Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Purple Mashed Potatoes
Dear Elder Raymond and Loved Ones,
I guess it's my turn to do a family letter... There's 2 weeks to cover, so hang on (you might want to print this one...so you have time to write us). I had told your siblings we could go to a movie for family night on the 5th, but I didn't realize it was the NCAA championship game. So we had an early lesson from Kimmee about the stripling warriors and faith (she did a really great job) and then watched the game, well, Dad watched the game while everyone else retreated to their quiet spaces to read their latest books! I must admit that even I watched the last part of the game though, it was such a great game with lots of drama that even kept my attention and got me yelling at the TV along with your Dad!
The following day, your Dad had off, so we drove down to Caiti's track meet and watched her zoom around the track! Bryan came with us to cheer her on! She sure loves running! She is realizing there is a huge difference between middle school athletes and high school ones though. She was dropped from the 4x4 team and replaced with a "faster" girl, but her coach has her running the 100 now in addition to the 200 and 400! She's got a lot to learn, but is doing better at each meet!
For mutual the following evening the Priests learned about insurance while I taught the girls about food and kitchen safety and how to make awesome biscuits. Personally, I think the young women had more fun AND we got to eat afterward!
The next morning (Thursday), Tosca went to the vet to have her blood rechecked and to get her shots. Her blood work is still off but she is doing well. She was NOT happy about the blood work though, she tried to bite everyone except me and the vet (she likes him, her gives her milkbones :) ). After dropping Tosca off at home from the vet, I went to the YMCA and did a spinning class (combo of biking and aerobics) for 30 minutes then decided to stretch out with a yoga class that was starting... the spinning got my heart rate up, but the yoga.... it kicked my tush! I think I was sweating more in that class than anything else I've done... go figure! Anyway, I had to laugh at myself when an hour long stretching session made me sweat! I've got a long way to go before I can even begin to keep up with your Dad! Kimmee is doing really well with her lessons. She is working on her concerto for the recital on Mother's Day; it is coming together and most of the time I can't tell if it is her or her teacher playing!
On Friday, everyone went to the orthodontist. Bryan wears his retainers (not so subtle reminder here...) and his teeth look amazing now! Caiti is upset the dr wont give her a finish date yet (what's new...) and Kimmee is in a bit of a holding pattern since she recently lost her last baby tooth and the permanent one hasn't grown in enough to bracket and finish yet. She had them put bright red bands on her lower brackets... school spirit is creeping into her life now! Caiti was invite to participate in a varsity track meet that day down in Boulder City. She finally got home at 11pm, tired, hungry, and taped up from shin splints again.
Last Sunday was a CRAZY day, wonderful but very busy! It was fast Sunday. I already wrote you about it, so some of this is old info to you, but not the rest of the fam... Caiti and Dad bore their testimonies in Sacrament Meeting. Your dad talked about how families are blessed when their children serve missions (we certainly feel abundantly blessed on a daily basis) and about how he is reading about Helaman in the Book of Mormon and feels like Helaman's times are so similar to our own and how we need to use the power of repentance. I love your Dad! In Sunday School we learned how to teach using different methods. I think asking questions is the hardest for me because people just sit and look at me. It's really hard to get them to open up and give heartfelt answers. I learned a few "tricks" though, like giving them time to reflect about the question and not expecting a quick response and rephrasing the question if no one offers input. It was a good class and really made me think about the different ways to teach others and help them apply what you are teaching. I like your suggestion of reading Preach My Gospel for more teaching help. There is wonderful advice given! The bishopric scheduled a last minute meeting right after church for all the youth leaders. I had given a family a ride to church, so I hurriedly drove them home and raced back to the meeting, walking in about 20 minutes late. No sooner had I sat down when I noticed there were several messages and texts on my phone. Normally, I ignore them when I'm in a meeting, but something told me I had better look at them this time. They were all from your Dad and Bryan. The latest text was Bryan saying "my patriarchal blessing has been rescheduled from 4:30 to 2:30, where are you?" It was 2:29. I had been in my youth meeting a total of 5 minutes, no explanations for showing up so late, and now I just stood up and walked out. The "mom hat" always trumps them all... After exchanging a couple texts and a phone call, I met the rest of the family on the Patriarch's front door step (a little frazzled and frustrated that my schedule was messed up, so I was praying hard that the spirit would calm me and help me share in this amazing experience. I love the power of prayer!) Bryan received his patriarchal blessing . It was a great experience. I'll let him tell you about it. I was really excited for him yet apprehensive at the same time... it amazes me how a patriarch can listen to the spirit so closely even when he doesn't really know the person receiving the blessing! He talked about the many gifts Bryan has been blessed with, it was great! After the blessing, the patriarch looked at dad and I and said, "you have an amazing son here, amazing!" Dad said, "yes we do! Actually, we have two amazing sons... and two amazing daughters, we are very blessed!" Did I mention how much I love your Dad???!!!
