Dear Kids,

Jacob is home again!  He injured his back in Alabama, helping somebody move a refrigerator, and they’ve tried the cheap and easy stuff already.  Now the Church has sent him home so John’s insurance can pay for the more expensive treatments.  Jacob has a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday, and he’ll be having a MRI.  John doesn’t know if he’ll need surgery or not.  I’ll keep you posted.  

And Scout has gone missing!  We’re absolutely devastated.  He was such a fine cat, even though he was an outside fellow.  We haven’t seen him since Monday morning, so we’ve pretty well given up hope.  It’s the same time of year that Oreo went missing all those years ago, the time when foxes and other predators are out stretching their legs and looking for fresh meat.  There are also great horned owls and hawks, both with 4' wingspans.  I was down at the Rock Cliff nature center yesterday, reading how those birds prey on skunks.  If they could pick up a skunk, they could grab Scout, even though he is (or was) pretty hefty.  Anyway, we still have a tiny bit of hope that he might come back, but it isn’t looking good.

Our next family event is book club on the 14th, Mothers Day.  We’re reading Socks by Beverly Cleary.  I’ll be in charge of the discussion, and I already have some good questions ready.  Here’s a preview question: “When Socks was being sold, how much did the kittens cost?”

There, now everybody will know the answer to at least one question.  

Then, the Sunday after that, May 21, will be Ben’s farewell.  I think the meeting starts at noon.  I’ll have more information when it gets closer.  The afterparty will be at Nora’s, of course.  We’ve sure been meeting there are lot lately!  What a great party house Nora has!  By the way, for those of you who missed seeing Vanessa’s pictures of Nepal, it was quite a show!  I have lots of admiration for Vanessa and her toughness, being able to hike at 17,000 feet.  I asked her if she would consider going back there, and she said she might.  Go, Vanessa!

One more event for May will be Super Sunday on May 28 at Donna’s.  (We’re skipping today because of the get-together last week.)  When it gets closer Donna can tell us where we’re going to meet.  It should be nice weather by then.  Maybe we can go back to that great park in Midway where we’ve met before.  

So many events!  So much fun!  I love you all!  Mom

 Dear Kids,

Congratulations to Sarah for her call to the Santiago Chile North mission!  She will be leaving September 4.  We’re really excited for her and know that she will have a wonderful experience.  Sterling will definitely be coming home July 17, so their family will be together for a little while, at least.

We’re looking forward to the get-together at Nora’s this afternoon at 2:30.  It looks like it has turned into a Super Sunday, so Donna will be in charge the last Sunday of May.  Anyway, Vanessa will be showing her scenes from Tibet on Nora’s big screen downstairs, and she’ll narrate a travelogue too.  We’ll all wish we could go to Nepal!  Vanessa told me she has wanted to go ever since cousin Marla used to talk about hiking in the Himalayas with her Sherpa guides. We’ll probably see pictures of Vanessa’s Sherpa guides.  Anyway, be there or be square, today at 2:30.

Another change is that Ben’s farewell has been changed from May 14 to May 21.  That way it won’t fall on Mothers Day.  So that means we’ll be having book club on the 14th.  We’re reading Socks by Beverly Cleary, and it’s short and fun.  I’ve read it a couple of time already, but I’ll be going through it one more time to find some good questions to ask.  Naturally I’ll be throwing out some kind of candy–something connected with cats.  Our book clubs have sure been fun!  We all enjoyed Donna’s Navajo fry bread last week.  Our kitchen smelled like a hogan for a couple of days after that.

Our snow has nearly all melted.  Most days are pretty cold, and it snows now and then, but not the kind that sticks on the ground.  The cats are enjoying the taste of spring and they feel adventurous.  Scout has been out scouting for mice, and Sonia is hoping to find some small grasshoppers, but she’ll have to wait a while.  Meanwhile, she takes care of the spiders and flies that get into the house.  

I hope to see most of you this afternoon!  Lots of love, Mom

Dear Kids,

Bentley is engaged!  His fiance’s  name is Cambree McBride and he met her in his mission.  (He said she was a really good missionary.)  The wedding is scheduled for August 10, 2pm, in the Provo City Center temple.  I assume there’s room for everybody, since I haven’t heard different, but I’ll add more details when it gets closer.  Anyway, we’re really happy for Bentley and Cambree.

Book club is this afternoon at 5pm at our house, and we’re talking about “The Indian in the Cupboard.”  It should be fun.  Our book for May will be “Socks” by Beverly Cleary, which is my all-time favorite cat story.  By the way, Beverly Clearly just recently died.  She was almost 105.

Super Sunday will be in two weeks, on April 30.  Donna is in charge, and I’ll let you know the location in my letter next week.

