Dear Kids,
      Dad and I had a great time at the cabin last week. Dad worked at re-wiring the garage, and he found lots of dead mice in the insulation (which he removed.) My only goal was to get the rest of the front yard planted, so I worked nonstop for 3½ days, chopping up the ground, hauling topsoil, and raking in the seeds. By Thursday afternoon I was finished, and it looked great. All ready to grow. It only needed water. Which came that night in the most violent thunderstorm I’ve ever seen. (Not to be confused with the sort-of-violent storm we’d had Monday night.) Lightning flashed, thunder shook the cabin, and rain came down in sheets. It washed away all my seed and most of the topsoil. So I’m done for the year. I don’t have enough dirt to do all that again, and by the time I go back to the cabin, it’ll be too late in the year to plant. I’m sort of wondering, because I’d been hoping and praying for rain, like everybody else. So, did the Lord answer my prayer? It sure didn’t turn out very well for me.
      Friday evening, as Dad and I were packing up to leave the cabin, Tom showed us the spider bites on his foot. They were swollen and itchy, and he’d covered them with Caladryl. Things went downhill from then, and you can read all about it on his blog, how he started to develop necrosis and had to have it dug out, and his daily IV’s of antibiotics. His blog address is tom-kim-kids.blogspot.com. You can also see a gruesome picture of the hole in his foot. I thought only brown recluse spiders in the south caused that kind of trouble, but Vanessa says that hobo spiders can do the same thing. So watch out.
      Nora (and kids) and I drove to Pocatello Sunday night, and had a fun time staying over at Vanessa and Trent’s house. Monday we went to Lava Hot Springs, where they have a big outside pool with water slides, diving platforms, lots of grass–it’s a total family reunion destination. So naturally we planned a family reunion there for next summer. We’ve wanted to start having an annual Ackerson family reunion anyway, and it’s the perfect place. But weekends it’s totally jammed with people, so we’re going for a Monday, July 28th. Since it’s a whole year away, we hope you can all somehow arrange for that day off. We can try.
      And speaking of family reunions, naturally, we hope to see some of you this Saturday (August 4th) at Riverwoods Park in Provo/Orem. If any of you can’t remember how to get there, call me on my cell. The park is reserved from 8:30 am until 2:00 pm, and we’re supposed to bring our own lunches. (There’s a Subway close by.) I have no idea who all will be there.
      Grandma and Grandpa Allen have decided to move to the Seville instead of to Summerfield. Remember the Seville? We used to visit Grandma Murphy there. They have three meals a day instead of two, and a higher level of care. Also, they can move in next week. No waiting around for a room. They have church there, a hair salon, bus trips to the temple . . . it’ll be good.
      Paul is enjoying his job with Mygrant glass. At least he’s not outside. He drives a Ford F250 and delivers windshields to auto shops around the valley. He’s working on getting his forklift certification, too. Now there’s an important life skill!
      I’ll be calling you soon for your Mike Rogers orders. Or you can call me. We need to get it done! Life has been so busy!
      Lots of love, Mom