Letter Home - November 26, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad,

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We had a good week and a very enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend.  Last Tuesday was Mary’s Fall Festival so I, along with 20-25 other mothers, went to the school for an hour to run games for all the first grade classes.  I got to do the classic Musical Chairs and the kids had a great time.  There were so many activities planned, Mary didn’t make it to all of them because an hour really isn’t that long.  However, she was all smiles so it didn’t seem to matter that she missed a few of the games. 

Despite being the week of Thanksgiving, we had all of our regular activities.  So the girls went to piano on Monday; Jacob went on Tuesday; Jacob had an orthodontist appointment on Wednesday and Laurel & Mary had gymnastics Wednesday night.  I should have known something would fall through the cracks and something did – pumpkin pie.  David, Charlotte, and I like pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, but because half the family does not, I always make something they’ll enjoy too.  So the brownies with chocolate frosting got made, the stuffing got made, the jello got made, the turkey got thawed, and the French bread got prepared all before Thursday, but the pie did not.  Fortunately, I thought something like this might happen so I picked up a Strawberry/Rhubarb pie from Sam’s club.  I still wished we’d had the pie because I like it, but our holiday turned out well without it.

We ate on Thursday about noon.  I’m getting pretty good at fixing all of the Thanksgiving meal items.  David and Jacob went to our ward’s annual turkey bowl Thursday morning and had a good time.  We spent the rest of the day watching movies and playing games.  On Friday, we pulled out our Christmas decorations and started putting things up.  It seems to take longer every year so needless to say, bins are still scattered around the house because we’re not done yet.  The kids have done the ornaments so I guess the rest of the decorations are up to me :).

On Saturday we joined David’s Dad and siblings for the extended family Thanksgiving.  We started early, ate at noon, and were home by 3:00 p.m.  So David and I went to see a movie that evening while the kids all showered for Sunday.  Jacob woke up with pink eye in both eyes on Saturday morning so he didn’t go with us to see the family.  We picked up antibiotic drops so he’s better today and went to school.  David, however, is still battling a nasty cold and it sounds like Laurel might be coming down with it.  Because the temperature dropped into single digits over the weekend as well, I’m starting to think this may be a hard winter.

Well this is all of our news.  Have a wonderful week!

We love & miss you!

David, Ella, Jacob, Charlotte, Laurel, & Mary

Letter Home - November 19, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad,

I feel a little out of practice writing your weekly letter after being gone.  And I forgot to take a picture of something so I’ll find some past pictures that you haven’t seen and send those!

Hope this letter finds you both doing well!  Life is good here.  It’s supposed to reach 57 today – unseasonal for Minnesota in November to say the least.  And it supposed to be nice all week so our holiday is looking good.  I am feeling much better this week than last week.  Just had to catch up on so many things after being gone, but am back into the swing of things now.  I still haven’t grocery shopped for Thanksgiving yet so after I write this, I’m off to the grocery store.  Luckily, I picked up a turkey when they were on sale so it’s just the extras I need to get today.

I found everything in order after being away, but I do sense the kids missed me.  David had them doing the dishes each night while I let them put their dishes in the sink so they can start homework faster.  And David gave them cereal for breakfast a few times while I always cook breakfast.  And some of Laurel’s first words to me after I walked in were, “Mom, I don’t have any clean pants!”  So I threw a load of laundry in within minutes of my return.  That’s all okay by me – it feels good to be appreciated :)!

Charlotte started a math club on Thursday which should be fun.  She will learn different math methods for the next couple of months and then compete in March.

Laurel had activity days (primary) on Saturday.  There are 15 activity day girls but not all can make the regular Tuesday time slot so the leaders try to have a couple of Saturday events each year.  Only 3 girls showed up which was nice for the girls, but I felt bad for the leaders.

