From Mom Sunday, May 31, 2015 Mayday

Sunday, May 31, 2015

I am so done with May.  It has been full every single day.  Bring on June!!!

Bro T messaged me that you were in Ayutaya which is about 40 miles outside of Bangkok.  It is a historic city which used to be the capital of Siam and the name of the city has Indian roots.  The sites look amazing.  That’s all I know.  But I want to know what the membership is like there, what your home is like, and how things are different there.  I want to know who your companion is, where he’s from, how long he’s been out, and if he has a blog.  I want to know how you feel about things there and how things felt in the transfer.

I survived a very big week.  Exhale.  Memorial Day was great.  After the ward breakfast (we only had rain setting up but not during), I took the kids to Savers for their big 50% off sale.  Everyone found something.  Elise is developing very distinct, classy taste.   She found a cute skirt/shirt outfit I’ll email.  Aleah, on the other hand, found two flouncy, bouncy skirts which she wears with leggings.  Josie got a wardrobe in size 4.  She spent the next few days trying on all her outfits.  By noon Tuesday, she had worn five different outfits that I knew about, but Dad said she went through three in the morning while I was running kids to school.

Josie also composed a poem while I put my makeup on that morning.  She “typed” it out on the large calculator. I can’t recite it for you, but it contained mortal life, summer, and extent.  And while playing with the girls, Josie said, “This satisfies your “(But she didn’t complete that thought because the girls burst out laughing.  And soon after she said “we’ve got to run away because there are horrible creatures.”  Yeah, that well will never run dry, I think.

Tuesday rained all through the morning and we watched the forecast like traders in the stock market trying to decipher the chances of actually having a carnival.  About 2:00 the decision was yes, rain or shine.  And we had both during the carnival.  Thinking I’d dove tail, I went and bought the water for 6^th grade graduation and the otter pops for the kids after field day the following day just before the carnival.  Don’t otter pops always freeze overnight?  Especially in a -20 freezer which isn’t being opened all night?  Well they were in a mass because they have to be contained to avoid ruining the food in the freezer.   By the end of the carnival, the middle pops were still warm.  I started fretting at that moment.

First thing Wednesday morning, I went into the school freezer to check the pops and about 20 of 800 were frozen.  I added eight pounds of dry ice and checked again in a couple hours.  More were frozen, but at noon I added 10 pounds more of dry ice dusted through the layers.  It worked.  By the time we were distributing them at 2, all of the pops were at least slushy and most frozen.  However, if you were one of the punky, grabby, pushy sixth boys at otter pop time, now is the time to confess.  I was not impressed.

Thursday I got up early to exercise and be showered and ready by the time Aleah had to be at school.  I ran down to Sam’s to pick up the cookies for graduation.  About the time I left the store for the dance festival, rain started to fall.  I arrived and there was persistent rain and it was cold.  I presented Mrs. G, who retired, with her thank you gift from the PTA.  Mr. C gave me a nice Kneaders gift basket for serving as the PTA president this year and thanked me publicly.  All in the rain.  The kids danced in the rain, slipped in the rain, shivered in the rain.  Aleah had crepe paper ribbon wands in her dance and they completely fell apart.  And as soon as the dance festival ended, the sun came out and dried things up.  It’s possible I felt a little persecuted at this point.

It was my responsibility to count out the binders for the 6^th grade graduates and set them out.  But the classes were putting on plays in the auditorium and the PTA closet is being converted into a classroom.  So I was covered in drywall dust and had to haul big heavy boxes from the trailer to the auditorium because all the carts were in use moving classrooms.  The one I took out with me disappeared and never returned.

After the binders were set out, Aleah and I ran home to eat Thai coconut soup and race back for her play.  This was so cute.  She was a narrator and she was on the set crew.  The play before hers, A Porcupine named Fluffy, pretty much was propped out of our house.  Was she the only one who brought stuff?  Maybe.  Her play was a variation of Cinderella, a big footed Cinderella.  The narrators passed a mic around and in a pause near the end, the audience thought the play was over and started clapping.  Then the stage crew took that as the signal that the play was over and closed the curtain.  Aleah, animated as you imagine, called out:  It’s not over.  But of course, by that point it WAS over.  I had to laugh and console her for a minute.  She is so vibrant.

Then I was on to set up the cookies and water for graduation.  Are you getting the picture that I was at the school for about six hours each day this week?  Yes, I was.  As I mentioned before, all the carts were being used.  So I loaded the cookie trays on a multimedia cart in stacks of two.  Going up the ramp from the parking lot, I checked the stability of the cookies just in time to see the top tray on the bottom shelf spill out onto the parking lot.  Ugh.  One quarter of our cookies unusable.  I had to run back down to Sam’s to get another.  Man!  I was worn out.  I rammed my cart into the backside of the lady in front of me as I waited for my receipt to be marked and then after it was marked, I pushed the cart over the foot of the lady who had just marked it.  I was just thinking about how frightened I was to try to drive in my condition when a man from India who was behind me said to be careful driving home.

