11 June 2017

Hello everybody,

The other day, it was my day off and I was running around, trying to get a lot done. I'd been working in the yard and here in the house, when suddenly I realized I didn't have my glasses. I had been in many places inside and out. I retraced my steps, even emptied the wheelbarrow I had just filled with weeds, but no glasses. Dad helped me look all through the house. I sat and thought about the day and the fact that I had been in such a hurry to get a lot done that day, that I hadn't said my prayers or read my scriptures like I usually do. So I knelt to pray and then read my scriptures, like I should have done in the first place. Then I decided to go outside again. I wasn't thinking about the glasses, or anything really. I walked over to the corner of the dog run, where the wheelbarrow had been leaning when I first went outside. I stood looked down for some reason and there in the grass were my glasses! It's good to put first things first. :)

Later that same day, Grandma came to talk with me; she was kind of teary and sad. Her brother, LaRalph, had just called to tell her that he had found a buyer for the farm. He and Nancy are selling everything but their house and the ground it's on. So Great Grandma and Grandpa Christensen's house and barn are being sold too. Grandma seemed kind of sad about it for a day or two, but she realizes that LaRalph is getting too old to be running it, so she's relieved for him.

Tuesday I got a lot done, worked in the yard, got my teeth cleaned, gave blood, was feeling just great! But by Wednesday morning I knew I was getting sick with a head cold. By Thursday my ears were both bothering me. I left work early on Thursday and went to the doctor. I got ear wax removed from my ears and she (the PA) also gave me antibiotic and steroid ear drops. I didn't go to work Friday and have skipped everything else this weekend. I'm still not 100% better, but I plan to go to work tomorrow. It's going to be a crazy week and I can't miss a day! I'll just have to pace myself.

So since I haven't been up to doing much, I decided to print some emails for our family history. I've been going through lots of old emails and picked out those that apply to us. I haven't come to when I started the weekly family email yet. I've printed 2010, 2011, and 2012 so far. I plan to put them in a binder, but will scan them before I do that. I could email them to any of you who are interested. It's been kind of neat to reread them; I'm glad we've got record of our lives in this way.

Today I decided to tackle another job that's been on my list of things to do. When I go to a funeral I usually bring home a program and stick it in a binder, but they've been in no particular order. So today I put them all in sheet protectors, chronologically. The earliest I have is from 1973 and the most recent is from Aunt Betty Humphries funeral last month. In sheet protectors and a three ring binder I'll be able to put others where they belong as I find them in boxes and add new ones as they happen.

Last week was super hot each day; now this week it's rainy, windy and cool. Something in the middle might be nice!

I hope you're each doing just fine and that you're happy with your lives. I think you're each quite wonderful!

Much love! Mom/Johanna/Nana

Hey Mom-

Thanks for sending another good email with the updates from your world – it’s always good to be informed about everything happening out there. It’s a little sad to think about Grandma Christensen’s place being sold, but the more I thought about it, it hasn’t been her place for many years now. Last time we rolled by there was after Grandpa’s funeral, and it didn’t look like the same cute little house I remembered playing at as a kid. It was a different color, and had a big lifted Chevy parked in the front yard – I’m assuming it belonged to whomever was renting it at the time. Anyway, I’m glad that Uncle LaRalph has found a buyer and will be out from under the responsibility of caring for that size of property. We will all be able to hold onto the memories we might have from what it once was when it was Grandma Christensen’s place.

Alida is starting to be known as the “Boss Baby” around our house. She is in a phase where she thinks she can get whatever she wants by either bullying her way or fussing her way around whatever stands between her and what she wants. We are all dealing with the phase the best we can, but it has made for some dramatic times. Alida almost knocked a tooth out about a month ago when she was racing Macy to hit the activation switch of a handy-cap operator at the gym. She was running so fast toward it, that her face went right into the button pushing her left front tooth back. We thought it was broken similar to what happened to Macy last winter, but the dentist took an x-ray and said it wasn’t broken. Now a month later, it’s still in there, but just not in line with the other teeth anymore. Dentist said it may eventually fall out a little sooner than normal – time will tell.

