Letter - Christmas, 14th Anniversary, Goals, Mom's 75th Birthday

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.

Tilly was Mary in our Nativity on Christmas Eve

Sumo wrestling!!

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. 26^th and 27^th.  On the 26^th 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 14^th 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. 

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 6^th.  By Wednesday night, Jan. 7^th, I told Chad I needed another Christmas break.  I got too used to sleeping late and staying up late. 

Karalee got student of the month for her class this month!

Marlee and I are helping Tilly learn to ride her bike better so she won't have the sit in the bike trailer anymore.

A big highlight of the last month was my Mom’s birthday on January 12^th.  When my sister Celeste realized that it was my Mom’s 75^th 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.  

Here's our reenactment of the 1984 family picture.  Manasseh stood in for Darin and Tucker for my Dad.

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 20^th.  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.  

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