Life in a Northern Town: FAMILY LETTER 04.08.18

Dear Loved Ones

Well, my weekly letter game is off the rails. I’m tryna get back in the saddle, but in the meantime, here is a monthly update from The Montana Melins.

Way back on March 12^th (Aunt Kristen’s and Aunt Dana’s birthday), I took Addie to get new glasses because she can’t see the board in Geometry. They are helping and she looks super cute in them. On Tuesday 3/13 Rich went to Ammon’s preschool for “Pancakes with Pops” breakfast the kids hosted for all their daddies. Sadly, Ammon was sick the next day so I kept him home. That night (3/14) Rich took Heidi, James, and Ammon with him to Scouts and YW while I took Niles to see Addie’s Conley’s music recital at The Shane Center. Addie played “Edelweiss” on her ukulele while Jim Conley accompanied on guitar. It was a sweet performance. We wished so badly that Heidi had joined her and performed “Over the Rainbow” because she does it so well—super proud of both girls and their blossoming musical talents. On Thursday 3/15 I ran some errands and picked up my mom in Three Forks. She had been in Helena at Matt’s for 2 weeks helping Ashley with her broken foot and she needed a ride home to Utah. Since I was heading south for Papa Buchert’s funeral, Matt drove mom down to meet me so I could take her home. We had a yummy turkey dinner that night and got up early Friday for scriptures and good byes and I sent the boys off to school (Ammon went to play at the Johnson’s), and the girls and I and mom took off for Utah. We had a fun road trip and got mom home around dinner time. We drove over to Lehi to hang out with Petersens and sleep over. Jill and Ally and Belle took us to see “Love, Simon” at the late show at Thanksgiving Point. We got up early Saturday morning and headed to Provo for George Buchert’s memorial service. Jill and Cousin Brent Mayberry joined the girls and me, and the service was so very touching. I can’t even put words to how wonderful it was to hear new stories about Papa B from friends as far back as grad school (his friend John—“John the Baptist”—who had fellowshipped him and baptized him while in grad school in Moscow ID!!!) and to witness the power of one life well lived. The Spirit was strong, sometimes overwhelming (like when his daughters and granddaughters sang “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” with Annie & Johanna on guitars).

I was on the verge of tears all day long (3/17) as I spent the day catching up with everyone and watching our third generation interacting, laughing, making art, etc. My gratitude for these relationships is boundless—I never stop being amazed at the miracle that I found these people and how much they have shaped and changed and blessed my life. It was especially fun to have time to catch up with Jeanne (my first Provo roommate, Heidi’s older sister, pronounced “Jenny”). She showed me her current creation obsession: sewing cloth character dolls and creatures and costumes, stored in a big treasure chest, for nieces and nephews to play with. Her talent and creativity know no bounds, I swear. I wish I could tap into some of that! After we snuck down to her room to change from our funeral clothes into chill pants, we had a sweet interaction. Jeanne hugged me and said, “I was just thinking as we were changing how it has been 28 years since we became roommates. So few of my friends from that time have remained faithful, but just now as we were changing, the Spirit witnessed to me that you are clean, every whit, and I am so grateful!” Oh, dear Jeanne, the feeling is mutual! Mostly my heart has been aching for Mama B, though. I have learned that though we all feel the loss of a loved one, no one loses more than their eternal companion. The empathetic ache I feel when I think of it just kills me, but then the ache is relieved by remembering Our Savior and all he did to repair that breach. Like the long lost verse of “Be Still My Soul” says, “Be still my soul, Thy Jesus can repay from His own fullness all He takes away.” The warm, nearly glowing joy I felt that Saturday was witness to me that relationships are eternal and worth the investment and that after the trial of our separation, they will continue and improve forever. Praise Jesus for that!

