Sunday May 24, 2015
Dear Cass-
Another busy week has come and gone! It's sort of crazy for me to think when I'm running around running this family that you're across the world moving from one city to another with ALL your belongings! I hope your week of moving went well and you are getting settled. By the time you read this you will have had your first Sunday in the new area and I can't wait to hear all about it! I am SO THRILLED that you got to stay with Sister Medley! I know making that big change with her by your side had to have made it a little easier. I loved all your pictures from last week - even the messy apartment ones. I hope you have time to catch us up on your last 2 pdays and what fun things you were able to do/see. Explain the big trees, field & windmill:)

Ideas of things to take pictures of: You are doing very good at this! I think you might want outside pictures of the streets you're living on with a picture of the outside of your apartment building. Remember, things look very different there than here so it's fun to see wide shots of where you walk, the parks you're in, stores, etc. Those are all things you'll want later. I promise:)

So here's the update from this week - which felt VERY busy...
1. Becky Lewis got a mission call to New Hampshire.
2. Wyatt Devlin got his to Texas, Houston East Spanish speaking (this is Katelyn's mission)

Monday Dad got up in the middle of the night to leave for a trip to Phoenix til Tuesday night. This was my first week without work since the Fall. I went to the gym and then Grandma Brenda came over to help me plan some things out for the flower bed spots in our yard. Turns out we have a big yard. With a lot of dirt. That needs a lot of plants, etc. It was really fun to be with her and she is just very knowledgeable about all things like that! We visited a couple of nurseries, bought plants, bushes and flowers (it felt like a lot, but I need to do that about 12 more times), and came home and planted. It was a lot of work that day but we got it done before it started raining and it looks good.

Because we planted bushes/flowers on the sidewalk level, I had to shorten Brownie's leash so she can't walk through all the flowers and break them. Hadlie didn't like that idea and proceeded to have a full fledged fit out on the driveway. I finally took her phone away for the night and you can imagine how pleasant the evening was.

Tuesday was pretty normal. Dad was gone, so Colten took Hadlie to school that morning. They were supposed to take Mary too like we do every Tuesday, but they forgot! It all worked out ok. This was a huge week for Colten with final tests, projects & papers due. He's worked really hard this term and it's showing in his grades, so I hope he sees it was worth it. Each day that he'd go to school this week with something big to turn in or test to take and when it was done I could see the stress leaving him. He's been glad to get some things done and over with! One thing that's different this year is that the SAGE (state) test scores are counting on their grades as final exams in some classes. This is sort of crazy because the teachers don't even know what's on the test!

Wednesday I got up at 5 to go to the gym. After I got kids to school I went to the Scera theater to get play tickets for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Tickets were free with our pass of all passes. I stood in line for an hour, got our tickets and Brooke & Chelsie brought me their tickets right at the end so I could get everyone's. I spent the rest of the day grocery shopping and doing errands. That night Dad and I went around our ward visiting the YSA's, making sure everyone knows about institute, etc. Cheyenne Bushman as well as Courtney Swindlehurst have their mission papers in.

Thursday was a big day! Hadlie had an orthodontist appointment for just a checkup. We knew she was close to being done with her braces, but they said she looks good, and took them off! She was SOOOO excited! Then a few days before, she had figured out how to go to a rehearsal of Studio C and there was one that afternoon. So we went to BYU and got in for that! Again, she was SOOOO excited! She kept saying to me, "Are we really here?" "This is real, right?"

It was cute. It was fun and interesting to see how they do everything for that show. Quite a production!

Friday was River's mini society! Our very last mini society! She and her friend Maddy did a nail painting station together. River's very independent and I hardly helped her at all. I took some tables and chairs and helped her set up but that was pretty much it. She insisted on wearing shorts and it was barely 50 degrees and windy of course so I went home and got them some blankets to bundle up in for the morning. Other than that it was great.

Jen brought her girls up on Friday to see the Payson Temple and spend a day or so with us. She met up with us Friday afternoon. We went to Los Hermanos and the Harmony store and a couple stops in the mall. River and Ellie stayed home and went to Walmart with dad to get fake nails, etc. That night we dropped Hadlie and Brynley off at the new pottery painting place here in Spanish Fork. They were there for almost 3 hours painting their bowls!

Saturday Jen, Bryn, Hadlie, Kate and I went to the Lehi bakery for donuts, then to Ikea. River and Ellie again stayed home. Dad took them to paint their own pottery that morning. They had an enjoyable weekend together and it was nice for everyone to keep all the sister's separated. Sad. The Johnson's left that afternoon to go home.

Today was Jared Jackson's farewell. He gave a great talk and I think this year of being at the U has really helped him come out of his shell a little bit. We went over to their house after sacrament meeting (not even after their whole church! Ha!) and it's always fun to be with their family for a little bit.

Not to make this super long, but I have a cute story about River. Since we got the back yard done, she's spent a little more time outside. She's been hearing a noise out there that sounds like a chicken(?). One day last week she came running in my room from the kitchen saying she saw a bird in the back yard that had a snake tail! I asked a few questions and she finally described to me the bird, which I determined was maybe a pheasant. She watched for it and I finally was able to see it and it is in fact a pheasant. That apparently lives just on the hill above our rocks in the back yard. She's been hilarious about it. Looking for it and telling everyone what a pheasant looks like. And to her pheasants have snake tails.?!

Well - I hope you have a fabulous week and that you're doing well in your new place!
Love you so much! - Mom 

Hadlie on "tourist day."