Good Bye Spring Break

Mar. 28. 2016

Dear Sister Kristina,

Well, the girls are back to school this morning. Aaaaah. It’s hard to think of things for them to do when they’re off school. We made a list ahead of time and did a lot of the things, but still a lot of down time. For some reason they’re not much into friends. I have to practically beg them to think of something to do with a friend. Nikki’s the hardest. I may have to just start inviting some girls over here for her.

Leah actually worked for Curtis Grieve one day last week which I thought was great. She worked on a team that goes around and washes cars at different car lots. It pays really well, $10 hr with no taxes, so I thought that would be a great motivator for her too. She made it most the day then started texting me that she wanted me to pick her up. I told her to stick with it. They finally finished around four which was a little earlier than she thought. She was supposed to work for them the next day too, but called them and said no. I was sad about that and talked with her. She then told them she’d work after school this week 3 days. I really hope she sticks with it. It could be a great money maker for her. They need someone all summer, but she thinks she can find something she likes better. I’ll keep you posted on that.

I asked Nikki to talk with some of the women in the ward that she had babysat for before and ask them if they would like one or two mornings off a week in the summer where she would babysit for them.

Dad is on his way home from work and we’re going to spend the day out together. We’ve been trying to make plans for the next few months and summer. It’s so hard now with everyone spread out. I still always want to do something where everyone gets together. Maybe we can plan something during Christmas break this year so we all can possibly get together. :)  Dad said his letter to you is not ready yet, but he’ll get one ready to send to you soon and he sends his love.

So last week we toured the old penitentiary here in Boise. I had never been there before and it was actually really interesting. The girls liked it too. On some of the cells they had pictures of the inmates and their stories-what crime they committed to get there and how they ended up in life. Some of them really turned their lives around. There was also a women’s jail. Most of the women in there committed forgery, stole or murdered their husbands. The ones who committed forgery were just hungry and needed food and supplies, desperate acts. the murders were because they had husbands who were physically abusing them and they couldn’t take it any more. While in jail, they sewed things, baked things, etc. 

So how was your Easter? Dad had to work so we were a very small group yesterday. I just made some beef stroganoff, strawberry pretzel salad and Nikki made deviled eggs. Dad actually made some strawberry pies hoping to give them to his home teaching families, but they didn’t turn out like he wanted so he took them to work instead and left one home which Leah devoured. haha Our sacrament meeting was really nice. Bro. Mecham sang a beautiful song and the choir sang too and the Cleggs spoke. I’m not sure if it felt so wonderful because of the day or if the music and the talks made the day better, but whichever it was, the spirit was awesome. Then I went to the marriage class by myself and learned how to control anger. I just love that class and we have a lot of fun in there. 

Also during spring break the girls got eye exams so we can take their current prescriptions to Chicago with us where Sean will make them new glasses. In fact, Sean has said that he’s going to teach them how to make them and let them do it. Should be interesting. :)

Alex, Savannah, Kirk, Sarah and Addie all got together at grandma and grandpa’s yesterday for Easter dinner. We face timed them. I really miss having a big group over for holidays. Not gonna lie, that was hard for me. Charmaine did an easter egg hunt for Addie then she let Addie get in her car and pretend to drive. Kirk said she was loving that.

Then they made her get out of the car and here’s a pic of the little trantrum she threw when they wouldn’t let her back in. It made me laugh.

Here she is looking for eggs. She kept finding the eggs then putting them back in different places and looked for them again.

Kirk and Sarah did a little hunt with her on Saturday too, but she had been sick Friday night and later on Saturday. She got the flu and was throwing up a lot, so they were happy she felt better by Sunday. But I just heard from Kirk that now Sarah is sick and throwing up. Dad says the flu is pretty bad this year. Wish I lived closer so I could help Sarah and just pick up Addie and take her for the day.  :(  

How did you like Women’s Broadcast? Did you have any investigators there? I absolutely loved it!!! Every talk was so good, I couldn’t even pick a favorite one. I’m going to read through them again.  It gave me a lot of ideas, so I need to keep those thoughts with me so I will follow through. I also really loved the choir. I would love to see something like that done at every conference, choirs from around the world even. The girls went with me and we served all different kinds of cookies with milk, chocolate milk and water afterwards. We had a good turnout from the stake even though it’s on TV. What did they do in your area?

