28 May 2017

 Hi everybody,

   Good grief...it's almost June! I think most of you kids are out of school for the summer now? Any who aren't besides Maddie? 

   Steve, I hope you're feeling better now; I hope the pain is under control. Your Mom sent a picture of your elbow and one of you after having it put back in place; it didn't look like you were feeling any pain at the time, but I imagine it returned. I'll leave it up to you to share this with everyone. 

   Ben's and Sam's families; I'd like to hear more about your travel plans, dates, places and all. It would be fun to know where you will be and when, so we can enjoy the trip right along with you! 

   I've planted a small garden, a few tomatoes that aren't looking to good. Some carrots, for the second time; I think they didn't get enough water the first time. Some garlic...I've never planted it before. And some yellow crook-neck squash. I hope to get a couple of zucchini starts planted outside in the next couple of days. The grapes don't seem to be putting out as much as they did last year...we'll wait and see. A late got to our big crab apple tree. If we have summer guests (aka grandchildren), I may ask for some help with weeding, etc...

   About the tomatoes...I learned from a lady at a Relief Society enrichment night, that tomatoes need calcium and a good way to provide that is to crush eggshells into a powder and put it in the ground when you plant the tomatoes. I didn't ask how much to put in each one; I think I gave each plant the equivalent of four or five eggshells and I'm afraid my tomatoes may be suffering from hypercalcemia! In humans this can cause anything from belly pain to confusion. Poor tomatoes!

   Dad and I just finished watching the BBC series of Sherlock. There were a couple that we skipped,The Hounds of the Baskerville and one about a bride that looked pretty terrible. But otherwise we enjoyed it...weird but good; definitely for adults. 

   Last night we re-watched the movie, The Age of Adeline. It's a good one; I think I enjoyed it even more the second time.  

   I hope we get to hear from some of you this week; I always love that. Love and miss you all!

   Mom/Johanna/Nana

Hi All!

I am going to get this done!!! 

All kinds of things, some normal, some not-so-normal, have been going on around here.  Really, it's just been too long since I sent our last email!

Annie had her 15th birthday!  And is now looking for a job.  She's been busy with final projects and speeches and essays at school.  She will be very happy when school is out next week!  Actually, all the kids will.  Their last day is the 8th. 

Ellen, Naomi, and Noah all had a piano recital last week, and Ellen has had three orchestra performances since my last email.  She just started playing the violin this year in the Middle School Orchestra and she has really loved it! 

Steve, Kathy, and Jada came to spend a couple days with us last week and got to hear Ellen play.  Mostly, Steve got to help James with our driveway.  They got rid of the old asphalt and gravel and dug out a bunch of dirt, then filled it in with new gravel and put in forms.  Next comes rebar, then cement!  James is really looking forward to having it done.  Our friend, Ed Winterbottom, has helped a lot as well.  He brought his tractor over and worked and worked!  It would have taken James a very long time to get everything done that the three of them were able to do together.

Friday night Stephen was out with his friends.  Pretty normal.  They played a couple rounds of capture the flag then decided to play grounders (it's a game of tag where everyone has to stay on the playground equipment because the person who is "it" has to keep their eyes closed).  Stephen fell off the play structure (his eyes were open!) and dislocated his elbow.  His friends were really wonderful, though!  They stayed calm and kept him calm, even though his arm looked pretty weird and he was in a lot of pain.  They drove him to the hospital, and kept him talking the whole way.  They also called us on the way there.  Then they stayed at the hospital for three hours hoping to see him when he came out.  But it was midnight by then, so they had to go home.  We didn't get home till 1:30.  They had gone to the grocery store across the street and bought him some cheesecake and left it for him when they had to leave.  I was so thankful he has such good friends!  Maybe playing grounders wasn't the best idea ever, but they weren't doing any of the much worse things their peers might have been doing.  And when Stephen was hurt, they took really good care of him.  SO THANKFUL!  The doctor in the ER sedated Stephen and was able to re-locate his elbow.  He now has a splint and a sling and is waiting to see the orthopedic doctor on Monday.  He's hoping for a pretty quick recovery, but we'll see.

We got to have the Sisters come for dessert on Sunday.  They were taken out of our ward a few months ago and we just got them back.  We do have to share them with one other ward and a branch now, but it's nice to have them at least part of the time! 

Yesterday Naomi went to the Garfield's house, a family in the ward, to help their daughter Amanda with her chores.  Amanda is a very sweet and special girl.  I'm not sure what all her health and mental disabilities include.  She is 22 years old but is almost a head shorter than Naomi, and mentally on the same level as a two year old.  She can walk, but she doesn't talk.  And she has certain jobs that she is supposed to do around the house every day.  She has to make her bed, sort her laundry, set the table, and vacuum the living room.  But she can't really do any of that by herself.   Yesterday was the first time for Naomi to go help Amanda.  It went really well!  Naomi had a good time and came back very happy, and she is going back next Wednesday! 

We love you all! 

Aimee