Last Monday, Dad was in charge of Family Home Evening. We played a game of Life with altered rules... in order to move, we had to give the reference to a scripture mastery scripture, Caiti skunked us all!
On Tuesday, I'm not actually sure what went on. I had a muscle in my back that sent me straight to bed, almost in tears, I drugged myself and read for most of the day.
Wednesday, Caiti had another track meet here at the high school. My back was still hurting, but I was able to get all the laundry done and made it to her meet in time to see her 1st race, the 100, she took 1st in her heat! She did really well! Dad showed up to see her last 2 races. She had a good meet but still not fast enough to qualify for regional's. She has 2 meets left she can qualify in. She's working really hard!
Dad took Friday off, so he helped me clean the office and get it ready for your Uncle Bruce to stay in. I must have thrown away 3 big trash bags of old papers and "junk". I love a clean office! Even the closet is cleaned out and we are starting to build some food storage in it! Yay! Friday night Bryan and Dad organized an impromptu BBQ at the club house for all the priests and their families. Bryan had gone out with the young men's president the night before to visit the inactive boys, some new priests, and a couple boys the missionaries are teaching. He extended a personal invitation to each one of the boys. Two of them actually showed up with their families! There was a pretty good turn out and everyone seemed to have fun. Kimmee said (with a sly grin on her face) "everything is more fun when cute boys are involved!" I think she was trying to get a reaction out of Bryan... it was successful ;)! Uncle Bruce finally arrived at the house a little after 11pm. Someone had taken his bag by mistake and he had to hang around for them to bring it back and exchange theirs for his. We didn't get to spend too much time with him that evening since he and Dad were getting up and leaving at 5:30am to go watch Leslie in a triathlon. I stayed home so I could take all your sibs to a LV Mormon Youth Orchestra and Choir rehearsal. They are doing a fireside next Sunday! Two of the songs are "Come Thou Font" and "Praise To The Man". The string section sounds heavenly (although I find myself being a little too critical of the 2 bass players they have....).
Last night, we had BBQ for dinner with purple mashed potatoes, yep... they were purple and delicious! Then we played the traditional round of up and down the river, which Uncle Bruce beat us all in! Fun times!
Today was Stake Conference. We were assigned to the 1:00 session, but went to the 9:00 session instead so Bruce could go with us before he had to leave. Bryan, Caiti and Kimmee all sang in the stake youth choir. They did a beautiful job! They brought such a sweet spirit to the meeting as they sang the prelude music. Bryan impressed us; he sang out and we could hear his clear tenor voice carrying the young men next to him. Dad and I love to see our children discover and use the talents they have been blessed with. It makes our love for you guys grow 10 fold each time!!! Lots of topics were covered; the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood, Blessings that come from making and keeping covenants with the Lord, Tithing, Faith, Sacrifice, and avoiding missed opportunities. Then the Stake President got up and explained the various programs available in the stake. When he talked about Smart Night, it reminded Dad and I of finding your tutor ID from this past fall and how we chuckled when we read it...
Alec Raymond
TUTOR
Everything BUT Spanish
You should've know you'd be called to a Spanish speaking mission! Haha! :)
After Pres. Waite finished with the programs, he began by saying, "in no way is this a prophecy" then went on to tell how he feels extremely impressed to focus on emergency preparedness and doing our calling to the very best of our abilities and sustaining others in their callings. Then he said, "If you don't have your 72 hour kits by the end of June, consider yourselves warned". Then he went back to talking about callings and how the Lord will sustain us when we do what he asks of us and quoted the scripture in Doctrine & Covenants 82:10, "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." It was a good conference and... I will be working on updating our 72 hour kits next week.
Well, I guess I have finished, which is a good thing since it is 10:55 and my face seems to be getting closer and closer to the keyboard. We love you very much. Thank you for your dedication in sharing the gospel, that has brought you strength, peace, and true happiness, with strangers in a language you are just beginning to grasp. It is wonderful to see how Heavenly Father blesses and protects you. You are always in our prayers.