The girls and I had car church on Sunday 3/18 as we drive home to Montana. We got home around 5pm and the boys greeted us enthusiastically. All of them were sick except James. Rich had run a severe fever with a cough on Friday and Saturday, then Sunday night the little boys’ temperatures spiked and they were miserable, coughing all night. Monday night we enjoyed Addie’s choir concert for family night. Grandma and Grandpa were able to join us, even though they had just come home from Idaho. It was beautiful classical music they prepared for the regional music festival in April. I had saved all my spring break packing and cleaning for that Monday-Thursday (3/19-3/22), but I would end up nursing sick boys and getting only 3 or 4 hours of sleep each night (which is, with my immune system, a recipe for disaster). I managed to wash, fold, and pack laundry in between nursing feverish boys. With the family’s help we got the house tidied up (way below my regular standards—I always clean really well before a trip for 2 reasons: (a) so it’s less depressing to come home and (b) in case we die and people have to come and go through our stuff---mortifying!) and ready for our trip. Sadly, by Wednesday night (3/21) Niles was still running a fever of 101-102. I usually let fevers run their course since that’s how the body accesses extra calcium to rev up the immune system, but after 3 days I gave him Tylenol cuz I was worried about dehydration and such. The Tylenol was only bringing the fever down to 99 or so, so after dinner I took Niles to urgent care and he was diagnosed with sinusitis and put on a pediatric z-pack. That night Ammon’s fever did the same thing, so on Thursday morning (amidst all my urgent last minute trip prep errands) I took him to urgent care. They didn’t like the sound of his cough, so he was diagnosed with bronchiolitis and given a 10-day antibiotic rx (always fun on vacation!). Somehow, we got ever one packed and suitcases loaded into the cleaned-out van, and to bed by 9pm with the warning that we had to leave for “our surprise activity in Utah” at 4am.

On Friday 3/23, Rich and I got up at 3:30 am. I showered and got dressed and we woke the kids at 4am and threw on their travel clothes (chill pants) and we were off by 4:20 am. They all settled in and didn’t notice we were off course for Utah until we turned onto the road that leads into the airport. They were asking, “Why are we in Belgrade? Are we picking someone up? Why are we at the airport? Is this our surprise?” Rich dropped us and our luggage off at the curb and told the kids, “Okay, we are not going to Utah. We are flying to California (cheers)…and we have a house with a pool for 10 days (cheers)…10 minutes from the Egans and Caspers (cheers and some tears of joy)…and we’re going to Disneyland! (more cheers)!” (Niles started whining because he wanted to see Cousin Ben in Utah…that’s why he is frowning in the pictures). Rich gave all the kids their mouse ears and went to park the car. Travels went smoothly (short flight to SLC, then to John Wayne airport in Orange County) and we were at our house in Orange by 10:30am. Our rental car was so comfy, I loved driving it (A Nissan Armada with all the bells and whistles) and the freeways around us were never too jammed (except the day we went to LA, but that’s kind of a given—so ridiculous; I dared the kids to get out of the car and start dancing while I blasted “It’s Another Day of Sun” from LalaLand, hahaha). After the kids took a swim we went to get lunch (Rubios fish tacos) and groceries (Trader Joes!). That night Rich and the kids chilled at the house swimming and watching movies while Addie and I drove up to Brea to see Lily Egan’s last performance in “Anything Goes” at her high school. It was so good! Afterward, we could see the fireworks at Disneyland because the HS is only like 10 miles straight north of Disneyland. It was so fun to hang out with the Egans!

