Dear Kids,

I’m looking forward to Super Sunday at Tom’s house this afternoon.  I’m eager to see what he’s cooked up.  You know it’s going to be something spectacular.  We’ll meet at 4 pm and it’ll be the usual setup–we put all our food together and have what we have.  

A week from today is conference Sunday, but we won’t be having a Saturday night party because both Nora’s and Donna’s families will be out of town.  Nora’s family will be in southern California, and they discovered once before that you can watch conference at the L.A. temple grounds, in an auditorium.  Their kids can run around outside.

Which you can’t do here yet.  Last week I was all excited thinking the snow was going to melt, but since then we’ve just had more.  We broke the all-time record for snow, set in 1983, which means that there has never been another year with this much snow.  (At least since records have been kept.)  That’s pretty historic. 

In last week’s letter I listed the missionaries who would be going out, but I forgot about Emma.  She’ll be 19 in August, but she’s going to do fall semester at Snow and then leave after that.  We could have five out at the same time!  And then there’s Charlie Thacker–he’s going to do a year at BYU and then leave after that.    Speaking of BYU, there are rumors that Bentley is transferring there.  Could it be he wants to be closer to a certain young lady going to UVU? 

April is nearly upon us!   Easter is the 9th (just two weeks from today) and our party will be on Easter Sunday, not Saturday like we usually do it.  It’ll be at Nora’s house, probably at 3 pm.  I’ll have more information next week.  I’m sure we’ll have our usual Easter egg hunt, besides picnic food.  And then, the week after that will be book club again.  I just started reading The Indian in the Cupboard, for the second or third time.  I just love that Indian!  He has tons of attitude.

Sonia disgraced herself by pooping on the brown carpet just inside the front door, which she’s done a time or two before.  Needless to say, she’s spending a lot more time in the garage now.  She sits on the radial arm saw with her paws tucked in, in the meatloaf position.  Scout hangs out in his condo.  They’ve both given up on spring ever coming.

But not me.  Eventually this endless winter will be over.

Lots of love, Mom

 Dear Kids,

Our snow has been melting!  It’s only up to our knees now!  Spring is on the horizon!

Our next family event will be Super Sunday at Tom’s house next week, the 26th.  We’ll start at 4 pm, and just bring whatever you want to, like always.  You can almost bet Tom will cook something in his smoker or on his barbeque. It’ll be great!

Thanks to everybody who participated in book club last week.  It was lots of fun.  Next month we’ll be reading “The Indian in the Cupboard,” and our next book club will be the third Sunday in April, not the second, because of Easter.  Speaking of which, we usually have our Easter Party and egg hunt on Easter Saturday, but since Nora has volunteered to host it, and since they’ll be out of town until Sunday, we’ll have our Easter party on Sunday, the 9th.  I’ll have more information when it gets closer. 

Oh, wait, I forgot to mention General Conference, which is the first weekend in April.  Usually I host a soup and bread dinner on Saturday night, before the evening session, but since both Nora’s and Donna’s families will be out of town, I’ll forego it this time around.  It will be strange, just watching the session with Dad.

Poor Aubrey got a concussion playing dodge ball at young men/young women.  Somebody hit her in the face.  She has to give up all her dance activities for two weeks which is really a bummer because she’s been practicing really hard for her dance events.  I’m sure it will help if you remember her in your prayers. 

Adelaide will be coming home June 8.  I can’t believe it’s so close.  Sterling will probably come home July 17, but he’s not sure.  He can pretty well pick his own release date because of some complication with transfers.  Ben is waiting for his call, and Aaron is waiting for his doctor’s clearance, and Sarah is going to be starting the process on April 1.  Have I forgotten anybody?  I’m really proud of all our family missionaries!

I’ve had an icky week with chemo, but I’m pulling out of it now.  Thanks for all your prayers in my behalf.