Did you get things figured out for applying to BYU? Let me know if there’s anything else I can do there for you to make it easier, although I talked with an aesthetician the other day and still thought of you. :) 

Alex is down to the wire now getting ready to graduate. He and Savannah are definitely moving to New York. He’s pretty sure that the company will hire him on after his internship too, but you never know. He’ll do the internship until August then hopefully get the job after that. Can you believe that Kade comes home this August?

Colleen Riggs just sent me Lauren’s letter and she sounds so good. Sounds like she’s working hard and still working hard at the language and she sounds happy. Colleen was asking about you and I realized she’s not on your email list, so I just added her. 

Well, that’s about all the news from around here. I’m going to be meeting with Leah’s counselor this week about all her options for classes the next two years and even trade skills she might be able to learn to help her get a job, etc. Maybe she’ll love welding, who knows. Grandpa can hire her. haha

I hope many hearts and minds were open for you to teach this past week since it was Easter. It really is a unique time where if people actually think about it, they realize that the resurrection will be for all of us. Christmas is wonderful but the birth of someone is not unique in the world. Dying and coming back to life has to make an impact even on the doubters and it gives such hope which is so badly needed in this world. 

Have a beautiful spring week, full of signs of rebirth and life and beauty. Take it all in and then share it with everyone you meet.  

I love you very much,

Mom xxoo

It's Spring!!

March 21, 2016

Dear Sister Kristina,

So fun to get your recording this morning. Your voice is still as beautiful as ever and I’m so happy you get chances to share it with the wards you are in. How fun too that your companions all were part of it. :)

It’s spring break here in Eagle. Yesterday in church there were a lot of people missing as usual. The girls tell me that all their friends are going to Hawaii, haha. Sometimes it seems that way, but I’m sure it’s probably more like two of their friends. We’re sticking around here this week since we are planning a trip to Chicago next month. I can’t remember if I told you already, but I made a huge mistake when we were booking our trip cuz I looked up spring break for Meridian school district, but it turns out that Meridian school district is in Washington, so we booked the wrong week. The girls are more than happy about having to miss school. haha

So we’re just going to plan little day trips and adventures this week. Right now Nikki is up making waffles-that’s probably her favorite adventure. Food is still her love and when I try to help her cut back, she gets upset, so I’ve stepped out. The girls have to weigh every Monday though so at least they can see what direction their weight is going. I don’t mind what they weigh, but when it starts affecting their health, then it’s a problem. So we have talks every so often, but much less often than before. Yesterday they made a cake shaped like a bunny! They were so excited to make it and wouldn’t let me help at all. So of course they didn’t follow directions, added another cake mix into it since it didn’t look like it was enough, put in too much water, etc etc. It turned out really cute looking, but even the girls won’t eat it cuz when they tried it, they didn’t like it. I didn’t try it at all, but it must be really bad for them not to like it. Poor bunny…

Dad and I are in the marriage and family relations class now at church. The Langford’s teach it and I love having them for teachers. Sooo good. The best thing I learned yesterday was that we should learn to have faith that the best is yet to come. They said so many times in marriages it feels like the best was right at the beginning, but we need to believe that if we are obedient, keeping the commandments as a couple and doing our best, that Heavenly Father will bless our marriages especially in the life to come. So that’s my new mantra-the best is yet to come!

