Dear Rachel (#19)

Dear Rachel,

It is now officially winter, but we've had snow on the ground for weeks.

During the day the sun's radiation usually burns the snow completely off the drive way and creates impressive icicles on our eaves that have pulled down the top row of our Christmas lights.

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Our fall birthdays are now complete. The gifts you sent the kids were so thoughtful and perfect. Travis opted for cake bites from The Sweet Tooth Fairy for his "birthday cake". The red velvet ones are his favorite.

I can hardly believe your "little" brother is now 18!

Abby's eyes . . . typical. For HER birthday, she chose her usual--your dad's homemade rice pudding.

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The church Christmas party landed on Abby's birthday this year AND she had a soccer game so we partied all day.

It seems that no matter how old you get, if crayons and paper are placed in front of you, doodling must occur. Abby drew a man with a mustache

while Travis drew a floating car.

They were both so thrilled with their artwork that when the party was over, they dismantled the "tablecloth" and taped their creations to our refrigerator. It's been a while since we've had kid art on our fridge.

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It's hard to believe that it has been almost a year since I was called as our Stake Young Women's President. Did I ever introduce you to these amazing women I get to work with?

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We will really miss having you and David here for Christmas this year. At least, we'll get to see you this summer. For now, enjoy this snowy view of home from our front yard.

 We love you LOTS and LOTS. Merry Christmas!

Love,
Mom

Thanksgiving Weekend

I am resigned to the fact that we are destined for nontraditional Thanksgivings for the next few years. Last year I vowed that we wouldn't "mess with tradition", but as it turned out, once again things were a bit different at our house. This year Abby had a tournament in San Diego with her club soccer team over Thanksgiving break so Brian drove her and a carload of females to Southern California where they spent the weekend.

Abby is #27.

Travis, Kellie, and I stayed home and enjoyed our family--both out-of-towners and local BYU students.

Suzanna, Stewart, Grandma Stoker, Isabelle, Kirk, Seth, Emmeline, Kellie, Travis, Beverly, Quinn, Haley, & Renee

Grandma Stoker hosted Thanksgiving dinner at her home this year.

Kirk's son, Seth

Renee's daughter, Haley

Kirk's daughter, Emmeline

Suzanna, my cousin Jennilyn's daughter

Kirk's daughter, Quinn, with her Aunt Renee

We took the kids to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. (The quality of my photos goes way down when taken in the dark with a phone. Ignore the glowing eyes.)

Cousins Haley and Travis

Proof I was part of the festivities

Renee and Haley

Haley with Isabelle and Travis with Quinn

We convinced Kirk and his family (along with Haley) to have a picture taken with Santa and some elves.

We missed Brian, Abby, Rachel & David, and Charlene's family, but I am truly THANKFUL for THESE loved ones who traveled to Utah to see me.

Atlanta, Georgia

A few weeks ago I traveled to Atlanta to see Rachel and David. It was so nice to visit their home for more than just a few hours and to truly get a feel for what their life is like there.

My first night we walked several blocks to The High Museum of Art where they were having an exhibition of Caldecott Medal winner Jerry Pinkney's work. Since Rachel and I both share a love of children's picture books, this was a fun surprise.

Museums are fabulous places of discovery. Being the crocheter that I am this unique chair designed by Marcel Wanders especially caught my eye. It is made of "crocheted fiber and epoxy resin".

This piece intrigued me as well.

But, this clock was one of the most fascinating pieces. A sign posted by the work explains, "Maarten Baas playfully captures the passage of time with his Analog Digital clock, a twelve hour DVD that runs on a loop. . .Only by looking closely at the numerals from the red LCD (liquid crystal display) does one observe that they were actually painted in and out by the designer in real time." We were completely mesmerized by the "ticking" screen. (It's available as a mobile app too.)

Rachel and David live in Midtown so they are within walking distance of many iconic Atlanta sites.

The Fox Theatre being one.

Also, The Varsity--the World's Largest Drive-in Restaurant.

Do you see the Coca-Cola headquarters in the background?

David is a graduate student at Georgia Tech in Biomedical Engineering. Saturday morning of my visit we walked the few blocks from their apartment to campus. It was Homecoming weekend and the Yellow Jacket fans were already tailgating. I enjoyed walking through the Greek Area where the fraternities and sororities were showing their pride.

One fraternity even had a pig roast.

The best part of the morning, however, was when Rachel and David took me to Sublime Doughnuts on the other side of campus. Oh my, oh my, oh my.

I consumed several of their fabulous donuts. The fresh strawberry 'n' cream donut was especially heavenly.

I am so grateful my Uncle and Aunt (Harold and Barbara) live in Atlanta as well as my cousin, Diana, and her husband, Omar. Rachel and David are in good hands.

Dear Rachel (#18)

Dear Rachel,

It's been months since my last blog letter so I am long overdue for an update. We are well into the routine of school now. Travis drives Abby every day and so far they haven't been tardy, although they are sleeping in later and later as the semester progresses.

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Travis continually sabotages my Trick or Treat sign. I am resigned to leave it just like this.

Speaking of Travis, he passed his Eagle Scout Board of Review last week. Of course, we celebrated with food.

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Travis was asked to Sadie's in a "sweet" and "punny" way.

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I found a fun use for the Scrabble tiles you gave me.

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Travis has been doing a lot of lifting to prep for basketball season. He thought for sure he could beat your dad in arm wrestling now, but alas, the 51-year-old won.

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Saturday night we had a Berkeley Reunion. It's amazing how many of us have ended up in Utah. Do you recognize everyone?

I'm so excited to fly to Atlanta and see you in less than two weeks!

Love you and David lots,

Mom

Homecoming

Timpview's Homecoming Dance was in mid September this year, and Travis was ready. The theme was "Homecoming Royale" thus the James Bond pose.

Fortune cookies were involved in the asking this time.

He went with a terrific girl, had a fun group, and had a great time.