Saturday morning we got up early, packed big cooler of lunches and waters and snacks, slathered kids with sun screen, and headed out for Disneyland. It only took us 12-15 minutes each day to drive from our house to the parks, straight down Katella Avenue. The first day we just focused on Disneyland and we had so much fun. We walked straight to Fantasyland and checked out the castle, the carousel, and Mr. Toads Wild Ride. Then Rich and the big kids split off to do some Max Pass big kid rides while Ammon and I rode rides in Fantasyland—tea cups, caterpillar roller coaster, Small World, Storybook cruise, and we took the monorail around the park. We met up with the big kids after they rode Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Materhorn and we all got frozen bananas and rode Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters. Rich took the little boys to explore while I took the big kids to Haunted Mansion and we stopped and listened to a jazz band and got beignets and mint juleps. We met up with the boys at the lockers and ate lunch. They wanted to do Small World again, so we did that, then took the railroad around the park. I took Heidi, Ammon, and Niles home for a nap/swim while Rich and James stayed and explored and Addie met up with Eliza Casper and rode rides all afternoon. We met up at 7pm in Downtown Disney to eat pizza with the Caspers and Egans. It was a crazy crowded hullaballoo, but it was JOYFUL to be together again. After dinner, the girls went home with Egans for a sleep over and Rich and I had fast passes for some rides with the boys, but they were so tired, they couldn’t stop whining, so we just grabbed our stuff out of the lockers and decided to call it a day without riding those rides or seeing the fireworks.

Sunday 3/25 we got up at 7:30am and got ready to attend sacrament meeting with Egans. It was Maggie’s farewell talk, as well as a beautiful Easter program (since General Conference fell on Easter this year). Todd and Heidi had meetings after church, so we decided to go home and catch naps and meet up back at their house in the late afternoon for dinner and games and an Easter devotional for Palm Sunday. We figured the little boys would fall asleep by noon and we’d be at Egans’ around 3. Yeah, um, we had to wake them up at 4:45! I had to remind myself that they were both overstimulated AND healing from an illness, so they needed to rest—we all did. Anywhoooo, we had a lovely Café Rio-style salad bar outside under the lemon trees. The kids played games and made art and in the evening, Heidi and Todd shared scriptures from their little Holy Week decoration/activity. We read about Palm Sunday, watched a short Bible video, sang some hymns, and had a big three-family good night prayer.

Monday morning we got up at 6am so we could park at 7am and be at California Adventure when it opened. We ran in and got fast passes for the Racer Ride (so popular fast passes sold out for the day by 10am) and then Rich took the big kids to ride the Guardians of the Galaxy ride and I took Ammon to ride all the little kids rides in the Bug’s Life area. Then we walked over to Radiator Springs and we were SO delighted (I had never been there and I LOVE that movie). We rode Luigi’s dancing cars and went to Mater’s petting zoo, then we met up with the big kids at Flo’s V8 café for a potty break. Our fast passes for Racers were at like 9:45 or 10am, so we grabbed some snacks at the Cozy Cone (like Navajo Tacos shaped like cones, and churros), then we all went to ride the racers. 6 of us fit in one car, so Rich rode by himself. The three boys were in the front seat of our car, and the girls and I were in back. It was definitely a great ride. I wish it were twice as long, but it was so well done and had most of the scenes from the original movie—so cute! After that, Ammon wanted to check out Paradise Pier and Rich took the big kids on the Soaring Over the World ride and the Grizzly Rapids ride. Ammon and I rode Little Mermaid’s Under the Sea Adventure , the Golden Zephyr (swinging zeppelins), and the Jumpin Jellyfish, then went to meet the family at the lockers for lunch. After lunch, the big kids and Rich went on Guardians of the Galaxy again and Ammon, Heidi, and I went to the Disney Junior Dance Party, which was cute (would have been more fun if we had TV and knew any of the characters—but Mickey and Minnie came at the end, and fun stuff fell from the ceiling periodically, and Ammon liked all that). We met up with Rich to ride Soarin’ Over the World again, then I took Heidi and Ammon home for a nap. Rich, Addie, and James took the Riverboat and explored Frontierland. Addie got to meet her favorite Princess, Tianna from “Princess and the Frog,” on the boat—so exciting!—but she never got to see her favorite prince, Naveen. We all met up at 7pm and Bubba Gump’s Shrimp for dinner. It was really fun and the service was great considering how crowded it was. WE went back to Disneyland to see the fireworks, but they couldn’t do the show that night because of the wind. So we went over and rode the Matterhorn (so fun at night!) and the tea cups. Ammon didn’t want to ride tea cups cuz he was totally over it, but Rich took him on the Storybook cruise again and he was happy. We headed home around 10:30 with a car full of exhausted kids.

