FAMILY LETTER 04.16.19

Dear Loved Ones,

My goodness, time flies. I’m still struggling to get my brain around 2019 and it’s already APRIL! And April is half over! We have done a lot since our last letter and Spring Break. On Monday, April 1^st, we were all back in the saddle again after 11 days off school. I got tons of house work and laundry done and watched some BYU devotionals. I was glad to be back into my routine. The night before, I’d stayed up late talking with Addie’s friend Kenyon because we had been a little concerned about them pairing off. Rich and I had been praying and pondering how to deal with this new situation, but our conversation was really sweet, and I had powerful impressions that he is an exceptional young person we should welcome into our family life. So he has been around a lot the past few weeks. Tuesday 4/2 was another busy day of Spring cleaning, decorating for Easter, and taking all three boys to the dentist. On Wednesday 4/3, Rich took me to Billings to attend a Pixies concert at the Alberta Bair theater. Their opening band, Basement (from England) was really great, too. We got to sit down most of the show and just enjoy the show with a great view from the balcony. I proudly wore ear plugs the whole time because they mostly did their more “yell-y” songs. It was super fun to be out with my fella, but we are definitely old cuz we were ready for bed at like 9:30, just as the Pixies got going, hahaha. The kids successfully got to and from their youth/scout meetings and home to bed with a little help from Grandma, so that was a milestone 😉

On April 4^th, I got the kids off to school and was watching the end of October conference in preparation for April Conference when a message from church headquarters popped up on my phone announcing that in the global leadership meetings before general conference, the First Presidency announced changes to policies regarding LGBT+ individuals, couples, and their children. I was so happy, I ugly cried. Like, with sobs. I know the changes mean different things to different people, but to me it feels like a WORLD of difference to be excommunicated for breaking the law of chastity rather than apostasy. To my heart, one sounds like an invitation to progress and align your life with the gospel one day; the other sounds like a rejection. And I know Christ is about progress, not rejection. He is a God of second (and tenth, and one-thousandth) chances and open arms. It is subtle but it sends a message that feels more harmonious with the teachings and mission of our Savior. So that was awesome. That night I had a stake public affairs meeting, and guess what we talked a lot about? 😉 I also ran to Costco while I was over there to stock up on yummy food for General Conference weekend. I worked all day Friday cleaning up and making food so I could take the whole weekend off. All the kids helped—even Kenyon.

General Conference weekend (Saturday and Sunday 4/6-7) was spectacular. Kenyon joined us for all the sessions, the sister missionaries came Sunday morning, Addie’s & Kenyon’s Friend Lincoln Jeffery from our ward came over between Sunday sessions and stayed through dinner, and Kenyon’s parents came over Sunday night for dinner when it was all over. I can’t even begin to describe how powerful some of those talks were to me. Elder Christofferson’s subtle voice of warning, Elder Holland’s powerful call to sanctify our Sabbath days, Elder Renlund’s parable of the fire of faith, my girl Sister Eubank’s encouragement to find light in the darkness, President Nelson’s invitation to grow your seed of faith and to repent now because time is running out, and Elder McKay’s testimony of the immediate goodness of God were among my most memorable. I loved the sweet, harmonious spirit that was left in our home Sunday night as we gathered with friends and family, and I loved that Rich and I received impressions for the direction of our family. Our big kids are all on the cusp of new experiences and we needed that spiritual boost and back-up to help them.

Monday April 8^th was a bittersweet day—sweet because of the lingering conference spirit, bitter because of the opposition that immediately kicked in trying to erase any progress our family might make in the right direction (don’t worry—we are on it; and we are used to the adversary’s shenanigans); also bitter because my mission president –O Captain, My Captain—Robert O. Hickman, passed away that day. On Tuesday, I met sister-in-law Kelli for brunch to plan Heidi’s and Summer’s Quinceanera party on 4/26. When we were pregnant with them, we had the same due date—4/25/04 (Heidi was born 4/15 and Summer was born 5/4), and the girls thought it would be fun to have a party on their due date. The church gym was already booked for 4/25, so we took 4/26, which is also Cousin Jack Petersen’s 15^th birthday, lol. After brunch, I went over to the Murray Hotel to deliver a welcome basket for Colin Kartchner. He is a dynamic speaker we brought to Livingston to speak to kids and parents about internet safety and mental health. He is LDS and brings a great motivating Spirit with him, so we were very excited to book him and have him help our community. Tuesday Night after baseball practice, Rich and I attended his presentation for Parents. I stayed after chatting with moms and we formed a book club to read the books Colin recommended. I’m not making much progress on our first book because of this insanely busy month, but I hope to get through 4 books before school starts next year. On Wednesday, I spent the day at Park High School attending Colin’s assemblies with all students grades 6-12 in Park County (6 schools I think). I met moms and mental health professionals from all over the state who came to see Colin and book him in their areas. I am so grateful that his message is reaching people who need it most. Montana has the highest suicide rate per capita in the US and Park County leads the state, so this message is timely!

