Dear Mom and Dad,
We’re glad Neil and Lois were able to spend a few days with
you this week. Too bad Scott and
Melinda were in Provo while Neil & Lois were in Wyoming since we siblings
don’t get to see each other that often.
It’s crazy to think that Rex and Cathy are now in China. I feel more for Cathy than Rex as I’m
sure this ‘adventure’ is bigger on her end :). It will be fun to receive their emails!
We’ve had a wonderful week. Every year about this time we realize summer is almost
behind us. So we sit down and make
a list of things we need to do before school starts. At the top of the list this year was to go swimming. Now, lest you think me completely
terrible, I assure you my kids have gotten to swim this summer. Just not at the community center in Maple
Grove. We swam in Florida &
Wyoming mostly, but not here. So I
committed to take the kids on Tuesday.
Swimming is not my favorite activity, but we had a good time. It was in the 80’s so not too terribly
hot and therefore not too terribly crowded. I surprised the kids with ice cream during one of the safety
breaks and the afternoon got even better.
I’ve discovered that I can turn an ordinary afternoon in an
extraordinary one with a simple purchase of ice cream. Jacob doesn’t like swimming either, but
once that ice cream came out, he seemed to enjoy himself too.
Charlotte signed up for dance at our old studio on Tuesday
night. I am crossing my fingers
that our decision not to follow the former Irish teacher to her new studio is a
good one. Charlotte has always
been an independent thinker and prefers to stay at the old studio to build the
program with the new teacher. As
she explained to me, she’d rather be one of the better dancers at the old
studio and have a new teacher instead of just a recreation student at the new
studio with her former teacher. I
hope it works out and I hope she gets to indeed shine a little.
On Wednesday night two member of the new primary presidency
came over the meet the girls. We
all expected them to sit and chat for about 15 minutes and then leave. I was beyond impressed when the
president and first counselor played Pit with the girls followed by doing
cartwheels in our backyard. My
girls were all completely impressed with their new leaders . . . Laurel liked
them so much, she wants to invite them to her birthday party. And I just love these women for being
active and taking such an interest in each child.
The infamous red postcards arrived with teacher assignments
on Thursday. We changed our plans
for that day so as to be here when the mail came. Mary was assigned to the cluster teacher next year which I
didn’t expect but am very pleased with.
I would have been happy with 5 of the 6 first grade teachers and am
simply relieved she didn’t get the one I didn’t want. Laurel got the same teacher Charlotte had for 4th
grade. She’s tough – very tough –
but if Laurel can survive 4th grade, the rest of elementary school will
be a piece of cake. Sometimes Laurel
doesn’t pay as much attention as she should to the details so I’m a little
nervous, but feel optimistic that Mrs. Tannuzzo will help her overcome this tendency. Charlotte got a teacher I didn’t expect
but turns out is a cluster teacher as well. We don’t know anything about her, but with Charlotte’s
skills, I know she’ll be fine.
Jacob ran his first cross-country meet of the season on
Friday. He finished 1.5 miles in
8:07 – a much better time than his first meet last year. He seemed nervous before the meet but I
reminded him that he’s more experienced having run last year, he has run most
of the summer in preparation for the season, and he’s a little older and
stronger. And I was right. He did very well and was pleased with
his time. We are always proud of him
and I could care less what his time is as long as he feels good about it. I want Jacob to run since it’s healthy
and lets him hang out with his friends, but Jacob’s real talents lie in
academics while sports are for fun.
Having said that, his race on Friday was a nice way to start the year.
Since we’re going North to see David’s Dad next weekend,
David and I went out to eat Saturday night to celebrate my birthday. We went to Olive Garden and split an
entrée and had one of our most pleasant meals out. I am constantly amazed at the amount of food served in restaurants
these days. I held myself back on
the breadsticks this time and actually left the restaurant feeling good instead
of sick to my stomach from eating too much. It could not have been lovelier. We came home from dinner and watched a movie with our kids
so kind of the best mix of both worlds (couple & parenthood). We’ll celebrate next Sunday with dinner
at home, cake, & gifts, but last night was a fun outing and nice way to
start my celebration.
Before I close this letter, I wanted to share with Dad something
I found in a recent Ensign. I’ve
thought a lot about your question, “Do you think God will hold it against me if
I can’t forgive?” God has
commanded us to forgive but it can be difficult to do. That’s why I liked this quote since it
helped me see the commandment to forgive as something that blesses me instead
of solely benefitting the person who committed the offense. This is from the April 2012 Ensign in an
article titled, “Of You It Is Required to Forgive,” name withheld for the
author:
“. . . the solution for a weed-ridden heart is to employ the
Master Gardener, the Savior Jesus Christ.
He has the power to heal any heart. He requires only one thing: we must offer our hearts fully
to Him . . . His way, it turns out requires us to forgive those who have hurt
us. They don’t need our forgiveness to be redeemed – they need
the Lord’s forgiveness; but still we are required to forgive them. I’ve
learned that the reason we forgive people is not for their sakes – it’s for
ours. When we forgive, we are
liberated from bondage and relieved of a heavy burden . . . when the
Lord paid the price for our sins, He didn’t suffer just for the sinners. He also suffered for those who are
harmed by the sins of others.”
I liked this because it clearly teaches that we forgive for
our own spiritual and emotional health.
We give our problem over to the Lord so He can deal with the people who
have hurt us. He’s happy to take
that burden from us. We freely
give it to him because none of these jerks who have hurt us are worth losing
our family over. Give me your
thoughts on all this J.
Well, better run.
This is all of our news for the week. We love you!
Have a wonderful week!
Love,
David, Ella, Jacob, Charlotte, Laurel, & Mary
Swimming!
Elm Creek - 1.5 miles - 8:07
Scout Camp - Archery Merit Badge
Letter from Charlotte
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