Dear Kids,

Bentley comes home this Wednesday!  (July 20). That’s three more days.  He’ll be on Delta flight 2556 arriving SLC at 10:28 am.  Your best bet for seeing him will be at the airport, since Tom’s family is leaving the next morning for a Bentley family reunion in Texas. 

And thanks to Monica for getting out the itinerary for our Ackerson reunion, starting a week from Thursday at Bear Lake.  If you didn’t get the info, or if it wouldn’t open on your phone, contact Monica.  Looks like our reunion will be non-stop fun.  Dad and I can only be there on Saturday, but we’ll cram in everything we can that day.

The Allen family reunion has been rescheduled for Saturday, September 17, 10 am to 2 pm, at a park in Lindon.  The agenda will be about the same, except that there won’t be any swimming.  I’ll have more info when it gets closer. 

Wow, my letter is nonstop events so far.  Our family book club will be reading Summer of the Monkeys and we’ll discuss it on August 21.  Thanks to Emma for leading the discussion on Flat Stanley last week.  It was a fun book!

Sharon and Charlie and Conrad will be arriving this afternoon, and Nora’s family will pick them up.  Then they’ll spend a day at our house, and then head out to Upalco.  Matthew and Lucy are already here.  We’re sure glad they can spend time with us at this most event-laden time of the year.  

Dad and I dropped in on the campers at Mirror Lake yesterday.  (Donna’s, Nora’s, and Tom’s families.)  We walked (slowly) around the lake and then we just sat an marveled at all the goings-on.  There never was such a family for having fun!

Wildlife troubles: Dad heard a ruckus in the garage a couple of mornings ago, and when he investigated, there were four small raccoons getting into our cat food.  Dad had pushed the lid down hard on the plastic bucket, but their little fingers are so nimble they were able to pry it off.  We’ve now moved the bucket into the mud room, and I have to make sure the cat food dispenser and bowl are empty every night.  We’ll get the best of those little varmints!  More wildlife troubles: There was a mouse in our kitchen Friday night.  Sonia chased it back and forth, but it finally hid under the stove where she couldn’t get it.  Dad drove to Food Town and bought four mousetraps, and set them up along the wall, but the mouse was too smart for them.  Any home with two cats should be totally free of mice, but Scout is out hunting day and night, and can’t be bothered.  Sonia’s plain incompetent. 

So much fun!  Summer rocks!  Love, Mom