Eternally,
Mom
I guess it's my turn to do a family letter... There's 2 weeks to cover, so hang on (you might want to print this one...so you have time to write us). I had told your siblings we could go to a movie for family night on the 5th, but I didn't realize it was the NCAA championship game. So we had an early lesson from Kimmee about the stripling warriors and faith (she did a really great job) and then watched the game, well, Dad watched the game while everyone else retreated to their quiet spaces to read their latest books! I must admit that even I watched the last part of the game though, it was such a great game with lots of drama that even kept my attention and got me yelling at the TV along with your Dad!
The following day, your Dad had off, so we drove down to Caiti's track meet and watched her zoom around the track! Bryan came with us to cheer her on! She sure loves running! She is realizing there is a huge difference between middle school athletes and high school ones though. She was dropped from the 4x4 team and replaced with a "faster" girl, but her coach has her running the 100 now in addition to the 200 and 400! She's got a lot to learn, but is doing better at each meet!
For mutual the following evening the Priests learned about insurance while I taught the girls about food and kitchen safety and how to make awesome biscuits. Personally, I think the young women had more fun AND we got to eat afterward!
The next morning (Thursday), Tosca went to the vet to have her blood rechecked and to get her shots. Her blood work is still off but she is doing well. She was NOT happy about the blood work though, she tried to bite everyone except me and the vet (she likes him, her gives her milkbones :) ). After dropping Tosca off at home from the vet, I went to the YMCA and did a spinning class (combo of biking and aerobics) for 30 minutes then decided to stretch out with a yoga class that was starting... the spinning got my heart rate up, but the yoga.... it kicked my tush! I think I was sweating more in that class than anything else I've done... go figure! Anyway, I had to laugh at myself when an hour long stretching session made me sweat! I've got a long way to go before I can even begin to keep up with your Dad! Kimmee is doing really well with her lessons. She is working on her concerto for the recital on Mother's Day; it is coming together and most of the time I can't tell if it is her or her teacher playing!
On Friday, everyone went to the orthodontist. Bryan wears his retainers (not so subtle reminder here...) and his teeth look amazing now! Caiti is upset the dr wont give her a finish date yet (what's new...) and Kimmee is in a bit of a holding pattern since she recently lost her last baby tooth and the permanent one hasn't grown in enough to bracket and finish yet. She had them put bright red bands on her lower brackets... school spirit is creeping into her life now! Caiti was invite to participate in a varsity track meet that day down in Boulder City. She finally got home at 11pm, tired, hungry, and taped up from shin splints again.
Last Sunday was a CRAZY day, wonderful but very busy! It was fast Sunday. I already wrote you about it, so some of this is old info to you, but not the rest of the fam... Caiti and Dad bore their testimonies in Sacrament Meeting. Your dad talked about how families are blessed when their children serve missions (we certainly feel abundantly blessed on a daily basis) and about how he is reading about Helaman in the Book of Mormon and feels like Helaman's times are so similar to our own and how we need to use the power of repentance. I love your Dad! In Sunday School we learned how to teach using different methods. I think asking questions is the hardest for me because people just sit and look at me. It's really hard to get them to open up and give heartfelt answers. I learned a few "tricks" though, like giving them time to reflect about the question and not expecting a quick response and rephrasing the question if no one offers input. It was a good class and really made me think about the different ways to teach others and help them apply what you are teaching. I like your suggestion of reading Preach My Gospel for more teaching help. There is wonderful advice given! The bishopric scheduled a last minute meeting right after church for all the youth leaders. I had given a family a ride to church, so I hurriedly drove them home and raced back to the meeting, walking in about 20 minutes late. No sooner had I sat down when I noticed there were several messages and texts on my phone. Normally, I ignore them when I'm in a meeting, but something told me I had better look at them this time. They were all from your Dad and Bryan. The latest text was Bryan saying "my patriarchal blessing has been rescheduled from 4:30 to 2:30, where are you?" It was 2:29. I had been in my youth meeting a total of 5 minutes, no explanations for showing up so late, and now I just stood up and walked out. The "mom hat" always trumps them all... After exchanging a couple texts and a phone call, I met the rest of the family on the Patriarch's front door step (a little frazzled and frustrated that my schedule was messed up, so I was praying hard that the spirit would calm me and help me share in this amazing experience. I love the power of prayer!) Bryan received his patriarchal blessing . It was a great experience. I'll let him tell you about it. I was really excited for him yet apprehensive at the same time... it amazes me how a patriarch can listen to the spirit so closely even when he doesn't really know the person receiving the blessing! He talked about the many gifts Bryan has been blessed with, it was great! After the blessing, the patriarch looked at dad and I and said, "you have an amazing son here, amazing!" Dad said, "yes we do! Actually, we have two amazing sons... and two amazing daughters, we are very blessed!" Did I mention how much I love your Dad???!!!
