Dear Kids,

Conference weekend is next Saturday and Sunday, and we’ll be having our bread and soup party here at 5 pm Saturday.  Then we’ll be watching the women’s session.  I’m ready for a new set of talks!  If you read one a day, starting right after conference when they first come out, you can get through all the talks nearly five times before the next group comes out.  But even on the fifth reading you notice new things.   It’s incredible.

Nora’s family won’t be joining us.  They’ll be off on a cruise:  a revenge cruise, Nora is calling it.  They planned it for more than a year ago, but it was cancelled because of covid, so they’re finally doing it now.  Their ship will be making three stops in Mexico.  I’m sure they’ll have a great time.  They’ll be back in plenty of time for Easter Saturday, which is good, because the party is at their house.  That will be on April 16, probably around 2 pm.  You can call Nora when it gets closer to see what you can bring.  The Easter egg hunt will be in the park across the street from their house, like we’ve done before.

Sharon has had a couple of interviews for jobs, and I’m pretty sure she’ll be able to pick and choose what she likes best.  Right now she’s doing a public health practicum at an adult day care center, where troublesome seniors get dropped off during the daytime, so their caregivers can have a break.  She’s very comfortable with helping out there, but the other three girls who are doing it are having a hard time.  They’re 20-somethings and can’t bear to be around old people.  Sharon said she’s glad she had plenty of exposure to care centers while she was growing up, and doesn’t freak out like those younger girls.  She said she’s glad she isn’t 20 anymore.

The temperature got up to 67 yesterday, and I used my new whirleybird spreader to put fertilizer on our grass.  I was pretty tired after walking all that distance, but exhilarated that I could do it.  We’re certainly into spring now.  Never mind that more snow is coming. 

More chemo for me tomorrow!  My breathing has been really good, after just 2 infusions so far, and I thank you all for your prayers for me.

Love, Mom 

 Dear Kids,

Two weeks until conference.  The bread and soup party will be here at our house at 5pm Saturday night, April 2.  Bring bread or soup or both, whatever you like, and I’ll supply the ice cream and toppings for afterwards.  I’m sure conference will be great, and whoever wants to watch the women’s session with us is welcome to join us.  Oh, yes, and don’t forget that the Easter Picnic will be Saturday, April 16 at 2 pm at Nora’s house.  I’m sure it will be wild and crazy.

I know spring is coming because our Christmas poinsettia is finally dying.  I’ve given it plenty of water and sunlight, but it must be the time of year, because it’s leaves are starting to curl up.  Onward and Upward!  We’re supposed to have a little snow today, but later this week  the temperatures will be in the 50's.  Our old snow has mostly melted, and Sonia was eating grass the other day.  At the cabin there’s still snow, but it’s hard and glossy.  Donna had a sledding party with her friends and their kids, but the kids were mostly just throwing themselves on the ground and sliding. 

Yesterday we went to the viewing for the husband of one of my piano students, Joan Kohler.  Her husband Ken was in his nineties and ready to go.  Joan said she played hymns on the piano while she was waiting for him to die.  That makes three of my students who have lost their husbands in the last couple of years.   I hope the jinx doesn’t keep on going, or they’ll all be widows.

I’ve gotten obsessed with the Fire Cat books.  The book you all read when you were little was only one in a series, but the rest were out of print.  Now they’re back, and I’ve been madly buying them up.  The fire cat shows up in nearly all of them, and the pictures are to die for.   Some of them are on our coffee table, and some are on my shelves, but they’re all here for you to read if you want to.  If I’m young enough to enjoy them, who isn’t?

June 2 is coming up fast.  I hope it’s on your calendars for Bam Bam barbeque and lots of fun at Francis Park.  I’m thinking probably 6 pm, but we’ll be more sure on the time when it gets sooner.  

Lots of love, Mom  

 Dear Kids,

Conference is coming up.  Saturday night, April 2, we’ll have our traditional bread and soup dinner here at our house, and then the women can watch the women’s session of conference.  Heather pointed out that everybody could benefit from it, so of course we won’t shut out any of the guys.  Or little boys.  Anyway, that event is coming up fast.

And then Easter is coming up quickly, too.  It’s in five weeks.  Nora has volunteered to have the Easter picnic at her house, and at the park across the street.  It’s such a great place to have the Easter egg hunt.  Oh, yes, that will be on Saturday, April 16, probably around 2 or 3 in the afternoon.  Donna and Bevan will be in Boston, for the marathon, and their kids will be at Nora’s house, so the center of gravity will already be there.  We ought to have plenty of excitement.

Miscellaneous news:  Sharon finished her practicum, which was twelve night shifts at a hospital (I forget which one.)  She’s very relieved to have that over with, especially since she had to juggle it with her school work.  Now she’s applying for jobs.  She’s sending her applications to three smaller hospitals that are fairly close to her house, and my guess is that she’ll get offers from all three.  More news:  Stuart is into wrestling, and he had his first pin.  Nora said his opponent was a small stocky guy who weighed about the same, but Stuart’s “spaghetti” arms and legs wrapped right around him and pinned him.  Way to go, Stu!  Still more news:  Del has officially and legally changed her name from Ellie to Delta Ann Ackerson.  I asked Allen if that costs a lot, and he said Yep.  She wanted to get it done before her 18th birthday, and Al paid for it as a birthday present.  She’s gone by Del for at least three years now, so I guess she knows her own mind.  I still remember when we changed Al’s name from Allan to Allen.  My Grandpa Allen, the cop, had some influence in that.

It’s still cold here.  Nighttime temperatures have been down in the single digits, down to 2 degrees one of the nights last week.  But we’re supposed to have snow this afternoon, and then things will warm up.  Into the 30's.  We’re starved for spring, but it will be a while yet.  Scout tries every chance to get in, but we pet him and then toss him back out.  Sonia says she’ll sleep on Dad’s chair all day every day until she sees green grass outside.  She misses the grasshoppers and bugs she loves to hunt. 

I start more chemo tomorrow.  It’s all good.

Love, Mom 

 Dear Kids, 

Thanks to Tom and Kim for such a great Super Sunday last week.  Nothing beats Tom’s smoked pork, pulled by his own hands.  Nothing beats the great food the rest of you bring!  I’m always amazed.

Conference is coming up, and I think we should have our regular bread and soup dinner on the Saturday night before.  That would be April 2, I think.  We’ll meet here at our house, and I’ll have more details when it gets closer.  There will be a women’s session broadcast, and I don’t know if we ladies can go to our stake center to watch it, or if we’ll just watch it here, probably in our basement.  The men can babysit.  Sounds good to me.

And because of conference, I think we should do away with Super Sunday in March, and pick it up again the end of April.  It will be Allen’s turn.  

I wore my chemo pump from Monday to Wednesday, and it all went very well.  They gave me the Avastin, which slows down your blood flow, which should kill off the little blood vessels going to my tumors.  Evidently it helped, because I’m already breathing a lot better, after just one infusion.  And I’m having three more, so I’m very optimistic.  Thanks for all your prayers for me!  Oh, yeah, and I was a lot less tired after the chemo than I usually am.

Sorry for the short letter.  Absolutely nothing happened this week.  Our cats didn’t even do anything crazy.

Lots of love, Mom