No, I didn’t get into an accident.  But angels must have been clearing the way.  I made it back with the cookies and everything went quite well.  Did I mention not liking to feed brazen, self-serving sixth grade boys?  Well near the end I watched a boy take one of the tray boxes that the waters had been on and load up ¼ of a tray of cookies and laugh to himself at his greatness as he went and shared his joke with his mother.  Would you believe I reprimanded him?  I feel like I could have handled it better by asking questions and letting him solve it.  But the kid was walking away (and did I mention I was exuasted?).  I told him this was not appropriate, that he was not being considerate and I TOOK the cookies from him.  What in the world?  We should just take because we can?  My plan was to collapse when I got home.  But of course there wasn’t time.  I helped Aleah make kettle corn for her teachers and Mr. C.  I straightened the kitchen.  Dad and Parker left and after I got Josie down, I left Elise in charge so I could go to book group.  I’m glad I went.  It was a little trip away from the stress of the past days.

Friday was a short day, of course.  I had to go into work to update software.  There was just no time to collapse. We did have pizza that night, but Dad was gone helping VC move and I decided I WAS going to do something to replace some of the energy I’d spent.  I went for a walk pushing Josie.  Parker decided to join me.

Can you see the green on the mountains?

Yesterday I plodded through my list of things to do.  At 10:30 last night as I was taking my makeup off, I had this dreadful realization that I was playing the flute with the choir today.  While I did practice with them last week, I hadn’t even touched my flute in this crazy busy week.  Thankfully the piece was simple and it came off nicely.  I didn’t know what we were going to do in singing time until just before.  But it came out great.  I had visiting teaching this afternoon right after church and skyped Cambry immediately following that, and I didn’t know what we were going to eat for dinner.  But we did eat:  waffles with homemade ice cream and fresh strawberries.  Sometimes not knowing frees you up to see possibilities.

We read the Book of Mormon as we ate dinner tonight.  We read Alma 19 where King Lamoni’s wife asks Ammon if her husband is dead.  He tells her that he is not and that he will awaken on the morrow.  She waits over Lamoni who does waken and then all three fall into collapse.  And Ammon is protected as the brother of the leader of those who scattered the king’s sheep at the waters of Sebus lifts his sword to slay Ammon while he lay unconscious, but the would-be murderer is struck dead himself.  The Spirit was strong in our home.  I love the Book of Mormon.  Dad shared in his fifth Sunday lesson today the complete audacity of Joseph Smith to prophecy, in a day when the fastest form of transport was a horse, that his name would be had for good and evil all over the world.  Who would prophesy something like that in that time if they wanted to be called a prophet?  Who would write, if he was just writing a book as a fraud in that time, that his book would cover the earth.  But there you are in Thailand fulfilling that prophecy.

Give me something good to think about that has nothing to do with school.

I love you, son.  I’m so grateful for your service as a missionary. 

Love,

Mom

From Dad Sunday, May 31, 2015

May 31, 2015

Re:  Letter 26 of 3

Dear Riley:

Well, it looks like we made it through May.  School’s out, I only have a handful of hours and a couple more obligations and we step into June.  At 4:00 AK is receiving his Eagle.  At 7:00 we have the Seminary Awards Assembly.  As I look back on the Month I’m astounded at all you can compress into five weeks.  Now we’re thrust into the summer months with Youth Conference next weekend, Girl’s Camp, Scout Camp… 

Thursday marked the end of the wet and cooler weather.  Today is probably upwards of 80 degrees.  The sun is brilliant, the sky is almost cloudless.  I got sunburned and slightly dehydrated working in the yard yesterday.  This is a significant contrast to Thursday which was in the upper 40’s for the first half of the day.  The elementary kids danced soaking wet in rain (many dressed in shorts and tee shirts) and I worried that conditions were ideal for hypothermia.  10 minutes following the end of the Dance Festival the sun came out, and the temperature soared up to 70 F before the end of the day.  Surprisingly, all the rain notwithstanding, I went to dig a dandelion in the front lawn and found dry crumbly soil two inches below the surface just yesterday.  Either the well drained soil simply doesn’t retain moisture, or the amount of actual precipitation was insufficient to penetrate deeply.

The rain brought a pestilence of snails and I didn’t fully appreciate the forces marshaled against my flowerbeds and garden until I finally put out poison bait in strategic locations.  In the days that followed, I was amazed but pleased at the results; Dozens upon dozens of dead and dying mollusks in every corner.  Generally I consider myself a necessary bane to the snails; Parker the nearly psychopathic serial snail killer; and your mother a fairly ambivalent spectator to the whole situation.  The other day I came out of the front door to find a massive green and yellow stain amidst remnants of salt and copious amounts of dried slime in the middle of the front walk.  The evidence was self explanatory, but what made it most amusing was that your mother had been the one to dump salt on a hapless large snail unfortunate enough to cross her path.  Ha ha!  Who ever dreamed she was capable of such devious means…

Monday we had the Ward Memorial Day celebration and it was a success.  We held it under a pavilion at the City Park and probably had around 200 in attendance.  M and S B managed the organization and did a fine job.  It was raining an hour before, but cleared up for the event.  The food was delicious and seemed plentiful, but quickly disappeared.  While there may have been some individuals who didn’t get exactly what they wanted, we had food left over and no one should have left hungry unless they had particular dietary restrictions.  The youth were up early putting up over 70 flags throughout the neighborhood.  It looked impressive and Parker said he felt a surge of patriotism as swells of Apollo 13 Main Theme filled the neighborhood.  (Bishop’s wakeup reveille.)  The Cemetery looked beautiful and I enjoyed the break away from work and a little extra time with family.  

