Sunday, November 16, 2014

FAMILY LETTER 11.16.14


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.
Sweet Ammon asleep on my shoulder Saturday night

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!

 
Love,
Rich, Jamie, and Family

Lego action on Monday


Addie's Report Card...genius!


Beautiful Images for Veteran's Day


Did you see this amazing poppy installation at the Tower of London?
More than 888,000 poppies representing soldiers who died in WWI.

Nearly a million porcelain poppies! Stunning.

On cold mornings we stay in bed!

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.

I organized cupboards on Saturday! YAY!
Picnic, First Aid, Supplements, and medicines

Spices and Tea! YAY!
A facebook postcard from this week.

Sunday, November 09, 2014

FAMILY LETTER 11.09.14


Dear Loved Ones                                                    09 November 2014

Well, this week flew by! It was another warm and sunny week, but the wind picked up and we knew that winter was blowing in. It was 65 degrees Saturday. The predicted high for Monday is 25, and Tuesday? 10. TEN! It was fun while it lasted.

So last Monday the kids shook off their Halloween hangovers and headed back to school. We had a nice Family Night (skipped community choir) and went to bed early.  Tuesday was Election Day and we were pretty pleased with the results, although my friend Tammy lost her bid for County Treasurer (I was her secretary in PTO).  I cleaned and organized the pantry and did our menu that day and I’m enjoying cooking dinner a little better ever since.

Election Day!
Wednesday 11/5, was a gitter done kind of day. I got some Christmas gifts made, then between school and dinner time we took Christmas card pictures of the kids. We had the missionaries over for a pot roast-and-potatoes dinner. Niles is supposed to be doing some “kitchen homework” for preschool (helping me cook, learning about hygiene, cooking tools,  measuring, etc.) so we tried out a new simple recipe for biscuits. He really enjoyed helping and they turned out so good, I want to share the recipe with you:

 Seven Up Biscuits

4 cups pancake mix (Bisquick)
1 c sour cream (or plain greek yogurt)
1 c 7-Up or Sprite
½ c melted butter
 
Mix first three ingredients into soft dough. Knead it and pat it out and cut 12 thick biscuits with round cutter. Pour melted butter into 9x13” pan, then lay biscuits on top of butter and bake for 12-14 minutes at 425 degrees.
 
Both girls had activities Wednesday night, James had scouts, and so did Rich. Rich’s scouts planned their camp out this weekend.  The little boys and I watched several episodes of Team Umizoomi, Niles’ current favorite kids’ show.
 
 Thursday was like a Friday for us since the kids had Parent-Teacher Conferences. Thursday evening Rich had meetings in Bozeman and I had conferences for all three kids from 5pm til 7pm. We had a quick dinner and put the little boys down and watched Forrest Gump at the kids request. It turned into a pretty good history/culture lesson.
 
Friday we did some chores and hung out at home in the morning, then went to the park in the afternoon. Rich left at 1pm to camp with his scouts at the West Boulder cabin. From all reports, they had a great time and the weather was fantastic. At the park we met up with the Jones kids. Their parents were signing papers on their cool new house, so we followed them over to check it out. Later all the kids came over to play while their parents went and made a list  of all the things they have to so before they can move in. The kids had a blast together. We made pizza and played and did it again Saturday night while Robyn and Lope worked on the house (we figured we definitely need to pay it forward for all the nights people watched our kids while we worked on house projects).
 
 Saturday afternoon when Rich got home from the camp out, he showered and took James to a Bobcat Football game in Bozeman (MSU won). It was a treat from Safeco Insurance and they had a blast. After all the kids went to bed I had a get-to-know-you date with Robyn Jones and Sheryl Mills. We talked for hours over virgin margaritas and it was fantastic. Like a year’s worth of visit teaching in one night. I almost never do stuff like that, but it was a very edifying time and I am grateful Heavenly Father sends these great women to be my friends!
 
Father-Son Football Game 11/8
Today in choir we started Christmas music “That Peaceful Night” and Sally DeFord’s  “ O Come Emmanuel”. They are beautiful arrangements. There were about 10 investigators at church today, it was so exciting! I hope they had good experiences. We had short naps this afternoon and Rich is cleaning out his side of the garage to prepare for the winter onslaught this week. Were snuggled up by the fire right now, ready for winter! Happy Birthday today to our sweet cousin Hannah Beth! I can’t believe she’s already 7! Hope Angie had a great birthday Friday and hope Matthew’s baptism yesterday was special. We love you and miss you and wish you a great week! Keep Warm!!
 