Jacob spoke in church yesterday and did an excellent job.  We were so proud of him.  He spoke up, spoke clearly and slowly (instead of accelerating from nerves) and looked up occasionally – he did a wonderful job!  He and both David and I received so many compliments about his talk.  He hates doing them so it’s a relief that he’s off the hook for another 6 months.  He’s jealous that adults only have to speak every 3 years or so.

Well this is all of our news.  Sorry it isn’t that exciting.  We love and miss you so very much.  Please take care of yourselves.  Thank you so much for that blissful week home.  I came back truly rested physically and mentally as my time with you was so relaxing.  Having some withdrawals from playing marbles . . . I’ll have to get my kids to play with me I guess.  We did fit in a couple of games of 7’s yesterday which was a lot of fun.

Love,

David, Ella, Jacob, Charlotte, Laurel, & Mary

Letter Home - November 2, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad,

Mom, we were so pleased to hear that all went well with your cataract surgery!  I’m getting excited for my trip home.  Very much looking forward to a little R&R as well as some mean games of marbles so get the board out and start selecting your dice :).  I am also feeling some anxiety for David while I’m gone.  We’ve just survived another typical, crazy-busy week.  I hope David survives while I’m gone as it feels like everything takes two of us right now.  I’m sure it will be fine, but I’m also sure he’ll be happy to see me return.  That’s never a bad thing :).

Jacob knocked a bracket loose playing football with the neighbor hood kids so I took him to get that fixed on Monday.  A note came home on Monday reminding me that I had signed up to help in Mary’s classroom on a regular basis starting in November so I helped out there on Tuesday from 11:25-11:55, ran home for some lunch, and then returned to help with the Read Naturally program at 1:20.  I did Wednesday envelopes Wednesday morning, returned in the afternoon to help Mary’s class get into their costumes, then tried to spot my kids in the Halloween parade with the other 500 parents that afternoon.  I then spent all of Thursday creating 60 gratitude journals to give out at our November RS social (which I’m going to miss because I’ll be flying back from Wyoming).  I got them all done and passed them off that afternoon so I’m feeling quite unburdened today.

Halloween was great fun.  I’ve enclosed some pictures so you can see the costumes I made for the girls.  We have received many compliments on our creativity.  David took the girls out at 6:00 and they didn’t return until 8:00 p.m.  Mary had to stop by the house once during that time just to unload because she couldn’t carry her sack any longer due to weight.  Jacob spent a boring night doing homework and watching TV while I handed out candy.  We didn’t have that many trick-or-treaters so we gave Jacob our leftover candy.  The girls were quick to note that he got ALL chocolate while they got lots of less-desirable things like licorice and tootsie rolls.  What can you do?

Laurel has kept me laughing this week.  There is a battle over same-sex marriage going on here right now so lots of lawn signs (vote yes to ban same sex marriage or vote no which means to allow same sex marriage).  The girls trick-or-treated at a home that had a “vote yes” sign so Laurel told the lady who answered the door that she really liked her sign.  I bet she got better candy at that house for her comment.  Then yesterday she also made us laugh.  We give our neighbor girl, a 5^th grader, a ride home every day.  Serena was telling us about her homework so I asked if she had more this year than last year in 4^th grade.  Serena came back with a strong, “Yes!”  Followed by an immediate “uh-oh!” by Laurel in the back seat.  While I laughed, I actually think Laurel will be okay next year since Serena had the cushy teacher and Laurel has a tough one, meaning Laurel will be better prepared for 5^th grade.

Jacob starts basketball tonight with his first practice.  Please pray for his team that they win a few games (unlike last year).

Well I’ve rambled on long enough.  Hope life is treating you well.  I’m so excited for my visit!

Love you,

David, Ella, Jacob, Charlotte, Laurel, & Mary

We were so busy last weekend, we didn't have a chance to carve pumpkins and honestly, I didn't see how we could do it this year.  But the mother side of me just could not forgo this tradition.  So even though we didn't have time for it, we made it work.  I picked up pumpkins at Target on Monday afternoon; I gutted them while the kids did their homework; the carving began about 8:00 p.m.  We had our traditional donuts the next day because I had to order them from the Target bakery.  It wasn't smooth, but it was fun and most importantly, we got it in.