Brother T let us know where you were transferred.  It seems a little sad that you’re moving on and that a powerful companionship has come to an end.  We enjoyed your last letter and the commentary on the pictures.  It’s truly miraculous to see the gospel transform lives.  What a blessing you were able to wrap up your work in the area with some baptisms.  Considering where things used to be a couple decades ago,  I think it’s fair to say that the field is white in Thailand and I expect you are only seeing the front end of some amazing things.  The blessings from your service are undeniable and we can’t begin to say just how pleased we are with your progress.  Stay true and keep your chin up.    

Love,

Dad

Since you've been gone... May 25, 2015

...we're low on funny.

This is a special Memorial Day edition taken by Mike and Sarah Bell at the ward Memorial Day breakfast.

From Dad Sunday, May 24, 2015

May 24, 2015

Re:  Letter 25 of 3

Dear Riley:

Rain, rain, rain, and more rain: We DO need the moisture, there’s no question about it.  Having it a little more spread out would be helpful. Someone who went to check out the reservoirs up the canyon said that both Deer Creek and Jordanelle were close to their high water line.  The word is that farmers have had a difficult time finding a window in which to plant.  (So, it looks like I’m not the only one.)  The recent forecast has rain all through Thursday, though it’s only a 20% chance tomorrow. Ironically, with such a glut of water I’m waiting for the announcement that the cost of water is going up again.  They’ve done this in the past when the water handlers weren’t selling enough water to cover their expenses.   Yesterday was a beautiful temperate day interspersed with occasional rain showers.  Notwithstanding, I was still able to make some progress on the garden.  Little by little, it’s coming together.

Your Mom took Friday and Saturday and made great progress toward restoring a semblance of order to the craft room and garage.  The shelves are in and there’s plenty of storage space, but the project of going through all our stuff and consolidating or getting rid of the various and sundry items keeps taking a back seat to more pressing chores.  With the end of school fast approaching, maybe we can knock this out of the park by the 1^st week in June and be parking a car in the garage again.  (Pictures when it’s completed.)

I just finished The Boys in the Boat which is a well written book I think is even better than Unbroken.  It’s about a group of boys from Washington and their path to Olympic gold in pre WWII Germany. They were part of a nine person rowing crew on one of those long racing boats you usually associate with Ivy League Schools in the East. It’s about team work, trust, forgiveness, and overcoming challenges.  I simply loved it!  You’ll need to put this on your post mission “must read” list.  I seldom have time to sit down and read for hours on end, so your mom set me up with the audio version on the Kindle.  It’s pretty handy to have while driving or working in the yard, though it sort of starts to feel that every available minute is packed with some sort of stimulus.  I suppose there are countless ways my time could be spent in less fruitful pursuits.

Well, one more week in May!  It looks like we’ll survive this after all.  Of course, this week will be crazy, but which week in May isn’t?  One day at a time, one week at a time we make it through.  We had our first missionary report on Elder Parish today.  I your Mom shared some of the highlights from your letters, and she did a wonderful job  It’s astounding to me that you’re a quarter of the way done.  Time just flies.  DJ finishes his mission next month; DM will be finishing his mission shortly and is already scheduled to speak on the 19^th of July; WM is  getting married in July;  A C, KK, and PY are graduating from High School; and so it goes…  Your Mother noted that one year ago, she was listening to your remarks as a graduating senior.  A lot has changed in a year.

In about 30 minutes, we’ll be heading over to Bro. P’s home where Parker will receive his Patriarchal blessing.  We’ve been fasting that the channels of revelation will be opened in Parker’s behalf.  I anticipate that this will be a highpoint of the day.  Bro. P is such a good man, and we feel privileged to have him perform this blessing.

We sure do love you.  The recap of the highlights of your mission so far has driven home the point of just how blessed you’ve been and what an extraordinary young man you are.  Keep up the faithful service and live after the manner of happiness.

Love,

Dad

From Mom Sunday, May 24, 2015 -- Day by Day

Dear Riley,

Tuesday -- Life is so crazy in May.  Dad and I each thought it would be best to try to write a little during the week rather than waiting for Sunday.  We'll see how we do...

First off, we loved all your pictures last week.  Dad’s reaction to the tiger picture was great, “uh, Riley?!”  I had seen other missionary pictures like that, so I wasn’t freaked, but he kind of was. Dad, Parker, and I all saw Avengers 2 the Friday evening it opened.  I'm sorry to say that none of us liked it better than the first.  And I had vertigo after watching it.  It's probably worth seeing, but we didn't love, love it.

This morning we are all tired.  The picture pretty much took me all day yesterday.  I made the page collar Aleah wore as the white rabbit and I made the hat Parker wore in the afternoon. 