Love, Rich and Jamie and Family
 
The girls both had activities that night, James had scouts, and so did Rich. Richs scouts planned their camp out this weekend.  The little boys and I watched several episodes of Team Umizoomi.PS: Some photos from our Christmas Card shoot...










day was like a Friday for us since the kids had Parent-Teacher Conferences. Thursday evening Rich had meetings in Bozeman and I had conferences for all three kids from 5pm til 7pm. We had a quick dinner and put the little boys down and watched Forrest Gump at the kids’ request. It turned into a pretty good history/culture lesson. Friday we did some chores and hung out at home in the morning, then went to the park in the afternoon. Rich left at 1pm to camp with his scouts at the West Boulder cabin. From all reports, they had a great time and the weather was fantastic. At the park we me tup with the Jones kids. Their parents were signing papers on their cool new house, so we followed them over to check it out. Later all the kids came over to play while their parents went and made a list of all the things they have to so before they can move in. The kids had a blast together. We made pizza and played and did it again Saturday night while Robyn and Lope worked on the house (we figured we definitely need to pay it forward for all the nights people watched our kids while we worked on house projects).  Saturday afternoon when Rich got home from the camp out, he showered and took James to a Bobcat Football game in Bozeman (MSU won!). It was a treat from Safeco Insurance and they had a blast. After all the kids went to bed I had a get-to-know-you date with Robyn Jones and Sheryl Mills. We talked for hours over virgin margaritas and it was fantastic. Like a year’s worth of visit teaching in one night. I almost never do stuff like that, but it was a very edifying time and I am grateful Heavenly Father sends these great women to be my friends! Today in choir we started Christmas music—“That Peaceful Night” and  Sally DeFord’s “O Come Emmanuel.” They are beautiful arrangements. There were about 10 investigators at church today, it was so exciting! I hope they had good experiences. We had short naps this afternoon and Rich is cleaning out his side of the garage to prepare for the winter onslaught this week. We’re snuggled up by the fire right now, ready for winter! Happy Birthday today to our sweet Hannah Beth! I can’t believe she’s already 7! Hope Angie had a great birthday Friday and hope Matthew’s baptism yesterday was special. We love you and miss you and wish you a great week! Keep Warm!!

Sunday, November 02, 2014

FAMILY LETTER 10.30.14


Dear Loved Ones,                                              2 November 2014
I am still in awe that it is November and I have flowers in my garden! I get sad sometimes when I think about how much produce we would have grown this year without that one killing frost in September. I even heard people talking about that on the plane last week. The more time I can have sunshine and vitamin D and miss the hassle of bundling up kids and navigating slick roads, the better!



Monday 10/27 was seven loads of laundry and a fun Family Night. We had the Petry’s over for dinner (potato soup, bread, carrots), pumpkin carving, and they brought some amazing pumpkin ice cream. It was so fun. (PS: We did a little experiment with our jack-o-lanterns. I soaked 3 of them in the bath tub with a cup of bleach in the water, and left 3 out on the counter. The bleached ones stayed nice and firm and fresh while the unbleached ones were soft and molding by Halloween night…so give your pumpkins a bleach bath and they will last way longer!)
Izzi Petry carving her pumpkin

Some Halloween decorations...
I don't really like Halloween, but I try to be a sport for the kids' sakes.
I do love fall, pumpkins, and the like, and I love to find decorations that are
a little creepy and very cute. This silly jack-o-lantern figurine fits the bill;
 I bought it at the farm where my Brittany works in New Jersey. My cute girls made
the black cats at a YW activity.
 



Mike Petry, Rich, and Vicki Petry in the kitchen
carving pumpkins 10/27

Adie, Heidi, Ava, and James working on their jack-o-lanterns

Ava did an awesome job on her pumpkin all by herself!

Tuesday 10/28 I did more organizing, baking, sewing, etc. getting ready for Halloween and other holidays coming up. I made 4 dozen cupcakes, saw my visiting teachers, sewed some gifts and made a fez for Heidi’s Halloween costume. Rich had to go up to the church to supervise the Young Men setting up their spook alley for Wednesday Night’s Trunk-or-Treat, so he took James and Niles with him. Good thing, because that night was also James’ pack meeting and we would have totally missed it otherwise.
Wednesday 10/29 was obviously lots of preparing for the Trunk or Treat. Cody was super helpful and pitched in by making a yummy chili for the pre-Trunking dinner, along with some fabulous cornbread. I got the recipe from Erin last week and they both turned out great.  He has been so helpful around the house, but I know he wishes he were working. Please pray for him to find work soon. Addie was in charge of the Bean bag Toss, so I took her early to set up her room, and Rich got the little boys in their costumes and brought them up to the church for Halloween fun. There were TONS of visitors as well as a great turn out from our ward. The chili was amazing, and Melinda Lowe won the cook-off with her white chicken chili. It was hard to get the kids to bed after all those treats and excitement, but once they got to bed, they slept hard!
Tired Little Ammon /skeleton

Little Bea made the cutest little woodland fairy!