Leah just got back from the Parks next door. She is going to be watching their 3 dogs, 3 cats for spring break to earn some money which she really needs it. I’m happy she’s doing that. Nikki is going to help Rachael with a babysitting job today. Then they have Taekwondo tonight. Dad is working today but has the next 3 days off, so we’ll do our bigger adventures later. The girls are going to go with me to antique stores today to help me look for some plates to replace the ones I broke when I was dancing in the house. Yes, that’s what I was doing and it wasn’t pretty and I made a huge mess and the loud noise really scared the girls and the dogs. You would have been laughing. So that’s our plan for today.

Well, I’m back from visit teaching and I got your note about BYU. I’ll give them a call today and see what’s up. If I hear something today, I’ll write back quickly.

Kirk and Sarah went to Canada over the weekend for Brett’s wedding. They said it was quick, but had a great time. Here’s a couple pics from their trip.

 

Thank you for sending the words to your song, because after I listened to it, I was actually humming it and wishing I could remember the words. :)

I hope you got the package I sent last week. It’s always fun getting things to put in the packages. I sure hope you have a wonderful Easter. I had the ladies from Jehovah’s Witnesses stop by a couple days ago and it was actually really nice talking with them about what Christ did for us and they actually celebrate His last supper and say that they celebrate on the actual day that it happened which will be this Wednesday, so they were inviting me to their meeting. Then they showed me a new video that their church made about how nice it would be to have people living in peace on this earth and that’s what we can have if we would just believe in Christ. It kind of reminded me of a movie our church would make. But they told me that they were showing it to everyone door they went to and that lots of people would actually cry when they watched it. So I think people right now are particularly open to hearing about what Christ can do for them in their lives and even if they will just watch one of the church videos on your iPad, I think they would enjoy that and this week before and after Easter is the perfect time to talk about what they can have in their lives if they just let Him enter. The ladies that always come to our door know that I am Mormon, so I like being able to remind them that we believe in the same Jesus Christ and believe that He is truly the author of our peace. 

You sound like you are in some fun wards there! Yesterday our high councilor talked about growing up in western Canada and remembering how much it meant for them to have full time missionaries in their ward and the strength they could always feel from them and the things they learned from them even though they were already members. So always remember your influence is more widespread than you probably think. The little children watch you, the youth watch and listen to you and the adults learn from you as you humbly enter their homes and share your testimony with them. You’re living so close to the spirit that you probably don’t realize that you are being sent to certain homes at certain times when you are needed the most, and you may never even hear that, but Heavenly Father knows each of us by name and knows He can depend on you to be there and to open your mouth. I loved hearing the high councilor talk about how much the missionaries meant to him and he even remembered some very specific things that some had said and this was over 40 years ago.

I know I’ve said this before, but I’m so grateful for your example to me. You’re the full time missionary in my life and you have taught me a lot. Keep up the beautiful positive attitude, it’s infectious. 

Love you,

Mom xxoo

Pie Day

March 14, 2016

Dear Sister Kristina,

How was your week? It was so fun getting pictures of you at your RS birthday dinner. I also attended a birthday dinner last week for the 6th ward. It was great getting to see all our old friends again and that ward has changed so much. I think there were more that I didn’t know than know. Their ward is really growing now because there are two new subdivisions in their boundaries. They had a cute theme, it was RS “Bee”Day celebration. They decorated everything yellow and black, had lots of homemade soups and breads and different kinds of honey. They even had a sister there making scones. So yummy! Cindy Poulson is now the RS president and she and Bishop Crosgrove spoke, so I loved hearing from them.

How are your investigators coming along?  How is Shirley doing? she sounds so much like the lady that works with dad at Mtn. Home named Meow. She told dad the other day that she started going back to church. Dad didn’t even know she was a member. haha She said she needed the help. She’s always been so nice to our family and has come to every wedding reception.

Addie has learned to say "cheese" any time the camera comes out now. haha

How’s Heather coming along? Did you get to get updates on her at least? That would be hard to not hear anything. Hopefully her brother keeps you informed. Do you still get to Skype her?

