Sunday, June 14, 2015
Dear Riley,
Hi son! How are you doing? How’s the work and the weather and the food and the ward? How are your feet and your butt (biking area, right?) holding up? Are you still finding new fascinating fruits?
Things are good at home. We just celebrated Summerfest as you can tell from the pictures I’ve been sending you. The weather was just about perfect, which was a change. We were hot in the sun which was abundant, comfortable in the shade, and needed no jacket in the evening as we participated in activities. That was so nice. Finally! This afternoon it’s clouded over and looks to rain… again.
The girls and I went over to the park Friday afternoon. I had sent them with money to buy tickets and ride early like I usually do. But as I was heading out with Josie and the stroller basket of snacks and other needful things, the girls were coming home. They thought the tickets were too expensive and so they didn’t want to buy them without me knowing the cost. They were $.75 per ticket again. And the little carrousel required 3 tickets. But it’s Summerfest, for crying out loud!
JW took this photo for me from the ferris wheel. How thoughtful!
M and L met us after our dinner break (I made the yummy lemon/lime sherbet for when we got home: YUM!) and M wanted to ride rides together. The ferris wheel line was long, so we decided to try the other rides. M decided her best choice would be the tornado. Um, I had vertigo last month…. BUT I didn’t have it!!!! I don’t. I had tested my balance recovery Monday at the Discovery Park with the girls on the tire swing. I felt whoosy, but not unbalanced if that makes sense.
After the ride, we went and listened to Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band and they play bluegrass. It was a great concert and I’m glad we went. I bought a CD after the concert. Josie couldn’t help herself and had to dance/jump/fall into other people’s laps. Good times.
Sadly, Elise came down with a virus at the concert and had a headache, stomachache, and fever for the rest of Summerfest. So she and Parker missed the parade. This is likely a good thing because Aleah and Josie carted off enough taffy and other parade candy to support all of the dentists in Orem themselves. They were sad to learn they had missed the Kid History guys.
We did spend three hours at the dentist this week getting checked up and cleaned up. Parker was the only cavity and it was just one. But his wisdom teeth are coming in horizontally on the bottom: oral surgery soon. I overheard Josie instructing Dad the night after the dentist, “Wait! I need to floss! Because when you brush your teeth, you should floss them also… There. Now you wash it off and use it again.” And last night she told me while flossing that you have to go up and down twice. I think I heard her entire visit with her hygienist over the week.
One of the highlights this week was when JC dropped in to borrow a ladder and we had him sit down and tell us about his mission. That was so great. He was a great missionary. The trial on his mission was feeling the Spirit working in people, knowing they knew, but watching them quench and refuse. He said the first time that happened he went home and just cried. And the best thing for him was teaching and feeling the Spirit work through him to touch another. That he mentioned after all the love he felt for the people he served. I can tell in so many ways that he has developed into a worthy young man.
I spent some time planning the remodel. Yes, hard floor covering the entire main level is the plan. I think I’ve picked out the one I want and it looks like I will get a deal on that. Phew. It’s all kind of sudden in specifics, but in generals has been considered for some time. There’s still a lot to do to get things started.
The best thing that happened to Elise this week was that she was given a perfect 10 by Sister M in her piano practicing.
The worst thing that happened to Parker this week was the remorseful death of the Samsung Galaxy Relay. He was at the park with A and decided to roll down the hill one last time on impulse. But he didn’t take his phone out of his pocket. It still sounds, but you can’t see anything. And he doesn’t want to change phones…. is resistant to change there. So the problem isn’t solved because that is an “old” phone now and not really worth spending money to fix. But he wants that keypad!
The best thing for dad was getting the double cone dryer into place!!!! We’re moving along. Dad’s been burdened this week with bishop thoughts. He just got word that JM is dying and is headed over. But that’s sudden, not what’s been on his mind all week.
We’ve eaten a few peas from the garden. Yum. Josie loves to go out and harvest with Dad and she knows just what she’s after: Dad can I come out there with you and pick some peas? She shares them readily which is nice.
Sorry for the dearth in printed pictures. I have them... I’ll send them. This week. All of them. J I got off because the Memorial Day one is too low resolution to print a 5x7 and that held me up for a bit accepting the imperfection. But I’m over it.
Your word for the week, or really mine since it was pointed out to me in the temple yesterday, is redemption. I’m thinking somewhere in the recesses of my spiritual consciousness about it and what it means to mankind generally and me specifically.
And one more sweet thing, AK spoke today about keeping the Sabbath day holy and she shared that scripture in Isaiah about it being a delight. She mentioned at the end that ever so significant phrase, “thou shalt turn away from doing thy pleasure on my holy day...”
[[Here from Elder Nelson’s talk which she quoted: When Isaiah described the Sabbath as “a delight,” he also taught us how to make it delightful. He said:
“If thou turn away … from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, … and shalt honour [the Lord], not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: “Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.”]]
A shared a sweet experience from last year when she was traveling for dance. She said that they were in NY and were just eating out. They shared a room with another dancer and her mom to cut costs. When they went to leave Sunday morning to get something to eat, they asked the others if they were coming. They said they wouldn’t be buying food that day. They had stopped at a grocery store on the way home and bought enough food to get them through the day. A said that while she and her mom were eating yummy waffles, they were back in the room eating cup of noodles with water heated in the coffee machine. She cried and said how she appreciated that example. The Spirit witnessed of the truth she shared.
It’s time for me to be at Grandma’s for the birthday bash. I love you so much. I love the gospel you preach. I love the Savior and desire to share that love. Thanks for being a missionary!
Love,
Mom
PS -- I didn't know if I'd have time to share this. But you're not on and it'll just take a minute. Josie has been practicing the word expensive since Friday when the girls came home without riding at the Summerfest carnival. J and JW waited in line next to them for the Ferris Wheel and Josie said, "the rides are so expensive!" all indignant.
Then today when I was doing her hair for church she picked out two white little ponies. She explained, "The white ones are expensive. But. I am expensive too. So, that's ok."
Sing "that's too expensive" to yourself and laugh.
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