All for one & one for all!

Aw, the life of a teenager . . . doing homework on Halloween

Mary was Star of the Week last week . . . here is her poster.  Note her favorite place is Wyoming.  I also love the guinea pig!

Letter Home - October 28, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad,

Wow – any thoughts of having a more relaxing week after surviving two birthdays went out the window by 9:00 a.m. Monday morning.  Mary and Laurel were both home all day Monday because each threw up on Sunday and I wasn’t sure if it was over or not.  Fortunately, by noon, they were both able to eat something and keep it down so they could return to school on Tuesday.

My goal for the week was to complete the girls’ Halloween costumes before our ward party on Saturday.  Between straightening the house after the weekend to catching up on laundry, not much sewing took place on Monday.  My friend who is moving called late Monday to ask if I could help on Tuesday, so that day was shot as well.  I had already set up Wednesday to scrapbook with a friend that I haven’t seen in 6 months so I kept that appointment, which meant little to no sewing took place on Wednesday.  Essentially, I had Thursday to sew because I was scheduled to go on an all-day fieldtrip with Charlotte on Friday and the party was on Saturday.

I was so nervous I woke up at 4:00 a.m.  I didn’t answer the phone or check email – I just worked on the costumes, determined to finish them that day.  I went to bed at midnight, but had made three beautiful 3-Musketeer costumes by the time I was done.  The girls were thrilled and received many nice compliments on how cute they were as a trio at our ward party.

Charlotte and I spent the day outside on Friday at a local park reserve.  The sixth grade was broken into small groups and rotated between various activities.  Charlotte’s group (which I tagged along with) first learned about wilderness survival.  Her group was broken down even further and had to build a small shelter and then were allowed to start a real fire.  From the survival class, we went to the archery range where Charlotte managed to hit the target several times and then the foam animals they brought out.  We ended the day with an orienteering course.  It was very fun, very hands-on, and the kids loved it.  I just wish it had been a little warmer.  We roamed around in 30-40 degree weather all day, making it hard for me to feel warm even that night after we returned.

Jacob wasn’t bothered by the cold.  The scouts had a campout Friday night and Jacob came home and told me how warm it was.  I guess that’s why you camp out when you’re young because I know I wouldn’t have thought it warm enough to sleep in a tent that night :).

As I said, Saturday night was our ward party and trunk-or-treat.  The costumes were a hit and the kids all enjoyed collecting candy before Halloween.

We hope your surgery goes well this week, Mom.  Hope you both enjoy the week.

Love you,

David, Ella, Jacob, Charlotte, Laurel, & Mary


Mary's Letter

Letter Home - October 21, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad,

What a crazy, fun week we’ve had!  Because of a Minnesota teacher’s holiday called MEA, the kids were off of school on Thursday and Friday.  Jacob ran in is last cross-country meet of the season on Tuesday, October 16.  It was one of those freakish fall days where the temperature reached 70 degrees.  And of course, it was the longest race at 3 miles that consisted of 3 loops up and over a BIG hill.  Jacob ran the distance in 24 minutes and was disappointed with the result.  However, I overheard some mothers of the top runners saying how much slower they were this year versus last year because of the heat - so apparently, everyone was slower than expected.  We’re just proud of Jacob for running the whole distance and finishing the season doing his best!

Wednesday was Charlotte’s birthday.  Because we have gymnastics right after school followed by YM’s/YW’s right after that, we decided to celebrate in the morning.  David and I rousted everyone at 5:30 a.m. so we could sing to Charlotte and enjoy chocolate cake & ice cream for breakfast.  Charlotte then opened all of her gifts.  She hosted 6 girls for a birthday party last night (Saturday).  The girls ate pizza and enjoyed ice cream sundaes before doing a session at Feed My Starving Children where they managed to pack 16 boxes of food for kids in need.  I was impressed with Charlotte’s friends in that they could not stop talking about how much fun it was to help others.  The party was a big hit.  After our FMSC session, the girls came back here for night games before I took them home.