Last Monday, Dad was in charge of Family Home Evening. We played a game of Life with altered rules... in order to move, we had to give the reference to a scripture mastery scripture, Caiti skunked us all!
On Tuesday, I'm not actually sure what went on. I had a muscle in my back that sent me straight to bed, almost in tears, I drugged myself and read for most of the day.
Wednesday, Caiti had another track meet here at the high school. My back was still hurting, but I was able to get all the laundry done and made it to her meet in time to see her 1st race, the 100, she took 1st in her heat! She did really well! Dad showed up to see her last 2 races. She had a good meet but still not fast enough to qualify for regional's. She has 2 meets left she can qualify in. She's working really hard!
Dad took Friday off, so he helped me clean the office and get it ready for your Uncle Bruce to stay in. I must have thrown away 3 big trash bags of old papers and "junk". I love a clean office! Even the closet is cleaned out and we are starting to build some food storage in it! Yay! Friday night Bryan and Dad organized an impromptu BBQ at the club house for all the priests and their families. Bryan had gone out with the young men's president the night before to visit the inactive boys, some new priests, and a couple boys the missionaries are teaching. He extended a personal invitation to each one of the boys. Two of them actually showed up with their families! There was a pretty good turn out and everyone seemed to have fun. Kimmee said (with a sly grin on her face) "everything is more fun when cute boys are involved!" I think she was trying to get a reaction out of Bryan... it was successful ;)! Uncle Bruce finally arrived at the house a little after 11pm. Someone had taken his bag by mistake and he had to hang around for them to bring it back and exchange theirs for his. We didn't get to spend too much time with him that evening since he and Dad were getting up and leaving at 5:30am to go watch Leslie in a triathlon. I stayed home so I could take all your sibs to a LV Mormon Youth Orchestra and Choir rehearsal. They are doing a fireside next Sunday! Two of the songs are "Come Thou Font" and "Praise To The Man". The string section sounds heavenly (although I find myself being a little too critical of the 2 bass players they have....).
Last night, we had BBQ for dinner with purple mashed potatoes, yep... they were purple and delicious! Then we played the traditional round of up and down the river, which Uncle Bruce beat us all in! Fun times!
Today was Stake Conference. We were assigned to the 1:00 session, but went to the 9:00 session instead so Bruce could go with us before he had to leave. Bryan, Caiti and Kimmee all sang in the stake youth choir. They did a beautiful job! They brought such a sweet spirit to the meeting as they sang the prelude music. Bryan impressed us; he sang out and we could hear his clear tenor voice carrying the young men next to him. Dad and I love to see our children discover and use the talents they have been blessed with. It makes our love for you guys grow 10 fold each time!!! Lots of topics were covered; the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood, Blessings that come from making and keeping covenants with the Lord, Tithing, Faith, Sacrifice, and avoiding missed opportunities. Then the Stake President got up and explained the various programs available in the stake. When he talked about Smart Night, it reminded Dad and I of finding your tutor ID from this past fall and how we chuckled when we read it...
Alec Raymond
TUTOR
Everything BUT Spanish
You should've know you'd be called to a Spanish speaking mission! Haha! :)
After Pres. Waite finished with the programs, he began by saying, "in no way is this a prophecy" then went on to tell how he feels extremely impressed to focus on emergency preparedness and doing our calling to the very best of our abilities and sustaining others in their callings. Then he said, "If you don't have your 72 hour kits by the end of June, consider yourselves warned". Then he went back to talking about callings and how the Lord will sustain us when we do what he asks of us and quoted the scripture in Doctrine & Covenants 82:10, "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." It was a good conference and... I will be working on updating our 72 hour kits next week.
Well, I guess I have finished, which is a good thing since it is 10:55 and my face seems to be getting closer and closer to the keyboard. We love you very much. Thank you for your dedication in sharing the gospel, that has brought you strength, peace, and true happiness, with strangers in a language you are just beginning to grasp. It is wonderful to see how Heavenly Father blesses and protects you. You are always in our prayers.
Eternally,
Mom
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