Surefire Cure for Insomnia

Life update taken straight from a letter written to our missionary.  I like crossing two things off my list in one fell swoop, so it's a tradition I've kept up  since my first one left on a mission. 
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5/8/2023

Hello dear Missionary!  
How has your week gone?   Has Springtime arrived there in the great state of Oregon yet?    Does Springtime mean copious amounts of rain?   Or are you just basking in sunlight and flower blossoms?  Actually...HOLY MOLY...I just checked the weather app that said Portland will be up in the 90's by the end of the week!   What the heck?!    That's a whole lot warmer than here, but what's new?!   We've still got our heater on over here and I just checked and confirmed that Minnesota is, indeed, also warmer than here,  so I'm not imagining things. 😶 

Oh, FYI, I should probably let you know now that this week was exceedingly not exciting, which means that this letter will probably show up in future textbooks as the surefire cure for insomnia.   In fact, I've already put the two dogs to sleep and I'm yawning, so the effects are kicking in already.  😴

So....what was the super non-exciting happenings of the week here in the G. home?  

Emma ate dinner with some people. Who?   Probably people from her mission, but who knows? 

I challenged the girls to try to stump me with a topic for sending them postcards.   Cami was easy peasy with a request for "exotic animals"...

Ellie wanted "gremlin", so I found her the ugliest most gremliny card I have, put a stamp on it, and actually sent it to her in the mail (of course I did).

  I'll send you a picture of Emma's request and actual postcard once she receives it.  She is only one who came close to stumping me.     Do you have a postcard request?    I'm ready!

Then I saw some pretty trees today.   We are about 2 months behind the blossoming trees in Virginia, but they made me very happy.  

Ellie has a bloodshot eye for no apparent reason.  I think she'd really like you to see this picture.   Please make sure you tell her that I showed it to you. 

Also, Emma does her hair purty and takes selfies.  You should for sure mention this picture to her as well....

You'll be happy to know that Rocky is still kicking.   He may be 101 in dog years, but he's also still annoying as heck--barking for no reason, peeing/pooping on the floor randomly, and getting stuck in the laying position when he's on hardwood floors.  But he's still surviving for now.  

We found this place for Ellie to take her senior pics.  We just need to go back with her cap and gown and make it official. 

I decided to try my hand at sourdough bread again.   I took a class from my neighbor and learned some tips and tricks.  I didn't eat any myself, but reports are very enthusiastic from the gluten eating members of the family. 

The mountains looked really cool the other evening.  Also, check out the behemoth house behind us.   It's massive and not very attractive looking, but they hired some people to help build it and it's  made more progress in the last few months than they had in the previous 1-1/2 years since we moved in.  

You probably thought I forgot....or more appropriately....you probably HOPED I forgot, but I didn't.   Here's your dam humor for the week.   I love you. 

  

ON a less sleepy note, here's a spiritual thought that popped out to me this week from the most recent General Conference....

“...the pure love of Christ is the answer to the contention that ails us
today. Charity propels us “to bear one another’s burdens” rather than heap burdens upon each other. The pure love of Christ allows us “to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things”—especially in tense
situations. Charity allows us to demonstrate how men and women of Christ speak and act—especially when under fire. .”

Russell M. Nelson, “Peacemakers Needed,” April 2023

 So, what do you think?   Are you sleeping yet?   Don't worry, I'll try and have a more exciting week next week.    I LOVE YOU LIKE CRAZY!!!!! 

Love,
Yo Momma
💗💗💗

PS  Here's a glimpse of our family phone call from his p-day last week:    

Your Mom is Weird

Letter written to our missionary:  4/17/23

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Hello dear missionary of mine!  
How's life in  the land of Ports and Dams?   How fun that I still get to make  Dam jokes with you even in your new area.   You probably thought you would get to escape those eventually, but...NOT YET! 

I'm fully aware that my obsession with beavers/dams probably puts me squarely in the "weird category", but I'm okay with that.  At least I'm not also obsessed with sending stupid little 4x6 pieces of thick paper in the mail, because that would be truly weird.  

Oh wait.  Never mind.

I do also send doughnuts to your cousins who have birthdays...

