Monday, August 25, 2014

Week 36 - Mark 8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? AND Acts 8:36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

Dear Jordan,

Thank you for your amazing last email. Mom was able to post the emails and send them out to everyone for the last two weeks. People asked questions of me because they hadn't seen anything for a bit. Bruce asked if everything was okay. Liz Merrill didn't know there was a blog so she had just been thinking of how you were doing.

Since returning home from the cabin, things have been pretty quiet. On Saturday Robert took his Pilot and I took Lori/Nate's van to be serviced at the dealership. Fortunately, Hannah and Rachel had mowed the lawn yesterday because it was Alpine Days and Saturday would have been a mess to get through. Hannah and I also worked on the Stake Farm removing weeds. I did the regular shopping and then picked up the van. Mom and I then went to the High Priest party and then went with Rachel to see the last Xmen movie. Sunday was pretty usual but after church Hannah and Bekah had interviews with the bishop. Bekah also received a calling. We were both surprised. Mom went with us to Robert's house for dinner and then we watched "The Butler". I got it for Mom for our anniversary (23rd). Mom got us big pillows so we can sleep better. On Monday we had Family Home Evening and the lesson was on Happiness. We also talked a little about your last email.

On Tuesday for scouts we talked about camping and two of the boys had their board of review. They both became Stars. On Wednesday I went around the ward getting the permission slips for the camp out this Friday. We wanted to go to Albion Basin, but it was booked for Friday. We decided to go to Alpine instead. We had a good campout. On Thursday Mom and the girls were supposed to go to a musical but they stayed home instead (Holly wasn't feeling well enough to go). On Friday, I checked on several campsites up little cottonwood canyon, but they were all full due to the fact that it was the last weekend before school starts. Only two scouts showed for the campout, so I also took Sarah and Pete Jensen. Kyle Herd and his boys came down for a little bit as well. They were late because Kyle sold the van for us, and the buyer was late arriving and the car wouldn't start. (We got a whopping $500 for it. At least it's gone!) At the camp out, we got to watch  Despicable Me 2. We all slept in separate tents. We ate "pigs in a blanket." On Saturday, we ate a "mountain man" breakfast and then the scouts mowed grandma's lawn as a service project.

We forgot two of our chairs, so when mom and Hannah arrived to mow the lawn, they discovered that the lawn had been mowed already. It was a busy day, so mom was frustrated (!) that she lost the time. The good news was that Hannah got to drive home (reluctantly). The hardest part for her was getting to  the mountain. Once she was up, she did great. There were probably 2 dozen bikers strewn along the way, so she was nervous about hitting one. We decided to have her drive in the left lane with her hazards on so that she didn't have to worry about her blind-spot so much. We then went as a family to the annual Sahara Cares Autism fair. It was the 10th year, and there were more than 3,500 autistic kids and their families. Sarah again bewildered us with her excitement about holding the pythons, a tarantula, a boa, a scorpion, 2 turtles, and three lizards. Sarah had no fear! Eventually, even Hannah and Rachel tried the tarantula and the turtles.

Once we were home, we raced off to Little Caesar's to get pizza for the missionaries, a cake and soda for the girls' party and ice to keep everything cool. We had rented White Towers Swim club for their birthday. They each had 4 friends so it was run having the place to ourselves. Even mom squeezed into a suit and actually dove off the diving board several times. Sarah tried to coach her about how to dive, but her belly kept causing belly-flops no matter how hard she tried. The rest of the girls had a great time.

Just a curiousity. Have you tried any of the following:
Banana Milkis (milk)
Ojingeo Ttangkong (roasted squid and peanut balls)
Misubong (fish sausage)
Tteok (rice cake with red bean)
Samanco (vanilla ice with red bean)?

I got this list from a video called "Americans try Korean snacks." Some of them liked some of the snacks, especially the Samanco. They didn't like the Misubong.

We love you and care about your well-being. We just got your shoes, so feel free to buy new ones. You'll have $270 new shoes to wear when you get home. (Hannah was bummed that they were too big for her.) You are constantly in our thoughts and prayers. G&G Stamps put your name on the temple roll every week. :) I can't remember if we told you that they got called to be in the temple presidency. They are exhausted. They are coming to visit this fall, so that will be fun.

Be well, my favorite son!

Love, Rachel, Bekah (now 12), dad, Mom, Sarah, Hannah (now 16)

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