17 May 2007

May 17, 2007
Dear Elder Sean,
I'm trying to type quietly, not easy for a speed typer like me. Dad is sitting with the IRS agents right now and Jeff Lemke. The audit sounds like just a bunch of investigatory questions right now. It's fun having Jeff here and seeing him again. He and Rita divorced some years ago (which I knew would happen the minute he married her). He said I should have tied him up and ripped his heart out instead of letting him go through a bad marriage. I told him next time I'd do that for him. I mentioned to him that I thought he should look up Linda Ingram. We talked about what a fun lady she is and now Jeff says he's going to fly home by way of HHI and stop in and see her. :)

So how has your week been? Thanks so much for your wonderful letter. I got a good feel for what's going on around you and the elders you're working with. I love meeting new people in my own life. Everyone has a story and I love figuring out what their stories are. It makes the world go round.

I'm still on the phone every day with Jan. Her pattern sales are coming in every day and we're discussing our plans for the fall show in Houston. I wish we lived closer to each other cuz I could really help her out a lot more especially when her rheumatoid arthritis flares up. We're finding a lot of intracacies in the legal end of things like percentages to be paid to people who are helping her, etc. It's a little sticky and I think we she needs to get a professional in the business world to help her out. We're not doing anything ground breaking, so it should be pretty cut and dry.

A lady I met at the convention lives in Middleton and is just starting up an internet business. She wants to get together with me and we've been in touch since I've been home. I'm anxious to talk with her about the particulars of internet business, etc.

Yesterday when I got home there was a message from Mr. Nielsen the principle at Eagle Elem. He said Leah had been in his office because she was kicking a girl in PE. So I called him and talked with him. Leah and her friend were kicking a girl and the teacher took them into the principle. They got their recess taken away for a couple days. I don't know what exactly goes through Leah's head sometimes, probably not much in this instance. I think she's very impulsive and after having 4 kids who were anything but impulsive, this is a whole new world for me. We had a big talk and she's going to apologize to the PE teacher and make a card for the girl she kicked and we'll take it to her house this afternoon. I'm hoping to find a niche that Leah can excel in. We'll see how swimming classes go this summer. She says she wants to be a swimmer.

Nikki moved up to another level of book. This one is called God Adds Oil. She's doing well in school. She still can't control herself around food, so when she stole Leah's brownie the other day, her punishment was to pick all the weeds in the sand pit. I decided to give them chores and work to do or laps around the yard instead of sitting still in timeout(where she just promptly falls asleep). Who knows, we might have a first this summer and be weed-free thanks to them.

Kristina participated in the Battle of the Bands last Saturday. Her band Blush did great. Their lead singer is a little pistol, which is great for their band, but her singing could use some fine tuning. The rest of the band is very shy, giving their name proper meaning.
I loved the band that the Pinder kids were in. They did a great job, mainly because their guitarist was phenomenal, a real show-man and talented. Randy stood in the back and rocked out the whole time they played. Alex caught it on video.

Alex is busy with end-of-the-year activities. Tonight is their tennis team party. He misses you, but thank you for being such a wonderful example for him. I know he really looks up to you.

Getting to talk with Kirk Sunday was a treat. He sounds good and is still very fired up about the work. I'll send his letter in another dearelder.

Oh, you may not like this part, but here are your grades for last semester:
Anthro = B-
Bio = C
Basket = A
Basket = A
Tennis = A
Jazz = C-
Inter. Poli = C-
BOM = A-
New Test = C

Total BYU credits = 28.5
Total GPA = 2.55

If there are any discrepancies where you need me to email a professor, let me know. I'll fight on your behalf if something's not right. I know that now is the time to take care of this. I'm so sorry that you had to rush that last half of the semester.

Anyway, I'm going to Garrett's farewell this Sunday. Sounds like a few friends from Provo will be coming into town again. Jill says that Rachel (England) is staying with her. I'll give you a report on it next week.

Andrea Jones called me the other day asked if she could get your email forwards. She sounds good. She's done with school and working this summer. She asked if I would help her finish her quilt. She wants to finish a lot of unfinished projects and learn new things this summer.

I was thinking about how to handle your emails. I would love it if you could still hand write your letters to us and then maybe make the email letter a little more generic for me to forward out. It sounded like you wouldn't have too much time for emailing there. But let me know what you think.

I'm gathering some things to send to you. Do you still need a hoodie? Will it add too much bulk to your suitcase? I'll wait to hear from you again before I send you a pkg.

So how is your black eye? I hope you took pix of it. Even Jonny mentioned it to his parents. Must have been notable. Didn't know the MTC would be so rough.

This Sunday is also the new building open house for the community. Each auxilliary is setting up an area so people can see what it is we do,etc. I'm going to personally invite 3 people in our neighborhood and I really do hope the community/non-members take advantage of this and it doesn't become an event we put on for ourselves. Alex and I are singing in the choir the last half and the girls are singing in the children's choir for part of it. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks for my Mother's Day card. Hearing you bear your testimony in Spanish is beautiful. It means more than you know to me. I have that same testimony, I know how it feels and I also know how much it continues to grow if you place yourself in the right places at the right time.

Take care of yourself, relish your time in the MTC while you're there.
Love you much,
mom
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo