Dear Kids,
      Saturday afternoon, I was raking rocks in front of the cabin, when Tom came out and pointed to a bald eagle circling overhead. I’ve never seen one in real life before! (Well, maybe at Eagle court-of-honors, where they come across as ornery vicious things, glaring at everybody around them.) Anyway, here’s this bald eagle circling our cabin, but why? Well, maybe because Oreo was on the front lawn chasing grasshoppers, completely clueless to predators. The eagle circled and circled, and we kept an eye on both of them. Bentley and Emma were on the lawn, too, so I didn’t think the eagle would dive. Finally Oreo ran under the deck, and the eagle flew away. Paul says that in the northwest, they’re known to carry off cats and small dogs. Jana McGettigan says they basically eat the same diet as a cougar, and that an eagle can crush your arm. Dad says the bald eagle is no longer an endangered species. Well, good. We still have the air rifle handy, and there’s plenty of ammo.
      Speaking of predators, I just cleaned out the shop downstairs, and I found a small dead bird, a dead dragonfly, a dead katydid, and lots of shriveled cherries from our cherry tree. So our own local predators have been bringing in their kills.
      We had a lot of fun at Sunday dinner last week! Thanks, all of you that came. It’s always fun to see you and your kids. Our next official Sunday dinner will be on conference weekend, October 5th, at the cabin. Like always, we’ll have dinner after the morning session. Let me know if you plan to eat with us!
      I have a ton of things going on right now. I’m sort of in charge of my mission reunion in 2 weeks, and I just mailed out 160 flyers. I’m sort of in charge of our Relief Society auction, too, until we get a new enrichment leader. I have to make flyers for that, too, and get them out. I’m handing out music for my fall duet recital (November 15th, ) and I’m working on the family history stories, trying to get out Volume I before Christmas. Then there’s chess club and book club and our yard and the cabin yard, and the cats and the bird and Dad . . . sometimes I just hop on my bike and take off. Thanks goodness we’re having beautiful weather right now.
      Life is good! I love you all! Mom