I didn’t go to our ward yesterday, but Leah said that Bro. Goodman (they’re new in our ward and moved from California-SoCal) told her that he tried looking for you on his trip to northern Cal last week. I thought that was so funny since you wouldn’t even know him at all. But he had your last address in Petaluma. Leah told him you moved. So who knows who might show up some time. The Goodmans are a very fun, outgoing family. They actually moved from my old stake where I grew up and are friends with the Frames. Just remember there are more people thinking about you than you realize.  :)

Last week went fairly well around here. Leah got back into school. She had a couple rough days at school, but hopefully she’ll do better and better. She has a great attitude about wanting to feel better. She had a good therapy session on Thursday and Dr. Rhoton really wants to come watch Leah at Taekwondo this week. Leah actually wants him to come too. She loved getting your letter. She took all your quotes downstairs and I told her I’d help her put them up. The best news for Leah last week was her x-ray of her leg showed that it was healing a lot. The Dr said she’s cleared to do anything now…jump, kick, run, etc It has given Leah a bit of confidence now that wasn’t there before.

Saturday we took the girls to the new movie “Zootopia” which was really cute. So creative. The girls loved it and of course want to see it again. Then we made homemade pizzas. We just buy the dough from Winco. Dad, of course, made a really fancy one. 

Yesterday I went to the 7th ward for their ward conference. We only have one more to go. I asked Tracey about Caleb. She said he’s loving what he’s doing and would do it the rest of his life if he could. That was great to hear about him. Do you ever get his letters? 

We got the announcement for Jordan Grigg’s wedding this past week too. The girls were so funny. They really like his fiance, but they were sad cuz they wanted you to marry him. :)  So Kris is super busy getting her house and backyard ready for the open house. She posts things all the time that she is refinishing and making and planting. She is sooo talented with stuff like that. I just love watching what she comes up with from stuff she buys at the second hand stores.

Last week Marcela and Guido were in Miami for some meetings so we were exchanging pictures of ourselves being on the beaches on opposite sides of the country. Then on Sunday she sent me this pic:

She always meets the missionaries wherever she goes and asks them where they are from and now she’s starting to think that just about every other missionary is from Eagle. I sent this on to Elder Dunn’s mom and she loved it. Their next son is a senior and getting ready to put his papers in. They’ll have five out at the same time! I kind of like having one at a time.

I just can’t express how wonderful it is thinking about you serving a mission, the feelings of peace and joy that I feel, the special blessings I’ve felt all because you are serving the Lord. You are truly blessing our family as well as the many families in your area. Yesterday I re-read something I had written in my notebook that you might like:

Back in 2010 Bro. Harris was speaking in sacrament meeting and was talking about losing his job and having several other hardships in his family. Then they even had to move to a new location. He talked about what a rocky path it was and how they were being led down this rocky path—nevertheless, they were being led! Sometimes our paths are extremely rocky that we are asked to follow or are being led down, but it reminded me that nevertheless, when we continue to live close to the spirit, we are being led. 

We’ve had lots of rain here lately and even hail-remember how we always seem to have fun hail storms here? We had another one yesterday. The moisture is great and it’s making the spring flowers look wonderful. The bulbs are starting to come up out of the ground and soon they’ll be blooming too. I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures for you.

Have a week of noticing Heavenly Father’s handiwork, all His extra little blessings He showers us with, His tender mercies.

