Dear Kids,
      I’m way behind schedule writing my letter, or way ahead, since we’re already into a new week. But it’s July, and I’ve been at the cabin for days. Let’s see–last time I wrote, Nora was having her baby. Now little Paige is 11 days old and doing well. She has really long fingers and toes, but otherwise she looks a lot like Addie. She’s starting to learn the difference between day and night, which makes it a little easier for Nora.
      The night Paige was born, I was at Symphony Hall listening to the Bachauer finals, and Dad was home watching Addie and Ben. I called home at intermission, and Dad said Nora was getting close to delivery. So I went back in to listen to the first part of the last number, because it was the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto. And I sat down by Marla! Which wasn’t really a surprise, since I expected her to be there. After about 10 minutes, I got feeling really jumpy, so I whispered to her, “I’ve gotta leave right now! Nora’s at the hospital having her baby!” Marla looked really startled, and I said “I’ll call you later,” and I ran out, and jumped on Trax. I was going to go straight to the hospital, but when I called Dad, he persuaded me to come home first and get Addie and Ben, and take them with me, so he could go to bed. So I did. That was fun. The baby was in the nursery when we got there, so James and Addie and Ben and I trooped down there so James could give her a bath. Addie and Ben were fascinated. Ben said, “We have to tell Mom about the baby!”
      The next day, Friday, I went to the cabin to do some work. John and his family were there, and I had agreed to tend the kids while he and Heather celebrated their anniversary, so I had a lot of fun doing that. I went home Saturday afternoon. The next Monday morning Dad and I drove to Heber for another load of log siding, and then on to the cabin. Tom and Kim and their kids had joined the cabin party by then–they were on their way home from Green River, Wyoming, where Jake and Dierdre had blessed their baby. They left soon after we got there, though. But the next day, the 4th of July, Nora and James and all their kids came, and we had a barbecue. And they left Addie and Ben, because I’d offered to tend them for a couple of days, while we worked on our projects. So Dad and I traded off. Then, Thursday night, Dad drove them back home, but Friday morning, Allen and Missy and their kids arrived for their scheduled weekend. And their friends started arriving too. So we had more fun. And ate more good food. I had packed enough food to feed myself and Dad for a week, but we hardly touched it, we had such a good time eating everybody else’s stuff. So at the end of Dad’s vacation week, we had eaten a ton, worked a ton, and watched a lot of kids. We came home exhausted. We need a vacation from our vacation.
      Sunday night Dad and I went to visit Grandma Allen. She’s been moved to Orchard Park, Justin’s care center. She can’t go home because her legs won’t heal. They bleed all the time, and when the nurses change the bandages, it’s just excruciating for her. She takes coumadin, a blood thinner, because her regular doctor thought she was in danger of a heart attack or a stroke. But the coumadin makes her bleed so easily, she’s had big hematomas (they look like big bruises) on her legs for a long time now. That’s why her skin broke through so easily. And why it won’t heal. They were going to have a conference with her doctors today, and she had about decided to tell them she wasn’t going to take any more blood thinners. I hope so. Meanwhile, she just has to lie in bed at the care center. It’s located at 780 North, 300 East, in Orem, if any of you want to go visit her. Grandpa’s usually there, too.
      Next Saturday afternoon, the 15th, Dad and I are flying to Michigan to visit Sharon and Seth and Charlie. We’ll be coming home on the 24th, late at night, but the next morning I’m going back to the cabin to work with Tom on the deck, and I’ll be there playing with his kids and working hard for the rest of that week. So if I write any family letters, I’ll just upload them to my blog at ackerson.org. I sure won’t be around envelopes and stamps.
      Hope you’re all doin’ great and lovin’ it. I am. Lots of love, Mom