Dear Kids,

This will be another really short letter.  I’ve been in bed all week with the flu.  At first I thought it was a minor stomach bug, but it turned out to be much worse than that.  Today is my tenth day of it. Dad has waited on me hand and foot, and I’ve had everything I’ve needed.  The end of it all is in sight, though, and this afternoon I’m going to get up and put on real clothes and Dad and I are driving to Centerville for Super Sunday.  Allen is in charge, and we’ll be starting at 4 pm.  I’m looking forward to it, especially since I haven’t been anywhere in such a long time.

While I’ve been down in bed, I’ve been reading books by Esther Averill (the Fire Cat) and Beverly Clearly.  Sometimes the simplest stuff is the best, especially if you don’t feel very well.  I also read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, for our book club on March 12.  I’ve read it before, but I really enjoyed it this time.  I think we’re coming up on our one-year anniversary for book club, and I hope we keep going for many more years.

Here’s hoping this letter finds you all well and happy.  Love, Mom

 Dear Kids,

I’m not able to write much of a letter this week.  I caught a minor stomach bug, and that, together with my chemo, has really laid me low.  

Julie’s surgery went fine, and she’s getting along OK watching movies.  Soon she’ll be able to work at home.  

Super Sunday is next week, February 26, at Nora’s house, with Allen in charge.  4 pm, like always.  Bring whatever you want to.  Our next book club will be March 12, and we’re reading Charlie and the Chocolate factory.  I look forward to both of these great events.

Lots of Love, Mom

 Dear Kids,

Poor Julie broke her leg and her ankle ice skating.  She fell over a kid that was down, and it broke the tibia in her leg, plus her ankle, and tore some tendons.  She’s having surgery tomorrow.  The surgery couldn’t have been any sooner because of the swelling, which needed to go down.  It will be at least a ten-week recovery for her.  Poor girl!  I’m sure she can use all of our prayers.  

Book club will be this evening at 5 at our house.  Be there or be square.  Yes, I know Donna’s family will be in Pocatello for the superbowl, but the rest of us can have a good time together.  We tried to reschedule book club for a day when everybody could be there, but it just didn’t work, with President’s Day next week, and Kim’s family mostly unavailable the week after that.  Anyway, We’ll be discussing Because of Winn Dixie and Nora will be in charge.  Kim’s family will be choosing the book for next month. 

Then, we’ll be having Super Sunday on the 26th at Nora’s house, not Tom’s, with Allen in charge.  (Tom will be in charge of Super Sunday in March.)   Allen is living in Nora’s basement now.  He hasn’t broken up with Jenn, but they needed to rearrange things.  Al is going to pay rent by contributing to Addie’s mission, so that should work out really well.  

I had a rough experience at the wound clinic on Monday.  My regular wound doctor is out on paternity leave, and a nurse practitioner who has started working there tended my wound.  She really scraped it hard, and it’s been hurting more than usual this week.  I have to figure out how to avoid getting her again.  I don’t want to hurt her feelings, but the clinic is supposed to help me feel better, not worse.  

Tomorrow I go back to chemo.  It isn’t so bad now that I know what to expect.  I have some good library books piled up, so I should be able to entertain myself on my bad days.  There are sisters in the ward, too, who are willing to visit me and keep me from getting too bored.  I can always call one of them.

All together, life is really good.  I love you all and pray for you every day.

Love, Mom

 Dear Kids,

Nothing new here.  Oh, yes, it warmed up a little bit.  Tuesday morning it was -10, and it seemed like it would be cold forever.  Then, miraculously, it started warming up, and by Friday afternoon it was 50.  Dad and I took a walk around the block, for the first time in weeks.  The snow started melting, and it’s down a few inches now.  It’s supposed to snow again this afternoon, but we don’t care.  We’ve had a hint of spring!

Looking down the road: Book club is next Sunday, the 12th, at 5 pm at our house.  If you haven’t read Because of Winn Dixie, there’s still time.  You can read it in a couple of sittings.  If you can get a hold of the movie, it’s almost like the book.  

Then, we’ll have Super Sunday again on February 26 at Tom’s house.  I won’t be surprised if he does something spectacular with his smoker or his barbecue.  There’s no stopping the good food and the fun.