James with his crew: James/Ninja, William/cowboy, Elanor the Fair/ witch,
 Curtis/ Indiana Jones, Niles/Monster int eh background, and Kinnick/ Iron Man.

Izzi and Addie/ Molly Hooper in charge of the Bean Bag Toss
with Ashley Strupp, Nikki Robinson, and Heidi/Dr. Who

Ammon has been so snuggly lately...
Here he is nuzzling his daddy...Good night, sleepy boy!

Thursday 10/30 I sewed in the morning, then my friend Robyn came over for lunch with her 4-year-old twins, Rex and Bea. The twins play so nicely with Niles, they had so much fun. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day, it felt like August, not the end of October. At 3pm we went and got all our other kids from school and let them hang out for an hour or so. When they left, we had tacos for dinner and enjoyed an evening at home. For some reason that night/next morning, Ammon decided to wake up at 3:20 am and squeal at is hands and whine about his teeth for almost 3 hours. I was SOOOO tired!
 
Vintage Halloween Devils...love!
 

Friday 10/31 was Halloween and the first day of the second quarter of school. James won a Chico Pass for having perfect attendance during the first quarter. He also took cupcakes to school for his class’ Halloween Party, followed by the traditional Eastside School Costume Parade at 2:45pm. I was home napping with little boys, but Rich went and filmed Heidi and James in the parade. After school Addie stayed for the middle school Halloween Dance and I took the kids to Trick or Treat at the bank and Albertsons as well as taking treats to some of my visit-teachees. At 5:30 we met back at home for pizza with dad and Uncle Mike. Daddy took the big kids to Robin Lane, to the Kindalls, and to the Carters to trick or treat first (Colton Carter is expecting his mission call any day now and he wanted to have one last big Halloween celebration at home—he decorated everything so cute and gave out the candy to the kids—we are excited to hear where he is headed!). Then they went around the neighborhood with Uncle Mike. Our neighborhood is getting more popular with Trick or Treaters. The kids saw many of their friends, and ended up hanging out on the porch with the iPod playing Halloween songs and dancing with their friends. It was definitely a fun night, and so great to see Uncle Mikey!
Some of the winning pumpkins at the bank

James & Heidi trick or treating at the bank

James, Niles, and Heidi at the bank

Who's that Ninja boy?!
 

Watch out for those weapons!

Blurry action shot of James the Ninja
heading out to trick or treat

Baby skeleton stayed in after the bank and the grocery store.
He was tired and he hated wearing his costume...

But what a cute little Mr. Bones!
Ammon's first Halloween
(I kept thinking back to last year when I was so nauseated,
sitting by the front door eating pumpkin seeds, waiting for trick or treaters,
guzzling ice water, trying not to hurl while the kids were out
 trick or treating with Rich...and now the nausea is a wee skeleton!)

Oh, how I love this cheesy little Niles/Monster!
 
Niles and his pal Kenny Howell

11th Doctor and Molly, "Sherlocked Forever"

Molly and Monster
going trick or treating


Rich was a bottle of sriracha! Loved t!


 Saturday morning 11/1 I got up and gutted the mudroom while Rich finished building the bench and overhead cubbies for it. At 9:45 am I dropped of James to go to a Cub Scout archery activity in Bozeman while I went to play the piano for Ava Petry’s baptism. It was a nice service, short and sweet. When I came home, Rich was cleaning out the garage and organizing the shed. I helped with that a little, and then did some sewing projects and cleaning. Rich took the James and Niles out to the ranch while I took a nap with Ammon and the girls had a Netflix binge of “Supernatural.” Cody and I made some chicken stir fry for dinner, which was ready exactly when the boys got home. After dinner everybody had their baths and we watched “Captain America” while I got some stuff ready for church ('tis the season for compiling the ward history and the annual dvd slideshow).
 
...and I gave you the good genes, so I'll take the Snickers, too!
Rub-a-dub-dub, three boys in a tub
Saturday Night Bathtime! 11/1

 Today (Sunday) was a lovely fall day. It was cold and windy, but we are due for that. Testimony meeting was sweet and so were our naps. Poor Ammon is having some sort of teething/intestinal infarction so it took us a while to get to sleep, both last night and at nap time. We sure are grateful for that hour we gained over night! The kids wrote missionary letters this afternoon so I will get those in the mail to Grandma and Grandpa and Sister Jordy this week. Hope you all had a fun Halloween and we wish you a wonderful week.

Maeby + James = Cousin Pals (2011)

Happy 8th Birthday to our cutie niece Maeby tomorrow and to Aunt Angie on Friday! We love you all so much.
 

Love Rich, Jamie, and Family

FAMILY LETTER 07.28.19

Dear Loved Ones,                                                                                                        We have just ...