Tuesday 3/27 we let the kids sleep in as late as they wanted, then we headed down to Newport Beach for a beach day. On the way Heidi sent us an email about half-priced whale watching cruises, so we booked reservations for our family on the 5pm-7pm cruise, and the Caspers and Egans joined us. Meanwhile, we played on the beach near Balboa Pier from about noon til 3:30pm and it felt like 45 minutes. It was just so gloriously sunny and a perfect 76*. Rich took the boys on a walk down the pier and to the playground and they whined about being hungry, so he took them to get tacos at Cabo Cantina. He texted us to join them, but we were waiting for Caspers. By the time we found Eliza and Chasta, it was time for us girls to go grab some tacos and get in line for the whale cruise. Rich and the boys returned to the beach, then Rich and James came to find us and we hurried across the street to the cruise docks, but we couldn’t find Eliza and Chasta, with whom Richard had left the two little boys. We found them just in time to hop on the boat, with about 30 seconds until launch—that was fun! We headed out to sea with a boat full of friendly tourists from all over. There were 13 people in our party and it was so fun. Once we were out on the ocean down by Laguna Beach, we spotted a whale and tried to follow it, but the waters got super choppy and they had to take us back to the docks about 30 minutes early, so they gave us coupons for a return trip which we booked for early Saturday morning. After the cruise, we headed to our house. I grilled chicken and vegetable kebabs while the boys had a night swim and got the sand out of their cracks ;) The Egan girls came over, and the Caspers joined us later. We ate good food (Addie had bought some cream puffs for girls night, so we ate those for dessert with a big crate of strawberries) and the girls watched “Far From the Madding Crowd” while Chasta and I visited. It was delightful. Maggie and Eliza and Chasta went home and we went to bed around 12:30am and slept until 9ish.

Wednesday we chilled all morning and decided to brave the traffic and go to LA to see the temple and my ancestral neighborhoods. We got some In and Out Burgers for early lunch, then headed out the 91, 110, and the dreaded 405 to Santa Monica Boulevard. The temple was breath taking and the surrounding neighborhoods were full of the most charming early 1900s bungalows. After the temple Visitors Center, we braved a drive east down Santa Monica, then up to Sunset, then up to Hollywood Boulevard so Addie and Heidi could see the Walk of Fame. We stopped in a questionable area and no one wanted to get out except the girls, so we googled where the stars were that the girls wanted to see and just pulled up to them, hahaha. We got on the 101 to make our way toward Orange County at 3:30 and the traffic was already crazy, so we got off in Koreatown, winding our way through all the different barrios (Little Armenia, Filipinotown, Little Tokyo) down Temple Street through downtown Los Angeles, 7^th Street, and on to the 5. We drove into Pico Rivera at dinnertime and noticed an L7L Hawaiian BBQ, so we got off the highway out of traffic and enjoyed some ono grinds while the traffic subsided. After than relaxing stop, it was about 45 minutes to home, pretty much the same arrival time as if we had stayed on the freeway. CRAZY! But a fun adventure.

