Sunday, May 10, 2015

FAMILY LETTER 05.10.15


Dear Loved Ones                   

 Happy Mothers Day to all the wonderful mothers in our lives! Hope your day has been sweet. I (Jamie) am sharing my day with Ammon today as he turns one year old!

We didn’t write last week because I was having a trip hangover. Heidi and I got home from Utah at 3:30 and enjoyed some family time, barbecued some burgers while the kids jumped on the trampoline. Later, James gave Niles a good shove as Niles was climbing onto the trampoline. Niles fell and fractured his humerus—a green stick fracture that’s in a sling for 2 weeks. Welcome home, Mom!

Our trip was great. In our last letter I was getting ready to go to Women’s Conference at BYU, taking Heidi with me for some Nana/Aunt Debbie time. Last Tuesday 4/28 I took the boys to the park and Ammon squealed with delight on the swings. It was so sunny and warm, a rare, not-windy, 70-degree day. On Wednesday, 4/29, we had scriptures and breakfast and sent everyone off to school, then Heidi and I headed out on a road trip. We drove to BYU and picked up our name badges, then back to Nana’s to sleep.


On Thursday, I left Nana’s at 7:45 and met Debbie Holm at the Marriott Center at 10:05. The traffic was busy and everything was crazy, but the meetings and classes were so worth it. The theme of the conference was Delighting in Covenants. The opening message was from Wendy Nelson (wife of Elder Neslon) and she focused a lot on redeeming the dead. Our first class was about hastening the work—reaching out and speaking up in everyday life with Joanne Pendleton and Neil Marriott. They were fantastic and motivating. The second class was keeping covenants through everyday acts, and the last class was helping teens keep baptismal covenants and prepare for the temple. Right after that, I met up with Nana and Heidi near the Marriott Center and we met Debbie and took a tour of the LDS Motion Picture Studios where her brother Scott builds sets for films and visitors centers (he built that fake Jerusalem out in Goshen for the new Bible videos). That was so much fun. We got a sneak peek at artists painting the murals for the new Provo Temple—absolutely breathtaking (like 15 x40 feet—so huge and gorgeous).

After the tour Nana headed home and Debbie, Heidi and I headed up to the Creamery to have dinner with Brandon Casper (my amiga Erin’s son, BYU student) and Debbie’s niece Sidney.  Then we walked down to the Marriott Center for the evening entertainment, which was excellent. We really enjoyed The Nashville Tribute Band. We were so exhausted by the time we got home to Nana’s at 10:30, we crashed hard.

The next morning (Friday) I slept in and missed the opening session, but I also missed all the traffic so I got a great seat at my chosen first session, Teaching Resilience and Emotional Strength to our Youth, followed by Bring Out the Good in Your Marriage. We ditched the third session to just eat lunch and visit since we hadn’t had a chance.  I got a Taco Bell cantina bowl cuz that was the shortest line at the CougarEat, and Carole M. Stephens (1st Counselor in RS General Presidency) was right in front of me ordering the same thing. Then Mallory from Studio C walked by with her Chick Fil A lunch. I had a double Mormon fangirling moment. I had a great visit with Debbie, then we went to the closing session with Elder Ballard together and said our goodbyes. I had dinner at Nana’s with the fam and then took Heidi, Abby, and Marshall to the mall. We went to bed fairly early so we could get up early to go to visit Jill in Mt. Pleasant.

Meanwhile, Rich was home with the kids doing a great job juggling everything with Addie‘s help. They went to a ward activity Friday night and to James’ first Baseball game on Saturday morning. It looked like a perfect day and James did pretty well. Later James helped with a flag ceremony at the depot with his Cub Scout troop. Rich was texting me pictures of all the fun while I was visiting my sister at MATR Behavioral Health. It seems like a wonderful, nurturing place with a great program. It was so good to see her and get an idea of what life is like there. After Mt. Pleasant, we went back to Nana’s, got our stuff, and headed up to Tooele to spend the night with the Laytons and celebrate nephew Gavin’s 4th Birthday. We headed home at 8:45am and drove straight through to arrive home at 3:30…and then the broken arm thing happened.

This week has been all the regular school and activities. James had another game on Wednesday evening so we took a picnic to the ballpark and watched, then everyone hurried up to the church for scouts, young women and activity days. Niles was able to return to school Wednesday and says his arm doesn’t hurt anymore. He will be able to take it out of the sling the day before his birthday (5/18).
 
Friday night we had a babysitter so we went out to dinner at Zac's Barbecue. It was delicious! While we were there, Rich gave me my mother's day gift: a pretty Mother's ring with all 5 kids' birthstones in it. It was such a nice, sweet and simple date night. We had rain in the forecast so we rented some movies and did some house work and enjoyed the peace. It turned out to NOT be a rainy weekend, it was quite lovely, so we spent some time outside, too.

Sunday was Will Bowden's homecoming talk, he just returned from his mission to Portugal. The kids sang songs for Mother's Day, but Niles was in the foyer having a fit and Heidi refused to get up so only James sang today. We got candy bars from the fellas as we were leaving church. Rich made sure I got a nice nap, then Addie and I decorated Ammon's cake and had a little birthday party for him Sunday night. He seemed a little annoyed by it all, but we had a good time eating stadium brats and tater skins and Ammon's yummy chocolate teddy bear cake. He's a sweet little guy, getting ready to take off walking...he's currently taking about 10 steps then changing his mind. Our next adventure is learning to go down the stairs backward on our tummy...good times!

We wish you a great week! 
 

Love, Rich and Jamie and Family
 
Mom and Heidi driving to Utah 4/29

Conference Badges 4/29
LDSMP Tour with Debbie, Scoot, Nana, Heidi, and Jamie 4/30


Watch for this building in the Priesthood Restoration visitor center film
in Pennsylvania.

Heidi touring the back lot

Heidi on King Benjamin's tower

Saying goodbye to Brandon Casper after dinner 4/30

Having a laugh with Sister Marriott 4/30

End of Women's Conference with Debbie Holm 5/1

James batting 5/2

James catching 5/2

James and his buddy Zane 5/2

Ammon discovered milkshakes 5/2
Good luck getting that cup away from him!

Visiting Jill at MATR 5/2


James having an éclair at Gil's Goods before his flag ceremony 5/2

Niles at the ER with his fractured arm
near midnight 5/3

Date Night! 5/8

Mother's Ring 5/8
 

Last night of babyhood 5/9
 

Good Morning, Birthday Boy!5/10
He was so delighted when we sang "Happy Birthday"

Cautiously eating his birthday cake  5/10

Learning that cake is good!  5/10

At out house, birthday boys eat hot dogs with their feet!
(he had grabbed his bun AND Niles' and
tried to stuff them in his mouth)

opening gifts with Mama  5/10

Ammon with his one and only birthday toy: a ball coaster
He loved it!
(and mommy loved all the clothing gifts from
the grandmas--much needed and appreciated!)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

No comments:

FAMILY LETTER 07.28.19

Dear Loved Ones,                                                                                                        We have just ...