Thursday night was cold and rainy, Richard and I went on a little date to Bozeman and got the boys’ baseball equipment and attended Addie’s choir performance at Regionals at Bozeman High School. Kenyon came to support her, too, and we all drove through Wendy’s afterward then took Kenyon to his car (cuz it was cold and snowy). On Friday 4/12, Addie stayed home sick from school, Ammon had a play date, and I had a lunch date with Kenyon’s mom, Machele, out at Chico (where she works). We had an awesome visit—90 minutes just flew! When I got home and picked up Ammon, Addie woke up from a nap and went to Bozeman with Kenyon to get a tie and a haircut for prom.

 Saturday morning, Niles and I attended a baptism for his friend Annika Prosser (Annika’s mom Bambi and I had a joint-baby shower for them eight years ago). Then we went to Bozeman with the family (except for Addie, who was in Helena at Regional Solo & Ensemble) and ate lunch at Noodles and Company and got treats at World Market while Rich picked up stuff at REI. I came home just sick and exhausted so I took an Emergen-C and went to bed. Rich took all the kids out to Mark’s In & Out for dinner while I rested, bless his heart.

Sunday 4/14 we went to church and choir practice, then I actually took a nap for the first time in a long time. We had a little home church about Palm Sunday/ witnesses of the resurrected Christ, then had the Jones family over for tostadas and chat. We had intended to sing some Easter hymns together, but we ended up talking about BYU Hawaii and our Polynesian love since Clara is heading there in August and Addie wants to go next year. It was a good evening.

Monday 4/15 was Heidi Day! I hurried and did some Monday chores, then helped Robyn do some ministering with help from our amazingly loving sisterfriends. I picked up Heidi to go to lunch (steak bowls at Taco Bell, yo!) and take a nap for her birthday, then that night Rich treated us all to dinner at Neptune’s Tap House (plus Grandma Rosalie, Kenyon, and Sophie Ross). Dinner was DELICIOUS and Rich was so excited to give her the gift he carefully curated for her- a nicely refurbished iPad Pro with 2 cute covers, a fancy stylus, and an awesome digital art app called—brace yourselves—ProCreate…hahahaha! We got a good laugh out of that, but she was so happy about it she cried. Dad for the win! Cousins joined us at home for ice cream cake around 7pm and our 15-year-old girl went to bed feeling happy and beloved. Tuesday 4/16 was Niles’ first baseball game out in the freezing cold drizzly wind, followed by watching our nephew Liam’s mission call to the Philippines Quezon City North mission on Facebook live at 8pm. What an awesome night! We are super excited for Liam to learn Tagalog and fall in love with the people of the Philippines as he serves them, and to grow closer Jesus in that special covenant relationship of full-time service. We sure love that boy!

And so here we are! In the middle of Holy week, preparing for Easter and our beloved Caspers’ visit and Kenyon’s 18^th birthday on Easter as well. It’s going to be a wonderful weekend followed by another wonderful week end, and I’m gonna be one tired mama! Joyfully exhausted! We love and miss you all and wish you a great week and a Happy Easter!

“Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.” -Joseph B Wirthlin

Love, Rich and Jamie and Family

One of my favorite lingering thoughts from October 2018 conference;
such broad application to agency and parenting!

4/3: Ad for the show we went to!

4/3: Heading out on a big date with my man

Chillin' in the balcony of Alberta Bair Theater

Cool opening band, Basement

Paz singing Gigantic

4/5: Addie and Kenyon making treats for Conference Weekend

4/6: Post-Conference play time at the park getting all our
wiggles out on our first sunny day in a long time

4/8: RIP, President Hickman
{O Captain! My Captain!}

4/9: Jessi Tyner, Me, Vicki Petry, and Colin Kartchner
 after his Parents' presentation at PHS

4/10: From Colin's Instagram--
he taught our kids in early morning seminary!