Lots of love, Mom

 Dear Kids,

We’ll be having book club this afternoon at 5pm.  Donna gave up the idea of camping in Zions, because it’s still winter everywhere.  Oh, wait–we had a slight change in the weather on Friday.  Instead of snowing, it rained!  Yep, and Dad and I, who went to the Provo temple that afternoon, got trapped in Provo because a giant snow slide closed Provo canyon.  We had to drive home through Salt Lake and Parley’s canyon, which seemed to take forever.  No matter–we got home safely and the rain changed to snow.  It didn’t have much effect on the snow pack on the ground, except that one of our metal deer has his head poking farther out of the snow, now.  He’s looking around wondering where to find spring.  Well, he’s not going to find it this week.

So we’ll be having book club today, and we’ll be talking about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Kim will be in charge of the discussion.  And two weeks from today will be Super Sunday, at Tom and Kim’s this time.  It will be lots of wild fun, like always.

Sharon has an ideal church calling right now.  She’s Restaurant Club Coordinator for her ward.  All she has to do is pick a restaurant each month, set a date and time, and publicize it.  Last month they met at an Indian restaurant and six ladies came.  That’s success.  I would lobby for that kind of a calling in our ward if we had restaurants in Kamas, and if I could eat restaurant food.  (The DUP meets at a restaurant in Heber once a year, but I always bring my own food.)

I’ve been going to the wound center at LDS Hospital every couple of weeks, and they’ve been advising me on how to treat the wounds on my backside.  They show Dad what medications to put on, and how to bandage the area.  We’ve been doing this since last August, and since my wounds are still bad, I was wondering what they could try next.  I found out.  Nothing.  Their bag of tricks is empty.  Dr. Moffat warned me at the start that he might not be able to cure me, because the chemo drugs fight against any healing, but I still had lots of hope.  I’m still supposed to check in once a month to make sure there’s no infection, but I’m majorly disappointed in my diagnosis.  I can hope for a miracle, though.

And tomorrow I’ll be having the third infusion (out of four) for my chemo regimen.  At least the chemo has been helping me breathe better.  The ABC’s of triage are Airways, Breathing, and Circulation, so I’m being helped on that.  As long as I can breathe, I’m not going to complain very hard about the rest of my ailments. 

I’ll see most of you at book club this afternoon, and I hope the rest of you are well and happy.  Love, Mom

 Dear Kids,

Thanks to Allen and Nora for the wonderful Super Sunday we had last week.  I don’t thank you kids often enough for the hosting you do.  Anyway, it was truly super.  I dragged myself out of bed and got dressed for the first time in ten days, and it was great to go somewhere.  I don’t know what kind of flu I had, but I’m still feeling the effects.  I had chemo this last week, and it came and went, but the flu feeling drags on.  I hope none of you kids or your families come down with it.  

Our next event will be book club, and it will either be next week or the week after, depending on Donna’s family.  Donna reserved a camp site in Zions for next weekend, but she’ll cancel if the weather’s too cold, and we’ll have book club.  Otherwise book club will be in two weeks.  I’ll keep you posted.  We’re reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Our next Super Sunday will be on the 26th at Tom’s. 

Julie’s broken bones are healing.  She has her stitches out and she’s doing quite a bit of work at home.  She’s able to video conference and work with her team.  Go, Julie!

Nora’s Costco delivery service is going great guns.  She has about 20 customers, but not all of them order every week.  She’s taking part in the “Grow Your Own Business” portion of the Church’s self-reliance program, and she says she’s learning a lot.  The coolest thing is that she delivers to Charley and Suzy!  She says they don’t need a lot, but she loves delivering to them.  Go, Nora!

And our snow?  This winter will never end.  I’m not even thinking about it.  The snow in our back yard is still more than two feet deep.  We’re still getting storms every day or two, but it’s mostly just a couple of inches each time.  I don’t want to hope, because we’re grateful for all the moisture we can get, but it’s nice to think that sooner or later it will be summer.  

What an incredible family you all are!  I love you lots.  Mom