Life in a Northern Town: FAMILY LETTER 03.22.15

Dear Loved Ones,

We had a lovely week, hope you did, too! When we left off last week we were headed to the Joneses’ house for Korean Tacos and it was super fun and delicious. Brother Jones made Korean Beef in the slow cooker and had all kinds of delicious toppings including I-Ho’s kimchi. We loved it! I’m including a recipe for a simpler version that we’ve been making.

Monday 3/16 was Grandpa Melin’s knee replacement surgery in Billings and it went well. We had self-sufficiency Family Night where we learned to clean bathrooms and sort laundry. We also locked all of the internet enabled devices in the safe and put parental controls on the desktop since screen time privileges have been abused lately. I’m attaching a great little “Tech Rules” poster we found online. There is a great article that goes with it if you’re interested, at sunshineandhurricanesdotcom. We also had a lesson on a better way to apologize (can you tell we’ve had some tumultuous times enforcing the rules around here?). A good apology should say, in a nutshell, this: I am sorry for___; It was wrong because ___; In the future I will___; Will you forgive me? (You can find the whole lesson at cuppacocoa.com/a-better-way-to-say-sorry—it is excellent!). Family Night was actually pretty well received and life has been much more peaceful with the restrictions.

Tuesday 3/17 was St. Paddy’s Day and we planned absolutely nothing to celebrate. James and Niles had dental appointments in the afternoon—James had 2 molars extracted and spacers put in, in hopes that his molars will grow in straight with no crowding and no orthodontia. Niles just had a cleaning and fluoride treatment, no cavities or weak spots. That night we went to Heidi’s band concert where she played her snare drum with the 5^th grade band. We did have homemade Shamrock shakes to celebrate St. Paddy’s after the concert.

Wednesday 3/18 we all headed up to the church. Addie’s Beehive class went to the library and talked about their favorite books. Rich led a Court of Honor for his scouts. I subbed for the Activity Days leader and pitched a tent facing the first presidency. We read about King Benjamin’s people, how they pitched their tents and listened to his words, then changed their behavior. We shared some conference packets/bingo games, then played Apples to Apples in the tent and ate S’mores cookie bars (made with Golden Grahams—Jamie’s childhood favorite). Everyone enjoyed their activities.

Thursday 3/19 I finally heard from my doc. On facebook I said, “I finally talked with my PCP today about my Brain MRI/ angiogram results. She said there are no tumors, no signs of stroke, but "abnormalities" spotted by the radiologist she wants a neurologist to follow-up on. My bp was 140/90 today, not coming down but not scary, and I've lost 6 pounds since February 27th. So more waiting. But I'm not dying.” So that was good news. Thursday night Addie had her Science Fair at school. Her project was chosen for the State Science Fair in Billings next weekend. Also, Arizona won their first MARCH MADNESS GAME against Texas Southern. YAY!

Friday 3/20 Jamie worked most of the day on the memorial video for Steve Bierle. You may have heard of him in the news last week when he drowned off the California coast saving his son from the ocean. I cried on and off most of the day; it was hard to see a family lose their dad who was our same age. Rich put a new ice maker in our refrigerator and changed the brakes on the van on his lunch break. Yeah, he’s awesome. That night was homemade pizza night and we watched Night at the Museum 3.

Saturday 3/21 Rich and James finished up James’ Pinewood Derby car for the races on 3/24. Jamie finished up the video and delivered it to the funeral home, then did some fruitless thrifting. Rich took some of the kids to Bozeman to check out the newly decaled scout trailer while Jamie made dinner for the missionaries and watched basketball games. Rich also took the kids to fly kites after Bozeman, then we grilled burgers and had a noisy, crazy dinner with the Elders (I blame the wild children on the wild wind). Arizona won their second game against Ohio State, so we’re SWEET 16, yo! Addie and Heidi went to see “Oklahoma” with the Jones girls.

Sunday 3/22 was a sweet Sabbath: choir practice, high council speakers, seeing our sweet Jordyn home from her mission to Tucson, wrestling Ammon. Grandma Melin had us over for dinner to cheer up Grandpa. The day was absolutely glorious—sunny and warm! It’s pretty brown out there, but it was fun to see the sweet little newborn Angus calves down the valley—so tiny! And so many deer running around the ranch. (Ammon wore some spring clothes, it was so warm! >>)

Today Lexi Melin turns six, and Ellie Mullins and Max Craft have birthdays, too (I mentioned that last week, but they are coming up this Tuesday and Wednesday. And we will let balloons go for Papa Bill’s birthday next Sunday. So many fun times ahead…we love this time of year! We wish you a wonderful week, full of SPRING energy and happy moments.

Love, Rich and Jamie and Family