Sunday, January 04, 2015
Hi Riley!
I hope you
got your bread fresh at lunch. It was
still a little warm when I dropped it off so I don’t know how the crust held
up, but we were so excited to do that. I
was thinking maybe I can drop off fresh cinnamon rolls next Saturday
morning! By the way, you have created a
problem for me: since you’ve been gone,
we have yet to completely eat a dozen doughnuts. I hate throwing the last one, two, or three away.
After I got home from delivering your package, I got a call
from TT…. from Saudi Arabia because the Ls had just gotten home
from a funeral and the holidays and there was water all through the house. She wanted me to run over and be her eyes.
I grabbed Dad and we were overwhelmed at the catastrophic
damage caused by the cold and water. It
looks like a pipe broke and put water in the house which shut off the furnace
and then a switch in the dishwasher froze open and water dumped into the
kitchen for a couple days. The ceilings
hadn’t fallen down, so they estimate the damage began with the extreme cold
Wednesday.
The L family lost so much of their stuff. Dad was there all the rest of the day and
into the evening helping them pack up and load their sopping belongings into a
Uhaul truck. T’s stuff, aside from
the house of course, was pretty well preserved.
The room they store their stuff in while they’re away was the only dry
room.
She got a restoration place there and they had the carpets
all ripped up and the cabinets torn out and fans and dehumidifiers running. It was crazy. But it was also so wonderful to
see the ward rally to their assistance.
Within a few hours, they were packed and loaded with nowhere to go. It’s sad really because the home owner’s
insurance will cover the damage to the house and the T family belongings,
but not the L’s as they are the renters.
So here is where the story gets funny. Dad would coordinate with me throughout the
day and I got a call that they would come for dinner. Then I got a call because Sis S had
dropped KFC off to them. But halfway
through our family dinner Dad called to say they’d like to come here and eat
after all. We scrambled to get the table
ready for them. B’s brother-in-law
was injured earlier in the day helping the L’s. He was wrapping a bungee cord around some
boxes and it sprung back at him hitting his eye. The doctor dilated his eye to protect it and
told him to keep it closed as much as possible through the day. Since he had continued to help, he and B’s
sister came over as well. Josie was in
rare form yesterday and she was performing for the company. She sang “Let it Go” and was talking and
telling stories. She looked up at this
guy with his eye injury and asked, “What’s your name.” He refused to reveal telling her it was a
secret. So without skipping a beat,
Josie said, “I think it’s Wink-Wink. It
must be Wink-Wink.” Try keeping your jaw
shut at that, I challenge you.
I had a dream this week that I saw you. I was so thrilled and so horrified at the
same time. I couldn’t remember how we
were meeting up, but I was concerned I’d contrived something, but I didn’t
remember doing so. So the conflict of
searching my soul for culpability overshadowed the thrill of seeing you. You looked good and happy and confident.
I told you that Elise left for that retreat. She had a great time, but Josie was TERRIBLE
while she was gone. As I was buckling
Josie into her car seat she let her sorrow seep out, “we need to go get
Riley.” It dawned on me that she thought
Elise was gone the same way you’re gone and she was undone.
OK, I have a little less than two weeks to get all the
business of getting you supplied for Thailand complete. So the MP3 player is top on the list as well
as a CTR ring. Is there anything else
you need?
The Thailand shirts I think would be best to get each child
one of their own. Dad and I don’t have
to have one, but I think the kids would each like one. So Cambry wears a S, Parker wears a M, Elise wears
an XL child or and XS adult, Aleah wears a M child, and Josie wears an XS
Child. Just let me know how much to
transfer into your account.
I hope you’ve had a good week. We love hearing about things in your
world. But you’ve got to share more
PICUTRES!
Love you,
Mom
PS – Josie sayings of the week.
The morning after the Big Clean in the girls’ room, Elise
asked Josie if she liked her room clean.
“No.” Elise pushed further,
asking if she really didn’t like it clean.
“Yeah, I like it messy.” – Think Golam.
We did puzzles Sunday afternoon – I so prefer the morning
schedule of church – and Josie was actually helping with the 100 piece puzzle. But she was also supper sassy (it’s time for
everyone to get back on a schedule!) and she was sent to timeout by Dad for her
screaming. She came out to go to the
bathroom and we were all engrossed in the puzzle in the living room. She rebuked us in a dramatic, sad voice, “Guys,
it’s my own happiness.” Later, when she was being nicer, she was
trying to make a piece fit where it didn't. "Here, I'll push it."
Also yesterday A and E had been over to play earlier
and when Josie was feeling sad and wanted some snuggly, she couldn’t find her
blanket. “Where is my blanket? Annie took it.” Who would have thought that Annie, who had repaired the hole in the
bear that’s been sitting on my craft bench over a year of her own volition,
could be so villainous?
Speaking of A, I somehow missed putting her and B’s
birthdays on the calendar. A is Aug
21 and Ben is June 2. You don’t have to
do anything with those dates, I just put your family birthdates on the calendar
because I thought you’d like to think of them on their day.
Love you - Mom
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