Dear Kids,
John just bought a truck with an 8-foot bed, a v-8 engine, and a tow hitch. It can pull twice the weight of his pop-up trailer. Why is this big news for the rest of you? Because Dad and I paid part of the cost of the truck, so that each of you can have the privilege of borrowing it when you need it. So now there’s a "family truck," which John has been urging for a long time. He owns it and will maintain it, but feel free to borrow it whenever you need to. It will be a great boon to our family.
Conference weekend is practically upon us! Next Saturday night I'll be hosting the soup dinner at our house at 5:00, and then all the men who want to can go to the Priesthood session with Dad at our church. The ladies and girls can hang out here. Afterwards, we’ll have ice cream here. Anybody who wants to sleep over at our house or at the cabin is welcome. Sunday, at noon, Nora and Kim will be in charge of the Café Rio dinner at the cabin. I’m sure they’ll appreciate any help you can offer. Everyone who wants to watch conference can do that at the cabin, or here at our house. There are so many of us now, I can’t keep track of everyone’s plans, but there’s plenty of room in both places, and there will be plenty of food.
Dad and Al have officially planned their Hawaii trip! Al booked it through Columbus travel, and they got a very good deal. They’ll leave Salt Lake the morning of November 3, (a Thursday) and fly to Honolulu. They’ll be staying in a hi-rise hotel, and the tour package includes Pearl Harbor, the Polynesian Cultural Center (with a luau), and a north island tour. They’ll have lots of extra time, too, to tour on their own. They’ll fly home on Wednesday, November 9. They’re both very excited. I ordered Hawaiian shirts for both of them (from Amazon, of course) and they’ve agreed to wear them to the luau and post pictures on facebook. I’m sure they’ll have a wonderful time. If any of you have ideas of what I can do while they’re gone, let me know.
Life is good! I love you all! Mom
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Dear Kids,
Friday morning they took the bandages off my hand and put on a custom splint. So now I’m writing this letter using all 10 fingers, but I’m making a lot of mistakes and having to correct them. Still, it’s miraculous to be using my right hand again. In the meantime, I learned how to do lots of things with my left hand, but none of them very well. Like eating with my left hand. I felt like a toddler, trying to get the food to my mouth. I had to keep a towel at the side of my plate to wipe off the food that didn’t quite make it. What I missed most, and still can’t quite do: writing with a pencil or pen, using scissors and knives, and flossing my teeth. Thanks to Dad for tying my shoes, buttoning my buttons, and curling my bangs.
Carson and Ellie are here overnight, because Allen is off on a jaunt to Island Park with his police buddies. It’s fun tending young teenagers. Ellie made cream puffs last night, using a recipe in her Betty Crocker cookbook. At the same time, I was making meatballs for dinner today, and at one point we were using all four burners on the stovetop at the same time. It all worked out, and the cream puffs were very good. She’s taking the leftovers to church today to share with her friends in Young Women here.
My hand is hurting now, so I have to quite typing.
Love to all, Mom
Friday morning they took the bandages off my hand and put on a custom splint. So now I’m writing this letter using all 10 fingers, but I’m making a lot of mistakes and having to correct them. Still, it’s miraculous to be using my right hand again. In the meantime, I learned how to do lots of things with my left hand, but none of them very well. Like eating with my left hand. I felt like a toddler, trying to get the food to my mouth. I had to keep a towel at the side of my plate to wipe off the food that didn’t quite make it. What I missed most, and still can’t quite do: writing with a pencil or pen, using scissors and knives, and flossing my teeth. Thanks to Dad for tying my shoes, buttoning my buttons, and curling my bangs.
Carson and Ellie are here overnight, because Allen is off on a jaunt to Island Park with his police buddies. It’s fun tending young teenagers. Ellie made cream puffs last night, using a recipe in her Betty Crocker cookbook. At the same time, I was making meatballs for dinner today, and at one point we were using all four burners on the stovetop at the same time. It all worked out, and the cream puffs were very good. She’s taking the leftovers to church today to share with her friends in Young Women here.
My hand is hurting now, so I have to quite typing.
Love to all, Mom
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Dear Kids,
I’m typing this letter with my left hand, so it’s going to be short. My right hand is bandaged from the surgery I had on Tuesday. It went very well. It’s called carpal metacarpal arthroplasty, and it should take care of the pain I’ve had at the base of my thumb for more than three years now. Maybe I’ll be able to play ragtime again! Meanwhile, though, I can’t do much at all. Dad has been helping me shower, get dressed, and fix food. I’ve been sleeping nights in his recliner, with a big piece of plastic foam holding up my arm. I haven’t been anywhere except my piano classes, which I absolutely couldn’t miss, in spite of my pain and awkwardness. (In the Lighthouse class, one cute little kid saw my bandages and said, "Did you fall down AGAIN?") It’s funny that within a month I’ve had my worst tooth pain ever, my accident, my worst bronchitis ever, and now this, which has turned out to be way more painful than I expected. Thanks to all of you who have called me, visited me, and prayed for my recovery. I’m looking forward to a brand new life when all this is over with. Meanwhile, you’ve all gotta know how much I love you.
