First day of school

Dear Mark,

Quick report to make up for last night.  We planned to meet Jessie at the baggage claim in the airport, but when we got there we were directed to the 2nd floor of the parking structure and told that all missionaries come out there.  So we went there and waited... and waited... and waited with other missionary parents.  After all the other missionaries arrived without Jessie, we finally braved the wrath of the airport bouncers.  A very nice security guy paged for her and found her waiting at baggage claim where we planned to meet... but they wouldn't let us in there and apparently no one noticed her name tag to realize that she should be directed to the 2nd floor of the parking structure.  Fortunately it all ended well, but it was hardly the welcome we wanted to give.

Today my newest employee started.  She served her mission in the Argentina Resistencia mission.

Last night we had our credit union annual meeting.  No pancakes, no prizes, and almost no attendees.  Last year we had over 300 in attendance.  Last night we had 19.  That was enough to meet our minimum requirement of 15, so good enough.

After work today I went to Bro. Knowles to help put in a drip irrigation system in his backyard landscaping project.  That felt nice.  Then I went to the Stake Center to do the stake financial audit while Jessie met w/ Pres. Brinkerhoff.  The financial audit part got delayed until Sunday, but I was glad to visit with some other members of the stake leadership while Jessie visited with Pres. B.

Something else good happened in the last day or two that I meant to write about, but I can't remember what it was.  And I need to go to sleep, so I'll sign off for tonight.

Much love!  

Dad

The only picture I remembered to take on the first day of school.  Love the shirt!

We finished our book!

Dear Jessie and Mark,

Today was a much better start to the week than last Monday.  I made progress on a couple projects at work and wrote the "script" for the annual meeting tomorrow evening.  No pancakes, no prizes, just talking.  I have no idea how many people we will have there, but all I need are 15 people to meet our minimum requirement.

After work I gave father's blessings to Abbie, Spencer and Isaac.  Neil wants his tomorrow, and Emma doesn't think she wants one.  Sometimes I wonder about that child...

This evening Abbie was the chauffeur and took Spencer and Neil to and from soccer practice.  It was so nice to have her willingly take care of that.

This evening we finished reading Wild Robot.  The ending of this book leads directly into the first chapter of the next book, which we will start tomorrow.

Thankful: I am thankful for green grass.  We played bocci ball for FHE tonight, and it was nice to play on the front lawn.

Ministering: Today I ministered to a colleague at another credit union (maybe in Texas?) who is on our same computer system.  We met virtually when she had a question a few years ago, and she had some more questions that I could help her with.  People helping people; that's what it's all about.

I love you both!

Love,

Dad

Isaac took a turn reading to the girls.  Very fun!

Addendum

With my new format, I forgot to include my customary ending!

Thankful: I am thankful for the blessing of fasting.  Yesterday was a bit chaotic in the evening, and so I never actually had dinner.  I finished the evening with two pieces of toast and tomato just before midnight, and began my fast then.  I think the Lord understood my circumstances and accepted my shortened fast.  Today just felt good.  On days I fast I often think of Alma 17:3.  Frequent fasting has been a blessing in my life.

Ministering: Spencer and I made ministering visits to the Osborn's and Robinson's this afternoon.  It was among the first time we've made official ministering visits in a long time, and was nice to do.

Okay, now I'm done.  Love to all!

Happy Sunday

Dear Jessie and Mark,

I'm going to change how I send my daily message.  Instead of writing in my journal, then copying and pasting it into an email, I'll send you an email, then copy that into my journal.  That way I am less likely to send something to you that I meant to edit out.  (Shocking disclosure - there is more to my journal than you get!)

Today was really nice.  I was up until 1:00 am this morning taking care of Nathaniel.  I decided to sleep in and not attend the Fourth Ward Council meeting.  That was a good decision.  

We attended church at noon and it was so nice.  I really enjoy gathering with other Church members.  A newly married couple that recently moved into our ward, the Zoebell's, spoke in Church.  Madelyn shared an idea in a way I had never thought of before.  We are a Church of getherers.  We gather together to partake of the sacrament and worship God.  We strengthen each other as we gather.  And we engage in missionary work to gather scattered Israel on this side of the veil, and we do temple work to gather scattered Israel on the other side.  Gathering and togetherness is an integral part of God's plan for his children.