As I mentioned above, the kids had Thursday and Friday off of school.  Oh how we love those days off of school!  It was so delicious to sleep in a bit and have a relaxing schedule.  Because I want to expose them to some culture, we attended a play Thursday night at the Children’s Theater downtown.  The girls and I liked it while David and Jacob more or less tolerated it.  I hope someday my son appreciates my exposing him to these things :).  During their days off, the kids played with friends as well as finished homework and cleaned up the yard and house.  It was a great weekend.

We love you.  Have a great week!

Love,

David, Ella, Jacob, Charlotte, Laurel, & Mary

Charlotte's party at Feed My Starving Children

 L to R: Shrea, Laurel, CeCe, Megan, Charlotte, Anna, Joy, Cameron, Mary

 Wake up Sunshine!

 Central Park - 3 miles - 24 minutes

I Never Promised You A Goodie Bag

I heard about this book on NPR (where I hear about most of my most interesting books).  I enjoyed it and would recommend it.  This book will be meaningful for those who have lived long enough to understand from personal experiences that life has its ups and downs.  So really, it is appropriate for everyone.

Here are a few quotes I want to remember:
"I saw the shadow side of having fixed expectations.  They are an awfully hard thing to live up to.  If you spend your time measuring your reality against your fantasy, you're inevitably going to lose the joy of just being in the moment.  This holds true for events, relationships, business, and life.  Bunny taught me that some people just don't know how to be happy, and they will never look at the bright side.  And that's not a person I want around me in any situation."

"It's amazing how disarming a simple aplogy can be, not an 'I'm sorry but' which feels conditional, but an honest 'I'm sorry,' which is limitless."

"It took me a long time to learn that sometimes in life things just happen, without our permission or planning.  Even the most beautiful things can happen that way.  Maybe the cake bride loved her wedding cake because it really was perfect -- but more likely, she loved her cake because she sincerely wanted to be happy.  Perception is reality.  She was in love and her life felt full; that was her perception, and that became her reality as well.  We all have the choice and the power to create the reality that we want.  That is a life lesson that I carry with me every day."

"You can't control what may happen to you in this life, but you can control who you want to be after it happens."

Letter Home - October 14, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad,

This will be a long letter because so much happened this week.  I’ll try to keep it interesting.

First off, I met my old work team for lunch on Monday.  We’ve met a couple of times over the past 13 years since I quit Target and it’s always been fun, but perhaps it’s been too long since this time around it felt a little forced.  My old boss and my old co-worker have both survived cancer during the last year.  But other than talking about our health, I don’t have anything in common with any of them any more.

We also had conferences for all four kids this week.  They are all doing well in school and we remain very grateful that things come easy for all of them.  However, I guess the fun of hearing what great kids I have has rubbed off a little because in some ways it seemed like a waste of time.  I reminded myself that this year I went so they could feel good about themselves and show me their work instead of going so I could find out how they were doing because I already knew they were successful.

Jacob had another cross-country meet on Thursday – this one in Elk River.  I wasn’t able to attend because of conferences so David went alone.  The race was 3200 meters (or 1.988 miles).  As Jacob was leaving for the bus that morning I told him to shoot for 13:00.  I figured this was a lofty goal and even if he didn’t reach it, he’d achieve a new PR (personal record).  Lo and behold, that boy hit a 13:00 even.  I about fell off my chair.  That is a 6.5-minute mile.  Not only was this a personal record for Jacob for that distance, it was probably his fastest race EVER.  We were so proud of him that Laurel and I picked up a dozen donuts as a surprise the next morning to celebrate.