Maybe that makes me slightly more normal...

I also seem to have an issue with dogs following me home...

For approximately the 5th time since moving to Utah, we met a loose dog on our morning walk and had it follow us all the way home.     He had no tag/collar on, so we posted on the community FB page and pretty quickly found the owner to Maverick.  He was a pretty sweet guy, but we laughed that this never once happened while we lived in VA or PA, but somehow it happens on a semi-regular basis here in UT!   Maybe we smell extra meaty or something now.  

I also can't stop looking for "matching" pictures to show Cami after she sends me a  picture of Lucie.  She sent me this one to show how Lucie was wiping her hands in her hair like a napkin, so I found one of Cami doing the same thing...then found one of me doing the same thing.  In other words, apparently messy eating runs in the family!  

I guess it might be  slightly weird that I've started looking for "wishing rocks" to show your little cousins after I read them a cute picture book during Spring Break about different types of rocks you can find.   It gave me Adam vibes to be walking along the trail with a pocket full of rocks...and to now have a pile of rocks on my windowsill for whatever future date we might see the King Boys again. 

On Sunday, we decided to channel our inner Adam even further and took an afternoon drive to Bear River Bird Refuge.   It was a lovely day and I had fun using the Merlin App (an amazing discovery) to help us identify some of  the different birds. 

We saw American avocets...

A snowy egret (we didn't need the app for this one)...

An American coot...

A yellow-headed blackbird...

 American white pelicans...

A white faced ibis...

And some hungry Gooldicus Birdicus... {there were too many bugs to eat our picnic outside}.  We definitely need to take you there when you get home.  You would love this place!  

Also, on a different, but related note...Spring is kind of here and I've stopped crying every morning when I see the weather forecast...I also am enjoying post-dinner walks a few times a week.   {PS  I only joined BeReal to be friends with your sisters and the three of them are literally the ONLY friends I have on there (not that they post very often or anything).   Someone else tries to add me and they are instantly and cruelly denied! I will probably let you be my friend in 15ish months or so though, so don't worry.}

In case you're wondering why I only said Spring was "kind-of here"...

There are still way too many cold days in the mix for my taste...not that I'm complaining too much.  I am definitely reveling in the sunshine and not having to wear my woolen outerwear every day for now, but, heaven help me,  if it snows on my birthday, there won't  be enough beavers in the world to justify the  torrent of dams that will flow forth from my mouth. 

Sorry. 

I guess I better go read my scriptures  or something {I'M ON MORONI 9, SO ONE MORE DAY!!!}.   Or maybe send a few postcards.  Or think of a spiritual thought to end with...

Here's a quote in President Nelson's GC talk that stood out to me:  

"The Savior’s message is clear: His true disciples build, lift, encourage, persuade, and inspire—no matter how difficult the situation. True disciples of Jesus Christ are peacemakers."

It made me think of you and the other missionaries out there making the world a better place and it made me thoughtful about what I could do to be a better peacemaker.  

I hope you have an amazing week!  We can't wait to talk with you tomorrow! 

LOVE YOU!!!!
Love,
Mom

 




 

Dam Life Update

As has become tradition when we have a missionary out serving, here is a {quick and silly} life update taken from a letter we wrote to him on  2/5/23.
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Hello my dear missionary!  
How is life in the Town of Beavers?   Speaking of which...do you know how Beaverton got its name?   I'm going to look it up right now.  It seems like it's got to have something to do with beavers and dams, which means that it's time for some good Mom dam humor.

                                        <PAUSE while I look it up.>

Straight from Wikipedia:

"According to Oregon Geographic Names, Beaverton's name is derived from the settlement's proximity to a large body of water resulting from beaver dams.

The area of Tualatin Valley that became Beaverton was originally the home of a Native American tribe known as the Atfalati, which settlers mispronounced as Tualatin. The Atfalati population dwindled in the latter part of the 18th century, and the prosperous tribe was no longer dominant in the area by the 19th century when settlers arrived. The tribe named their village Chakeipi, which translates to "place of the beaver," which early settlers referred to as "Beaverdam.""

WHAT?

