Sunday, January 25, 2015
Wow! It has
been over a month since I’ve last written.
I’ve really missed it. I’ve
drafted several paragraphs in my head but have never had and/or taken the time
to actually write them.
In my last letter, it was the last Sunday before
Christmas and I had just had a very busy Sunday. Christmas has now come and gone and the New
Year is well underway. Christmas was
fun. We had some good family time. The only downside was that Spencer had a
terrible, terrible cough the whole Christmas vacation. Every time he tried to do anything active he
coughed so badly he had to come in and relax.
We went to the urgent care on Christmas Day, but they said his lungs
were clear and that we needed to wait it out.
When he came home from school the first day after break he had a
fever. I took him to twilight pediatrics
that night and they diagnosed him with a sinus infection and gave him some
antibiotics and now he’s all better.
Bryant and Tilly have since had a bad cough too. I took them both to the doctor and they said
Tilly’s lungs were fine but that night she got a bad fever. Thankfully the fever broke the next morning
and she has progressively gotten a little better. She looks so thin now though. We found out Bryant has pneumonia and he is
on antibiotics and is finally start to feel better. I am looking forward to when we are all
healthy and happy again.
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| Tilly was Mary in our Nativity on Christmas Eve |
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| Sumo wrestling!! |
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| I laughed when I saw that Marlee tied up her go go my walkin' pup so he wouldn't get away while she stepped away for a moment. |
We had a fun Skouson reunion on Dec. 26th
and 27th. On the 26th
we hiked to some petroglyphs in the Superstition mountains. Chad had to work from home so I left Tilly
with him. The boys hiked well, the girls
hiked with minimal whining. :) The
reunion on Saturday was fun. I was
elected to be the Skouson family vice president. It is not something I aspired for or even
desired, but I’ll do it anyway. I guess
a small part of me is a little flattered.
My duties as vice president mean I will assist my cousin Dana, who is
the president, in planning the next two reunions and then I will be in charge
of the two reunions after that. But I’ll
have help. Right now the thought of
planning a reunion is kind of overwhelming because I’m in the middle of
planning New Beginnings for our YW, but by the time the next reunion rolls
around in three years I’ll probably be released from YW’s.
We went to Snowflake for New Years. We didn’t have a big party to ring in the New
Year, but we still had a good time. We got a couple inches of snow!! On
New Year’s Day Chad and I left the kids with my Mom and Kari and headed up the
mountain to the Sunrise Hotel, which we found out just a step away from being a
dive. We woke up and skied the next day
to celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary. The ski conditions were very nice. It lightly snowed on us all morning. We were so thankful Louis and Keesa let us
borrow their nice snow gear so we stayed warm and dry. Skiing was fun, but also kind of scary. I hadn’t skied since high school and I only skied
two times back then. My strategy was
slow and steady and don’t fall, don’t fall, don’t fall. Guess what?
I didn’t fall, but I also didn’t ever go too fast. I’m not very adventurous since my
accident. I know all too well the long
road to recovery. This was Chad’s first
time skiing. He picked it up well and
seemed to enjoy it. However we both
agreed that we prefer warm, beach vacations.
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I’ve got to go to a fireside now so I’ll finish
when I get back. … I’m back.
I thought about and set a few goals for the New Year:
- Bottle chicken or beans at least twice a month. Almost all of my canning jars are empty.
- Keep my same temple attendance goal as last year.
- Do personal progress with my young women. I should earn my first ribbon next week!
- Stay off desserts for the whole month of January. I didn’t start this until we got back from our anniversary trip, but I’ve stayed off all desserts every day since that trip! My muscles feel SO much better. Most of my neck pain has gone away. Every once in a while I still have a bad day. I’ll likely extend this goal.
- Organize and de-clutter the house. I’ve gone through the garage, the toys, my closet, Tilly’s closet, and the hall closet. I’ve donated at least 10 bags of clothes, toys, etc. It has felt SO cleansing. We’ve been holding onto things that never get used.
School resumed on Tuesday, January 6th. By Wednesday night, Jan. 7th, I told
Chad I needed another Christmas break. I
got too used to sleeping late and staying up late.
