4 June 2017

 Hello all you nice people!

   The other day I was watching a big black beetle (a stink bug) make its way across the room. When it turned a corner it suddenly started walking backward, as quickly as it could! I wondered why and then noticed a tiny, tiny, little ant coming toward it. It was terrified of that little ant. I decided to put the beetle outside and picked him up in a tissue. By the time I got to the front door with him he was really mad! He was vibrating and making a low rumble noise. He thought he was pretty tough then; good thing I didn't pick up the ant with him!

   Emma's graduation was well attended by family. Her folks, Charley, Jocie and Janie sat right behind us, her Potter grandparents right behind them. Gran and Uncle Jim sat next to Dad and me. Jack was in the band and choir. 

   The carrots are starting to come up now; one nice long row along the edge of the bricks. The tomato plants are still not looking very good at all, so I bought a couple of new starts at Walmart, to be sure we get some tomatoes! The comfrey plant I put out last year is big and wonderful; it's putting out beautiful purple blossoms; I didn't know it would do that. And the peppermint is trying to take over the world...but there could be worse things. 

  We got to go to the IF Temple dedication today; we went to the noon session. Did any of you get to see it too? I know all the Stakes in our area didn't have regular meetings today, but I'm not sure how widespread it was. President Eyring gave the dedicatory prayer after several wonderful talks by Brother and Sister Beal, of the Temple Presidency, Brother K Brett Nattress and Brother Wilford W Andersen, both of the Seventy. Brother Ronald A Rasband of the Twelve, was the final speaker. Each talk was just wonderful; I wished I had come prepared to take notes. From Brother Andersen's talk I remember he quoted the first line from the book, Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy: "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." I guess what he was getting at is that, from a gospel perspective, happy families are happy because they live the gospel. Unhappy families can be unhappy because of the ways they are not living the gospel and those are varied. 

   Yesterday I went to a baby shower at Jennifer's house. Her daughter-in-law, Emmie (Chase's wife), is expecting a baby girl on July 18th. Aunt Lynne and Jennifer did an amazing job with the refreshments, as you would imagine! 

   A couple of months ago, Gran had an ablation done on her back, to help decrease the pinched nerve pain she has had for the past few years. It seems to have helped quite a bit. But the amazing thing is that it has taken away the pain in her ankle that she's had for over 25 years! She broke her ankle the day before Thanksgiving of 1991 and had to have all kinds of hardware put in. Since then the whole area has hurt; we're always super careful not to touch it...she doesn't even touch it. When she was in ICU, after her heart surgery, and on a vent and restrained, unable to communicate, I put a note on her whiteboard telling all her caregivers not to touch that ankle. We just don't go there! So now, it's pain free! The ablation is supposed to last 6 months to a year and then will have to be redone; I'm pretty sure she will want to do it. :)

   I realize now that many of you kids have a few more days of school. You can do it! We look forward to seeing you over the summer. Please write when you can; we'd love to hear what you're up to...or just how things are going for you. 

Love you all, bunches!  

   Mom/Johanna/Nana

Hello everyone,

     Here's a little update on us Weavers. The kids are finally out of school, and I am so excited! We are having a fun summer so far and I'm confident that it's going to be our best summer yet. On Friday we had a badger in our yard. It was pretty crazy. We stayed clear of him, but I did get some pictures. I posted them on Instagram. Our ward had a picnic Friday night, Luke and I went together. Shelby was at a birthday party, and Kevin is out of town. It was fun spending the evening with just Luke. 

     Some of you already know, but for those of you who might not, Kevin is working full time for the Air National Guard at Gowen field here in Boise. He is doing pretty much the same job that he did for the Air Force, just on the A-10 instead of the C-17. He is in Tucson for 3 weeks for training on the A-10. He is happy to be doing something familiar and that he enjoys. 

     I am now half way through the Pathway program and loving it. It has been stressful at times, and I sometimes think I am crazy for deciding to go back to school. I'm glad I'm doing it though, and I know that I will never regret it. I still don't know what degree I am going to get, but I'll keep you posted. 

     The kids and I are going to be heading over to SE Idaho on the 21st to spend some time with family and to participate in the Relay for Life that Jane and Jocie do every year.I'm super excited about it. I've always wanted to go in the past, but another trip during the summer was never an option. Now that we live so much closer, it really changes things. 

     The kids and I went to the broadcast of the rededication of the IF temple today. We went to the noon session. Same as you, Mom and Dad. It was wonderful. We enjoyed it immensely. I look forward to going to the IF temple some time soon hopefully. I haven't been to that temple since Kevin and I were married. 

     One last thing new around here is that the four of us got new mountain bikes recently. We are really looking forward to exploring Boise on them. We are really loving living in Boise. It's a beautiful place. The people here are so friendly. We've been here for almost a year and it's gone by so fast. 

     Well, I think that's about it for now. I really enjoy all of these family e-mails. I love hearing about what is going on in all your lives. I love you all so much. I can't wait to see you in August.

Love,

~Heidi~

Hi everyone! 

On Friday Naomi ran in the all Moscow Elementary Track Meet.  All the 4th and 5th graders participate.  Naomi ran in 4 events and was pretty tired out after school.  She even ran hurdles! 

On Thursday night I noticed what I thought was a mosquito bite on my ankle.  Well, it kept getting bigger and redder and my whole ankle swelled up, and now I know it is actually a spider bite!  I have never experienced anything like this!  I have been to the doctor, and he prescribed prednisone, but he said it will still be quite a while before it goes away.  I never even felt the bite or saw the spider!  The doc also had me take a picture of it, in case I needed it for comparison later on.  I'll attach it for you.  The swelling has already gone down a little bit this morning and the bite is not so bright red, so I'm pretty excited about that!

James is still busy with the driveway.  He finished filling in the gravel, tamped it down, and has laid out the rebar.  Hopefully we'll be able to pour the cement this week!

Saturday was our Stake Day of Service.  We worked with an organization called Palouse Cares to collect food for the local food banks.  Between Moscow and Pullman we collected just over 12,000 pounds of food.  While we were out collecting, the kids and I came across this pretty pink house.  It has a sign on it saying it is the birth place of Carol Ryrie Brink.  She wrote Caddie Woodlawn, which is a favorite book around our house.  With the girls anyway. 

And yesterday we got to participate in the Idaho Falls Temple Re-dedication!  It was nice to know we were joining in with so many of you!  But, we went to the 9am (8am here) session and the speakers were different!  I didn't realize it would be that way till I read your email, Mom!  We heard from the Temple President and Matron - Brother and Sister Archibald, then from Elders Bradley D. Foster and Richard J. Maynes, both of the Seventy.  President Eyring was the concluding speaker and also gave the dedicatory prayer.  It made me wonder if they had different choirs at each session.  I enjoyed it very much, but I'm especially thankful that my kids got to have this experience.  Except Spencer.  He was at my Visiting Teacher's house. 

Lots of love to all of you!

Aimee