Then, looking way down the road, our Ackerson family reunion will be July 27-30 (Thursday thru Sunday) at Huber Grove in Midway.  We met there in 2014 and 2015.  Donna’s in charge, and I think she’s arranging for a photographer to take a big family picture of us.  He told Donna that Huber Grove is his favorite place to do mob pictures, so it should turn out really well. 

Jane and Nancy came by Thursday afternoon to pick up a box of Grandma and Grandpa Allen’s letters.  Originally the letters were all sorted by date, but when Morgan James was a toddler, he got into them and scrambled them around, and nobody has had the heart to sort them again.  Until now.  Nancy said she’s willing to do it.  So when she and Jane came by, Sonia was watching from the front window, and she was very glad to have them admire her.  Until we brought in Scout.  Then she disappeared while Jane petted Scout and told him how handsome he is.  They decided he has the face of a lion, and naturally he smiled all over and nuzzled Jane.  I told them that he and Sonia are supposed to be siblings, and they said “No way!”   

Tomorrow I have an appointment at the LDS Hospital wound clinic, where they’re trying to cure the open sore I have on my back end.  So far they’ve helped me with an my swollen lip, an abscess, and the first wound on my back side.  But the new wound isn’t responding to anything.  I’ll keep going in as long as they’re willing to keep trying, but I’m losing hope.  Anyway, I’m starting chemo again on the 13th and chemo always keeps things from healing.  It’s keeping me alive, though, so I can’t complain too loudly.  

I appreciate all your prayers for me.  I pray for all of you every day, too.

Love, Mom

 Dear Kids,

Thanks to Nora for that wonderful Super Sunday last week.  I love all our get-togethers and each of you has done such a great job hosting!  Our next Super Sunday will be February 26 at Tom’s house, and our next book club will be here on February 12.  We’re reading Because of Winn Dixie, and it’s a great little book.  I’ve read it twice already.

I just talked to John, and I asked him how Jacob’s doing.  Evidently Jacob has settled in very well and he’s deep into the work.  They’re teaching a reality TV star named Cambo who has a lot of unwholesome habits to get over.  He tells his wife to hide the bad stuff when he comes into the house.  I googled “Cambo reality tv” and found out that he lives in the backwoods of Alabama along the Coosa River.  Evidently he shoots his shotgun, swims in the river, and does other woodsy things.  Go, Cambo!  Go, Jacob!

Have you guys heard about Nora’s new business?  She shops for people at Costco, and they venmo the money to her.  What’s in it for Nora?  The Rewards.  I had her buy me four bags of Utah Truffles, because Vanessa told me they’re only available around Christmas.  I wanted to stock up before they run out, and it freaks me out to go into Costco myself.  The noise is too loud, now that I have hearing aids.

We’re still dealing with the deep snow here.  Our back deck is completely snowed under, and since Sonia always went under there to do her thing, that explains why she started using the brown carpet.  We solved the problem by setting up a litter box in the garage.  (I took out the one we used to have because they weren’t using it.)   Now, with the new accommodations, she hasn’t had a single accident.  We just needed to use our brains instead of screaming at her all the time.  The snow will probably be with us a while longer, since we get an inch or two every day.  Actually, I kind of like it.  

I have to start chemo again in two more weeks, so my vacation is almost over.  I’ve been frustrated because the kinds of things I really like to do aren’t possible in the dead of winter.  I can’t work in the yard or go hiking, or even work on finishing the walls in the garage, since it’s so cold out there.  So I might as well get back to chemo.  I’m starting to have trouble breathing again, so I’m actually looking forward to it.

I appreciate all of you so much!  Dad and I are very blessed to have such a wonderful family.

Love, Mom

 Dear Kids,

Yay, it’s Super Sunday today!  We’ll meet at Nora’s house at 4 pm, if you can make it.  If you can’t make it on time, come anyway when you can.  Donna’s ward doesn’t get out until 3:30, so they’ll be a little late.  They have four wards in their building, so their late schedule is really late.

