Stuffed and Stuffing

Nov. 27, 2011

Dear Elder Alex,

What great news to hear that the Taylors got baptized and that everything went well. The pictures were great and yes, even the fried corn looked tasty. I'm not sure anyone has those in Boise, only at the fair.

So how was your Thanksgiving? We had a wonderful time with Steve, Carolina, Dakota, Kassie, Gio, Jen, James, Kirk, Sarah, Nikki, Leah, Kristina, dad and me. A smaller group than usual, but lots of fun.  On Pie Night, we had Bill and Nancy come by as well as Coach Arnold (Steve's old BYU basketball coach, remember him...) and his wife.  It was fun reminiscing. Turns out Bill used to work for Frank Arnold when Bill was just a teenager.  I guess he sold ice cold drinks at the Hawks baseball games. Small world.  Coach Arnold also remembered well the time Bill was thrown out of a BYU basketball game because he was yelling at the refs and threw a towel at them. Since we had excellent seats for every game, the refs could hear pretty much everything any one of us said.

Steve's thinking of building a Noah's here in Boise, so dad and I took him around town looking at lots.  We went to the movies, out to eat, black Friday shopping, etc. all the usual Thanksgiving activities. It was extra fun having little James in our house. He just started walking so it was fun seeing him wobble around.

On Saturday Steve and Carolina left and then later on Kirk and Sarah left. Sarah went with Kirk to Rexburg and today her ride drove up from Utah through Idaho Falls and picked her up. This afternoon Sean left and then tonight I took Gio and Jen to the airport where they flew back to Arizona. Everyone said to say hi and tell you how much they love reading your letters.

Today we went to the 8th ward to hear Jake give his mission report. I'm so happy that they actually want you guys to tell stories from your missions again in your report. For a couple years they gave topics to speak on and we never heard very much about the mission. Now they say they'd like you to actually report your mission in your talk. Jake looks great-a little older. He spoke well, deliberate, more mature. He's gained a lot of wisdom in his last two years and really enjoyed his mission. His testimony was strong and his stories backed up that strength. I talked with him afterward and he asked about you. He told dad that his advice to you is 'don't hurry home, enjoy your mission while you're there.' Sounds like he's planning on going to BYU-I in January. 

Dad's at work today, the girls are in bed, the last of the Thanksgiving guests have left, so the house seems very quiet. Even the dogs are noticing it. 

I forgot to mention that Jared came over during the weekend too, so we got to catch up on his life. He's thinking of joining the Air Force and switching away from his music plans. He still loves music, but he can see there's not much future in it. So he's been talking to a recruiter about becoming an air traffic controller.

Sean just called and made it home safely. He took about 5 people home with him so he had a full car. 

We missed you this week, but I love knowing that you're on a mission. There's such a great feeling in our home just knowing you are out in the mission field. I am so thankful for the knowledge I have about the gospel and the peace it gives me in my life. I learn more and more as time goes on and that's something I love about it. Keep spreading the 'good news' in the South. I can see how the Vision of the South is being fulfilled through many of your experiences. 

Have a grateful week!!

love you,

Mom xxoo

Monday

Nov. 21, 2011

Dear Elder Alex,

This is throwing me off a bit-writing you on a Monday night, but I'll try to get over it. We just finished with FHE where I gave a short lesson on gratitude, then me and the girls went around the house looking at things through the eyes of Giovanni and Jen's son, James since he's going to be here this week and our house is not exactly baby proofed. We moved a lot of things. He shouldn't be afraid of dogs since Tofu lives with them. Then we made a new treat called Pizzookies. Kristina said they are now her new all time favorite. Here's a pic:

This week we have Steve and Carolina, Kassie and Dakota coming tomorrow, Kirk is coming home tomorrow as well as Sean. Then on Wednesday Gio and Jen fly in. Sarah comes in late Wednesday night. That's our group. Sean says he'll organize a Turkey Bowl. We're not having pie night until later Thursday night this year in order to have everyone here. Bill and Nancy are coming for pie night too and hopefully a few more. We'll have plenty of pies, so we'll definitely need some help eating them. I'm buying most of them from Diane Beagley, but I'll be making 2-3 French chocolate pies.

I'm hoping to hear from you that the Taylors got baptized. I've been thinking about them and hope everything went well! Last week I gave a Book of Mormon to one of the ladies who cleans our house. We had a nice talk about families beforehand. I kind of decided at the last second to give her a book so I'm kicking myself that I didn't highlight Moroni's promise.  What was I thinking...Obviously I need to brush up on my missionary skills. I can't wait to see her again.

Our ward choir is in full swing now practicing several songs for the season. Jan Leifson is our director and she always makes great treats for each practice, so we've been getting a good group coming out to sing. We're such simple and easily bribed people! The songs we're doing this year are different but very pretty. 

We've been busy here getting the house ready for guests. We've got Christmas lights up outside and the basement got a deep cleaning, yea. The dogs will be getting bathed tomorrow. This is the house before dad put all the lights on the trees. I'll send more photos later.