4/10: Colin in action at PHS student assemblies

4/10: More from Colin's Instagram;
leaving his mark in Livingston

Loved it!

4/11: Mercurial Spring weather!
this is at 5pm...

...this is at 6pm on my way to stake meetings! Snow!

4/15: Notre Dame was on fire most of the night.
Poor Heidi said, "Oh great, another disaster on my birthday!
Lincoln died, the Titanic sank, and now this!" :(

4/15: Heidi opening gifts at her birthday dinner at Neptune's

Crying with excitement and gratitude for her
iPadPro

Ice Cream cake with Cousins...
HAPPY #15, HEIDI!

FAMILY LETTER 03.31.19

Dear Loved Ones, 

We are savoring our last day of Spring Break today, thankful for lots of fun memories made this week! Today was 5^th Sunday at church, so the presidency wrangled the kids so the teachers could go listen to the Bishop. It was quite the rodeo, but it ended on a sweet note, when the kids all wrote little letters and pictures on big rolls of paper for our 4 ward missionaries. I hope they will enjoy them—I was always delighted to get letters from little kids as a missionary.

I guess I need to go back two weeks to get us all caught up. On Monday March 18^th I did a ton of house work and took Addie to the doctor. She can’t seem to shake her cold/flu/whatever, so I thought she should be checked for mono and/or anemia. She doesn’t have either of those, and the doc said everyone is struggling with this virus for about 8 weeks—sore throat, general malaise—very much like mon symptoms. So that was kind of good news. After dinner I took her by her boyfriend Kenyon’s house to check in with him and got to meet his mom and step dad and had a nice visit. On Tuesday 3/19 I had a fun date with Heidi. We went to her favorite dinner at Olive Garden, talked about Personal Progress, and did a little shopping. She is always fun to hang out with. While we were at dinner, our friend Alec Hopkins got his mission call to CA Fresno, leaving in July, so that was fun (his brother gets home in June). On Wednesday 3/20 I worked hard on laundry and getting kids packed for our Spring Break Trip to The Black Hills, but I also felt very sick. All the cold/flu the kids had finally caught up with me, so my saint of a husband did school pick ups for me so I could nap and try not to be sick on Spring Break. I did the same thing on Thursday, basically, plus going to Costco with Ammon to get food for the trip. On Friday, Heidi and Kristina and Ammon stayed home with me and packed and helped with chores while the other kids went to school for the last day of the quarter.

