Dear Kids,
          I keep hoping to invite everybody for a Sunday dinner sometime soon, but we’ll probably have to wait until April. Our cabinet problem isn’t straightened out yet, but we’re going ahead with our office counter tops, and after those are installed we can move our computer stuff out of the toy room and have access to the toy closet again. Without toys, and without a yard for kids to play in, I’ve been hesitant to invite grandkids, except for our Sunday night Zorro parties. But eventually, we’ll have a hospitable house again.
          By the way, Easter and Conference weekend are one and the same this year. (That seems to happen about once every five years.) So I’ll be fixing dinner at the cabin on Easter Sunday, and we can also watch conference. Does anybody want to host a Easter Egg hunt at their house on the day before? Or should we have it at the cabin that Saturday? Let me know what you want to do!
          Because we’re enjoying such an early spring, I’ve been out exploring the hillsides and pastures around here. My first day out, I climbed the barbed wire fence across Hilltop Road and walked down the hillside, looking for a way to get over to the canal. There were too many fences! They look rickety, but the farmers keep that barbed wire stretched really tight! I ended up down at the bottom in a thicket of cockle burrs, and I had a tough time getting back up the hill. When I got home I had burrs all through my clothes, and Dad had to pick them out of my hair. I felt like a stray cat. The next day I took off again, trying another route to the canal. After climbing three fences and ignoring barking dogs, I made it to the canal, but there was no good way across. And to avoid the dogs and fences, I walked all the way up to Lambert Lane and home again. Finally, the third day, I found a route down the hill and back up again, but it’s not a very good hike. It’s too steep with too many rocks. So yesterday, Dad and I drove over to the Jordanelle perimeter trail, which is always a good hike. In fact, when we got home I went online and bought the Senior Adventure pass, which gets you into every state park for free. (We were having to pay $4.00 a pop for driving into the Jordanelle Park.) I’m looking forward to a lot of great summer hikes. (Including hikes at the cabin, of course.)
          If you want to join any of our hikes, we’d love to have you. Life is good again! Lots of love, Mom