Blame it on the Rain

Hello my dears! My Sundays have been unusually busy lately, and it’s throwing my whole letter-writing schedule off kilter. I enjoyed our call on Sunday, but somehow felt like I wanted more time to talk to both of you—of course! I guess I’ll just have to wait until next time.

This is what we’ve been up to here:

1. Dad had his annual “best nap of the year” during his not-colonoscopy.  Afterwards he came home and did some reading and a little but of work and then went with Grandpa to watch Ella play high school volleyball. Apparently she’s pretty darn good!
2. I made my very first loaf of bread. Despite making several mistakes, it still ended up pretty good. But also, it was a lot of work!
3. Tate and Jett had early out school Wed-Friday. We went over in the afternoon for Parent-Teacher conferences, the book fair, and flu shots. Tate was super nervous and refused his flu shot until I promised ice cream and he found some courage. Tate is scoring above benchmark in reading and math. His teacher loves him, but says he’s a little “tornado” in the classroom—leaving piles of debris in his wake. Yeah. No kidding.
4. Friday night we picked up Grandpa Bramhall and drove to Provo for a late BYU game. Traffic was terrible, but the company was good! We got rained on, but the rain wasn’t too heavy and the weather wasn’t too cold. BYU won, and they put on a great half-time show. The drone display was excellent! Michael met up with friends after the game to drive down to St. George for the weekend, but the rest of us drove home. I didn’t get to bed until about 3 am, and was completely wrecked the next day. I just can’t handle those kind of late nights anymore!
5. I set my alarm for the morning to get up and get Tate to his soccer game. But I woke to the sound of kids in the kitchen and rain on the windows. Morning games were cancelled! Blessed day! I was way too tired for 9 am soccer! It was raining Friday night and there was enough lightening that they cancelled the Farmington/Davis game, and rescheduled for Saturday afternoon. But the rain was even worse on Saturday! Apparently it was a record rain day in Salt Lake. We haven’t received that much rain in one day since 1901!
6. Tate spent the entire rainy Saturday coloring and making art creations and leaving messes everywhere. We tried to listen to conference in between other obligations. Ethan had two basketball games, and Tate got to go to a birthday party at Classic Fun Center. He had so much fun on his rollerblades, I practically had to drag him out of the place! Jett got to hang out with his friend Milo that night.
7. We enjoyed Sunday Conference at home in our comfies. I made homemade granola and more sourdough. I also cooked up a feast for our dinner guests. It’s good for me to have something to do with my hands while I listen so that I can focus and stay awake. But I admit this time I was a bit distracted with other helpers in the kitchen. I’m going to have to go back and listen to the messages again. But it did feel strange to have President Nelson missing from the stand. 
8. Dad invited an old mission friend from Australia and his daughter to join us after conference. It was fun to meet them and spend the evening together. Elder Orth has a blended family of 10 kids including 2 sets of twins! Melanie I think is the 4th oldest and has her mission call and will be coming back to SLC to serve at Temple Square in a few months. She was very excited to be in Utah. Elder Orth told us stories about how dad would say epic-long prayers, and one of the reasons he was called the “Bear” was because he sometimes drooled when he fell asleep in the pews! Dad has had a really good time reconnecting with his mission friends.
9. I forgot to tell you that Dad received an email from someone in Taiwan who found the gift bag and letter he left on their doorstep. I’m not sure I remember the details, but I think the email was from the son of the man Dad taught, and it wounded like the family was still active. I’m not sure why the man himself didn’t write. So it seems your Dad’s plans to find his old friends and converts were quite successful!
10. Today I took Ethan to see Dr. Martineau for the bump on his leg. He took x-rays and confirmed the myositis ossificans. But the lump didn’t look like it had completely formed into bone yet. He gave Ethan some medication to take, and hopefully it will help him  heal quickly. 

Love you both!

 Xoxo—

Mom