February 17, 2013 Dear Mama, Hi! How was your Valentine's Day? Did you get to go and do something fun? Ya just gotta celebrate a day that is all about love, right? Anyway, my celebrations were short lived, but worthwhile. More about that later... Last Monday, the 11th, was Sam and Cale's 13th birthday! They went to school with their cupcakes in tow and didn't get home until nearly 6:30. (Josh's basketball coach, Coach Lee, resigned, and the girl's basketball coach, Coach Thompson now coaches the girls, and then afterward, coaches the boys, making practice time even longer than before.) They came home and we had chicken mozzarella for dinner (Jay was gone, traveling for work), and then we had cake! Sam had asked for chocolate mousse cake, and Cale requested a Boston cream pie cake. They enjoyed their presents and were sad that bedtime came so soon. They said that the cupcakes were a big hit and they didn't get much work once people found out it was their birthday. It all worked out well for them. I just find it hard to believe that these guys are legitimate teenagers. Wow! Where has the time flown? Tuesday, of course, was Mardi Gras, but we don't get the day off here in Tucumcari, although it was interesting that Jay found out that in Baton Rouge where they celebrate Mardi Gras, they have a Krewe of Tucumcari. Spelled that way and everything. Weird, huh? Meanwhile, we had a normal day here. I didn't even get a chance to bake a king cake like I usually do. I am sure my waistline appreciates it after birthday cakes. Wednesday was kind of crazy. I dropped the boys off to the bus stop and then raced back home and picked up Brenna and then we went off to Albuquerque. She had an appointment with a dental surgeon for a consultation on getting her wisdom teeth pulled. We have dental insurance as well as medicaid, but she will be turning 19 on March 5th and no longer be eligible for the medicaid. So, we wanted this done before then. They had an opening on Friday, the 15th. We took it. She was not so happy, though. We left Albuquerque, went back to Tucumcari for about 5 minutes and then headed to Clovis because her glasses had come in. Again, she was not happy. She did not want glasses. Well, we got there, and she put the glasses on, and --WHOA! She said, "I can see! Oh my gosh, I was blind as a bat and didn't even know it! Look at the detail...wow, it even affects the color of things. Thanks Mom for making me do this. Wow...I can see." By the time we got back to Tucumcari, we had driven 500 miles. What a day. So, Thursday was Valentine's day. Jay actually remembered it. That was nice. I gave the kids their candy filled hearts (something I sewed together years ago, and still use. They are not very big, but that is fine.) I only have four of them, so I used the box that Jay's gift to me came in and put stuff in there for Matt and delivered his to him before he took off for school that morning. I spent my day doing the laundry. Josh had a basketball game that night, and although I tried staying up, Jay ended up taking care of going to San Jon to fetch him. They didn't get home until midnight. He won his game though. It was a really close game, 42-41. But they won. I asked Jay to take care of getting him because I knew I needed a good night's sleep to be able to drive to Albuquerque in the morning. And Friday arrived. Brenna and I left at 6:00 in the morning. We made good time, so I went to Sam's to stock up on our pepperoni for our pizza nights. It is the only place we can find it. None of the other Sam's carry pepperoni, either. While there I stocked up on pudding and apple sauce and such for Brenna. Got there for her appointment and off she went. About an hour and 15 minutes later I was called to come pick her up from recovery. Another girl was waiting there who had gone in after Brenna, and she was wide awake and cheerful and poor Brenna looked dead to the world. The Dr. had to help me stand her up and then a nurse helped me to get her to the car. She slept most of the way home. She was fully awake by the time we got to Tucumcari, and I was starving, and she hadn't had breakfast and knew she was probably hungrier than I was, so we went to Sonic and I ordered her a chocolate malt. Poor Benna. Her bottom lip and jaw were still numb and she kept dribbling malt down her front because she couldn't feel it. She just wanted to go home, so home we went. She took her drugs and went to bed with ice packs on both jaws, with her head propped up above her heart. She slept most of the day and ate a bit of pudding. I discovered that she doesn't like yogurt. Saturday was also kind of crazy. Brenna had finally got feeling back in her face and started feeling the real pain and told me she hated me for doing this to her (although she told Shayna some man took her teeth and she hated him for it). Today was also Stake Coference and it was being broadcast via satellite to our little Branch. Unfortunately, Jay had to go into Amarillo for meetings and so he had to set up a system and teach me what to do to make it work. Did that right after breakfast. Started preparing for the sabbath and making lunch early because--Josh had another basketball game and had to leave by 11:30 to catch the bus at noon. So, Jay left early for his meetings and dropped Josh off on his way. I worked on finishing up Josh's laundry and making food for the next day. It was time to go to the church and hoped I remembered how to do what I was supposed to do. I did it, but all of a sudden, the sound went out. I had to call Jay and he told me to start all over again. I did, and the sound was good through the whole thing until the closing prayer. Not bad. Came home and the twins had locked me out. You would think I'd have a key, but I don't. Anyway, they let me in blaming the locked doors on Jack. I got them to take their showers, and then I did up dishes. Just as I was finishing up with everything, Jay and Josh came in the door. It was 11:00pm. Jay had waited at the school from 9 until 10:30 for the bus to come. They won their game, though. The score was 64 to 42. They played against Clovis Christian. Apparently they are into football more than basketball and so their team was not all that great. Josh got to play a lot, and he enjoyed himself immensely. Sunday, today, Brenna stayed home because she was still in much pain, and still very chipmunk cheeked. We went to the Branch building where they were doing stake conference via satellite from Salt Lake City. Our high councilman was present. During President Eyring's talk, he kept cutting out just as he was about to say something really important. Really frustrating. Our high councilman, Brother De Long spoke to Jay about the reception and Jay said that for years we have put up with this and have complained on a pretty consistent basis, but all they do is spend money tying the satellite dish down to make it secure against the wind. Today was a very calm day for us, so it proved what Jay has said all along, that it is not a problem of steadying the dish, but it needs to be realigned. Brother De Long said he would make his voice heard and hopefully someone would be checking into it. Anyway, Moroni came for lunch, a bit stiff and sore. He is on the rodeo team and got bucked off of a bronco. Nothing broken, though, thank goodness. We added mashed potatoes and gravy to our menu so that Brenna could join us and have something at the table that she could eat. She tried eating the asparagus, but that didn't go over so well. She is taking an antibiotic which is starting to play havoc with her digestive system, but then again, it could be that she just hasn't eaten any fiber for the last few days. Or, maybe it is both things. Anyway, she doesn't "hate me" anymore, but she isn't grateful for making her do this wisdom teeth thing like she was thankful for the glasses thing. Heard from Shayna. One of her professors, Bryon, is making sure they have a Senior Showing by paying for it out of his own pocket. She is very excited, but extremely busy trying to pull it off. She is staying at OPSU for her Spring Break so she can work on it. She already has several pieces that people are wanting to buy from her for about $300 each, but she has made them wait to purchase them until after her showing so that she has enough pieces for her show. She needs 40 pieces, and she is only halfway there. She talked to Elder about it, and he told her not to worry, just get done as much as she possibly can. She still hasn't heard from the Peace Corps, but she said that she will be contacting them soon to ask about her status. Okay, I am ready to close this letter. I'd like to spend some time with my family before it's time for scriptures and prayer and then bedtime. I hope you are doing yours, too (scriptures and prayer, I mean). I love ya gobs and bunches, your 4th, Lisa