Thursday 3/29 (Papa Bill’s birthday) was our last day at Disney. We decided to use our Magic Morning Early entrance to get on to Space Mountain and Indiana Jones. We got into the park by 7am, but to our chagrin most of the rides we wanted didn’t open until 8. So we all got on the Finding Nemo submarines, then drove the little cars in Autopia. By then, Rich was able to book Max Passes for us on Space Mountain and Indiana Jones—so fun! Rich and I took the boys to ToonTown while the girls rode Space Mountain. We met up at the Tiki Room to eat our Dole Whips and watch the crazy bird show. The girls went on Indiana Jones again while the boys went to Jedi Training. We met up with the boys at the lockers and got lunch, then I took the girls and Ammon home for naps. We grabbed some Japanese take out from a place by the house and decided we had to visit a ramen house for dinner that night. We picked up Rich and the boys around 5:30 and they just wanted to go home and swim. So Rich got them pizza and they went swimming while I took the girls out to Yoshi Haru Ramen. IT was SO GOOD! We had such a good time. We hurried home at 8pm to pick up the boys for fireworks, but Ammon was asleep and the boys were still swimming, so we decided to skip it and watch “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

Friday 3/30 we declared a true vacation day: sleep when you want, swim when you want, eat when you want. Some of us made art. Some of us took a field trip to Daiso (Japanese pick-n-save). We made tortilla soup in the crock pot for Josie Egans’ 14^th birthday “Coco” viewing party. Around 5:30pm we headed over to Egans for dinner and Josie’s “joint” birthday party with Heidi. The grown-ups ate out on the patio and the little guys ran around out there roasting hot dogs and eating clementines and harassing the dog. I went with Heidi and Lily to deliver Easter treats to the Young Women in their ward and a quick stop at Target to get Easter treats, Disney souvenirs, and more Zyrtec and cortisone cream for James (who had hives almost the whole trip).

Early Saturday 3/31, we got up and got our whale watching clothes and headed back to Newport Beach, where it was super dense fog and 50*. We checked out the beach at 8am, then headed over to our boat at 8:30am. The cruise was totally different due to the totally calm sea and fog. The fog thinned out but never dissipated the whole time were there. At least we could see about a quarter mile out and spotted a couple of gray whales, which we were able to follow for about a half hour. Just as they headed off, a huge school of dolphins gathered around our boat. As we headed back to the harbor, they followed us in our wake, about 10 of them frolicking in the waves. It was super majestic. In the meantime, we were trying to follow the streaming broadcast of the Solemn Assembly, the first session of general conference, which was pretty much the same time as our cruise. I caught bits of the opening, saw sweet President Nelson’s face as he was sustained as prophet, seer, and revelator, but my service cut out as the new apostles were named. I texted friends to find out their names and was so happy to hear they were Elders Soares and Gong (we rewatched that session on Monday when we got home and had our chance to raise our right hands to sustain the prophet). After the excitement of the cruise, we headed home, drove through the Chick-Fil-A by our house, and settled in to watch the second session. It was sunny and warm in Orange, away from the coast, so the little boys went swimming and we enjoyed conference. Rich and the swimmers fell asleep during second session, so we left them to sleep and headed over to Egans to go to the art supply store (Big Heidi’s birthday gift to Little Heidi) and get Easter Eggs ready for the little guys to hunt after their naps. Well, once again, they slept until after 5pm. So instead of coming over for an egg hunt, then watching priesthood session with Todd, Rich watched the session at our house while the boys woke up, then he brought them over afterward to hunt eggs and hang out with Egans and celebrate (?) the combining of the high priests and Elders’ quorums. As it was our last night in our cool rental house, we invited all the Egan girls and Eliza over for a sleep over. They played billiards and/or talked/watched movies and snacked (we needed to finish all our food, we couldn’t take it on the plane!) until midnight when Maggie and Addie put them all to bed for us (Rich, the little boys, and I were all out before 11pm).