Not only is your Mom right, but it was originally called BeaverDAM!!!! THAT'S DAM EPIC!!!!  I think I am going to start telling people that you're serving in Beaverdam from now on!

I think you should make this your new profile picture.  I'm sure your mission president will approve.  

Also, I have no idea what I'm writing to you next.   

I guess I should probably tell you about life at home, but that seems so boring.  So I think I'll show you the awesome postcard I got today.  It's my favorite type and it made me smile.  

Also, you have some silly sisters....

And a Dad who likes to go fishing...

even when it's cold and snowy! 

So, I guess maybe I am telling you about home now.   Here's a more detailed synopses of what's happening: 

1. I had a RS activity last week that we advertised to be Mindfulness, Movement, Munching, and Mingling.  

 

 

We had a spiritual thought based on these two articles (#1 & #2), then split off into two 15ish minute classes.  One class was glow stick dancing (MOVEMENT) with a teacher speaking a little about the importance of continuing to move our bodies.  The other class was a 15-minute meditation (MINDFULNESS) session. Everyone had a chance to do both classes if they wished.  At the end, we all gathered back together for MUNCHING on healthy snacks and MINGLING with the other sisters.    About 30 people came and I am considering it a success! 

2. Dad is getting a lot of action on his resume and has had several interviews already. 

3. Ellie is Ellie. 

4. Lucie is convinced that all animals say, "Baaaaa".  I think I already told you / showed you that, but it's so stinking cute I had to mention it again. 

5. Also, I think Lucie identifies me as the "Dancing Grandma" now.   Whenever I get on facetime with her and she sees my face, she starts dancing.   It makes me smile and I look forward to dancing with her in person in a couple weeks!   

6.  Kiwi and Denali are getting along better now.  It was a rough few days after Denali's haircut with Kiwi acting aggressively toward her.  We had to keep them separated, because Kiwi seemed totally convinced that she was a strange dog that looked and smelled funny.  

7.  Did I mention that my digestive issues have been much improved since my surgery?   It's been weird and I don't understand the reasons why, but suddenly my stomach is much less sensitive than it previously was.  I've even tried gluten a couple times with success.  Granted it's a specially processed flour that it is much different than what you can buy at a grocery store, but I now have 50 lbs of it and I've eaten bread made with it twice now without consequence!   Woohoo!

Here is a pizza crust I made with the special flour.   I ended up leaving it, along with directions, for Ellie and Spencer one night, while Dad and I went on a date....but I COULD have eaten it and that's awesome!  

8.   I feel like I need something random to throw in here again, before you fall asleep with the boringness of this letter, so here's your sister having some kind of moment with Denali while laying on the fireplace hearth.   

9.  The cold and snowy conditions continue here in Utah and the other morning I had the experience of standing ON TOP OF THE SNOW without sinking in.  It was about 15ish degrees at the time and the experience brought  back all sorts of memories about my Minnesota days.  For the record, I may look happy in this picture, but I am not happy with how incessant this winter has been.   I literally don't think it's been out of the 40's since October and I'm tired of bundling up in my cold weather gear every single stinking day! 

Here is another random picture from that same walk.  It's just a bunch of female longhorn cattle standing on top of a large mound of dirt/snow while the males waited patiently at the bottom for them to come down. 

Alright, it's getting to be my bedtime and my brainwaves are degrading into fuzzballs quickly.   I'll close off with a quick spiritual thought.  It's a quote I found that went along with the CFM reading this past week:  

"It is this living water, freely offered by Jesus Christ, that we all seek to quench our own spiritual thirst and that is critically needed to end the gospel drought that continues to plague mankind. As His disciples, we are the primary distribution system for delivering the living water from its everlasting source to His cherished children in need. We largely determine who will receive the water as we, by our ­service, control the irrigation system headgates. We preserve the purity of the water as we reflect to the world the value of the ­living water in our own lives. If we irrigate when the living water is required, rather than when it is convenient for us, we determine its vitality. It is only the living water of Jesus Christ that can and will bring a happy, successful, and everlasting life to the children of men."  {The Living Water of Jesus Christ, H. David Burton, BYU Speeches, January 2000}

That's what you're doing....bringing the living water of Christ to the people of Beaverdam!  You're awesome.   I love you!!! Have an amazing P-day! I look forward to talking to you tomorrow. 