Mom
I’m typing this letter with my left hand, so it’s going to be short. My right hand is bandaged from the surgery I had on Tuesday. It went very well. It’s called carpal metacarpal arthroplasty, and it should take care of the pain I’ve had at the base of my thumb for more than three years now. Maybe I’ll be able to play ragtime again! Meanwhile, though, I can’t do much at all. Dad has been helping me shower, get dressed, and fix food. I’ve been sleeping nights in his recliner, with a big piece of plastic foam holding up my arm. I haven’t been anywhere except my piano classes, which I absolutely couldn’t miss, in spite of my pain and awkwardness. (In the Lighthouse class, one cute little kid saw my bandages and said, "Did you fall down AGAIN?") It’s funny that within a month I’ve had my worst tooth pain ever, my accident, my worst bronchitis ever, and now this, which has turned out to be way more painful than I expected. Thanks to all of you who have called me, visited me, and prayed for my recovery. I’m looking forward to a brand new life when all this is over with. Meanwhile, you’ve all gotta know how much I love you.
Mom
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Dear Kids,
The McGettigans are here visiting, and last night we went to the Frontier Days Rodeo. It’s just down the street from us, in the Francis park. It started with skydivers, and that alone was worth our ticket price. A tiny plane circled high overhead, and when the two men dropped out, it didn’t seem like they could land anywhere near the park, but they circled in closer and closer. One of them had smoke trailing, and another one the American flag, while the pa system blasted out "I’m Proud to be an American." They both landed in the arena, one of them exactly in the center. That was the best! Then there was bareback riding, breakaway, saddle bronc, steer wrestling, all the usual rodeo events. The wind blew hard and it got cold, and I left early and walked home. (There’s a lot to be said for living close enough to the rodeo grounds that you can walk home!) McGettigans are talking about moving here to Francis. That would be my dream! We already have four families of kids living nearby, and the McGettigans too?! I can’t imagine how wonderful life would be.
Guess who’s going to Hawaii! Not Dad and me, but Dad and Allen! It sounded bizarre when Allen first brought it up, but then we thought it all through, and they could have a great time together, plus do all the things I can’t do: an all-night flight, tour busses (the fumes are deadly for me), evening luas, staying in high-rises, museums, Pearl Harbor (well, I could do that, but it wouldn’t be my first choice of sites); there are so many things they could enjoy doing together. Allen’s going to work out the details when he gets home from the Grand Canyon, where he’s off hiking now.
We’ve been building our back deck, and it’s going really well, but I’m going to have my hand surgery on Tuesday, so I’ll be grounded from projects for three or four weeks after that. The deck won’t be finished, but it will be something fun to come back to when my hand heals. It won’t even hurt me to use a hammer! Life will be even better than now!
I love you all! Mom
The McGettigans are here visiting, and last night we went to the Frontier Days Rodeo. It’s just down the street from us, in the Francis park. It started with skydivers, and that alone was worth our ticket price. A tiny plane circled high overhead, and when the two men dropped out, it didn’t seem like they could land anywhere near the park, but they circled in closer and closer. One of them had smoke trailing, and another one the American flag, while the pa system blasted out "I’m Proud to be an American." They both landed in the arena, one of them exactly in the center. That was the best! Then there was bareback riding, breakaway, saddle bronc, steer wrestling, all the usual rodeo events. The wind blew hard and it got cold, and I left early and walked home. (There’s a lot to be said for living close enough to the rodeo grounds that you can walk home!) McGettigans are talking about moving here to Francis. That would be my dream! We already have four families of kids living nearby, and the McGettigans too?! I can’t imagine how wonderful life would be.
Guess who’s going to Hawaii! Not Dad and me, but Dad and Allen! It sounded bizarre when Allen first brought it up, but then we thought it all through, and they could have a great time together, plus do all the things I can’t do: an all-night flight, tour busses (the fumes are deadly for me), evening luas, staying in high-rises, museums, Pearl Harbor (well, I could do that, but it wouldn’t be my first choice of sites); there are so many things they could enjoy doing together. Allen’s going to work out the details when he gets home from the Grand Canyon, where he’s off hiking now.
We’ve been building our back deck, and it’s going really well, but I’m going to have my hand surgery on Tuesday, so I’ll be grounded from projects for three or four weeks after that. The deck won’t be finished, but it will be something fun to come back to when my hand heals. It won’t even hurt me to use a hammer! Life will be even better than now!
I love you all! Mom
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