Saturday night we went to 2 receptions. Tyler Yorgason had his reception here and also Mary Thompson. It was fun seeing the Yorgasons. They are here for the whole week so hopefully we might see more of them later on for the Turkey Bowl and they are going to come over for a visit too. Tanner is a senior now and still a brainiac with a sense of humor. Samantha is beautiful and is just about 16. The 3 younger boys still look young and Sydney too. Kristina went with a bunch of friends today to take Samantha out to lunch at the China Palace in Eagle.

Eagle High was in the state championships over the weekend, but they lost to Coeur dAlene (had to look up the spelling on that one). Kristina went to the game and said it was pretty sad cuz it wasn't even close. At least BSU womped on SDSU this week and are now back up to #7. I just love watching BSU play.

Our ward is continuing to grow, not because of baptisms, but lots of people are moving in. It's hard to keep up with all the new people and get to know them, but I love hearing them speak. Everyone has a story and I love listening to people's life histories. I'm slowly but surely getting my dad's life history typed. He talks a lot faster than the patriarch. I can type a patriarchal blessing without ever having to rewind the tape. It's nice. But with my dad, I'm constantly rewinding to catch up. But I'm loving listening the stories all over again.

So how did your meetings go on Monday? Did you have to travel somewhere for them? What are your plans for Thanksgiving, in other words, how many Thanksgivings are you going to be having this year??

Grandma and Grandpa Thompson are getting their kitchen redone. Sounds like it's almost finished now, so when it is I'll have Sean send a picture and I'll pass it along so you can see it. It will be so nice for them to have their upstairs kitchen updated.

 We'll miss you this week but I know you are in good hands. Remember we are always praying for you.

Love you,

mom xxoo

what happened to Fall?

Nov. 13, 2011

Dear Elder Alex,

It is so cold now and I feel like we got jipped of fall. I was just starting to enjoy the beautiful fall colors, the brisk cool air, when all of a sudden we had a few very windy days, which then wiped out all the fall foliage, and the weather took a turn for the worse. I guess while I was gone to California it even snowed a little bit here. Dad said it was very icy on his way to work in Mountain Home the other morning and cars were sliding on the ice. Here we go again. Winter just seems to show up every year much to my dismay.

I can't complain though because Kirk has had several small blizzards in his neck of the woods, so things could be worse. 

Kristina and her dating group didn't complain last night when they had dinner outside either. She had a great time on her Sadie Hawkins date with Tanner Myler. In her group was Joy Purnell with Aaron Potter, Courtney Dittman with Kelson Adcock.  They started in the afternoon by coming over to our house for some art in the basement. They made some lovely creations with brushes and straws and played a little wii bowling too. Here are the art pics:

Above is Kristina and Tanner's canvas. Then they took the boys back home for a couple hours and the girls set up dinner. They picked the spot for dinner at the opening of Legacy subdivision. It really is a nice spot as you'll see from the pics, but it was quite brisk. The pictures don't show how cold it was because they took their coats off for the photo shoot. They set up our small stacking stools for tables and our cushions on the ground and I made a run to Panda Express for their dinners and they all sat and had dinner in the gazebo. Here are the pics from that part of the night:

After dinner they came back to our house and waited around til it was time for the dance. They said the dance was a lot of fun. then they went to Dittman's for games and a snack afterwards. You'll be proud of her, she was home by midnight!

We got your package yesterday. Boy did that make Leah's day-a poster of Justin. That was like the big thing she wanted on her list and we didn't get her that, so she is one happy girl. Nikki wore her night shirt last night very proudly-good call on that one too!

I went to my Stake Council mtg this morning and got to hear a sister missionary from Jake's mission report her mission-Mallory Lamb. The Jensen's are leaving next week to pick up Jake. I love hearing the missionary reports. Bro and Sis. Hansen who used to be in our ward also reported their mission to Kirtland. I don't ever mind going to those meetings also because I know Myles McKell will be there and he's always so funny. Also Kelly Cameron keeps us laughing.

Leah officially graduated from Primary today and went to the stand for her certificate. She recited the 2nd article of faith and did a great job. She got to go to her first mutual last Wednesday which she said was the best ever and then today she got to go to her first Sunday YW meeting where they learned about dating.Welcome to the big time Leah.

Today also was our Primary program. Nikki is officially the tallest in the Primary. She had her line down pat, but when she got to the microphone, she stumbled a bit on the words but pulled it together in the end. She's pretty proud of the fact that she's my last Primary child.

Thank you for sharing about the Vision of the South last week. I looked it up and read about it and today in RS I was able to actually share it as we were discussing the signs of the times. I can see that prophecy being fulfilled in many other places besides the South.

Are the Taylors getting ready for their baptism? How many in their family will actually be getting baptized? They are still in my prayers as I know this is a crucial time for them.

Last week we had a new family move into the house across the street. Yes, I know this will be about the 12th family that has lived there, but we are still excited to see them. It's an LDS family from Star. They have 5 kids under 8, so not exactly anyone for the girls to play with but there will be babysitting opportunities for sure.