LOVE, 
Mom 💕

Ten Things That Made Me Smile Last Week

 In no particular order, here are 10 things that made me smile this past week...

10.  A "dam" surprise!   One morning I was taking a drink out of my water bottle when the kids started making snarky comments about it.   I was confused until I looked down and found a  sticker with strong Lara-humor-vibes sticking to it.   It took me a second to figure out how it had gotten there overnight, then I remembered a visit from my sister, Heather, the night before and I didn't have to wonder any longer!   😀

9 . The sun started shining again!    We went through a couple weeks of very un-Utah-like  days of endless clouds.   It was cold and dreary and every day it would rain or snow a bit more.    It's still cloudier than usual for Utah, but  we've definitely seen the sun a bit more this week and it's made me very happy!  

8.  Letters from our missionary.  We take great pride at making sure our missionaries are the mail receiving  champions of their missions, but we know missionary life means they don't have time to actually write back all that often.   This week we were surprised with snail mail letters from Adam....something that made us all smile big!  

7. A full row of girls {+Glen} at church!   Emma had to run to her ward after sacrament meeting, but I loved having the whole G Girl crew for the first hour of church.   I miss people knowing my older kids.    

6. Lucie snuggles.  She's not actually much of a snuggler normally, but there were a few times when I happened to be taking care of her when she was a bit on the tired side, that I got to enjoy some sleepy snuggly moments!  I loved every second of it. 

5.  Finding a way to share!     I started making the Come, Follow Me activity sheets again this year and worried because I didn't really have a good forum for sharing them, since my FHE blog isn't all that well-used anymore and our current ward doesn't do paper programs.   Then I remembered that I had an email list from a few years ago.  I sent out a note and got about 15 people who indicated they were interested in receiving them by email once a month.   I was very excited, because I enjoy making them and I enjoy the opportunity it gives me to dive in and study each week's reading with more purpose and depth, but I also like knowing that they're being appreciated. 

4. Lucie dances!   Lucie is a girl who can dance before she can walk!   She's got rhythm and moves and it's hard not to get in on the dancing with Lucie leading the way. This week we introduced her to "Baby Shark" and, much to Cami's chagrin, she's now a fan!   She even figured out a way to ask for it by signing, "more," and then saying "dance" or doing the baby shark action.   {sorry, I can't figure out how to embed it, but here's the link if you want to watch a video of her dancing, though now I need to video her dancing to Baby Shark}

3.  Healing well!  I went to my post-op doctor appointment and was declared to be healing well!    I can start introducing more intense  physical activities in about 2 weeks. 

2. A nice comment on my FHE blog.  I know that my blogging habits (and the reasons why I have spent so much time on them over the years) is inexplicable to most people, but suffice it to say, it was NOT to garner attention or feedback.   Having said that though, there really isn't anything more satisfying than  when I get a nice comment on something I spent many hours on.  The particular blogpost {that I got a comment on} was one that I put a lot of thought, prayer, and heart into several years ago.   In real life, it was completely ignored and got zero feedback,  so getting the occasional pat on the back, a handful of times in the 7 years since sharing it, is extremely heartwarming to me.   I'll be honest, it feels like I was led to create that blogpost more for the online world than for my own ward.    

1.  Cami and Lucie being here!    It's been an absolute delight to have Cami and Lucie here for the last week and it's going to feel awfully lonely around here now.    

Honorable mentions.  To close off this blogpost, here are a few honorable mentions that are making me smile this week...

We ordered some caramel apples from our favorite ice cream shop in Pennsylvania!   We would have loved to have ordered ice cream as well, but we'll take what we can get! 

I taught Lucie how to say, "Baaaaa," when asked what a sheep says and I am very excited!   

 

We got Lucie this little puffer suit for Christmas and it made me smile to have her try it out on a walk the other day.  

Emma is fully entrenched in her life at BYU, so she's only been able to come home a couple times while Cami's been here, but I love that she's close enough that Cami and her can still hang out while she's here.  

What's making you smile this week?