4 Nov 2007

Nov. 4, 2007
Dear Elder Sean,
So we're here experiencing our first full day of daylight savings. We set the clocks back last night and now it's pitch black and the girls were ready to go to bed around 7p, but I resisted the urge to trick them and let them go to bed early. I know they'll be up pretty early in the morning though.
Alex is getting ready for his choir trip to Washington tomorrow morning. Actually, he's decided to go over to Dallas's and have a cookie baking party (they got the idea from your Sunday night cookie parties).

We had sad news this week in our ward. Mary Jane Ramsey passed away from some complications of her appendicitis surgery. We are all so sad because you know what a sweet woman she was and how loving and complimentary she was. Dad will have to conduct his first funeral tomorrow morning. The Ramsey's have a large family so there should be quite a large group there. The happiness in this is knowing she is finally back with her husband who died several years ago and also with her 2 daughters who died before her. I will really miss seeing her at church and feeling her warm hugs.

We are all well here. Just plodding along with our daily routines. Kirk got his first paycheck and was pretty happy about that. Kristina tried out for the High School Musical play here and is waiting to hear the results later this week. She feels good about how she did. Leah is getting VERY excited about her upcoming birthday this Fri. I'm trying very hard to at least have her quilt top put together before her birthday. She doesn't get baptized until the next stake baptism which is on Dec 1st and so far she still wants Alex to baptize her. I know Alex will be nervous about that but it will be great. Right now Leah wants to go to Chucky Cheese. We're all going to try to talk her into some place better. Wish us luck. Nikki has been enjoying me volunteering in her classroom every Monday. I enjoy going in also. I spend my time reading with the kids and helping them learn how to take AR tests on the computer. It's a lot of fun. I also helped out with her Halloween party. Nikki was the only one in the class too scared to put her hands into bowls of unknown goop which they were supposed to try to identify. So I had to put my hands in and pull it out so she could see it. Nikki is all talk and no bite.

Dad has most this week off which will be nice. We're hoping to get some things done around the house to get it ready for the winter. It's quite cold now in the mornings. Kirk takes the Mustang to work each day and it's been working great despite the cold weather. Now he's kind of pushing for that paint job. It's just so far down on our priority list of spending right now.

How are you doing? I'm anxious to hear about that family of 10 that you found. Does 10 mean that there are 2 parents and 8 children or are there some extended family members? Has Tonio finished his testing yet? I was happy to hear that the Bishop and his wife are so actively involved with the missionaries. How is Rafael doing? I will be sending Hma. Carranza another letter this week with some pictures too. Speaking of pictures, do you like the Halloween pix I sent? How are you doing with your camera? Will you need any more SD cards?

News updates for you: BYU won CSU and BSU won easily over San Jose. The fires in Calif which have been the worst they've ever seen, have gotten under control now. So many people evacuated throughout the state-almost 500,000. San Diego got hit the hardest but they're rebuilding now. Do you get the Church News? If you don't, we can always send back issues to you in our packages. It's a nice way to keep in touch with what the church is doing around the world. We've been keeping them all, so just let me know.

I should be getting your elder's newsletter this week and I'll get it sent off to you. I may send it through Dearelder.com and see how that works. Let me know when you get it so I can find out if that's the way to go from now on. I hear Jared is doing well but I'll try and get something more specific to get to you.

Next week is our stake conference and since I'll be speaking at the Sat evening mtg, I will have that on my mind most the week. Once I get my talk written, I'll feel much more relaxed. I'm excited about the topic, "This, the greatest dispensation" and I hope to do it justice. I want to be able to put into words how I really feel which is always the trick. I'm praying for the spirit to be with me each day as I give it thought and I've been jotting down lots of ideas and notes as they come to me. I'll let you know how it goes and I'll be very happy when I'm finished and can relax and just listen to the stake presidency speak.

That's about it for around here. I'm looking forward to hearing from you as usual. Hope you're happy and well. Our prayers are always with you and the people you are contacting. Remember that a smile is a powerful tool. Use your sweet smile and happy countenance to break down barriers and open doors. It can soften many hearts too.

I love you and know that you are where the Lord wants you to be. I know that He lives and loves each of us and is mindful of our needs and knows us each by name. What comfort that is.
Love,
momxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxooxoxoxoxooxoxoox