Letters from Home – Page 150 – A blog by Angela Ross

Game Night

We were going for the awkward look, in case you were worried. Sparky is pouting in the corner because he isn’t allowed on the furniture downstairs.

Family home evening last night was a game night. Mark was in charge. He came out carrying a tower of games from which we could choose. Monopoly was among the choices, bless his heart. We played Quirkle with too many people, so it was a long wait between turns. To entertain the restless people, I read stories aloud from my memoir-in-progress, one story each about the children and one about the dog. We laughed and reminisced and then Timothy served the cheesecake.

Hello, Sunshine

Happy Monday! This is what I worked on this weekend during the rain, and now the sun is here and I have this bright face to look at every few minutes all day long.

Coming Home

I love coming home. Most of the time. There was one day this week that I sat out in the garage for a while before coming in because I didn’t want to face a couple of grumpy kids.

I like to come home to someone playing the piano. Last night as I drove home, I saw Timothy framed in our front room window, just home from a Boy Scout merit badge class, still in his baseball uniform, practicing the piano. This scene in the window, framing his act of dedication, was beautiful to me.

Thank you for reading. I wish we could go out to lunch together instead, but at least we have this connection. Have a happy weekend!

1-DSC_2809 — Anniversary roses from Richard

48 pounds of Chocolate

How could I NOT take a picture? It’s not for me. I picked it up for Lisa who will be making a lot of chocolate dipped strawberries. The truth is, these bags are totally unappetizing to me. Maybe it’s too much of a good thing!

This is almost all I have to show for my day yesterday. The rain makes me feel so sluggish. Today I’m forcing myself to mop my floors and vacuum my basement. My joints are ready for more movement!

Twenty years

Happy anniversary to us!

Richard has been sending me a letter each day for several weeks, 20 letters in all, to celebrate our anniversary. I don’t know what I will do when the mailbox returns to its usual graveyard of impersonal bills and ads. But I won’t dwell on it, and I have 20 letters to read when I need to see some human handwriting. This gift from Richard is significant because he types everything. If we need to make out a check or fill out a form, he often asks me to do it. He simply doesn’t write anything by hand because it’s uncomfortable and he’s been out of practice for decades.

I’m thankful for our life, busy, sometimes challenging, and as changing as the seasons.

Here is a little excerpt from the memoir I am writing:

(1994… the year we began dating)

I idealized Richard a bit, and wondered if I could ever be as good as he was. This wasn’t a bad thing. I wanted a young man who could inspire me to be better. I had learned to be aware of how a young man chose to spend his free time. Was he chasing entertainment and fun all of the time? Richard was a serious student and used his time wisely. This included time for fun, but it wasn’t the driving force in all he did. I had learned to watch for triggers to a young man’s temper, and to be cautious of a young man who always found ways to be offended. I felt safe and never worried that Richard would yell or get angry when something didn’t go his way. I had learned to appreciate a young man who planned dates carefully, but with whom I could also go on a walk and feel like it had been a nice evening. Richard was great at making our time together special. I had learned to look for someone who didn’t resent me for my abilities in school but supported me in my interests in school and the violin. Richard was there for every violin performance in the two years before we were married. He found ways to encourage me as I worked hard in school.

…We were busy with school and work, but he would leave things for me to find. One night as I studied on my couch, I heard a soft step moving up the stairs outside my door. Somehow I knew it was him. He didn’t knock, but left a box of fudge striped cookies in a bag on the door for me to discover with a note,

Angie,

Here’s a little something to help you on your physics test. Eat three of these before you take it and you’re guaranteed to do well. Actually, they’ll probably make you sick and then you won’t be able to take it at all (which could also be good).

Love,

Richard

One night I walked out to my car and found a bag of carrot sticks on the windshield with the label,

Angie,

All I’ve ever given you is junk food. How about something healthy for a change? Actually, I just want you to know that I am thinking of you, and I hope things are going alright. Hang in there!

Love,

Richard

With kindness such as this, is it any wonder that I wanted to marry him? I’m so glad that I did.

Why we need the Book of Mormon

Daniel taught our family home evening lesson last night to fulfill a missionary challenge for seminary. He taught us why we need the Book of Mormon. He had us look up scriptures from the various prophets of the Book of Mormon and we made a list of what we learned. Here is our list.

The Book of Mormon was written:

To persuade people to believe in Christ
To express the things of a prophet’s soul for his children
For a wise purpose
And it was kept and preserved over time
For our day
For a future people
To call us to come unto Christ
For the descendants of the Lamanites, the Jews, and the Gentiles
To join with the Bible and the records of the 10 tribes to convince the world of truth
And by it and other records will the world be judged
To help us grow closer to God as we obey its precepts…

Daniel shared this quote by Ezra Taft Benson,

…The only problem the objector has to resolve for himself is whether the Book of Mormon is true. For if the Book of Mormon is true, then Jesus is the Christ, Joseph Smith was his prophet, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, and it is being led today by a prophet receiving revelation.

And Moroni’s promise (Moroni 10:4-5) to all who study and ask in faith if the book is true,

And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know thetruth of all things.

Then we ate doughnuts. Awesome, quick, drama-free family home evening. Hooray.

My goal today

My goal today is to spend an hour sitting outside in these chairs.

The AP Calculus test is tomorrow. I wonder if bonding over calculus will ever be a sweet memory for these two. They’ve worked hard all year.

Dinosaur Day

Mark and I are on field trip overdrive during this last month of school. Last week was our trip to the Bean Museum. This week was our visit to Thanksgiving Point. I love looking at dinosaur bones and so does Mark. We kept just ahead of the three busses of kids on field trips and avoided being swarmed upon like we were at the Bean Museum.

Mark kept telling me great facts about dinosaurs. I assumed it was from the books he read for his second grade report. When I asked him, though, he said some of his knowledge came from reading Calvin and Hobbes. 😉

We ended by visiting the candy counter at The Emporium, which is a visual delight.

Last walk

It was Paige’s last Laurel class activity before graduation last night and I got to drive these girls up to Temple Square for some pictures. While we were there we saw another group of young women doing the same thing, only they had 8 36-inch balloons in the Young Women value colors. They graciously let us use them. (We learned that it’s $50-70 to inflate this many balloons this size.)

These were just cell phone shots. Here are a few of the Real camera shots by Kelly Nelson, their Laurel class advisor.

Temple Square was nearly empty. An elderly couple held hands on a bench and looked up at the temple. A younger couple was doing the same on another bench. A couple of brides and grooms posed for pictures, but it was quiet. Golden light, air fragrant with blossoms, and a quiet spirit was there. It was one of the best Young Women activities I have ever attended.

Priesthood Restoration

At church on Sunday the Young Women teacher set out an outline for a family home evening lesson on the table. It had the activities from her Sunday lesson and a great quote for the young women to share with their families. Only one girl took a copy. And I did, too. I know the value of a ready-made FHE lesson. Timothy was thankful for it when he drew a blank about what he wanted to teach our family last night.

It was a good lesson. We read scriptures about the restoration of the priesthood. Richard and I talked about the big and small blessings in our lives that have come because the priesthood was restored.

We can be together forever.
We can have power in our lives.
We are blessed by he organization of the church.
We have a prophet and apostles on the earth to guide us.

And much, much more.

The blessings of the priesthood are like a blanket that covers and surrounds us all the time.

It is a humbling thing to be taught by Timothy and to hear his testimony.

We enjoyed some strawberry shortcake and then got back to homework and activities. It’s a busy time.