dear dan

September 8, 2013

HI Elder Dahlquist,

How are things going?  Are you starting to have beautiful fall weather yet? Here it is scorching hot still. We are dying in the house!  It has been fun swimming in the pool though. When it is this warm, the water is really nice. Lexey is now a strong swimmer so it is great to have 3 swimming kids.  Jo loves to swim too.  She likes to jump in to mommy or daddy and kick and splash around. She's cute.   Friday we all swam in the afternoon, came in for dinner and then continued to swim all even past sunset. We turned on the pool lights for a while but then turned them off and swam under the stars.  It was beautiful. Dave even got in with us (which is rare) so it was a special family event.

        Yesterday we spent the afternoon at Dr. Levy's house.  There was a good-bye party for a Doc who has been here for 5 months visiting from Chile. The kids swam in the pool for 5 hours while everyone visited. It was fun to see some of the work people who I don't see often.

        Dave goes to his first couple of interviews this week – Seattle and Boston.

        Calvin started school this week. He is doing fine. I think the new medications we put him on have helped a bit overall. He is still not perfect, totally easy, "normal", etc. but I think he is a little more chill. With the added routine of school in life, things are better also. We got the same really nice bus driver and aide so that is super!  Jo and I are having fun at home alone together. So far we are walking the dog and cleaning but hopefully we can add some park days and zoo trips once the weather settles down.

        Both girls had their first soccer game yesterday. It was 95 degrees out, so hot! Both games were at 11am. Dave, bless his heart, took them both and went back and forth between the games so he could see them both play. Lexey scored a goal and had a turn in goalie. Clare played hard, didn't score a goal but Dave said she did a good job in getting the ball downfield and helping other players score.  Both teams won.

 

        Oh, one of Calvin's new meds makes him gain weight. He weighs about 95 lbs now. CRAZY. He is getting big.    All the kids are growing.  Clare is long and tall.

        There was a great story in the Ensign about how the gift of the atonement is like piano lessons. A parent can give the gift of piano lessons but without practice the child will not develp into a piano player and meet their full potential. Likewise, the gift of the atonement is given already. Without practice; daily faith, repentance, etc. we do not develop into the person we need to be and enjoy the gift of knowing our savior. It was a good article.

        Have a nice week. Talk to you again soon!