Macy is so ready for kindergarten to start – for a while she was regularly asking if she starts kindergarten next week. She is done with her last round of preschool, which has really helped her prepare for school next fall. Macy is the social butterfly of our family – seems like she is able to easily make friends where ever we go. Even as a baby, people in general (public places) were drawn to Macy in some unusual way – I’m sure as she gets older she will learn how to use this characteristic to benefit herself and her family. Macy is typically the early riser in our house and enjoys having breakfast with me before I go to work – she also often skips or has a very light dinner. It’s really shocking to us that she has naturally developed such good habits. Macy is also a bit of an instigator – loves pushing her sisters buttons!

Maddie thoroughly enjoyed kindergarten, and developed more than we ever could imagine. Her reading and writing skills just took off! Maddie was the top writer, not just in her kindergarten class, but in all five of the kindergarten classes at Highland Elementary. Maddie’s teacher, Mrs. Anfinsen, would take her around to the other classes to showcase her latest writing piece. Maddie also came along way socially – she is much more comfortable in social settings than ever before, which is awesome. Maddie has such a big heart – she is always thinking about gifts she can make/give to others. Whenever her and I are in a store, she will point out things that she thinks Macy or Natalie would really like. Maddie really likes roller blading and riding bikes in the street now that it’s warmer – she’s definitely the athletic girl of our group.

Bradley arrived in Minnesota on May 25^th and has adjusted really well to life with three little sisters. Bradley really does a great job of engaging with each of his sisters and shows a lot of patience and leadership that is so often needed. Bradley also did very well in school – he was one of only a few 5^th graders to win the President’s Award in his school for reading and mathematics. Now that we have settled into a regular summer routine, Bradley really likes to read books, ride his bike, and mow the lawn. Brad really does set a good example for the girls when it comes to getting his daily chores done first thing – he just loves to get things done! Brad and I have served on the BSH truck the first Saturday he was here in May, and will have another opportunity again later this month – he really has developed good communication skills and is very comfortable making all the phone calls to the people at the upcoming stops.

Natalie continues to be amazing – as usual. On top of everything else she has going on, she has been picking up a few more shifts at Lifetime, and has committed to watching a tiny (6-8 weeks old) baby for a family in the ward where the mom works one or two days a week. Natalie is also learning to play the ukulele, which has been lots of fun for her and the girls. Even the other night I was doing my best to sing along with her when she was playing one of our favorites, “Hotel California”. I found it strange how difficult it was for me to recall the lyrics to a song I thought I knew so well, but when I didn’t have the Eagles singing along with me – it was pretty ridiculous! Natalie has also been doing a very tough diet that is not exactly a weight loss diet, but more of an overall health improvement diet. Anyway, her willpower to stick with it has been awesome, and she is seeing fantastic results, which is great.

I’m just feeling more and more blessed the older I get. I still don’t drive a Bimmer or ride a carbon Niner – but those things aren’t as important to me as they once were. I’m relatively healthy and am able to provide for my wonderful family. I’m blessed to have good folks like each of you in my life – I’m grateful for the lives each of you live and for the good example you are to me and to others. Something that none of us should ever take for granted is how good of a family we come from and the gospel centered values we have been taught. Anyway, the only real updates on me, is that I’ve started hitting the gym a little (thanks to Nat’s discount) more and have been riding more single-track than I did last year, which is fantastic! My job has been pretty crazy for a few months now due to manpower/union issues and increased business. I’ve also come into an opportunity to work on a part time basis for a small food ingredient brokerage. It’s owned by a family we know from the Prior Lake Ward, the Johnson Family. It’s a business that was started back in the 60’s selling stuff like raisins, cinnamon, and other spices to General Mills. They still sell raisins and other things to General Mills, Post, Hormel and others, but another big part of their business is date paste, which is the primary ingredient in Lara bars. Anyway, they barely have the resources to manage their current accounts let alone chase down new business, so I have come on board to help do both of those things. My role is officially labeled “ technical sales”, as there is a heavy amount of project management and research involved. It’s an interesting field and a neat industry to learn more about – time will tell what it will develop into.

Below are a few recent pics – hope you are all happy and healthy!

Sam