In football, Eagle beat the undefeated Highland on Friday and will be playing in the state finals. However, BSU lost to TCU at home and we are all still in shock. I had to listen to the last part of the game on my run to Panda and it was a down to the last second loss 36-35, so Nikki claims I was driving radically. I probably was. BYU won easily over Idaho, but that was not even a good match-up.

We're starting to make plans for Thanksgiving here. I wish it was one of the holidays that you got to call home. That would be fun with everyone here. At least I'm hoping everyone makes it if the weather holds out this year. Last year we were so sad when the Trumbo's couldn't make it through Snowville and they had to turn around. This year we have to worry about Sarah trying to make it down from Canada too. I think we should change Thanksgiving to September when the true harvest is anyway. Canada has it right with that one.

Just finished a game of bananas with Nikki. It's a long game with just 2 people. Leah and Kristina went to something for YW and dad is at a meeting for scout leaders in the Primary. 

I hope you are well. Please be safe. Say hi to Elder Wheatley for me and I hope you have a fantastic week! Be exact in your obedience so you can call upon all the blessings that are waiting for you.

Love you very much,

Mom   xxoo

Back Home

Nov. 6, 2011

Dear Elder Alex,

How many times have I said, back home, in my letters. Well, it's always true and tonight I just got in from flying home from California. Dad and the girls picked me up from the airport. 

I had a whirlwind of a time in Orange County. I went down to take grandpa's life history and got quite a bit of it done. You know my dad, he has plenty of stories to tell. It will be a much bigger book than my mom's. It was fun hearing some things I hadn't heard before. I liked hearing his mission stories. My mom is progressively getting worse and really slowing down, physically and mentally. It's hard to see, but it's even harder to watch my dad work so hard to take care of her every need and not get any love in return.

While there I got to see Toni, Jan, Jeff, Heidi and her baby McKay, Cheyenne who takes care of grandma during the day, Chad who is now 13, Patrice and Dennis and their new home they are renting, Susan and Mike, Parker, Brig, Taylor, Sarah, McKenna and her boyfriend Will, Cami, Sam.  Pretty good for being there just 4 days, eh?  While I was there Trevor got in a big fight with his parents and left home. He didn't get far cuz he showed up at Toni's and wants to live there, but Toni is only giving him 2 weeks then he'll need to pay a substantial amount towards the rent. Always drama going on around there, more stories than I care to share. But I love my brothers and sisters and hope they always know that.

Now the hard part begins, transcribing the tapes. That will take me some time. I also have to get to work on Sarah's visa this week. Hopefully I'll be able to meet with an attorney and get all the paperwork ready beforehand and get it turned in. I think I told you that the visa will take between 3 and 9 months, so the sooner we get the stuff in, the better. It's a lot of paperwork. It reminds me of adopting the girls. Now we're adopting Sarah.

Here are some pics from my trip and Halloween:

On Wednesday, Leah has her 12th birthday. She is very excited and is still trying to earn the right to pierced ears. She'll be going to mutual this Wednesday too.  Nikki and dad made a replica of Jamestown while I was gone. Kristina planned her Sadie's date while I was gone. Sadie's is this Saturday and she's counting the days. They will be serving food from Panda for their dinner-aren't you proud of them?

That Civil War cemetary tour sounded quite interesting. They don't do those kinds of things around here. That's so southern and I miss that. 

I was so excited to hear your news about the Taylors last week. I hope they are still progressing well. After being in California and seeing such extremes of lifestyle, if you know what I mean, I've just been thinking so much about the gospel. When people join the church, their lives and even their very spirits seem to calm down, not that their troubles go away, but they feel a fullness of joy versus sporadic momentary highs and lows. They have purpose and best of all they have the gift of the Holy Ghost that is more key in their lives than I think most people realize. Having the spirit with you becomes almost palpable, if not palpable, at least visible with our spiritual eyes. I've seen such a starkness of difference in people's lives when they've had the spirit with them and when they have turned away from it. I knew a man in Hilton Head who had been a member but left the church and every so often he would return to hear his wife speak, etc (she was a member) and when he came through the doors of the church, our little humble church in Hilton Head, he would feel something different and if it was a fast Sunday, he said he felt practically compelled to get up and bear his testimony which I can remember him doing on at least 2 different occasions. He would break down up there and say how he knew everything was true and felt it strongly and was ashamed that he couldn't keep that feeling and dedication once he left the building. I think sometimes as long time members, we get "used" to feeling the spirit and having it in our lives and don't notice the stark difference that those who don't have it feel. That's why new members and people you teach who really listen and learn feel it strongly. I'm sure you've felt the strength of the spirit in many of your lessons with investigators. The Holy Ghost's job/mission of testifying of the truth of all things is very real.

I still pray for the Taylors, because I know how critical this period is in their lives. Do they have friends in the ward, are they being fellowshipped?  I can't stress how crucial that is. 

Well, between setting our clocks back and traveling to California for the weekend, it's thrown my internal clock off. So I better get to bed. Can't wait to hear from you and how your week went. All the family in Cali I talked with asked about you and they send their love. Keep up the great work.

love you,

mom xxoo