A big highlight of the last month
was my Mom’s birthday on January 12th. When my sister Celeste realized that it was
my Mom’s 75th birthday she decided we should through her a big party
for reaching such a big milestone. We
hoped to invite all the cousins, aunts and uncles and friends in town, but my
Mom preferred to keep it with just our family so that’s what we did. I am so thankful for my Mom and her kind,
righteous, faithful life. I am thankful for the sacrifices she made in order to
have me and my 12 brothers and sisters. I love each member of our giant family. I am thankful for her example of repentance. In Elder Klebingat's recent conference talk he
counseled, "become really, really good at repenting thoroughly and
quickly." I thought of her when he
said that and have always tried to follow her example. She
doesn't have a lot to repent of, but she makes small course corrections to be
more like the Savior. I love her for her
ability to get along with others and to not hold grudges but to work things
out. I love her for her optimism. I love her for her love for my Dad and the
great example of a happy marriage they gave to me. I love her for patiently teaching me how to
play the piano and for all the fun music, sport and other extracurricular
activities she provided for me and supported me in. I had fun making a photo collage with 75
photos for her 75th birthday. All of my
brothers and sisters made the trip to attend her party in Snowflake. We don’t all get together very often, but
turning 75 is a big deal. My mom was definitely worth being there to celebrate. Doug and Kayla and families drove 9 hours to
attend the party, stayed the night, attended sacrament meeting and then drove 9
hours back home. We sure love our dear Mother.
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| Karalee got student of the month for her class this month! |
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| Marlee and I are helping Tilly learn to ride her bike better so she won't have the sit in the bike trailer anymore. |
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| Here's our reenactment of the 1984 family picture. Manasseh stood in for Darin and Tucker for my Dad. |
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| Here is my mother with all her living children. |
We had a fun time playing with
cousins while in Snowflake and my kids were delighted to learn that my Mom has
9 new kittens and 3 new momma cats. They
live on the loft in the barn. Hopefully
they’ll keep the mice down. Hopefully
with that many cats a couple will survive.
Spencer got braces on Tuesday the
20th. He’s had a sore mouth
this week but still manages to eat plenty of food. He looks very handsome and
older now. The younger kids think braces
look so cool.
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| Last chance to get a picture of his old smile. |
The other young women leaders in
our ward and I have been working on a plan for new beginnings and have decided
to do an airplane theme. Something like “Take
Flight: Embark in the Service of God. We’ll
have the class presidencies dress up like flight attendants and the young women
leaders like co-pilots. We found some
good ideas for a script and a program online and when I get a few more things changed
to accommodate our preferences I’ll post our ideas on my blog.
Friday night Chad and I got to
attend the sealing of a recent convert to his spouse who passed away a few years
before he joined the church. It was a
neat experience. I’ve never been to a
sealing with one live person and one deceased person before. Afterwards we went out to eat with several
members of the ward who attended the sealing and had fun visiting until late.
Bryant’s final pinewood derby was
yesterday. We are already in our final
year of cub scouts for our family. Crazy
… and wonderful. Pack meetings are
probably the most painful church meetings for me. I’ll probably get called to be a Cub Scout
leader now.
Yesterday afternoon Chad hosted a “meat
fest” for the Elders quorum in our back yard.
They invite all the people who home teach in the ward so there were some
high priests and ym too. It has become a
tradition in our ward. They have several
men smoke a BUNCH of ribs, pork shoulders and brisket and then they eat
it. A few men bring sides but it’s
mostly meat. Chad made some bacon wrapped
cream cheese jalapenos and three types of lemonade--strawberry lemonade, peach
lemonade and orange lemonade. I made a
big batch of rolls so they could make little sandwiches out of their pulled
pork. It’s a popular activity for all the
elders. They had several less actives
and a couple nonmembers show up too. After
they ate their fill of meat they got a giant game of speed going on our basketball
court. It was a good activity.
I took Spencer on a date the other night and started talking to him about dating and marriage. (I had recently listened to Elder Callister’s talk where he told about his mother asking him if he was asking the Lord to help him find a good wife.) I hope each of my children will find a spouse with whom they will be equally yoked and that they will bring out the best in each other and that they will all want to be active participants in our family functions.
I’ve felt too busy so far this year. The kids are all in different activities. Spencer is on the school basketball team. Bryant is on a Wham basketball team. Karalee is playing volleyball two days a week
at the Barney sports complex. Marlee
is in a children’s choir one day a week.
I’m in charge of driving them and arranging carpools as often as
possible. It’s been manageable
but every night I am exhausted. I’ve got
to keep reading my scriptures and saying my prayers and going to the temple to
keep myself replenished so I don’t burn myself out. It’s a wonderful busy though. I’m enjoying this time of my life having my
children all close around me.
Love,
Mindy