Ben’s missionary farewell will be on May 14, Mothers Day, in Nora’s ward at noon.  He’s serving in the Layton Utah Mission as a service missionary.  He’ll be doing various service projects and going on splits with the missionaries.  He gets his own car, and his missionary tags came in the mail, so he’s pretty excited.  Go, Ben!  And because of the farewell, Our book club for May will be pushed back to May 21. 

If any of you local people are worried about flooding, John has plenty of sandbags on hand.  Between the trailer and the truck, he has about 100.  He did four earlier loads around town.  Heber is going to be making a Main Street river for when the mountain snow melts.  When we drove through there yesterday, I noticed pallets of sandbags in front of each house along Center.  Some of you older kids remember the State Street River through Salt Lake in 1983.  It was pretty exciting.  Hopefully this will work out well for Heber.  Most of our local snow is gone now, but the mountain snow hasn’t even started melting.  They’re hoping to be ready for that.

So much going on!  There’s no stopping the excitement.  Love, Mom 

 Dear Kids,

Happy Easter, everyone!  This is certainly the most important holiday for Christians across the world.  Nothing ever happened that was more important than the atonement, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  I’ve always known that, but the older I get, the more important it gets. The eggs and bunnies and new clothes are fun, but Jesus is at the center of it all.

We’ll be celebrating at Nora’s this afternoon.  We’ll start at 3 pm.  Nora’s family has been in California all week, so she’s really brave to be taking this on.  Thanks, Nora!  I called her yesterday morning while they were on the road, somewhere near Barstow, and she said it’s all taken care of.  Allen bought the ham and put it in her refrigerator.  Tom and Kim are doing the cheesy potatoes.  Donna’s bringing dessert.  Everybody’s bringing Easter candy, and the older girls will play Easter bunny in the park across the street.

There was one day last week, Tuesday, I think, where nearly everybody was off somewhere for spring break.  Vanessa was in Katmandu.  Nora’s family was in California.  Tom and Kim were in St. George, and Donna’s family was driving home from Zions.  Sharon’s family was in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, where none of them had been before.  I’m sure some of the rest of you were traveling, too, except for John’s family.  They all stayed home, according to John, to save up for their new roof.  (I’m pretty sure that decision wasn’t made by a majority vote.)  Dad and I, of course, were at home.  Our big excitement was having our new dryer delivered on Wednesday.  We had to pay nearly double to get the kind of lint trap I wanted, but it would have bugged me nearly every day to have that kind where you have to pull out the trap.  Anyway, I’m really thrilled to have a dryer that works and doesn’t make strange noises.  

Book club will be next Sunday, here at our house, at 5 pm.  I hope you’re most of the way through The Indian in the Cupboard.  It’s one of my all-time favorite books, and I’m planning to read it one more time this week.  I love that Indian.  He has a ton of attitude.

Super Sunday will be April 30.  Donna’s in charge, and I’m not sure where we’ll have it.  I’ll let you know when it gets closer.

There’s no stoppin’ the fun!  I love you all!  Mom

 Dear Kids,

I hope you’re all enjoying conference weekend.  Dad and I missed the morning session yesterday because we had to drive to R.C. Willey to buy a new dryer, but we enjoyed the afternoon and evening talks.  We’re looking forward to today, to more of the same.  

Next week is Easter, and Nora will be hosting the picnic and Easter egg hunt starting at 3 pm at their house.  Contact Nora for a food assignment.  She and her family are in California right now.  Dad likes to look up the locations of you kids with I-phones, and he discovered that Vanessa is in Katmandu.  7,000 miles away.  Now that’s a vacation!

Two weeks from today will be book club, and we’re reading The Indian in the Cupboard. I finished it a couple of days ago, and it’s really fun.  It’s the thirteenth book we’ve read since we started.  I’m really impressed that we’re still at it!  Go, Ackersons, especially the grandchildren!

Dad and Donna had fun filling sand bags this week.  The sand and the bags are free, supplied by the county, so you just have to fill them yourself and haul them away.  The bags are at the cabin now, (31 of them–they’ll need 40 more) and as soon as the snow gets down far enough, they’ll put them around the south and east sides to curb the surface runoff.  The cabin is built on a drainage, so there will be lots of water anyway, but hopefully this will help.

Bonnie, Jane, and Andy came to visit us last Tuesday.  They were surprised we still have so much snow.  We had fun talking, and they liked my pumpkin cookies.  Both our kitties disappeared during their visit, probably scared off by Andy’s voice, which is low and loud. And both cats showed up right after they left.  Scout missed getting petted by Jane, because of his cowardice, but they’re cats!  They do what they want to.

Love to all of you, Mom

 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