Dear Kids,
      I’ve been sitting here going over a paper that Seth has written. It’s a research proposal that he needs to submit, and it has to be approved if he wants to move ahead in his program. So it’s pretty important. My real problem is that I don’t know the terminology, so it’s hard to check the grammar and usage. If you ever wondered why Seth doesn’t talk about his work, it’s because none of us would understand it. It’s all about injecting mice with various substances that will make them die. That’s way too simple, of course, but the bottom line is that “mice will be sacrificed, and lungs and spleens will be harvested.” Eventually, though, Seth might find cures for terrible diseases like Lupus. Go, Seth!
      I was going to write that Al and Missy got a cat, but then I checked on Missy’s blog and found out that the cat has disappeared. You can still see a picture, though. It’s a nice gray tabby cat. Oh, well, those kind are a dime a dozen. I hope they’ll get another one, if the first one doesn’t come back.
      Saturday was Charlotte’s sixth birthday, and I met Nora and James and their kids at the cemetery, like always. I found the grave site before they got there, which is usually pretty easy, but this year there were several inches of snow on the ground. And I usually bring pink latex ballons, one for every year, but this year I ended up with mylar, because I had to go to a different dollar store. Mylar’s great! When you let the balloons go, you can see them for a long time. (We let Addie keep two, because they were so pretty.)
      We had a nice trip to Price on Sunday, for Ali’s baby blessing. The meeting was great, the dinner at Bentleys’ house was great, and it was a beautiful sunny day. Dad and Tom and I took Bentley and Emma on a walk out in the dirt hills behind the house–you know, the area that goes on and on with no civilization until you reach Colorado. The dirt hills are pretty steep, and they’re well worn by 4-wheelers. But there was a great view from the top. On beautiful, sunny days, wouldn’t everybody want to live out in the middle of nowhere? Trieste and Karl are keeping their home there in Price for a while, even though McKenzie is graduating from high school, because housing prices in Vernal are so high. So they’ll continue with their commuter marriage, just like Tom and Kim, just like Donna and Bevan. You do what you gotta do.
      Vanessa’s training for a marathan in May, in Ogden. She had already been preparing for a triathalon in August, which she still might do, but she’s got some friends doing this marathon, and they have fun running together. Very laid-back, according to Vanessa. She’s also been going on temple trips with the ladies in her ward–they meet at their church at 3:30 a.m. for the drive to Idaho Falls, to make the 5 a.m. session. Who in the world goes to a 5 a.m. session? Farmers, that’s who! And early rising ladies in Vanessa’s ward. For some of them, it’s their only chance to go.
      Jana McGettigan had her first chemo treatment on Friday, and I hear it’s been really hard on her. She’s taking anti-nausea medication that’s making her really groggy. I haven’t called her, because I don’t want to be pesky, but I might drop by this afternoon. Her kids came to piano on Monday morning, but Mary Lou Little brought them.
      Tom finally hit a deer! It was inevitable, for all the times he drives along that Lower River Road. He said his Blizzak tires stopped him cold, and the deer went down, rolled a couple of times, jumped up, and ran away. He sees lots of wildlife on his travels, and now he carries his camera on the front seat of his car. He got some good pictures of a fox, which he said he’ll put up on his Photo Gallery (along with the pictures of Donna’s wedding, and Ali’s blessing.)
      Hope you’re all doing great, etc. Love, Mom