One sweet moment of the day was when I was trying to repair the zipper on the caterpillar costume.  The zipper pull was off the zipper as well as the clasp at the bottom of the zipper which holds it on.  So I had bought a zipper pull, uncertain at all if it was the correct type, but hoping I wouldn’t have to sew Josie into the suit by chance.  I had to put on my granny glasses to even start trying. Of course Josie was close by, hoping I could fix the costume in time for her nap.  I tried and tried and couldn’t get it to move up the zipper.  My hands were starting to hurt and it was past naptime, so I suggested we say a prayer and Josie ask that the zipper would work.  She did.  It was sweet.  Then I silently prayed that her prayer would be answered.  I tried again and still couldn’t make it work.  I tried a different angle, no go.  I started to get worried about this little faith bucket next to me being disappointed.  But I finally accepted defeat and said I must have the wrong kind of zipper pull.  Josie didn’t throw a fit or anything, but she was processing.  I set the costume on my bed and started away but almost immediately stepped back toward it and picked it up for one more try.  And you guessed it, it pulled right up.  Josie was so excited (though it was ticklish enough she DIDN’T wear it for nap.  And the next day when she wanted something to work that wasn’t working, she decided it was time to say a prayer!)

We took one set of pictures up at Katie and Johnny's, but a mirror made for distractions in the photos, so we suited up again after Katie made it look like a window and went for another round.  We had so much fun there.  We shared FHE and Katie gave us a tea party at the end.  We got home after 10.  But Josie was so happy, she sang on her way to bed.  It really was so nice to share that with Katie and Johnny. 

I read your companion’s blog each week as well as your letters. I was happy to hear that Gung is doing well.  I wondered if she was one of the investigators you’d lost this week.  I like knowing the names of your investigators.  Do you not put them in your letters to be considerate of their privacy?  But it helps me keep track of them.  I am interested in the work as it happens in each individual life.  But continue as you see fit.

Wednesday – The best part of today was that JS came to lunch to visit teach.  She was going to bring in lunch but we had enormous amounts of food in lots of variety here.  We had a nice visit.  There is just something bonding about eating together.  We’ve had rain every day still. 

Either lunch was the best part of the day or taking Josie and Aleah to the library and picking up some great books.  The kids reminded me that we used to have the book There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly.  Ours got destroyed.  Josie LOVES the book.  And she loves The Little Mouse, the Red, Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear.  She took that one to bed with her.

Thursday – I finally mailed you three picture prints today.  While I was down that way, I decided to go to LoLo’s and pick up more green taco sauce because we’ve been out for a week and that makes everyone sad.  I saw MP doing her shopping there too.  I picked up some day-old donuts and that reminded me of something cute from last week.  Josie wanted a donut after she ate her lunch all gone and we had time, so I indulged her.  We went down to LoLo’s and I let her choose her donut from the case.  She wanted one with freckles (sprinkles) on it.  She chose a maple donut with freckles.  As we were driving home, she suddenly laughed out, “Bread?”  She realized that after the glaze was gone, the donut was just bread.

Also, I don’t know if I told you that Grandma and Grandpa Parish are giving dates for birthdays this year?  Today Josie cashed hers in for a trip to the Bean Museum, the creamery, and watching Into the Woods.  I think Grandma let her double-dip.  But in truth Josie was having difficulty deciding what to choose as everything sounded so gratifying to her.  She came up with catching fish as an option on her own.

Friday I cleaned the garage and craft room.  And that’s about it.  I probably have two days left before it’s all done.  It’s exciting and wonderful.  Dad and I went to dinner that night at 8:30.  I had no hunger, except for order.  When we got home, I saw a text from my mom.  S had drawn a bath and then laid down and fell asleep… for like three hours.  All three levels of their house have water damage.  What a trouble.  It happened while L was taking my mom to her follow-up appointment with her surgeon.  There have to be compensatory blessings in this for her.

Saturday has been so busy.

OK, it’s Sunday and I am glad I recorded snippets through the week or you wouldn’t get much.  Yesterday the S blessed their new baby boy, A and it was lovely to be there with them.  We skyped Cambry afterwords.  She is half way through her time in Europe already.  Then I went to get some supplies to decorate Eric’s grave.  My mom is laid up recovering and my dad is recovering.  So she asked me to put some flowers together.  But she wanted more than just mums.  I had bought sunflowers and disbuds? at Costco in the morning but I had to put them together.  I’ve never made a flower arrangement before.  But I like the way this came out (after the second try.)  Marie met us up at the cemetery.  It was nice to be there with her for a minute.  On the way home after 6:00, Dad and I realized that we hadn’t been to the temple this week.  Ugh.  So we hurried our salmon dinner and rushed out the door. 

When we got home at 10:30, I started my missionary report for sacrament meeting, retiring to bed sometime after 1:00.  I’m sorry to confess I went toooooo long.  But it was so nice to go back through your letters and pull gems.  And people loved hearing it.  I got asked if you had any desire to be a writer because you write so well.

Also, CB stopped me in the hall today to confirm that PS was still your mission president.  He was the president to her grandson when L died, so they communicated and she loves him. She said her grandson has gone back this summer bumming.

We are waiting to go to the P’s for Parker’s blessing.  I will send you a different letter with my impressions from that neat experience.  We have the Memorial Day breakfast tomorrow, carnival Tuesday, dance festival Wednesday, field day and 6^thgrade graduation Thursday, Mommy collapse Friday.

And you have transfers this week.  Has it really already been six weeks with ET?  It’s sad to think of you moving as you seem pretty settled with good friends and opportunities.  But life is change:  new friends to meet, new opportunities to explore.  We have to make the most of these while they are available to us.