I met with Pres. Florence this afternoon.  I am so impressed by the work our Stake Presidency does and the time they devote.  They are amazing men.  I want to fulfill my calling in a way that takes some of the load off them.

We had a virtual Self-Reliance committee meeting this afternoon to discuss the upcoming Self-Reliance classes we are going to start in September.  I think things are progressing, and we feel good about our plans.  The meeting took 13 minutes.  No one complained about that!

Mom planned some fun activities for the family this afternoon.  We played something similar to Hit or Miss, where each person tried to think of a gospel person or event related to a specific word.  The goal was to think of one person or event that many people would think of, and one that no one else would list.  Then we talked about the things we discussed.  The funniest part was when the word was "short."  We all thought of Zaccheus.

Dinner was ... you guessed it, amazing.  Last week Emma ate too much and had to lie down.  Tonight it was mom that overdid it.  I offered to smoke salmon next week so she wouldn't overeat! :)

We are finishing our bedtime story called The Wild Robot.  The book is quite enjoyable.  It is due back at the library tomorrow, but we still have almost 50 pages to go.  We are just getting to the climax, so tomorrow we are going to have a reading marathon.

Mark, will you please check your garment tops?  I have two shirts that I am sure are yours, but Mom said you counted and have as many as you are supposed to have.  If you need these, I'll mail them to you.  Otherwise I'll put them away until you get home.

Jessie, your new bluetooth keyboard should arrive at the mission office tomorrow.  Amazon sent me confirmation that it had been "dispatched."  I guess that is the Canadian version of "shipped."  I didn't know I could speak Canadian! :)

Love you both, and hope you have a wonderful day.

Dad

A success story from yesterday.  I gathered all the tools needed to remove the stuck tub drain stopper, hoping it would take only 20 minutes to complete:

And fifteen minutes later, the project was done!  No additional trips to the hardware store needed!  Miracles never cease!  This is the old drain successfully removed, with the magic tool on the left.

Skyline Drive

Dear Jessie and Mark,

The details of today are all below.  Read on, and know how much I love and pray for both of you.

Love,

Dad

Saturday, August 15, 2020
10:07 pm

No journal entry last night because Spencer, Emma and Camilla spent the night at Dad and Mom's house.  With only Neil and Isaac going to bed, they didn't need me to sit outside their door, and my normal journal writing routine got messed up.  Instead, we played catch outside in the back yard while Nathaniel sat on a blanket and enjoyed the evening.  Julie and Abbie worked on a card in Julie's craft room.

At work yesterday we finished our interviews for our new teller position and extended an offer to Aspen.  She accepted and starts on Wednesday.  It felt like I was really not very effective this past week at getting things done.  Too much time got diverted from making progress on the things I wanted to focus on.  Instead there were too many urgent items, some of them important, but not all, that took my time.  Next week has to be better.

Today was productive and fun.  We started with banana muffins served on the back deck with fresh peaches.  Then I replaced the chicken wire that had been broken down so now the chickens don't have the run of the entire back yard.  They are again confined to the animal domain.

After that was done, Spencer, Neil, Isaac and I joined Dad and went to Bret VanAusdal's cabin in Fairview Canyon.  He has more firewood than he wants and is trying to clear it off his property.  It is already cut and split.  We loaded a pickup truck full.  The drive there took just over an hour, and loading the truck took about 15 minutes.  Then Bret invited us to ride in their side-by-sides on a loop along Skyline Drive.  It was really beautiful.  Bret and Dad rode in the two-seater, and I went with the three boys in the bigger one.  Spencer got to drive for part of the time and loved it.  Then we had lunch with them and came back home.  I expected we would be back at 1:00, but it was closer to 5:00 when we returned.  And our woodpile now is so full I can't close the gate to it anymore.  I think we have 450 cubic feet of firewood.

After a standing dinner of whatever you could grab, we went to Dad and Mom's to celebrate Grandma Fry's 99^th birthday with a chocolate pudding dessert that was quite tasty.  When our girls got full, I finished theirs too.  Three servings was probably more than I should have eaten, but someone had to sacrifice.  😉

Thankful: I am thankful we had such a fun day together today and that we were safe.

Ministering: First thing this morning I worked on an email for the Self-Reliance program.  I need to finish it tonight and send it off.