Love you, love you, love you,

Mom xxoo

Idahome

March 7, 2016

Dear Sister Kristina,

Well, we’re back home in Idaho. I was kind of getting used to the great weather in California, but we’re back to wearing shoes and socks and sweatshirts here. At least it’s not freezing cold, just a little chilly sometimes. We got home late Friday night. We flew through San Fran going and coming and it’s a hard place to fly through. There’s always some kind of weather issues there and both times we almost didn’t make our connecting flights. But we had a great view of Golden Gate bridge going and could even see where you had taken pictures that one day. Everything looked so green. It’s still so brown here. I miss all that green-so enjoy it where you are. :)

The highlights of our trip to California are being with grandpa, meeting up with Bill and Nancy at their beach house, going to lunch with them at that Mexican restaurant, walking the pier where grandpa all of a sudden decided he wanted to stand up from his wheelchair, turn it around and put his knees up on the seat and ride down the hill of the pier. Bill stopped him. haha Grandpa’s always the funny guy. I’m pretty sure he was a lot like Alex when he was younger. At the end of the day when I was saying goodbye to him, he said it was a GREAT day! I’m so happy he liked being out and around with us. But he and dad both got sunburns on their faces, so we’ll try to remember sunscreen next time. 

The beach always cheers me up, relaxes me. I love being there. It was fun walking by the house we had rented last summer too. We definitely want to do that again. Another highlight was meeting up with Alex and two of his friends in the Ad program. They had interviews in Santa Monica, so they stayed at Mike and Susan’s. We also met them in LA for dinner (here’s a yummy sticky toffee cake we had):

and a quick trip to the Santa Monica Pier which is always fun. 

Also on our trip we took grandpa for his meeting with the attorneys. Grandpa has a hard time talking and getting his ideas out from his brain. He has early signs of Parkinson’s disease which is what slows down his speaking. That’s the same disease that Sarah’s dad has. So I do all the talking with the attorneys and try to convey what my dad is thinking. He still manages to get his opinions in though. :)  We took him out to lunch afterwards at Marie Callendars, which he loves then dropped him off at the Winn, which he loves even more.

One night while there, we went to dinner at Kathy and Carl Brague’s with grandpa. They’re friends of our family since grandma and grandpa were first married. They make dinner for grandpa once a week and she’s an awesome cook, so it’s really a treat. Then they send him home with leftovers. Susan and Mike always have him for Sunday dinner and send him home with leftovers and one day a week Caryn brings a dinner into the Winn for him to take home. So he’s very cared for. Patrice lives with him full time now and takes care of any other needs he might have.

Dad and I had fun at Fashion Island one day and even went to a movie there. Their theaters are so fancy, but boy did they cost a lot more than in Idaho- $17 a ticket for the matinee! I also helped grandpa clear out a bunch of paperwork on his desk that had been piling up. He said that felt good to get rid of things.

Maria and Scarlett came over one day and it was so fun seeing Scarlett. She’s a hoot and so sassy, just like her mom. haha 

While at grandpa’s we found a CD that had some pictures on it, but he had never seen them since he doesn’t have a laptop, so we were able to show them to him. They were pictures that his sister had sent him. Here’s a couple from the CD. Most of them were older pictures of his grandparents and parents, but here’s a few you might like:

Kirk was not a small baby!!

I told you I loved the beach!

This was when we just got Patrice and only had 9 kids.

Grandpa on his plane in the Air Force.

It was a great getaway for me and dad. I’m so happy he came with me this time and he was happy too. He has so much going on at work, etc so I think it helped him relax a lot. 

So I need to catch you up on Leah a bit here. She has really been struggling and it kind of came to a head last Saturday night, the Saturday before our trip to California. We had to take her into Intermountain Hospital. She actually went in willingly because she knows she needs help. I was so happy that she went willingly. We weren’t quite sure what to do about our trip to Calif after that, but the psychiatrist told me I needed to go, that they were going to be working with Leah to get her to take more responsibility for her life and her actions and not depend on others so much, so it would be good for us to be gone. Plus they are so strict in there, that we could only call her once a night and for only five minutes. So we called each night from California. Nikki stayed with Cody and Sally like the original plan. The first thing they did for Leah was take her off all her focus medicine which they suspected was causing a lot of the problems. The side effects for some people can be severe depression. Within about two days, Leah was feeling so happy. I could hear the difference on the phone. The dr. met with her each day and said she was doing so well, better than expected. They changed her medication too. She will not take anything for focus probably ever again. This is going to be a struggle for her in school, but we all agree that happy is better than good student. At Intermountain she had so many rules to follow and she did everything she was asked even more. In fact she got Star patient 3 days in a row which I hear is very hard to do. She had group therapy sessions, cleaning and organizing she had to do each, goal making and achieving, lots of writing, learning about triggers and how to stay away from them, she’s learning coping skills, etc. She even asked for someone to come in and give her the sacrament which was Pres. Tanner (seminary teacher) and Ken Tanner. They gave her a blessing in there. The next Sunday the Bishop came with Ken and gave her the sacrament.