Sunday morning we got up around 8am, showered and dressed quickly, and started packing up all our stuff and tidying up the house. We were still making the kids finish all the food (frozen trader joe’s waffles! Strawberries and clementines and grapes! Toast and honey! Cereal!) when the 4^th session of conference began. We listened, we sang along with Easter hymns as we finished packing and the big girls snuggled in the family room and wrote in their journals. We all sat down to listen to President Nelson’s talk about using the power of the Holy Ghost to do the Savior’s work. Then we scrambled to load up the car, take out the trash, and checked out by 11:15am and headed over to Egans for Easter lunch and the final session of conference. We threw together a Chinese lunch with the Orange Chicken and fried rice we still had from our house, and the Tortilla Soup left overs, and ALL THE EASTER TREATS. We all snuggled up to watch conference, which, from our reactions may have seemed like we were cheering at a sporting event. The announcement of the retiring of home and visiting teaching and the establishment (RE establishment) of Christ like ministering by all organizations, including teachers, priests, MIA maids, and laurels, brought whoops of joy and amens from our house (and many others, I am sure). NOT because we didn’t like those programs, but because they felt too small and limited for what we are capable of doing through the Holy Spirit. The follow-up talks were equally inspiring. Everything President Nelson has said and done has demonstrated that the Lord trusts us more to do His work better than we have in the past; He is raising the bar in every area of the church (curriculum, ministering, youth programs, temple work, family history) because he knows he can trust us to rise to the occasion. He is taking off our pharisaical gospel training wheels and calling on us to “do many things of [our] own free will to bring to pass much righteousness”—to ride our own two-wheeler. Because we have the power! We are agents unto ourselves! We shouldn’t need to be compelled, and if we DO need outside pressure or assignments, we are NOT measuring up. Right there in D&C 58:26-29 the Lord tells us He shouldn’t have to command us to do everything. The point is to learn to follow the Spirit on our own, without the crutch of the church. It’s so exciting to feel so trustworthy. I can’t imagine how wonderful it is to be a youth or a missionary at this time, on the cusp of completing the restoration—so much to look forward to!

On that heavenly high, we said good bye to our Egans and headed down to Santa Ana to the airport. Our travel home was even smoother and more relaxing than our trip out. We cruised into the car rental return, picked up our bags, took an elevator down to check our suitcases, walked right through security with no line, got to our gate with 90 minutes to spare, so we got some burgers at the Ruby’s Diner right next to our gate. After a leisurely dinner, we boarded our flight to Denver which the little boys just loved (they had window seats and squealed “Wheeeee!” upon take off). In Denver, we took the moving sidewalk down a few gates, used the restroom, then boarded our flight to Bozeman, on which we had the 10 back rows to ourselves. Ammon slept most of the way home. I carried him down to baggage claim where we picked up our suitcases and Rich brought the car around. We headed home right at midnight, and were in our beds asleep before 1am. Poor Rich had to get up and go to work at 8:30am Monday morning and he discovered it snowed about 6 inches after we got home. I was so not amused—what a horrible welcome home! I could NOT get myself together in that gloominess. I snuggled up with the kids, built a fire, and watched the conference talks we missed. I didn’t want to go out in the snow, so Rich bought home a few groceries for lunch. Addie went to track practice and I made some meatloaf and potatoes and veg for dinner. We read some Friend stories for FHE and talked about conference. We did some laundry and unpacked a little and went to bed early. But nobody could get up on time on Tuesday 4/3. I took the kids to school at like 10am cuz we all had trip hangovers. I ran errands like post office and groceries and came home and got the kids’ suitcases unpacked, out a bunch of stuff away, changed our sheets, etc. But I felt like death. I made yummy teriyaki pork tenderloin for dinner and crashed early.

I felt sick during the night and woke up with a fever at like 4am on Wednesday 4/4. I went back to sleep and Rich didn’t wake me for scriptures or anything. Ammon was still asleep next to me at 8:45am! I jumped out of bed and got him and Heidi ready for school by 9:10 and we ran to school. I came home and did some laundry, drank some tea, and went to bed. I was so tired and achy. I think I had a sinus infection, but I hit it hard and was all better in like 48 hours. I stayed in bed most of the day and got the little boys to sleep right after dinner as the big kids and Rich went to Scouts and YW. Thursday 4/5, Heidi stayed home sick, I was sick, too. I finished laundry and some paperwork (so.many.permission slips! Report cards! Standardized testing!) and took a nap. Rich had to go to Bozeman, so he brought home some pizza for dinner. Friday 4/6 Ammon was home with me. We made a fire and watched some Daniel Tiger. Robyn Jones invited me to come to the temple on Saturday for Eden’s endowment, so I talked to Rich and we made a plan to attend. I had to get all my Saturday chores done Friday, but I was in better spirits thinking about a temple day (in spite of the weather). I got all the laundry done and suitcases unpacked and dinner made. Addie had friends over to watch a movie, so Rich and I watched a movie with them in our room and fell asleep.