The kids had Friday off of school so Mary started her birthday celebrations on Thursday by taking birthday treats for her class and having me join her for lunch (one of our family’s birthday traditions).  On Saturday, her actual birthday, we opened gifts and had fettuccine with hotdogs and onions for her birthday lunch (usually we let them pick out their birthday dinner, but I didn’t think I’d feel up to cooking after her party so we did lunch).  And then from 2:00 – 4:30, we had an art party for Mary and her friends.  My amazing friend, Michele, let me bring 8 little girls to her house where she took them through three projects and then let us leave while she cleaned up.  The girls LOVED the party and I loved not having the mess or stress (I owe Michele big!).  The party was perfect – just perfect.  We came back here to open gifts and have cupcakes & ice cream before sending them all home.  This was probably the best party I’ve ever thrown for Mary.

Saturday was a big day for Charlotte as well.  The Young Women showed up at our house at 8:00 to “kidnap” her for a “welcome to Young Women’s” breakfast.  And then Saturday night, the Beehive Advisor hosted the 4 girls in the class for a Halloween party where they made homemade pizza and decorated sugar cookies.  Today, the primary sang Charlotte’s favorite song to send her off, had Charlotte tell about her favorite temple (the Billings, MT one) as well as tell about a project from her Faith in God program AND she was interviewed by the Bishop.  I think it’s safe to say Charlotte feels very loved already by the Young Women’s leaders and confident she’ll be missed in primary.  It all makes me very happy – feeling loved at church is so important.

Well this is all of our news.  Have a wonderful week.  Know how very much we love you and miss you!

Love,

David, Ella, Jacob, Charlotte, Laurel, & Mary

Mary 7th Birthday

Charlotte - morning of being "kidnapped" by the YW

Elk River: 3200 meters (2 miles) - 13:00

Charlotte's Letter

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,

This week we were really busy. We started off the week with piano. (Like we always do.) The reason that this week’s lesson was special, was because we got to choose songs that we are going to play at Barnes and Noble (A bookstore.) around Christmas time. I only chose one song this week, but we can play two songs so I am going to choose another one on Monday. We also got ready for my birthday and Mary’s birthday. We got together our goody bags and finalized the details. Mom also set out Mary’s presents.

On Tuesday mom tried to set us up for Spanish Lessons, only to find out that they had canceled the sessions. We were disappointed, but mom said that we could do them this winter. Wednesday all I did was play with my friend, and do LSRC. I am on on my birthday, and I am really excited. I also found out that our friends that live in the cul-de-sac behind our house are moving. They have 7 kids, and 5 of there 7 kids are our friends. Laurels best friend is part of that family. They are moving to Dallas, Texas. We are all really sad.

I also started violin on Tuesday. You wouldn’t believe it. It is during my recess!!! It is okay, but the time is kind of annoying because between media helper, LSRC, and now violin I am inside for recess all of the time. On Thursday I again just played with my friend, and sense Friday we had the day off of school, I again just played with my friend.

Saturday we got up early, but we could only open one of Mary’s presents because dad and Jacob had to go rake leaves for people in our ward. We went upstairs to play with Mary’s new toys. Then we heard a door slam. Mary went into the hall to see who it was. She said “ha.” Then I said, “When you say ha, is it a good thing or a bad thing?” Then they came and “attacked me.” It was fun!  They “kidnapped” me. We walked for a while and they said things like “we are travelling through the forest to an ancient land.” Then we got in a car and didn’t put on seatbelts. We whipped around corners and stuff. Then they took off the blindfold. We were at one of our church members house. We had pancakes for breakfast, with chocolate chips, syrup, peanut butter, butter, powdered sugar, orange juice, or milk. It was a lot of fun!

Then it was time to open the rest of Mary’s presents. It was really cute when she opened a doll present and screamed. She then had her party. I didn’t get to help (or go) to/at the activity part because we didn’t have enough space in our cars for Laurel and I to come. We got to do the sand art when they came back though, and it was fun. It seemed like a great party.

That night I went to a beehives party. It was fun! We made pizza and decorated cookies. It was a great week!

Love you!

Your Granddaughter,

Charlotte Rolfs.