We love you, son.  Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Mom

Since you've been gone... May 18, 2015

...we're drinking it in.

Elise chose this one and Katie and Johnny hosted us for the shot.

From Dad May 17, 2015

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Re:  Letter 24 of 3

Dear Riley:

Who would have guessed that 6 months could pass so quickly?  It was so good to Skype with you on Mother’s Day and we loved your letter waiting for us the following morning.  It’s wonderful to see people making changes for the better and to witness the joy the gospel brings into their lives.  If we knew nothing else about the gospel, this would at least be evident; it changes lives for the better, and brings an increase of joy into the lives of all those who apply its principles.  Why then the venom towards it??  At any rate, you look and sound wonderful.  I’m glad to hear that things are picking up in a big way for you and your companion.  With faith, obedience, and hard work, I can’t imagine any way you won’t be wildly successful.

Today is a beautiful day, but the first full sunny day in awhile.  We’ve had so much rain I think I’m in danger of growing moss on my back.  I spent a good portion of the day yesterday out in drizzling rain punctuated with occasional torrential downpours.  The ground out by the garden is at capacity for water retention and moves like Jell-o underfoot.  I’m trying to fill my garden boxes with soil so I can plant, but the soil is so wet, I could work it with a cement trowel.  Tomorrow it’s forecasted to continue raining through Wednesday.  We desperately need the water, so this is a blessing, but one that’s a little difficult to work around.

The bees have been difficult to manage with all the rain.  It turns out I had a rather serious problem which needed to be addressed as quickly as possible, but the weather wasn’t cooperating very well.  Either my former queen left the hive, was killed by the worker bees, or is barren.  Whatever the reason, I have no eggs or brood, and now my bees from my package are near the end of their life span.  In an emergency rescue effort, I needed to acquire a couple frames of eggs and capped brood and a new queen.  Bro. Pyne was good enough to provide me with two frames of brood (such a good man!) and I was able to pick up a new queen the following day.  It was quite a challenge to find windows of good weather in which to tend the hive.  I’m still worried about the possibility of the other queen being in the hive, barren, and ready to do battle with the new queen.  I employed a queen excluder between the two brood boxes in order to keep the other queen at bay until I can conclusively determine there is only one egg laying queen in the hive.  I need to check the queen box within the next three days to see if the bees are accepting a new queen before I set her free in hive.  It turns out that too rapid integration of a new queen can cause the worker bees to swarm her and sting her to death.  All this I never fully appreciated about bees…  This is more work than your Mother would choose to invest, but I’m still fully invested in the survival of this hive.  By the way, if you happen to see a queen bee flying around… she’s worth $39.00!

We’ve made it half way through the month of May and I’m beginning to feel like we’re going to survive this.  The weather caused a postponement of two activities, one of which will be moved to June.  This has spread things out a bit and I feel like I can breathe a little easier.  Just 9 more days left of school.  Parker is planning on working for me through the summer  I’m looking forward to this, and think back on the time you were there.  We became quite accustomed to your contribution and missed it when you left.  Things have been SO busy.  Long days and lots of orders, but it’s rewarding and everyone gets along extremely well.  Parker should fit in well.

Well, as always, I look forward to your letter and pray daily for your safety, success, and for you to be blessed with the gift of tongues.  I can see you’re already more of a man than when you left last November, and can see some of the spiritual growth which has taken place in your life.  We are being so blessed, and I can’t deny the outpouring of blessings directly related to your service.  It’s truly astounding.  Take care, follow the Spirit, love and serve your companion, chin up, shoulders back!  It’s a great time to be alive and engaged in building the kingdom.

Love,

Dad

From Mom: 2015 May 17, 1/4 way through!

May 17, 2015

Dear Riley,

Was it just seven days ago that we were enjoying a chat with you?  Honestly, May is just about as crazy as December and I can’t believe how much we fit into each day.  By the way, it was wonderful to visit with you and it was good to see you.

This week has been all about rain.  We had a really mild, dry winter and there were predictions of needing to ration water in early April.  And then we hit monsoon season.  We have had so much rain that the ground has difficulty accepting it all.  But everything looks so green and alive.  The mountains are lush like I don’t think I’ve ever seen.

We had so much rain Thursday that we had postpone the carnival until the last week of school.  While I don’t relish having another even that week, it was a windfall for us as we had Elise’s choir concert and Parker had special needs mutual and it was going to be quite difficult to manage carnival as well.

Elise sang a special solo part in her choir concert Thursday night.  She was in a trio which sang the descant in “Do, Re, Mi” from the Sound of Music (a needle pulling thread, a note to follow So, jam and bread.) She was nervous and had to audition multiple times for the part.  When her part was over, I could see relief wash over her expression.  I was happy to be there and not worried about getting back to the elementary school to help with carnival.

Elise also made a special appointment with me to go to Barnes and Noble Saturday to spend $15 in gift cards.  The place was totally full because of the rainy day.  And Elise didn’t know specifically what she wanted but she didn’t really want to buy a book she hadn’t read and she didn’t want to buy a book Cambry already had and… it was kind of long, actually.  She bought a Shannon Hale book she’s read and loved and a book of a different author she hasn’t read but that is rated high on Goodreads.  I just hope it’s clean, that’s the gamble.

