Saturday, July 4, 2009

Dear Kids,
      Dad and I just got home from a 3-day stay at the cabin, where we did a ton of work on the bunkhouse/aka shed. Not only did we do the floor joists, the floor, insulation, and power, but we also framed two walls! They looked very impressive, standing there, as we drove away this afternoon. I’ll be going back on Monday to work some more.
      As you all know, Tom and Kim moved to Heber last weekend. Their house is very nice! There are lots of friends for Bentley, Emma, and Ali, so everybody’s happy. The magpies at the cabin were especially happy, and Sunday night they were doing a victory dance on the east lawn. Bevan grabbed the pellet rifle and raced up to the balcony in Moose, where he took aim and shot one dead. Thursday night, he shot another one! I’ve been offering a bounty of $5.00 per magpie carcass, and this is the first time I’ve had to pay out! (Tom shot one last year, but that was before my magpie promo.) John says he might come to the cabin and shoot magpies to help pay for his gliding hobby. You’d think the magpies might clear out now that they’ve had fatalities, but all they do is squawk.
      I won’t be cooking Sunday dinner at all in July, because the three missionary cousins are all having their homecomings, one after another. Austen James is already home, and his homecoming is on the 12th, at Bonnie’s church on 900 West and 1200 North in Orem, at 1:00 pm. They will have lunch after Sacrament Meeting at their house. David Tregaskis’s is the following week, at their church in Orem, and Matt Allen’s the week after that, in their old ward in West Jordan. That will be the day after the Allen Family reunion (July 25), same park, same time as every year. The week after that is our Ackerson reunion (August 1) and I’ll put more details in my next letter. Is all that clear?
      Paul is still doing great in Nova Scotia, and he’s actually ahead on his number of installs, compared with this time last year. Of course last year he had some bang-up weeks late in July, which isn’t so likely with the more uptight Canadians. Paul says that APEX had some bad press, which has made people less likely to buy their systems–sort of like missionary areas getting flooded with anti-Mormon literature. Go, Paul!
      I’m excited to be seeing so many of you so soon! Love, Mom