Letter Home - October 7, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad,

Hope you enjoyed conference.  We did!  Not much to report again this week.  I guess we’re settling into a routine.  Jacob had another cross-country meet this week (on Tuesday).  He placed 23rd and shaved 15 seconds off his time meaning a new personal record for him as well as a race ribbon (top 30).  It was a beautiful fall day so things couldn’t have been better.  Additionally, Jacob received his life rank in scouts on Wednesday at the Court of Honor plus 5 more merit badges, making him the most decorated scout in his Deacon’s quorum.  Slow and steady seems to be working well for him.

Our school hosted an all-school BBQ on Thursday so David and I split the lunches with the girls.  I ate with Laurel and then Mary who were only 20 minutes apart and David ate with Charlotte closer to 1:00.  With Charlotte & Mary’s birthdays looming, I spent Friday shopping.  I managed to get most of the shopping done, but need to pick up the last few things tomorrow morning.  I simply cannot stand not getting the best deal out there so sometimes I spend a lot of time running from store to store to make sure I found the right gift at the right price.  It didn’t help that I kept running into people I knew from school or church and they were all in the mood to chat :).

We spent yesterday and today watching General Conference.  We took the family out to lunch yesterday as a special Conference weekend treat.  And the girls and I went shopping last night while the men went to Priesthood.  Charlotte and Laurel could not stop saying how much fun it was to buy stuff with your sisters and mom.  I think I see a tradition forming :).

Well that’s all of our news.  Hope you are both doing well.  We love you.

David, Ella, Jacob, Charlotte, Laurel, & Mary

St. Michael - 1.5 miles - 10:15

Jacob receiving his Life Rank in Scouts

 

Girls after General Conference . . . note Laurel & Mary didn't get dressed all day long :)

Letter Home - October 1, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad,

This letter will be brief, because while we were as busy as always, most of it was routine stuff so not that exciting to write about.  Our week was filled with the usual: piano lessons, playdates, gymnastics, young men’s, and dance.  David was at the temple Thursday night so I had to get the girls home from school, run to Jacob’s cross-country meet, then rush back here just in time to take Charlotte to dance.  We have a similar situation in October so David wisely chose to switch nights at the temple so he can help out :).

Jacob ran a 1.5-mile race on Thursday.  He did well, but did not improve his time over last time so his coach told him he needs to run harder/faster in practice.  Today he gets braces on his bottom teeth, so he might not make it practice at all today and he has another meet tomorrow.  Oh well, I guess there’s always Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  Jacob went on a scout campout Friday night.  This was the last night he needed for his camping merit badge so he will get the badge at our Court of Honor on Wednesday.  Yea!  He will also receive his Life rank advancement.  Yea yea!!  Slow and steady progress seems to be paying off for him.

The girls and I were busy this week planning birthday parties!  My friend, Michele, is helping me do an art party for Mary.  We’ve invited 8 little girls who will complete 3 projects at Michele’s house before returning here for cupcakes in the shape of an art pallet.  I managed to make & mail her party invites on Saturday.  My attention now turns to Charlotte’s party which is the following weekend.  We are taking 8 girls to Feed My Starving Children to pack food for kids in third world countries.  After packing the food, the girls will come back here for a movie or games.  Should be any easy party, now I just need to make some type of invitation and go get gifts for both girls.  The days seem to pass quickly.

I attended the General Relief Society broadcast Saturday night.  Our stake had a dinner beforehand with brief comments by our stake president.  It was all lovely and set a beautiful tone for the broadcast.  I enjoyed the broadcast, but always seems to glean more out of it when I can read it so am looking forward to November’s Ensign.

Well this is all of our news.  Know we love you and always wish we lived closer.  Take care.

Love,

David, Ella, Jacob, Charlotte, Laurel, & Mary

Elm Creek - 1.5 miles - 10.33

Fun in the back yard

Then they had to bury each other, of course!

 

 

Charlotte's Letter . . .