Saturday (3/23) morning bright and early we hopped in the car and headed toward Billings, then Wyoming. We stopped in Gillette to eat at the Long John Silver’s/A&W restaurant there—it’s one of the boys’ favorites. We had planned to go see Devil’s Tower on the way, but it was super rainy and cold, so we just drove straight to our rental in Whitewood, South Dakota. It was the coolest little Airbnb! It was built in an old west store front/hotel. We had the store part as our living area, with 3 big bedrooms (each with a queen bed) and 3 big bathrooms in the back, plus a queen daybed in the living area, and a hot tub out back. The oldest Saloon in South Dakota, the Bullwhacker, est. 1885, was right across the street. The old cowboys at the bar got a kick out of Niles and Ammon strolling in and climbing up on the bar stools (at a walnut wood bar that was shipped from London in 1885), ready for dinner, hahaha. They had a nice dining area and delicious food we enjoyed on our last night in town. That first night we just settled in, watched movies, and got Japanese take-out (sushis, soups, and stir fries) from a restaurant in Spearfish. The next morning (Sunday 3/24) we slept in nicely, had a yummy breakfast, and did home church on our own. Around noon we headed out and ate lunch at HuHot Mongolian Grill in Rapid City, then went to see the creatures at Reptile Gardens. On our way home, we ate at Pizza Ranch, which was not our favorite, but it did the job. We stayed at our rental that evening, playing legos and games and watching movies. Monday morning it was still pretty cold and rainy, so we decided to do more indoor things. The WaTiki waterpark didn’t open until 4, so we packed up our swim gear and headed in to Rapid City for lunch, then the boys went to the air museum while the girls shopped for Prom shoes and mom jeans. We all met up at 3:45 and headed to WaTiki to swim and splash and ride water slides until closing time at 9pm. Our little boys wore themselves right out! The girls were still not feeling great, so after we ate dinner and hung out for a bit I drove them all the way back to Whitewood, took a quick shower and got warm clothes on, then drove straight back to get the boys at closing time. We got milkshakes at a drive thru on the way back to Whitewood and they were crashed out by the time we got home. Tuesday morning, we got up lazily and headed out to Mount Rushmore around 11am. First we stopped in Rapid City for lunch at a Nepalese restaurant called Everest. They had a delicious lunch buffet of different curries, soups, salads, and tandoori chicken, plus fresh naan and mango lassis. It was wonderful! We headed out through the hills to Mt. Rushmore. We stopped at the Ranger station to pick up junior ranger guides and a German tour “wand” for Kristina. The boys did all the activities in their Ranger booklets as we explored the visitor center. We watched movies about the sculpting of the mountain, and why each President was chosen. It was a crazy ambitious project, and even now that it’s done it seems a little nuts, but it’s a cool place, and the set-up of the whole monument and visitor experience is awe-inspiring. After a stop for ice cream and a lap around the gift shop for postcards and magnets, we headed back out to the car. We got back to Whitewood and started doing laundry and cleaning up to go home in the morning. We went across the street to the Bullwhacker, as I mentioned earlier, for our final vacation dinner. It was really yummy, but the best part was the appetizer—fried green beans and dill pickles! The kids took one last dip in the hot tub, then started packing up their stuff and getting ready for bed. We got up at 8 on Wednesday 3/27, checked out at 10am, and drove over to Devil’s Tower for a quick visit. There was some talk of I-90 being closed so we worried about which way to go. Everyone at the visitor center was saying we should take back roads, but we felt like we should just stay on the interstate and follow any detours. That was the right choice because the flooding that had caused the closure near Crow Agency was gone by the time we got there, and we got home safely at 7pm. We had lots of unpacking to do, then we all crashed hard. It is always so nice to be home in our own beds!

Thursday 3/28 we spent doing morning chores, then Addie and I went shopping in Bozeman while the other kids had a chill day watching movies and hanging out. Friday was much the same, but with the bonus of it being Papa Bill’s birthday, so I made a yummy cake. We had planned to go see the new Dumbo movie that night, but everyone was so dang tired! We went to bed early and planned to go on Saturday afternoon as a family. Addie had plans with Clara, so they went and had a fun day in Bozeman and saw a movie they’d been waiting to see (Five Feet Apart). Addie got home just in time to meet us for dinner at Fiesta in Jalisco. We had such a nice chill night together as a family.

It was nice to be at church in our ward today after being away for two weeks. Like I said, Primary was kind of crazy, but also wonderful. We had lunch and some of us napped, and Addie’s fella Kenyon got home from his spring break trip to Mexico this morning, so he came over. We had home church, which was a little bit wild, but I watched a Jeffery R. Holland talk with the big kids (2013, “Lord I Believe”) and it was really great. After we got the boys to bed, we watched “Say Anything” with the girls and Kenyon. It was funny as ever…

And now we head to bed, ready to get back in the saddle tomorrow. I didn’t have much of a post-trip funk this time; I’m wondering if I will feel it tomorrow…? At any rate, it’s always good to be home and back to routines. Addie takes her first ACT on Tuesday, so we will be glad when that stress is over! When we wake up, it will be April with so much to look forward to—conference, Heidi’s birthday, Heidi’s and Summer’s Quinceanera party, and EASTER! I’m so excited!

We love and miss you all and wish you a wonderful week! Enjoy Conference—it’s gonna be sweet.

Love, Rich and Jamie and Family

3/22-Lexi's Birthday Party!

3/23-On the road to The Black Hills for Spring Break..
.discovering dinosaurs like this one...

A PAY PHONE

3/24-Reptile Gardens in Rapid City

3/25: Boys at the Air Museum in Rapid City

3/25: WaTiki Waterpark in Rapid City

3/26: Nepalese Lunch in Rapid City

FRESH NAAN, Y'ALL!

Driving to Mount Rushmore

Wednesday 3/27: Devil's Tower Wyoming on our way home

This made me laugh and fit right into our
New Testament study last week