Aleah finished testing in school.  She was pretty nervous about it.  But she did well. She was disappointed about the carnival postponement, but she was glad when she was at Elise’s concert that she didn’t have to worry about missing things at the carnival and could just enjoy the music.

Parker is almost done with special needs mutual.  In fact he is done with the special needs kids, he just has a closing fireside with the youth counselors this week.  Dad asked him from the pulpit today to share his experiences and the things he learned in that calling today.  He did a nice job and I saw the Spirit descend upon him as he articulated the things that had touched him.  Parker made an appointment with Bro P and he will get his patriarchal blessing next Sunday.  Probably Parker’s highlight of the week was nurturing some ducklings that somehow got separated from their momma duck.  Bro B came over with Bro F wanting to use the gate to get the family of ducks into the canal.  It took a couple hours, but they did find the momma and Parker released them into her care.

I went to CY this week to go over my test results.  My hormones are off and it looks like I’m headed to menopause as I thought.  She put me on a low dose of thyroid while we support my adrenals and hope that I don’t have to go back on thyroid full on again.  But I don’t have Hashimoto’s, an autoimmune disease which causes hypothyroidism.  Perhaps the stress of the shingles depleted my adrenals.  Maybe just life.  I don’t yet feel relief at all, but I’m hopeful.

Dad planted Sis S’s flowerbeds this week.  And he had to get a new queen bee for his hive, there were no eggs or brood and his bees were getting old and ready to die.  Bro P gave his a frame with brood and eggs on it and he went and bought a new queen from the people he bought the original bees from.  She was ¼ of the cost of the initial bee packet.  There are so many things to learn and understand about bees.  Dad has been very busy and a little bummed about the weather because it makes it impossible to do the things he’s working to get done.

Cambry was touring the lower coast of the UK this week.  Her favorite place was Land’s End and she hiked all over.  She also saw the ruins of King Arthur’s castle.  Did I know that he wasn’t just a myth?  No. Cambry posts to her blog and the pictures from this week all look postcard-worthy.

SN reported on her mission today.  I guess I didn’t realize that she was called to teach in Mandarin but of course her native language is Cantonese.   She spoke of overcoming fear by applying faith.  The Spirit was strong in the meeting.

Grandpa Bramwell had to go back in for surgery this week.  He had a salivary gland removed the week before and it was draining into his cheek so they had to put a drain in.  Grandma is still recovering from her hip surgery.

Grandma and Grandpa Parish are here for apple crisp.  With the cool weather, I’m hungry for squash and apples and Fallish things. 

Have a wonderful week.  I’m looking forward to hearing how your work is going and how you’re coming toward your high goals.  Don’t get too hot out there.  I love you like crazy.

Love you,

Mom

PS -- Friday morning started like this.  Dad went to work early and I got up to exercise.  (Did I tell you he fixed my elliptical for my Mother's day gift and it is silent again!  And I bought a new little clamp fan which is super quiet.)  I heated the oven for German pancakes while I began ellipticalling.  I went up to add the batter and... the small pan exploded on me.  What a mess.  And I still had hungry kids and a whole lot of mess to clean up.  Glass was everywhere.  This was not how I planned for my day to start.  But it led to something good. 

Cambry had told me that she had tried lemon crepes in England.  They made a huge crepe and sprinkled it with granulated sugar and drizzled it with lemon juice.  So once I cleaned up enough to shut the oven, I thinned down the batter with milk and tried this yummy rendition.  They were a hit!  Aleah now wants these for her birthday breakfast.  Dad ate 10 when he came home for breakfast later in the morning.  Moral:  when your pancakes spill in your oven, make lemon crepes!

Since you've been gone... May 11, 2015

...we're all pulling together.

Parker chose this one.

From Dad May 10, 2015

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Re:  Letter 23 of 3

Dear Riley:

Boy am I tired!  After going to bed at midnight, today started at 4:30 AM.  For Mother’s Day, your Mom wanted omelets with caramelized onions and mushrooms, and fried potatoes on the side.  This took a lot of prep work by way of chopping and browning, and it needed to be done in small batches in order to brown properly.  It was delicious, but I found I barely had enough time to eat and get out the door for my morning bishopric meeting and Sacrament meeting prep.  Sunday morning there is always a flurry of activity and today was a little more intense than usual.  I was a little nervous by the time the meeting was getting underway because I hadn’t taken time to go to the restroom and wasn’t entirely confident my system would cooperate.  Fortunately I made it.  The meeting was a nice tribute to mothers and those with mother hearts who bless our lives.  Priesthood was also a spiritual high note.  Both B and B Y advanced in the Aaronic Priesthood.  B was ordained a Teacher and B a Priest.  Parker was inspired to suggest that B be ordained first.  This way he could stand in the circle when B was ordained to the office of Teacher.  The Spirit was so strong and afterward I felt to take a few minutes to expound on what it meant to be part of a priesthood quorum.  TA and ED taught the lesson and did a masterful job.  Following church, CB had the Aaronic Priesthood conferred upon him and was ordained a Deacon. Once again, the Spirit was very strong.  It’s great to see young men growing up and progressing in the gospel.

