April 10th, 2016

This is to remind me of good people in the world. When we went to the library last week, Cason wanted to hold my receipt, but I wanted to put it in my purse so I wouldn't lose it. As Cason started to fuss about this, the librarian made Cason his very own receipt. He loved it!

Brooklyn learned her sight words last week and did a really goo job organizing numbers from 1-10. She can name the numbers from 11-20, but I haven't had her arrange them yet.

Doug took this picture of me during conference. I wanted to move around a little to keep myself awake. Doug's talking about selling this when we move. I don't want to sell a bunch of great stuff only to buy it again later.

Here is the conference spread Doug prepared on Saturday morning while I went on a run.

And here's some self-help that was recommended to Doug when he applied for the job at Ensign.

More documentation of the cute neighborhood Easter egg hunt.

And Lucy at the museum when we had cousins here

And Cason digging for bones at the museum.

And a bunch of the cousins in front of the museum before we went in. All caught up!

Peanut was incredibly sweet and decided the siblings should do something for Mom and Dad to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. She wanted us to say why we're glad they got married and give top ten memories. Here's mine:

Why I’m Glad You Guys Got Married 40 Years Ago:

Well, the obvious response is that so many incredible things have happened because you guys met, fell in love, and decided to get married. You had our incredible family, you raised us so well, and we’re still experiencing the ripple effects of being born in the covenant to goodly parents who love each other and love us. My patriarchal blessing declares that I had a special meeting with the Savior in the premortal life during which time I was told that I would, “be born of goodly parents who would teach [me] the gospel and prepare [me] for the great mission that [I] have upon this earth.” You raised all of us with unconditional love, attention, invitations to rise up and be better, and shoulders to cry on when things were hard. You raised us to love Heavenly Father and trust Christ’s atonement. You sacrificed so much to help us have an incredible childhood, and you still demonstrate so much love and sacrifice. I cringe at the sacrifice you’re about to offer in letting my family of 7 move in for half a year. I adore you, and I’m thankful for you! You’ve both been incredible examples and we are all so, so lucky we get to be your kids, and our kids get to be your grandkids.

Top Ten Memories:

1)    You gave us Fergus Falls, Minnesota. I really believe that very, very few people will get a joyful childhood comparable to mine, and so much of that is linked to my memories in Fergus. I loved that you let us go stay with Grandma and Grandpa, that we got to have swim lessons there, that we got to shop to our heart’s delight there and go to restaurants there (Ponderosa! Doubles!), that we learned more about service by visiting the Browen Nursing Home to see Cy and Jesse, that we got to play cards and dress up and golf and drive go-carts and go to the library and dancing. . . and we got to play at the lake all day.

2)    I loved when you and Dad took me to Pat and Erica and Dave and Ruth’s weddings. Getting to go on a trip with you guys as an only child was so awesome. The drive up the coast was amazing, and I felt so lucky the whole time.

3)    I was so thrilled when mom got me a flute. I really wanted to play the flute, but I kept procrastinating how to make sure that happened. Band classes were going to start the next day, and I realized that I still hadn’t done anything about procuring a flute. I’m a little hazy on the details, but I think I went up to my room and saw the flute case on my bed. That flute has brought me so much joy in my life!

4)    I remember Dad waking me up from a nap during my senior year of high school to announce that we should go prom dress shopping. I wasn’t very excited about the prom that year, and I was caught off guard by Dad’s offer. We had a good time and found a cool dress together. . .

5)    Which reminds me of our daddy/daughter dates right before school started every year. I loved laughing at how Dad was color blind and couldn’t tell whether the jeans we were looking at were black or dark green. I loved getting new clothes and going out to eat, and the tradition was something to look forward to.

6)    I loved our all-out-blow your-mind Christmases and Easters. Other people got cool birthday parties like we did, but no one could outshine the Elf coming every year for the ten days before Christmas and then the lavish, incredible gifts on Christmas day. And on Easter. I tried to explain to people that we didn’t usually get clothes throughout the year, so Santa and the Easter bunny were really generous to help us get things we needed. But really, we were spoiled rotten and it was so fun!

7)    I really liked our family softball games in the park and throwing the lacrosse ball or football around in the yard. It was really fun to play with the neighborhood kids, but it was also enjoyable to get in the car and go somewhere together as a family to hang out and play together.

8)    Like everyone else who provides a top ten list, I appreciated your sacrifice to let us play the sports and instruments we wanted, and I appreciated your support in getting us to and from all our millions of activities. I loved what I got to do, and it always mattered to me that you guys supported me. I loved hearing Dad whistle for me at band concerts. I always looked for him, and the whistle helped me find him. I was so glad you came to watch me be Lady Capulet in the school play. When you came to watch me play sports, I knew you cared about me, even though I wasn’t as good an athlete as I wanted to be. I remember Mom spotting me for hundreds of backwalkovers and handsprings, and trusting her spotting completely.

9)    I remember you guys letting us do sleepovers in your room. I sometimes got kicked out because I kept snorting through my allergies, but I loved that we got to camp out in your room.

10) One of my favorite memories is Dad giving me Andrew Wilkinsen for my 16^th birthday. Andrew wasn’t a gift I’d want to keep forever, but that whole experience was so awesome—you guys coordinated the Damn Yankees tickets at the Kennedy Center, got Peanut and Eric to go too, and made it a total surprise.

Thank you for giving me the greatest life in the world.