Life in a Northern Town: FAMILY LETTER 04.26.15

Dear Loved Ones 26 April 2015

Happy 11^th Birthday Cousin Jack. We’ve been thinking of you today. It’s cold and rainy and we’ve had an afternoon of catching up on Faith in God and Personal Progress goals and now we’re watching “Into The Woods” (again).

It’s been a pretty boring week. Lots of school, homework, meetings, etc. Monday was family night, Tuesday was doctor appointments (checkups for Addie and Ammon), Wednesday I got a biopsy on the 7-month leg rash and Rich took Addie and James up to Scouts and Young Women.

Thursday we had the missionaries over for Breakfast for Dinner: French Toast with strawberries and cream plus sausage, bacon and OJ and they said we should have breakfast for dinner every time because they never get fancy breakfasts. So, done! Afterward I went to a parents’ meeting to help choose a new principal for the primary school (which experience really made me have more confidence in my gut feelings—I knew that last one was a bad choice, but I thought it was just me—nope, it was an all-around mistake, *sigh* live and learn).

Friday was a circus. Rich had to prepare for a Boy Scout camp out at Pine Creek. I had a rheumatology checkup in Bozeman at the ungodly hour of 4:20pm, so Rich was loading up his scout trailer, I picked up the kids from school and dumped them at home and had Addie babysit while I ran to the doctor, shopped at Costco, and brought home pizza and root beer for dinner. We had a fun slumber party and watched, “Into the Woods” (in which Meryl Streep is INCREDIBLE).

It snowed on the scouts and we all slept terribly without Daddy. Saturday morning we changed beds and did laundry. Addie went up to the church to dip chocolates and twist carmels for the YW camp fundraiser. Rich came home around 10 am and we got ready for Elanor Jones’ baptism at 1pm. It was such a nice service for a sweet girl. Afterward we took a nap and had a yummy dinner. Addie and Heidi had some friends over for the afternoon and evening, and the Jones family stopped by for a couple of hours to eat cookies and hang out. Around 10pm the older girls went over to Jones’ house for a late movie and we all crashed hard.

Church was lovely today. I love Rainy Sundays so much! We had two good High Council talks about the Savior, I only caught bits of the final talk as my two-hour wrestling match with Ammon started early today. We caught up with the Lowes who were out in the foyer with their twin girls, too J We had a nice visit from our home teachers and talked about having courage. We talked about how the message of Cinderella was “Have Courage and Be Kind…” it’s a great message.

Heidi and I are gearing up to go to Utah on Wednesday for BYU Women’s Conference (we will be home Sunday). Heidi will have some Nana/cousin time while I go to conference classes and in the evenings she will be able to catch up with Aunt Debbie Holm, who is meeting me at BYU. We are looking forward to making some great memories and filling our proverbial cups. Please keep Rich and the kids in your prayers ;) I’m so grateful to friends and Grandma Melin for helping out so I can go to this. I’m finding a little “mom time” every six months is exactly what I need to be my best.

We wish you all a great week!

Love, Rich and Jamie and Family