We just got up from a dinner of spring mix salad greens, pan browned Brussels sprouts (the best way to eat them), Trisha’s rice, and grilled Salmon.  We had homemade Strawberry cheesecake for dessert, which was amazing.  I can’t honestly say this was all prepared with singleness of heart, but it WAS done with love.  I’m stuffed, and miss you every time we have a feast like this.  Luckily we get to share some aspect of the day with our missionary.  We’re anxiously awaiting your Skype call.  One of us is so worked up over your pending call, she’s tied up in knots and feels like she’s going to throw up!  Ha ha…only a mother.     

Today was the first sunny day in several days.  It’s been raining day and night.  I don’t know how much water fell, but the cumulative must be in the inches.  The snails are having a party in the flowerbeds and I seem to have lost this round.  This weekend is forecast to be much the same as last.  Maybe I’ll get the garden in before the next wave of storms hits.  Everything is lush, green, and soggy except my lettuce starts, much of which succumbed to the deluge and drowned. 

In spite of the rain and the hectic pace of May, I took Wednesday and Thursday off to go on a Lake Powell kayak trip.  The rest of the group stayed till Saturday, but I couldn’t swing a trip that long.  It was beautiful and restorative.  Jared was good enough to let me borrow his equipment.  There’s something magical about getting up and paddling across water as still and smooth as glass in the early hours of the morning.  This was such a contrast to the violent winds from the night before which surly would have taken my tent had I not been inside  Quite a compelling pastime…  Anyway, it’s something I think you’d enjoy.

It’s hard to believe you’re nearly six months into your mission.  My letter was interrupted by your Skype call which was wonderful.  Your Mom is considerably calmed down now and watching the recorded call again as I type.  We sure love you and are so blessed by your service.  Thank you for being an obedient and diligent missionary.  I better get this into the email.  I may have already missed it.

Love,

Dad

From Mom May10, 2015 Mother's Day

May 10, 2015

Dear Riley,

This is my first time with a skype missionary experience, so I don’t know even if you’ll write letters today.  Better safe than sorry.

This week has been a wonderful, busy week.  Highlights include Josie and I taking a trip up to see my mom as she recovers from surgery on the day my dad had surgery.  B and J were sealed in the Provo Temple and I was so grateful to be with them there.  The Spirit was so strong!  And B just feels settled and comfortable and she exudes this contented air.  I am so happy for her.

Josie had her fourth birthday which I have documented for you with pictures.  She did choose to sleep in the pink dress and came in at 6:00 to ask me to help her change into her blue dress and make certain her shoes were on the correct feet.  

Josie put the sprinkles on her cake and placed the candles. So cute! She chose a cherry chip cake, white chocolate mousse filling, pink frosting... and ate not a bite. I should have made what I wanted!

Josie loves dress up shoes. But since she doesn't have any "dress-up" shoes, she's had to make due. Mostly that means spreading the lower level of my closet throughout the house. But occassionally she becomes fixated on the shoes Aleah's build-a-bear SuzyQ came with. Only the ball of her foot fits, and that term is used loosely. She wears them walking on tip toes. They are her Cinderella shoes (Grandma wonders if that means she's a stepsister?). When she wears those SuzyQ shoes, she gets blisters on her toes which actually bleed. But she says they don't hurt.

She did tell Dad, "Guess what? I put on the shoe and blood was coming out of the shoe. And I had to clean it off. Again."

I hate to confess this already, but it is possible that the new shoes I got her will leaver her much the same. The top of the shoe cuts into the top of her foot at the start of the instep.

We could see as wearing each dress transported her to some imaginary place. She's sleeping in one of these dresses tonight. She was wearing the blue Elsa dress on the way up to bed, but talking about changing into the pink one as she ascended the stairs. 

What a great birthday.

Dad was up this morning making omelets and fried potatoes.  Though we went to bed at midnight, he got up at 4:30 to make this breakfast for me.  I feel guilty.

Josie said the cutest thing yesterday.  She was watching Fantasia 2000.  One of the first segments portrays a young humpback whale getting separated from his parents.  Josie said, “I can’t wait to tell the girls I watched this and that I felt the Spirit.”  I asked her if she was feeling the Spirit and she said, “Yeah.  And I want to cry.”  Empathy is developing in your little sister.

I made an apron for SE because it was her birthday and I visit teach her.  I took the pattern from my leopard print and pink apron.  It is so cute!

PTA is almost complete.  I wrote up a job description for the positions that need to be filled and asked Mr. C to email it out, not really expecting a response.  But  I had six people respond and they are excited and the board is filled with new people as well the ladies who have helped for years. I feel satisfied with the job I've done as I’ve worked steadily at it and have solved some problems.

Cambry was able to skype with us today for Mother’s Day and yesterday for Josie’s birthday.  She is having a wonderful time. 

Today’s sacrament meeting was just wonderful.  Brother R spoke and he did a wonderful job.  He talked about Christ-like love being the love that causes us to look out even in the hour of greatest need.  He said that kind of love is best demonstrated in mothers.  I don’t know that I have mastered that kind of love, but I know there have definitely been times when I have loved that way. 

