Life in a Northern Town: FAMILY LETTER 11.19.17

Dear Loved Ones,

This week has been pretty mellow for us and it flew by! The weather has been warm (50s) and windy, and we have been busy with school and preparing for holidays and birthdays. We had Addie’s Sweet Sixteen party on Friday night and it was a blast.

Monday was Dad Layton’s 73^rd Birthday. We celebrated by taking Ammon to the dentist for his 3^rd and final filling, pobrecito, getting some groceries, and making tortilla soup. We had the Parks Family over for soup and FHE that night and it was really fun. James told us a little biography of Russel M. Nelson, then we read a story about sharing our abundance from the Friend magazine, and invited the Parks to add some leaves to our Thankful Tree. Tuesday Ammon’s friends came over in the morning and I started to make decorations for Addie’s party. I can’t remember what we did that evening, must have been a quiet night, but we did have ham and funeral potatoes for dinner, so maybe I was in a food coma! Wednesday was another chores and party prep day. Addie’s friend Clara came over after school and we had left over soup. Rich had to go straight from work to the YM laser tag activity, so I took the girls and James up to the church and brought the little boys home for bed.

Thursday was another trip to Bozeman, this time to Costco for party and Thanksgiving supplies, and to Target to make an exchange. I had ordered the boys matching green plaid pajamas online. I received the correct invoice but the wrong product—instead of 3 pairs of boys’ pj’s , I got girls’ My Little Pony pajamas and a robe! Hahahaha! It was hilarious! Luckily our Target had some other suitable pjs in the right sizes. After dinner, the whole family went over to the church gym to see if we could hang lights for Addie’s party. I needed Rich’s help and his ladder and it all worked out, and the boys had fun playing with the basketball while we set up.

Friday the younger kids had school but the high schoolers were out, so the Mia Maids had a little farewell party for her at their leaders’ house in the morning. I took her and her friends to lunch at Gil’s, then we finished setting up for the party and went home to meet the kids after school. Addie got dressed and I made some pizzas for the kids. James went out to Shields Valley with his friend Charlie Vermillion, but the two little boys & Heidi came to Addie’s party and rocked out. We had a carmel apple bar, popcorn, chips, sodas, juices, & a chocolate birthday cake. There were about 25 people there and it was a ton of fun. Adeline has a great group of friends and she is growing up to be a good and genuine person. It’s exciting to think of all that awaits her the next few years! And sad to think we only have two and a half years with her here in our home. *sigh*

Saturday we got to clean the church with the Denniston family first thing. We stayed in cleaning mode and deep cleaned some places in our house that were in serious need as well. All the kids worked so hard! Daddy bought us Chinese take out for dinner and we all watched “Elf” afterward. That there is my kind of Saturday! Today (Sunday) was another peaceful (WINDY) Sabbath day. It was high council Sunday and we got to hear from our high councilor AND the Stake President in Sacrament Meeting. This evening we had dinner out at the ranch with Grandpa and Grandma. When we arrived, President and Sister Getz (the temple president and matron) were there on their way home from Helena. It was nice to see them and spend time with Mom and Dad. We had to leave at 5:15 to take James to the Priesthood Preview at the Stake Center. It was such a nice evening with him—he’s such a good boy!

We are super excited for Thanksgiving this week with the Hamlins and the Lehmans (my sisters’families), Dad Post, and Mom & Dad Melin. The Hamlin kids are staying all weekend, so they will be here while we Christmas this place up. It’s going to be a blast. We wish all of you a beautiful holiday—it’s my favorite!—full of great food, gratitude, love, and abundance.

Love, Jamie and Rich and Family