Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Dear Kids,
      We're still all very worried about Missy, and everybody's asking questions, so luckily she’s been updating her blog fairly often. It’s all there in vivid detail. Of course we’re all praying that she’ll get well soon and be able to come home from the hospital. She says it’s been 20 days now. I’ve been helping out with Carson and Ellie one day a week since she went in, and it’s nice to get to know them better. When all the grandkids are together, they’re just a blur to me. (As in blurred streaks running by.)
      This Saturday is Addie’s baptism, as I’m sure you all know, at 4:00 pm, at Nora and James’s stake center. The address is 8150 South Grizzly Way. If you don’t know where that is, just find it on Google Earth, or use your GPS, or as a last resort, call Nora for driving directions. It isn’t very far from their house. There’s going to be a dinner afterwards, at Nora and James’s. The following day I’ll be cooking Sunday Dinner, and I realize most of you out-of-towners won’t want to make the drive back to the valley, but the Sunday after that is Mothers Day, when Dad and I will be visiting Grandma and Grandpa Allen. So come if you can on the 2nd, but if you can’t come, I won’t be offended.
      We’re looking forward to Sharon’s arrival Saturday afternoon, just before the baptism. She’s bringing Lucy, but not the boys. She got a super deal on an airline ticket, and couldn’t resist.
      Paul will be here too, and we can all say goodbye to him, because the following Thursday he’s heading east to Georgia. At first it was going to be Texas, but it looks like business will be even better in Georgia. (Like that line from Music Man, “Wherever the people are as green as the money... friend.”) I’m sure he’ll have a great summer there!
      Last Saturday morning Dad and I went to the cabin, and the ground was covered with snow. By late afternoon, it looked like springtime again. You’ve gotta love the cabin weather! I finished building the last of the “storage shelves” in the agricultural shed, and they look very sturdy–so sturdy that I took a nap on one of the top shelves. It was very comfy.
      I hope you’re all doin’ great and lovin’ it! Mom


Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Dear Kids,
      Lots of you have been asking how Missy is doing, and as of yesterday, she was still in the hospital. Dad and I visited her on our way to Heber. She was sitting up, smiling, talking on the phone, and her mom, who was there, said she was looking really good, compared with how she looked at first. She’s taking a medication that seems to be helping, even though they still haven’t figured out what’s causing her problems. She was hoping to come home today. Eleven days there has been tough. She said she misses her “babies.” While Dad and I were there, a nurse was trying to draw some of her blood. There didn’t seem to be much left in Missy. The nurse said the doctor wanted to test for something “weird.” I don’t doubt it’s weird, whatever it is.
      Dad and I were on our way to Heber to swap out our truck for John’s little yellow car, and to see the famous new piano in John and Heather’s living room. It really is spectacular. It has great tone! It’s the same size and brand as mine (Boston,) but shiny black. Dad and I also had fun just hanging out at John and Heather’s house, and visiting with Tom’s family, who were also there. At one point, all the kids were out in the back yard, and it looked like a preschool.
      Speaking of pianos, I had my annual spring recital on Saturday, here at our house. So many of my students are playing such difficult songs now, it was like a real concert. We’ve never had such a great program. I miss the days when all you kids played in my recitals, but time marches on.
      I had to have an emergency root canal last Wednesday, on a tooth that Dr. Condie worked on last June. He said, way back then, that it would give me further problems. Luckily he was able to do the root canal the day I called, but it’s taking its own sweet time about healing. I was on hard drugs for five or six days, but now I’m down to ibuprofin. Not chewing anything has been the hardest. I’m getting tired of mashed potatoes and ice cream.
      I’ll be cooking Sunday dinner again on May 2nd. Normally I go for the second Sunday of the month, but that will be Mothers Day, so Dad and I will be visiting Grandma and Grandpa Allen that day. So, if you can come on the 2nd, let me know.
      I love you all! Mom

Monday, April 12, 2010

Dear Kids,
      I put off writing my letter all last week, waiting to see how Missy was doing, so I could report on her condition. As most of you know, they finally discovered she had a bacterial infection in her stomach (sounded like “difficult clostridium colitis”) and now that they’re treating it, she’s doing a lot better! Thank goodness! So I was finally sitting down this afternoon to write my letter, when John called and said Jacob was on the way to Primary Children’s Medical Center. Seems like he keeps passing out. It had been “only” once a day or so, but then this morning he passed out about five times, and two more times in the car, as Heather got ready to take him to Salt Lake. So she took him to the Heber hospital instead, and they transported him by ambulance. Here in Salt Lake, they tested absolutely everything, and couldn’t find anything wrong. His heart is plenty healthy. So he has an appointment with a neurologist. As of this evening, John was on his way to Salt Lake to pick up Heather and Jacob and bring them home. At least at home Jacob has a little watchdog–Aaron–who follows him around and reports to Heather when he passes out. I hope somebody can get to the root of his problem. It really helps to know that! (Ask Allen and Missy!)
      Does anybody want a couple of useless cats, who won’t even go after a live mouse a couple of feet away? The other morning, Dad was getting dressed to go to work, and when he picked up his pants, a mouse fell out of the leg. It ran into our closet and sat by the dresser, looking scared. I went into the kitty room and got Oreo, and then set him down right next to the mouse. He looked at it and walked away. So I went and got Xena, and showed her the mouse, and she did the same thing–looked disinterested and walked away. Finally I had to catch the mouse myself and take it outside (I didn’t have the heart to kill it.) What use are cats, if they won’t go for a mouse? But this morning there was a dead mouse on the back deck, belly ripped open, and guts spread all over. Very messy. I left it there, and after I got home from my bike ride, it had disappeared. Maybe our magpies ate it. Maybe they got tired of the cat food they steal from the cat dish.
      It seems like Easter and Conference were such a long time ago! It was fun to see so many of you at the cabin. They Easter Bunny didn’t forget us there, either–in spite of six inches of new snow, he delivered some chocolate rabbits and eggs in the living room. We saw his tracks–or maybe it was that nice orange cat that hangs around there now. Whatever.
      I hope you’re all doin’ great and lovin’ it. How about everybody cuttin’ back on those trips to the hospital?
      Lots of love, Mom