With All Our Love

Dear Tanner,

What a week! It seems like forever since we read your wonderful letter of last week. We loved hearing about your adventures in the park, LOVED the pictures...were a little concerned that you were in the middle of the street after hearing of the missionary who got hit by a bus AND you mention how crazy everybody drives. Be careful!

Monday Breyer and Miller were up to their usual antics. Everyone goes off to school, the house is a weekend disaster, the laundry room is full, the sink is full, and Mom's busy. After bringing them a little snack, Breyer came back downstairs with Cooper's slipper full of chocolate covered raisins. She had picked them out of her snack dish, and thought the slipper was a good way to get them downstairs. Then Miller had some philosophical thoughts, and asked, "Mom, why does everything that's not good for you, like ice cream and candy, donuts and soda, taste so good? And everything that's good for you doesn't taste good at all! Monday was the first day Dad took Hunter to the golf course to play a round of 9 holes. He shot a 43, not bad after a long winter. He told me when he came home from school he was so excited to play, he literally ran to his locker, ran to the car...he sure does love the game! Dad drives him and sits in the club house and works on school work. He doesn't like Hunter making the long drive himself because of the narrow, curvy road conditions. Monday was also the day we got your birthday letter to Miller. He LOVED the Cars stuff, and especially the money. He felt rich having a little paper currency in his pocket, and he is.

Tuesday began with a bang. I woke up before seminary, preparing to cook breakfast, and realized what I planned was impossible as I had NO eggs! My second option was negated because I had NO yogurt. My back-up of a back-up plan almost didn't work until I realized I had more oats in the food room. Thank goodness for oatmeal. Then, Hunter was backing out of the driveway to head to school, and knocked down the (full) trash can. Not only did he have to pick up the trash he spilled, he also had to have help from Dad getting the van off of the trash can. Jarrod did a little rubber burning in the wet grass, the car came unperched, and Sawyer was sprayed with mud. It was in his ears, his nose, all over his backpack and coat...a mess! He was upset about leaving mud droppings all over his room. But the excitement wasn't over! Jarrod went out to his car to go to work, and saw Sawyer's bunny two houses away under their car. Jarrod, Cooper (home sick) and Miller spent thirty minutes trying to catch the bunny, as it went under the neighbor's deck. Jarrod finally got a big net (think pitchback), and threw it on him. The bottom of his cage had dropped out, due to bunny gnawings, so he went in our trash can which had just been emptied, until Sawyer came home from school. Who else does this all before 8 a.m.?

Today was also the day Porter had his braces glued on. His face is very cute anyway, but the braces add an extra cuteness factor. By the time I got home from speech, I felt like I had run a marathon and it was only noon!

Cub scouts was a modge podge of activities: cooking popcorn from scratch for a snack, writing a to-do list, and tying knots.

Stephen Welch drove Ethan there, so I had him help with the knot rotation. That was a station the boys did not want to leave!

The popcorn was the craziest! The boys pop as much as the popcorn...they were so excited to watch it cook! Even some parents were learning how to make it from scratch. Messy, but a success.

Thursday your Valentine's Day letters for your parents arrived. What a lovely gift that was. To be honest, I was hoping it was the story of why your apartment had to be rededicated, but I truly loved reading your sweet feelings. It was also a crazy day for Porter! He has been practicing track after school, eating dinner, and going to baseball practice at 6:30. Today and last week he also went to the church to play pick-up basketball with the missionaries and his friend. Three sports is a lot in one day for his skinny frame. Considering his new braces, and his very tender mouth, he's lost a little bit of weight not being able to eat enough to keep up with his caloric rate!

Friday we brought the VW Jetta in for new wheel bearings. Because of this I felt like I spent the whole day in the car! We dropped Dad off at work, hit a few grocery stores, got home a little bit before I had to get the boys from school, and realized I had to pick Dad up from work. Picked him up, hit the three schools, taught my piano lesson, picked up the car from the shop...You get the idea. Dad took Hunter to the golf course for his second time this week. We figured out that his $200 fee through the end of May, 13 weeks, means he's paying $15 a week to golf. Normally he'd have to pay $30 each time. So if he only goes once it's a great deal, if he can go more than once, it's a steal! He shot a 40 over 9 holes today, chipping in the first two holes, and came home very excited. One of my new Relay Teams sponsored a spaghetti dinner, at the fire department, so I picked up a couple and shared with those who were home.

Saturday dawned early as the three older boys and Dad went to the Louisville temple for a stake temple trip. Huntington I had been assigned the first shift at 9 a.m., which doesn't make as much sense when you consider we're the farthest from that temple. But, in light of this weekend having the clocks move ahead, come Monday morning they will be more blessed when they wake up for seminary. The boys brought some family names, which is nice.

