Friday, October 12, 2012

Week of February 6, 2012


Hello!  Happy Monday!  Hopefully this will get to you on Monday.  But maybe not since Monday is a holiday.  It's Sunday here and everything is quiet at 9:32 in the morning.  We are enjoying 1:00 church for sure.  I start making noise at about 10:00. 

Just in case you don't get this on Monday, I'll copy it on an email so you'll get it before you write on Tuesday! 

First of all, you should have gotten the new ATM card that I sent you.  Along with the new health insurance card.  Glad to send these to you while you are still in the States so that I don't worry that you won't get them!

Your new pin number is 1110. 

You'll have to activate it before you can use it.  Hopefully there is a phone you can do that from!

So Brandon Halls (remember him?  He was here while you guys were preschool age and his dad was in dental school) They live in Arizona now.  He has a call to Brazil.  Don't know the mission, but he is part of the new program that cuts MTC time to a shorter stay.  He got his Visa back in December and doesn't leave until next month.  So strange how that works.  Also, he got his mission name badge in the mail at home the other day too.  Seems like there is a lot of change happening.  Anyway, if you see an Elder Halls along the way somewhere, you can tell him you went to preschool and played together in Oregon.  They lived over on Lois Street kind of across from the Leishmans' old house (a few houses to the west).  We were living in the "rental" on 215th during part of that time too.

Well, Donald Gaudreau got his mission call!  He will be leaving on March 28th for Farmington, New Mexico.  Spencer Marsh is in the same mission and left a year ago.  Apparently, this mission is filled with a lot of Indian reservations.  I know that Bob Hyde served a mission in Indian lands too.  Don't know if that is the same area or not.  From what I've heard, Spencer has had a hard time on his mission, but I'm not sure what that means.  If he's homesick or if it's just a hard mission.  Don't know if seeing a friend there will hurt or help!

Well, I think I told you about the adult dance that we helped with for the Stake Activities committee last Saturday, right?  So I pre-cooked all 450 burgers in our little oven ahead of time so that we'd only have to warm them the night of the dance.  So, with all the grease that was left in the oven, I decided to self clean the top oven.  You know how sometimes the middle burner igniter sometimes starts clicking randomly?  Well, about 1/2 hour into the self cleaning process, it started clicking.  I just ignored it and it went on for about another 1/2 hour.  So, I decided to turn the burner on and try to get it to stop.  When I turned the knob, it popped really loud and I saw a fire under the knob!  I turned it off and tried one of the front burners and it popped again!  More fire under the middle knob!  Funny electrical smell, more flames, but the clicking stopped at that point, I think.  So, I turned off the oven self cleaning and called dad. 

Needless to say, Dad spent yesterday pulling the stove apart and ordering parts to replace the ignition switches.  So, when we bought the stove a few years ago, the igniters didn't work.  So, we had to have a repair guy come out and replace those parts before we could even use our new cook top. Well, it seems that he failed to place the little plastic covers that go over them to protect the wires and switches from any spills that happen during the life of the stove.  Consequently, food and spills had gotten on the switches and wires and it looks like the heat of the self cleaning oven caused a short in the electrical wiring and there you go. 

So, dad ordered the parts for the stove, as well as new knobs for the top and 4 new shock absorbers for the dryer so that he can fix it once and for all too!  Nothing that a couple hundred dollars and more time can't make all better!  We didn't need those Saturdays anyway!

Drew's last day at work is this Wednesday.  He is going fishing with Grandpa from Thursday to Saturday and then Monday he goes to stay with the missionaries for 5 days.  We'll have them for dinner on Tuesday.  Then, he'll have just 5 more days until he flies out!  Can't believe we'll be losing all three of you boys.  Feeling a bit insecure now!  I'm so excited for all of you.  Oh, and the day after Drew leaves, Dad leaves for DC and Brad goes to selection for Psy-Ops at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.  I guess selection goes for a couple of weeks.  Wish him luck!

We went to see Peter Pan last week.  It was pretty good!  Keely Speck did an awesome job as Peter and Linley Shaw quit Winterguard (shocking!) to be Tiger Lily, the main Indian in the play.  She did a great job!  The original "turtles" group (the guard girls who started in 8th grade) is down to just Mikayla and Christina.  Sad! 

Well, as I was sitting in Relief Society last week, Evelyn Robertson gave the lesson (right after she told us that Michael and his wife are expecting!) and the words she shared were so powerful to me that I wanted to run home and share them with you and the rest of the kids.  Unfortunately, my bad memory does in any sort of effort to recall the teachings well enough to relay them in any sort of way.  So, I'm going to make a new commitment to start taking notes in my classes.  I do remember the Spirit was so strong for me in that class, though and that is what I go each week to experience!  I can only imagine what it must be like for you there at the MTC to feel that Spirit on a more consistent level.  I'm sure it's not there when you are doing laundry or exercising, showering and such, but I'm so glad you are there to experience it!! 

Well, I'll get going now.  Bacon is calling my name and I am hungry! 

I Love You!!

Mom

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