Dear Kids,
      I just stopped by Nora’s house to pick up some metallic gold fabric. She’s been painting her kitchen cupboards for more than a week now, and she’s almost ready to do the last coat and hang the cupboard doors back up. I know how exciting that is, when you’re nearly done with a project, and you want to see how it’s going to look. Last Saturday I built the first two bunks in the agricultural shed at the cabin, and of course I had to bring out a mattress and try them out. After all these years of carrying the plans around in my head, it was fun to see real bunks. Same with Nora’s cabinets, only she just recently decided to paint them white. She’s in that mood where you absolutely have to change something in your house!
      I was borrowing metallic fabric because I need to make Golden Plates bean bags for Primary. We’re going to be throwing them into a Hill Cumorah that I’m making out of plywood (left over from the bunks.) I’m going to paint it green and decorate it with moss and leaves and twigs. Then the kids will get to take turns tossing the plates into the hill. Yeah, maybe it sounds irreverent, but I do what I can to keep things lively. And to get them singing. They tend to stare at me while I sing, like nursery kids. But I finally know enough of their names, and I’m not so terrified, that I can do something about it. Last Sunday I had a silky treasure bag filled with seashells, and each one had the name of a song taped to it. They knew they would get to keep whatever they pulled out, so when I got out the bag, all their hands went up. But I had been paying attention during the opening songs, and I said, “Only four kids were singing: José, Miguel, David, and Anita. They’re going to get to choose!” You can bet they all started singing after that. If they didn’t know the words, they pretended. (I’ve done that too!) By the end of singing time, they were singing better than ever before. When I ran out of seashells, one kid said he wanted the necklace I was wearing. So it was lively. My goal. Every week is fun.
      Dad and I are looking forward to conference this weekend. It might be very quiet at the cabin! So far, no rooms have been reserved at all! But Dad and I don’t mind a quiet weekend. Allen’s family and Nora’s family have RSVP’d for Sunday dinner, however. I’m making tortilla soup, the kind with chicken and peppers and picante sauce, where you dump in tortilla chips and cheese and sour cream. I haven’t made it for a long time, and it sounded good. Let me know if any of the rest of you are coming for dinner, so I’ll make enough. There’s still snow on the sledding hill, and the sleds are still out, so that could be a lot of fun, too.
      Hope you’re all doin’ great and lovin’ it! Mom