Dear Kids,
      I’m sure most of you have heard the sad news that Rachel’s baby daughter was stillborn on Friday morning. They named her Joycelyn Eva. Nora has all the details, because she called Rachel yesterday. There’s also a picture, which Nora was going to upload onto her blog. Dad and I were on our way to Albuquerque with Grandma and Grandpa, and we had spent the night in Monticello. Friday morning, just as we were getting ready to leave the motel, Amanda called us to say that baby had been stillborn, (you remember that Dan and Amanda live in Rachel and Chuck’s ward now), and that we should come to their house instead of Ben’s. We talked it over and decided we probably shouldn’t go at all. We knew how drained out they all would be, and totally taken up with all there was to do. So we headed home. It was very depressing, except that it was a beautiful morning, and there’s fabulous scenery heading north from Monticello. Grandpa and Grandma were grateful just to have a 2-day roadtrip, and get away from home overnight. Except that we arrived back at their house only 24 hours after we left. When I returned the rental car to Dave Noel, he only charged us for one day! Yay, Dave!
      So we had a very weird weekend. Some of the Harpers came down from Idaho, Tasha, and Tammy and her new husband Daniel. Tasha stayed here for a couple of days, meeting up with her old friends from the SLCC, while Tammy and Daniel headed south. But it was fun having company, and getting our minds off of what had just happened.
      Sunday morning, when Dad went into the basement bathroom, he found a surprise floating in the toilet bowl–a very large drowned mouse. It wasn’t one of your little field mice, but a big honker, probably 5" long. No, it wasn’t a rat. Just a very big mouse, very dead. We theorized that maybe Xena caught him way out in the field, and brought him in alive, but lost control, and he got away. They always head for the toilets, for water. (It has happened at the cabin.) So I lifted out the very soggy mouse and took him out to the fence and threw him as far into the field as I could. Later in the day, when we got home from Church, I had a hunch to look in the kitty room. Just a hunch. When I opened the door, all the cats were crouched, watching me. And on the floor was the same mouse, again! They had brought that wonderful present back for us to enjoy!
      Dad and I are heading out again Saturday morning, for Michigan. I’m sure we’ll have a great time with Sharon and Seth and the boys.
      Lots of Love, Mom