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,

I just got to be on air for the school announcements. The different things that you get to do when you are in the school announcements are 1. Write the script. (My favorite.) 2. Be on air. (There are 2 of you that present.) And 3. Do the cameras, sound box, mixer, etc. Your job is to tell the school some things, such as what the lunch is, a fact, a joke, anyone who has a birthday that day, the weather, and every once in a while, a special announcement. The way that you get chosen is they give you a form to fill out. You, a parent, and your teacher write why you should be chosen to be on the team. You also write things like weather or not you know how to use a video camera.

My violin solo went great! The day before the program, at the practice, my violin was REALLY out of tune. My mom tried to tune it, but the tuning peg wasn’t staying in the right spot, so we couldn’t tune it. During the practice, it was really out-of-tune, so we decided to take it to a music store. They told us that it was because of the change of the weather, and that we had to push the tuning pegs in farther, because the weather was making the holes shrink, and the peg gets wider the farther out it is, so if you push it in farther, it will stay. Well, anyway, they fixed it, and it sounded great at the program. We brought our neighbor, and she enjoyed it, I also invited my friend, and Laurel invited 3 of her teachers. Laurel and Mary did great on their parts, and the songs sounded great in my opinion. We also recited a scripture, which was fun. Over all, I thought it was a great program, I am kind of sad that it was my last primary program though. (I forgot to mention this, but I played Stand for the Right on the violin, out of the children’s songbook.)

Thanks for the encouragement on the video. I am really excited to see who is going to win. (They pick on November 4) If Laurel or I win, we pretty much decided that we would take each other and Mary, (we all helped on both of the video’s) and then our mom, because our Dad has to work, and even if one of us didn’t want to go to Washington D.C., Jacob is really busy. I was talking to my mom about it though, and she said that if we won, they would pay for all of us to go, sense she would only have to pay for 2 people.

I hope that Uncle Scott can fix your garage roof before the winter; I can’t believe that those companies won’t put it up now! Also, good luck on your new calling. I want to work in the temple when I grow up! I am also really glad to here about your heart! It is AWSOME that you are felling better. My mom is going to fly up, to visit you in November, and I am trying to talk her into letting me come along. So far she says no, but you never know, she might change her mind.

Other things that have been going on here, is, we did yard work. Laurel, Mary and I racked the leaves into a huge pile, and then jumped into them, it was really fun! We also cut 2 big branches off of our big tree in the front yard, because they were hanging WAY TO LOW!!!!!!!! We also trimmed our Lilac bush, and our hedges.

Another cool thing that I am going to get to do is I am entering a writing contest. The grand winner receives $1000.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and the second winner receives $150!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don’t think that I am going to win either of those, but I might win for Minnesota, the winner from each state get’s $50.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kids from my school have won that before, which is cool, and when Jacob entered a few years ago, he got in the finals!!!!!!!!!! I want to be a writer and a teacher when I grow up, and I am the best writer in my grade, so I think that I have and Okay chance. I will send you my essay when it is done. (It will probably be done by December.)

Tommorrow is my friends birthday. She is really artsy, so I got her a art stuff. I think that she will like it. Another cool thing, I was 1 of 2 kids that got 100% on a math test, so it was a proud moment. I am also excited for Mary’s birthday, and My birthday. For my party, we are going to Feed My Starving children. We are going to pack food for starving kids. I am really excited. I am also going to be turning 12, so I will be going to young womens. I am really excited. Well, my mom says that my letter is getting long, so I want to close by saying: Thanks for the letter! I always love getting mail. And I can’t wait to see you and get more letters.

I love you,

Your granddaughter,

Charlotte.

Letter Home - September 23, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad,

We’ve had an eventful week!  Because weekdays are busy with homework and activities, we decided to celebrate David’s 43^rd birthday over the weekend.  We started the fun yesterday by going to the corn maze.  But before we could go to the corn maze, we had several other “to do’s” that needed completing first.  Jacob attended the Milaca mega meet Saturday morning.  Milaca, located over an hour away, hosts approximately 5000 cross-country runners every fall.  Needless to say, this is typically an all-day event.  Fortunately, 8^th grade boys were the first runners at 10:00 a.m.  Jacob ran two miles in 14:21 (7:10-minute mile).  David drove up to watch and brought Jacob home after his race so we could finish homework and have some fun as a family (otherwise, he would not have returned until 4:00 p.m.)!