Addie and Heidi watched the boys for us most of the day Saturday (4/7) while we went to Billings to the temple. We left at 7:30, arrived around 9am, and I had time to do initiatory work for a family name and take it through Eden’s 10am session. It was lovely and such a privilege to be there with our friends. Robyn and I have shared a lot on our parenting journey—it was so nice to be together and share this “trophy” day. It was truly a weekend of joy and rejoicing in our posterity. I am grateful for Eden’s example to and influence on my girls. She is going to be such a good missionary and have such unique and amazing experiences in Nauvoo. Robyn and I mention often how jealous we are—I want to go! ;) We all went to lunch at Café Rio, then headed home around 2:30. When we got home at 4pm, everything was quiet, most of the kids were still in their jammies, but the house was still standing and they were all happy. As a reward for babysitting, we got some Chinese take-out for Heidi. Addie met her besties at Mark’s In & Out for dinner, then they came back to our house to watch Ant Man. Heidi’s friend Kara came, too, and slept over (because she lives out of town and it was snowing AGAIN). We had another movie/slumber party with the boys and watched Jumanji. It was pretty funny. I loved hearing Niles and James laugh so hard. Rich had a presidency meeting Sunday morning (4/8), but the girls helped me get the boys ready and we made it to church before the opening hymn! Testimony meeting was special as we were all still basking in the afterglow of a wonderful conference. Eden was on the stand as chorister for her second-to-last Sunday and I every time I looked at her I could see that she was really feeling the Spirit and all the feels up there. She bore a lovely testimony and so did her dad and most of her family. Our closing hymn was “Our Savior’s Love,” which is my favorite ‘poem’ about the Godhead. There are so many gorgeous, moving phrases in that hymn, I can rarely get through it without a few tears (his love “shines like the sun with perfect light,” the Spirit “whispers to our hearts a better choice than evil’s anguished cries/ loud may the sound of hope ring til all doubt departs and we are bound to thee by loving ties,” “In reverence awed by thy son’s sacrifice,” “In Thee our hearts rejoice”). I was starting to ugly when I looked up and saw Eden overcome as well, bless her heart. The emotions and Spirit of pre-mission—the temple, the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, the opposition, the separation anxiety, the excitement—it’s almost too much for one mortal, yet it is just the beginning of the heart-wrenching, soul-stretching roller coaster ride of living the restored gospel in mortality. Wheeeeeeee! To quote the infamous H.I. McDounough of Raising Arizona fame, “Mind you stay strapped in!”

Whew! Are you still with me? That concludes a month in the life of the Melinheads. It has been an exciting time for us. Maggie Egan enters the MTC this Wednesday, and Eden heads out the next. Next Sunday is Heidi’s 14^th birthday!!! Eden and I speak together at her farewell that day. Grandma, Aunt Marti and Uncle Ralph arrive for a week-long visit on Thursday 4/12 (Mayberrys are heading to Rexburg for my brother Michael’s and their “Ukraine daughter” Natasha’s graduations from BYUI on Friday—YAY MICHAEL! We are so proud of you!!!). I am excited to have Grandma here for the week, for Eden’s farewell, and for what hopefully will be our last blizzard of the season (Grandma missed Christmas with us, but we saved the weather for her). We hope you are all well. We love you and miss you all so much!

Love, Rich and Jamie and Family