Our next book club will be February 12, and we’re reading Because of Winn Dixie.  I thought I’d just start it, and before I knew it I was done.  It’s that kind of a book.  I’m sure I’ll be reading it at least one more time before we meet.  And if you get a chance to watch the movie, it follows the book really closely.

Dad and I went to the Provo Temple Friday afternoon, and for the first time I had made an appointment on line.  It all worked out so smoothly I was amazed!  No wondering if we were going to get into the session!  And besides that, we got to go in first.  Last time we went Dad ended up being the last person on the last row.  Friday he was the second person on the first row.  Needless to say we’ll be making appointments from now on.  Lots of people are going to the Provo Temple these days, probably because they’re going to be tearing it down pretty soon and re-building it.  Yeah, I know it looks like a birthday cake, but I love it because Dad and I were married there.  I’m sure the new one will be beautiful.  The Heber Temple isn’t even started yet, so it will probably be four years or so until it’s open.  The Taylorsville Temple is coming right along–maybe we can start going there.  It’s right at the intersection of 47th South and I-215, so it will be easy to get to.

Sonia’s behaving herself better these days, probably because we set up a litter box for her in the garage.  She used to always go under the back deck, but I noticed it’s all snowed in and no cat could get under there.  No wonder she was pooping on the brown carpet.  It was partly my fault.  These cats must get frustrated when we humans don’t see things their way.  

Vanessa’s family stayed over here Friday night because they were going skiing at Deer Valley yesterday.  (Cousins’ day.)  It’s always fun to see them!  Sonia usually makes herself scarce when we have company, but she remembered that Vanessa’s family really admires her, so she put herself right in the middle of everything.  She had plenty of admiration.

I hope you’re all doin’ great and lovin’ it!  Lots of love, Mom

 Dear Kids,

This morning Dad and I are driving to Layton to Paul and Stefanie’s ward to hear them talk in church.  Hopefully the Riebens will be there too.  It’s supposed to snow, but only 1-3 inches, which is nothing compared to what we’ve had.  There’s still about a foot and a half on the ground, and even more at the cabin.  Dad and Donna and Bevan have worked really hard to clear the cabin driveway and the two decks.  Thank goodness they’ve got a really super snowblower to work with.  (John just bought the same kind.  He clears the driveways of a couple of widows he knows, and naturally he uses the new family trailer to transport his new snowblower.)  Anyway, we’ve still got a lot of snow.

  Our friends the Garcias from Phoenix were here yesterday, and we’d promised their kids (Carson and Natalie) some great sledding at the cabin.  They’re here in Utah for the kids to learn to ski, which they’re doing today and tomorrow, but first they had to enjoy that great Utah sport, sledding.  Donna and Bevan and their kids were already at the cabin, and the boys had tracked out some new sledding runs in all the deep snow, but I finally got them to use the regular run, where they could come all the way from the top without crashing.  I tried to walk out there, but I kept breaking through the snow, and when my foot got stuck, I had to have Dad pull me out.  The kids could just walk right over the top of it!  Anyway, Carson and Natalie (and their Dad, too) had some really good sledding, while the rest of us sat in the greenhouse and watched.  Oh, yes, and Donna and Dad were still blowing snow!

Super Sunday will be next week, the 22nd, at Nora’s house, at 4 pm.  We’ll have the same plan as always–bring whatever you want, and we’ll put it all together.  We’ve still never had a Sunday with all desserts!  Or all salads or all main dishes, so it’s working really well.  Thanks in advance, Nora!

Our family book club last Sunday night went really well.  Everybody sat still for about 15 minutes, which must have been a record.  Our next book club will be February 12 and we’re reading Because of Winn Dixie.  I’m glad Nora chose it, because it’s one of my all-time favorite books.  If you get a chance to watch the movie, it follows the book almost exactly.  Both of them are great.

Dad walked into our little bathroom and came across something really odd: Sonia was using the sink as if it were a toilet.  When she was done he washed out the sink, but she was already off doing her own thing.  Later she pooped on the brown carpet, and I screamed at her and threw her out.  She says she’s tired of all the snow and wants human privileges.  I say she can hang out in the garage with Scout.

I hope you’re all doing great.  Love, Mom