Dad and I got to meet with her Saturday for the first time. She looked great and shared with us everything she’s been learning and how she wants to change when she gets home. She’s learned sooooo much.I have to go in today and meet with her case worker and go over new rules in the house, etc and the case worker will watch Leah to see how she reacts to me and how things will be different at home, etc. Then she’ll decide when Leah can come home. We’re hoping she either comes home today or tomorrow. I’m nervous for her to be home again but also excited for her to move forward. Nervous that she will have the same struggles, but we really want her back home with us. These are hard, hard things but ultimately Leah has to take charge of her life, her decisions and consequences. She told dad and I that she was so happy we were her parents because she can’t believe the things she was hearing from the other girls in the hospital about their parents and families. Leah said she’s doing great compared to everyone else. :)  The real test will be for her to be back at school, with her friends, etc.

Other than that, everything’s going well here. Nikki is still doing great in school and is so determined to go to BYU. I love that she is so motivated still. So here’s the news from the week: Aaron Peery got engaged! Sienna has decided to go on a mission. 

Just got your email about your district meeting (dad’s at work today but I’ll try to get the word to him). My whole life I have learned more and more about recognizing and relying on the spirit. I recognize it much easier now with years of practice, but the first time I remember was when I was living at home with my parents. The phone rang late at night and because there was a phone in my room, I picked it up. I heard my dad answer the phone upstairs and it was a call letting them know that my brother Chris has been in a car accident. They didn’t have any further information other than he had been taken to a hospital. I could hear my dad tell me mom and could hear their scared voices. Chris had been living in northern California and we weren’t even sure where he was at the time of the accident. I said a quick prayer and then I remember thinking I should call some hospitals up there to see if he was there. There are lots of hospitals up there, but I had the words Mercy Hospital come to my mind. We didn’t have Google back then, so I couldn’t look anything up like we can today. I called information (411) for the area he had been living in and asked for the number for Mercy Hospital. They gave me the number. I called it and asked for the Emergency Room and I asked if Chris Trumbo had been admitted. They told me that they had treated him earlier, but they were able to release him. I immediately went upstairs to my parents and told them what I found out. I knew they had been so worried and I was able to let them know he was okay. They were so relieved and of course asked how I could possibly know. I just told them what I had done and I knew it had been a revelation from the spirit to me and for my parents. It was such a tender mercy! I have never forgotten that time. As a mom now, I have to rely on recognizing the spirit just about every day. There’s no way I could do the work of a parent without it. Words have come out of my mouth on behalf of my kids because of the great gift of the Holy Ghost. I knew the minute I said some things that they were not my words, but the words of the Savior. Knowing that the spirit is there for us has taught me the worth of every soul. Every soul is important and great in the sight of the Lord otherwise the work of the Holy Ghost would not be as important. I love that He has called it a gift, the GIFT of the Holy Ghost, because that’s truly how I see it.

I hope you have a wonderful week. Rely on the spirit in all that you do, you will be led but most times we don’t see that we have been led until afterwards. That’s where faith is so important. 

Here’s a fun pic of Addie for you. Kirk said she reminds him of Sean when Sean was a baby-needing binkys all over the place!  hahahaha

Love you soooo much,

Mom xxoo