Today was another adventure. I'm grateful for quiet days. I also am grateful for days that make you count your blessings. We were driving to church. The clocks sprung ahead last night, so our hard-to-get-to-church on time problem was slightly compounded by losing another hour. But, we were doing okay, and were driving to church, when I see on the Route 7 highway, at the intersection of Crown Point (up by the Duncan's river house), a little boy about three standing in his green pajamas. All I could think about was Uncle Rich lost in Chicago, and made Hunter turn the van around. His hands were freezing. He said he was looking for his Dad, and asked me where he went. I picked him up and walked up the street, stopping in front of each house to ask if this was his house. After ten or so houses, my high heels were uncomfortable, so I sat in the side door of the van, and had Hunter drive us. We made it all the way to the top of the street, and then were on the way back down, when we went past a side street and he saw his house. There were big Easter banners fluttering in the breeze. At that time, his father, who had gotten home, discovered he was missing, was driving frantically towards us, and saw his son. To say that the father was in a state of shock doesn't do him justice. He was incredulous that his son followed him out the door on his errand, walked over 1/4 a mile, and somehow didn't get hit while standing near the highway - all while taking over an hour. And, we knew the family. His older brother was on Miller's basketball team this year, and he was your physical therapist at Cabell for your pitching injury. We were late to church, about 20 minutes, but we had a good excuse ;-). Cooper walked in the chapel doors just in time to have Dad announce that the first speaker would be Cooper Schenewark. Impeccable timing!

Today we also began the celebration of Sawyer's tenth birthday. We had chocolate mint brownies without the mint, a few presents from your grandmother as well as the Scholastic bag of books...more celebrations will be enjoyed this week that I dare not mention until they're over. Can you believe Sawyer can go to scout camp next year?

Uncle Rich penned this about your grandparents: "Consider this for a Mission-family legacy you have established. You had four children serve in the 80’s / 90’s, but since Zach left on his mission in 2002 – until now – there have been only a handful of months where you have not had a full time missionary in the field from your family. Following your six years of mission from 2003 to Nov 2009, Roger left in 2010, Derek in 2011, Tanner in 2012, Greg and Naomi in 2013 – and it is likely that for the next 20 years and beyond – like an eternal flame – you will always have posterity serving as full time missionaries somewhere. How cool is that."

Elder Petersen wrote this in his last letter: "As for the new pres, I’m sad but excited as well. It will be cool to be able to experience two presidents; I can’t even explain the gratitude I have for President Tavares. He is ridiculously amazing and has probably the best vision as a president than any other president in the world. Now I know why my patriarchal blessing says I will serve a unique and special mission."

Interesting news form Jeremy: Transfers are this coming Sunday and we honestly have no idea what is going to happen. We just know that there are 33 sisters coming into the mission and there are only 28 out right now.... Every sister in the mission is going to train! Even the ones that just got here 5 weeks ago! YIKES! That would be really scary! I don't think that there are any new Chinese Elders coming out but there are 4 Chinese Sisters that are coming out and I am pretty sure they are all from The United States.

Elder Cummings wrote about buying an awesome hammock to sleep in. Does that interest you? Have you had companions do this?

Elder Bennet said he got a call from his zone leaders that President Tavares was taking the Foz do Iguaçu and Cascavel zones to go and see the Iguacu waterfalls for p-day. He was so excited and had a great time. I do hope you get to seem them someday.

In the church news I saw that due to the heavy rains in Sao Paulo, there were severe mudslides and flooding in the southwest portion of the state, particularly Cubatao and surrounding areas. Members donned the yellow vests, and in the spirit of Mormon Helping Hands, worked hard and are continuing to work. Are you nearby? I believe this would have been the week you were sequestered with a sick companion. Did your area have lots of rain?

More church news: There was a new chapel built in the middle east. Elder Holland traveled there, and explained that because the number of Latter-day Saints in the area has tripled, from 900 when the first stake was formed 28 years ago to 2,700 today, a division was needed. Second, Elder Holland was asked to dedicate a new meetinghouse in Tel Aviv, Israel—the third Church-owned meetinghouse in the Middle East, following the Jerusalem Center in Jerusalem and another meetinghouse in Tiberius, Israel. Elder Holland also visited the Church’s Jerusalem Center and the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden, a gift to the city from the Church that is maintained by the local government.

I do believe that's the news from the Ohio River Valley. Complete as far as I can remember. We are studying about Paul, after his three missionary journeys and now in his imprisonments. In Philippians, Paul says, "But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel." All that happened to Paul furthered the gospel cause. All that happens to you furthers the cause of the gospel. We love you. We think of you always. We love the gospel, and couldn't let you go if we didn't.

Mom and Dad