He shared a personal story.  He lived in Sterling (down by Manti, but so small it’s like two blocks).  His 19 year old sister was killed when she was struck by a reckless driver who was putting on her make-up and feeding a baby in the back seat while she sped through a snow storm at 55 mph in a 35 mph zone.  This woman later came to his family’s house to beg forgiveness.  At a time when his parents were most in need of comfort, they extended solace to this woman.  Her father offered to bless her and as he laid hands upon her head, he pronounced forgiveness upon her.  What good people!  Brother R said he decided he couldn’t look down at me because I had tears in my eyes every time he did.  I get that a lot.  I guess I sit in the front and cry.  It’ll just be that way, I guess.

After we had a short skype conversation with Cambry, we went up to hear DW report on her mission.  She did such a wonderful job.  She is 23 now and has matured much in recent years.  Though Dad couldn’t be there with us, we did stay for dinner and it was good to be together again.

And so Dad is slaving in the kitchen again for me.  He made me a cheesecake last night.  Tonight’s dinner is grilled salmon with Trisha’s rice, pan-seared Brussels sprouts and salad.  Then we’ll have the cheesecake with the Oreo crust and strawberry topping.  Mmmm.  We are a lucky family.

Dad did take a quick kayak trip down to Lake Powell Wednesday and Thursday.  I’m glad he could have a little break.  He was glad too.  He borrowed J’s kayak that he made.  And I got dad the audio book of The Boys in the Boat because I loved it so much.  He is very much enjoying it.

It rained a lot this week.  The lawn is long.  But since it rained all day yesterday, I asked Dad to look at my elliptical machine.  It’s been noisy for some time, but lately it sounds like I’m rolling rocks for polishing in there.  I can’t hear anything else.  Dad had it all apart and diagnosed and will replace my bearings in the morning.  That is such a kind gift.  I can’t wait to have it be quiet again.

I think that’s our week.  Or the best parts of it.  We’re a little worn out, truthfully.  But we’re so happy.

I can’t wait to speak with you. 

I love you so much!

Mom

Since you've been gone... May 4, 2015

...we're going to extreme lengths to keep our family ties strong.

Cambry chose this one.

Lemon Water Punch

This is simple and wonderful and always disappears.

Lemon Water Punch

1 T citric acid

2 tsp lemon extract

1 1/4 C sugar
1 pinch salt

1 gallon water and ice

Mix until dissolved and add ice once mixed.

(I had Parker make this from the recipe and it didn't taste right.  That's when I realized I put in a tinsy bit of salt to bring some depth.)

From Dad May 3, 2015

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Re:  Letter 22 of 3

Dear Riley:

What a week and it’s only the 3^rd of May!  I think May is possibly the most packed month of the year and even surpasses December for craziness.  Mother’s Day, Aaronic Priesthood commeration event, Memorial Day (Ward Celebration), Blood Drive, Church cleaning (each week), fifth Sunday combined meeting, YM YW fund raiser, Seminary graduation, Highschool graduation.  Throw in the weekly interviews, home visits, crisis not yet born, work, domestic chores…  I’ll be fortunate if I don’t drop some major balls in the coming weeks.  I made it through the first Sunday at least.

It’s been beautiful weather and it’s sometimes easy to forget that we’re still this early in the growing season.  I occasionally forget that I’m not really behind the 8 ball when it comes to planting.  Technically, you’re taking a risk if you plant tomatoes before the 15^th of May.  I still have a little work to do before filling my boxes with soil.  (When I last wrote you, I didn’t realize we would be spending our Saturday up in Manti helping grandma K.)  At any rate, four boxes are all but completed and I just need to decide what mixture of soil and amendments to fill them with.  A barge full of soil floating down the ditch would be extremely convenient.  Bees seem to be happy and busy.  I got into the hive and was astounded at some of the new comb they had built out.  There’s still no evidence of eggs or up and coming brood.  If this doesn’t change by the end of the week, I’ll start to worry.

MR was just called to be on the Stake High Council.  He’ll do a wonderful job.  I can see how circumstances over the past year have worked to prepare him for this calling.  As far as other Ward events go, it’s been raining babies.  We’ve had four births in recent months (two last week) and have another four lined up between now and August.  A and AS just delivered a boy around Tuesday.  KE completed her mission, JC is home in Texas, SN is home…DW just back from Texas and dropped in for a visit this afternoon.  It goes so quickly.  It’s hard to believe that you’re nearly ¼ of the way through.

Cambry is having a ball in London, but feeling a little home sick.  She’s seeing the sights you have to see with your eyes because you can’t photograph them.  Anyway, she gives frequent reports on her blog and fills it with the pictures she’s allowed to take.  Such a happy, beautiful, extraordinary young woman.  The day Cambry left for London we went to the Payson Temple open house.  In one word…Exquisite!  Just when I thought they had set a new precedent with the Ogden Temple…  Breathtakingly beautiful and well constructed.  So, officially as of today we are in the Provo Temple district.  I have about 2 dozen names to submit as temple workers between now and tomorrow evening.

It’s good to hear that you and your companion are getting along so well.  I think you’re going to see some amazing results from your efforts.  I was just considering how the gospel enriches our lives.  I can’t begin to enumerate the blessings Heavenly Father pours out on faithful followers.  I start to feel bad for the faithless who won’t recognize His hand or believe in His power to work miracles in their lives.  What a wonderful work to be engaged in.  I’m so grateful for your service and the spiritual growth it’s bringing to your life.  Stay true, keep your chin up.  Great blessings are in store.      

Love,

Dad