Is it time to go back to school yet?

January 22, 2023

Dear Michael,

I enjoyed your letter this week. I'm glad you had a fun Chinese New Year party. Sounds like a great way to allow people to socialize and make friends at the church. Glad to see growth with Julia and Jenny. Hope things move along successfully with your new friends. Sounds like Isaac needs a little more time to understand how church attendance will change his worship and commitment. Keep working with him! It looks like it's cold and wet in Boston. How are your shoes holding up? Do you mostly wear your boots when you go out? Have you tried the electric hand warmer? Does it help at all? I hope you stay warm and healthy!

We've had a fun, busy week.

1. The kids had Monday and Tuesday off school, so we let them have a sleepover with cousins. It was a little bit of a bummer because Tiff’s kids were sad about Grandpa Duke. And then Ryan got sick and threw up, so he had to go home. But the rest of the kids cozied up to watch movies and have popcorn. Owen stayed most of the day to play with Jett and Tate which was nice.

2. On Tuesday I took Jett and Tate up skiing at Nordic Valley. Krysta and Adam’s family came too, and Jett spent most of the day skiing with them. It was Tate’s second time skiing. The first half of the day was absolutely miserable with Tate whining and his skis falling off. But after lunch he really got the hang of things with his skis and we had a much more enjoyable day. He just wanted to point his skis straight down the hill and race to the bottom! I bit it twice at Nordic. Once at the top of the Magic Carpet. Tate got off the carpet and just sat down! So I had to move out of the way so I wouldn’t run over him when I exited the carpet, and I ended up totally wiping out in front of everyone! Then at the end of the day I was walking to my car and slipped on the ice in the parking lot. I think I fell on my bum and hands, and then whipped back to hit my head. Luckily I had my helmet on still or I would have had a concussion for sure! My wrists feel very sore, but it could have been worse. I was so glad to come home and soak in a hot tub!

3. Wednesday was a weird A/B day at FHS and Blake and Ty didn’t even bother to go. Then Thursday was no school for the sophomores and seniors because of Jr. ACT prep. Seriously, I hate this time of year with the schools. Every day is early out or late start or teacher prep or president’s day. Whatever. You’d think that having the kids home I could get them to help with a little housework, but no.

4. Dad invited me to the firm game night this week and I brought Ethan along. We had a great time learning a new game called The Royals. It was really fun. Ethan was super excited to be included. Poor kid has been left home a lot recently.

5. Jett and Blake are both enjoying rec basketball right now. Ty was invited to play as a substitute for a team this week, and he made the winning 3-pt shot right at buzzer. Very exciting! Someone caught it on camera, so Ty can treasure his glory moment forever!

6. I managed to fix one garbage disposal and break the other all in one evening. I’m so handy.

7. I inspired a road rage incident in the parking lot of Centennial Jr High this week. I got to the school early for carpool pickup, but there was already a line of cars waiting that wrapped around onto the street. So I pulled into the parking lot and pulled up just past the crosswalk to wait for the kids. I pulled forward to not block the crosswalk and made sure there was nobody in the vehicles I was waiting behind because I didn’t want to block anyone in. Well next thing I know some lunatic is behind me honking his horn repeatedly. I immediately pulled forward to give him more space. He kept honking. So I moved forward again. Not good enough. He got out of his car and came storming over to my window telling me that I couldn’t be there. I said I could, and I wasn’t going to argue with him and rolled my window right back up. So he went and yelled at another lady in the parking lot and then pulled away, continuing to honk his horn. What on earth?! The other lady told me she works in the office, and the guy had called the office to complain about where my car was and to get them to come out and get me to move! He could have just given me a friendly tap of the horn and I would have moved, but he decided to absolutely lose his mind instead. He had a disabled veteran bumper sticker, and I think he was parked several spots away from me in the handicap area. I took a picture the next day to reexamine if I was at fault and I can’t see how on earth I could have been clocking his vehicle. Some people need to CALM DOWN.

8. Dad and I attended Debbie Lloyd’s funeral yesterday. It was a lovely service and she will be so missed. We also hosted a dinner for the new Elder’s Quorum presidency. Taco bar and Limeade slush to drink. Everything tasted great, but I did forget to cook the tortillas until everyone arrived. I can’t be so scatter-brained sometimes. But also, I figured it was good to set the bar low and make everyone feel right at home! After the guests left Dad stayed up super late preparing another talk. He spoke at church again today and did a great job. And it sounds like he’s got to teach next week. He’s busy!

9. Blake was ordained as a priest today! Seems weird because he will still be 15 for several months.

10. Dad talked to Caleb’s dad this week about housing and hopefully he can make some progress on finding a great place for you to live next year. Dad also talked to one of his old mission buddies and it sounds like he will be able to give you a fantastic job when you get home. Lucky duck!

Have a great week!

Love you, Mom

Jett's conga line

Are we having fun yet?

My car was pulled up so the back aligned with the back of that Black SUV. The lunatic veteran was parked in a spot on the opposite side of the crosswalk. How on earth was I blocking him?! I wasn't.