More later…

Spencer thinks life is GOOD! 

Red things from the garden

Dear Jessie and Mark,

I need to rock Nathaniel to sleep, so I'm sending this journal entry with little additional notes.  Other than to say how much I love you and hope you are doing great.

Love,

Dad

Thursday, August 13, 2020
9:03 pm

May I start this journal entry by saying how angry I feel at crooks, thieves and swindlers?  We discovered some fraud at the credit union today, but not before our member had lost $8,000.  And why?  Because our member he gave his online banking user ID and password to someone who said they could help him earn some easy money.  I'm not sure which feeling is stronger – anger at the crooks for being so selfish and dishonest, or disbelief at my member that anyone could be so foolish as to give out their online banking credentials.  Aaaurrrgh!

In other news, I love having toast and tomatoes for lunch every day.  I supplemented with fresh strawberries from our garden in yogurt.  If I could really get good at gardening, I might be tempted to become a vegetarian!  (Small chance of that happening in this life!)

Before dinner I went on a short walk with Isaac, Emma, Camilla and Nathaniel.  We talked with Bro. and Sis. Knowles.  I gave some movie tickets to the Bates tonight to thank them for being so kind to our children, and asked for a couple zucchini from their garden to go in our chicken noodle soup.  The soup was amazing.  After dinner I gave Nathaniel a bath.  I worked on a stake blood drive today.  I still need to prepare an email letting people know about an upcoming Self-Reliance program.

Thankful: I'm thankful that my irritations and problems are generally limited to dealing with others' problems, like my member losing $8k.  As frustrating as that problem is, it's not life and death.  No one's eternal salvation is at stake (well, maybe the swindler, but he is not in my circle of concern or influence).  And my family is healthy and secure.

Ministering: Bates and Knowles.  See above.

More later…

No photos today, so I chose one from the archive.

Writing to TWO missionaries

Dear Jessie and Mark,

What a treat it is to have two missionaries to write to each night.  I'm so excited!  

Thank you Jessie for the email this evening.  I loved reading it.  Sorry I missed much of the video chat this afternoon; there was lots going on today at work.  I'll get more details from the kids and Mom.

Mark, I tracked your flight on my computer at the office until you landed.  Thanks for the texts; so glad to know you made it safely.  We look forward to hearing all about your area, companion, etc. when you have time to write or talk.

Have a great day tomorrow!

Love,

Dad

Wednesday, August 12, 2020
9:37 pm

We got Mark to the airport on time this morning and saw him off to begin his service in Austin, Texas.  We enjoyed pumpkin and apple pie that Abbie made last night in honor of Mark's departure.  He ate some, but was too nervous to eat a "normal" breakfast.  He read us the last chapter of Bunnicula on the drive.  Listening to Mark read while we drive has become a family tradition.  At the airport we took a few final teary photos, then Julie drove a lap around the airport while went in with Mark to check his luggage and get him to the security checkpoint.  Everything went smoothly and he sent us a text message from Austin that he is there and with his companion Elder Roundy.  We love and pray for them both.

We also had a nice visit with Jessie.  I wasn't able to join for the entire call and had to mute it a couple times to deal with stuff at work, but I enjoyed what I was there for.  She looked happy, and I enjoyed the email I got from her this evening.

We had corn on the cob for dinner, and I added toast and tomato.  It was better than good.  I love fresh, delicious, healthy food.  Then after we cycled the dishes I played Chronology with Neil and Isaac.  Isaac wanted to do something outside, so we played it on the lawn.  That's not necessarily the most convenient place to play a game with cards, but the temp was perfect and it was very pleasant.

Thankful: I am so grateful for the gospel and to have two missionaries serving the Lord.  I hope to follow their example and serve the Lord and my fellow brothers and sisters.

Ministering: I ministered to a credit union member today by listening to him.  He's made some pretty serious mistakes that he is trying to work through.  I think he feels good talking to someone about it.  I am amazed by the power of the Atonement to cleanse from sin and compensate for the hurt we cause others.  Truly we should never treat that blessing lightly or assume that the healing we and others need will come easily.  It required the infinite sacrifice of Jesus Christ; we should not expect that change to require anything less than everything we can offer.

More later...

Saying goodbye

We are smiling behind the masks... honest!