While Jacob & David were in Milaca, I took the girls to the church to practice the primary program.  Charlotte had a violin solo so we attempted to tune her instrument right before the practice.  It was a disaster – the violin was significantly off.  In a panic, I asked a friend if anyone in her household knew how to tune a violin and she suggested a local music store.  So after the practice, we went over to the store and they tuned it for us for free.  What a relief!  We finished getting the violin tuned about the time that David & Jacob arrived back in Maple Grove.  So we all met for lunch then came back here so the kids could do their homework.  We set the timer for 1 hour.  Laurel and Mary were able to finish everything, but both Jacob and Charlotte still had things to do.  We decided to stop anyway and go to the corn maze.

Because the temperature was only 55 yesterday, the corn maze was pretty sparse . . . just the way we like it :).  We had a wonderful time finding all 20 designated spots within the maze and then running across the “kids” maze made of hay bales.  Of course we enjoyed cheese curds and mini donuts before heading to the corn pit (or corn pool as Laurel likes to call it).  The kids were quickly burying each other, rolling down the side of the corn hill, and generally goofing off.  It was during the goof-off period that Jacob dived into the corn.  A corn kernel went into his ear canal.  We borrowed the maze’s first aid kit and tried to extract it with a pair of tweezers but only managed to push it further in.  When we realized we were not going to be able to get it out, we packed everyone up and headed for urgent care.  They had us in and out in less than an hour and got the kernel out easily.  If only we’d had their little tool.  The kernel managed to scratch the eardrum so David and I ran to the pharmacy to fill a prescription while Jacob and Charlotte finished homework.  We closed the day by watching the first episode of Survivor.

The girls invited our neighbor, Meena, to the primary program today.  I have been so impressed with our new primary presidency who were called in June and the program only reinforced my admiration for them.  The program included two girls playing the flute, a primary boy accompanying on the piano, pieces by the activity-days girls only and the valiant boys only, as well as a violin solo by Charlotte, talks & speaking parts for all of the other kids, concluding with the children quoting a scripture.  At one point, the nursery leaders brought all of the nursery kids up to sing a little song and they almost stole the show because they were so cute.  Laurel had a talk and did a wonderful job; Charlotte played beautifully on the violin, and Mary knew her part cold.  It was a beautiful program.  Meena was very touched.  On the way home she told me, “The kids kept singing about choosing the right – I think I need to stop having so many negative thoughts about my in-laws.”  It was a beautiful day.

After church we grilled for David’s birthday dinner, opened gifts, and had cake.  We managed to surprise David a little by giving him truffles, some movies, a game & puzzle, and some new shorts.  However, the kids were most excited about his “big” gift: a one-year subscription to Netflix (a service that allows you to download movies & TV shows to your computer or TV).  Since we don’t have cable with Disney Channel, the girls can hardly wait to start watching “Good Luck Charlie” with Dad’s new service.

Well I’ve rambled on long enough.  I’ll close here.  Know that we love you and miss you!  Have a wonderful week.

Love,

David, Ella, Jacob, Charlotte, Laurel & Mary

Start of the 8th Grade Boys Race only . . . shows how big this meet is!

Milaca Mega Meet: 2 miles in 14:21

Corn Maze

 Panarama (l to r): corn pit tent, climbing wall, tower, super slide, eating tent (kids hay bale maze in the front; adult corn maze in background)

 In the maze

On the "kids" maze made of hay bales

Corn Pit

The kids filled their shirts with corn . . . Laurel said, "I've gained a little weight . . ."

Laurel & Jacob emptying their shirts

David's 43rd Birthday