking for psoriatic
arthritis as I’ve swelled up and lost strength in most of my joints—I can’t
even lift the covers in the mornings!). That night I sent Rich, James, and
Addie off to Scouts and Young Women and had some of Heidi’s Activity Days
friends over to make some felt and paper Christmas ornaments. They were so
cute!
Thursday was
a nice quiet day of laundry and catching up. That night we watched “Polar
Express” by the fire with the kids. Aunt Marti called me and asked about Cody.
She and Uncle Ralph put his name and Kamrie’s on the temple prayer rolls.
Friday we went to Rita Lochridge’s funeral in Bozeman with Ammon. Niles had a
playdate with Porter Tyner. We got home just before dinner time. We had pizza
with the kids and watched a movie with the kids. Cody told us that he’d gotten
in touch with a friend in Helena who was looking for help with insulation jobs
and was even willing to come pick him up to start working with him over the
weekend. So Cody decided to go so he can be close to Kamrie and help when the
babies are born. I consider it a huge and instantaneous blessing…thanks, Aunt
Marti!
Saturday morning, Rich and Addie joined some
other people from the ward helping with the final push to get the Jones’ house
ready to live in. It really is a huge, charming house with tons of built-ins and
6 bedrooms. The youth also did a food drive at the grocery stores to make
Thanksgiving Dinner boxes next week. I saw Michaela Claar at Albertson’s with
her winter formal date (Winter Formal was Saturday Night). She said she told
him that the food drive was part of the date! So cute. I had Elanor Jones and Riley
Denniston here playing while their parents worked. Heidi went to a fun birthday
party at the bowling alley at noon, and we said good-bye to Cody at noon, too.
Rich and Addie came home for a taco dinner and brought Clara and Jeanette
Jones. They stayed til their older sister was done at formal and the whole
fam headed back to Clyde Park.
Today
(Sunday) was the Primary Sacrament Meeting Program. It was adorable as usual.
The Sunbeams really stole the show. It was nice to be reminded several times
this week of the sacredness of families and family life. I had a very humbling
and spiritual experience at Sister Lochridge’s funeral that reminded me of what
a blessing it is to be a mother. There is divinity and holiness in the simple
things we do each day to keep order and spirit in our homes. Gathering for
dinner feeds bodies and spirits-- it’s worth the effort. All the unseen and
unnoticed work adds up to something so permanent and significant. It’s good to
be reminded after all the thankless hours; I really did choose the better part.
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| Sweet Ammon asleep on my shoulder Saturday night |
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| Gathering herbs for the TURKEY! |
SO! We are
one week closer to Thanksgiving and I am so excited! Also, this coming Friday
evening we will officially become the parents of a teenager (though she seems
much older)! Addie turns 13 Friday and we are excited to celebrate her and all
she means to our family. Happy Birthday to Cousins Ben, Rosalie, and Aubree and
Max Mullins! And I think this week is Will & Audrey’s 20th
wedding anniversary—congrats to you guys!
Have a great
week, we love you!
Rich, Jamie, and Family
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| Lego action on Monday |
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| Addie's Report Card...genius! |
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| Beautiful Images for Veteran's Day |
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| Did you see this amazing poppy installation at the Tower of London? More than 888,000 poppies representing soldiers who died in WWI. |
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| Nearly a million porcelain poppies! Stunning. |
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| On cold mornings we stay in bed! |
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| Colton Carter got his mission call to the Alpine German Speaking mission (Bavaria, Austria, and part of Switzerland). He enters the England MTC on January 15th. |
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| I organized cupboards on Saturday! YAY! Picnic, First Aid, Supplements, and medicines |
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| Spices and Tea! YAY! |
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| A facebook postcard from this week. |
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