Valentine Letter to Dallan FEB 17 2009

Hey Dallan!!!! FEB 17 2009
I hope you had an excellent Valentines Day! I spent the middle part of the day at LeAnns Funeral and that was such a perfect funeral for that awesome lady. The horses bringing her body into the cemetery at the end was so perfect. Seeing her horse without anybody on it and all covered with flowers was a real tear jerker though. After the funeral I busted home and then Jon and I did our meetings in connection with our stake conference. They were good meetings and Jon got himself in trouble. In the priesthood session of the conference they were in classroom type settings and They were discussing Parables. And the one about the lost coin and how a woman had lost one of her 10 coins and then cleaned the house until she found it. And the question was asked how did the coin get lost. And Jon of course being the smart aleck he is said. “Well, you gave the coin to a Woman! That is your first mistake!” The entire class was of course doubled over in laughter and then President Southwick (who is a member of our ward) who we teaching the class said “Brother Woodin would you please stand” And Jon did so, and then Pres. Southwick said “ Brethren here before you is the loneliest Man in our Stake this Valentines Day.” Jon is very scared because The members of the stake presidency know Jon very well and love to rub shoulders with him. I don’t think they could call him to anything more pressing than elders Quorum president right now. And Our Bishop is doing a fine Job!
It snowed last night, well it is actually still snowing, Jon is out plowing the estate and I am not sure who is winning Jon or the snow storm. Our Boys were very excited to put on all their snow gear this morning as they headed off for school and were questioning weather or not I was sure if it was a snow day or not. I assured them that there was not enough wind for them to call school but if it got windy tonight they might not have school tomorrow, which is a possibility. They seemed hearted by that idea, as I kicked them out into the snowstorm to catch the bus.
William has begun assuming the position and is often up on all fours he has tried a few forward motion maneuvers but they keep on planting him on his nose. But he is determined to get more mobile than his current status. In the mean time his nose is a snot volcano. And it is hazardous to pick him up on the sure chance of being slimed.
Hunter turned 2 this week and has finally decided that his extreme stubborn attitude about not trying to talk in the least is being softened. He is finally playing the point to your body parts game and today even made “P” sounds when I was putting on and naming his pants. Halleluiah !!! Just last week He would only copy nonsense sounds and would not even try making sounds that were associated with words. He would stop playing the game if you said Kitty or Dog or jump or anything but if you said GRRR or lalalala or blah he was right there along with you. Silly boy! He continues to make major messes, just last night I stuck him in the tub and when I returned he was swimming with all of the Kleenex’s from the Kleenex box and the box itself. Such a naughty boy!
Erica asks me every day since Hunters birthday if today is her birthday. She is very concerned that we might miss it. I assure her that her birthday is not until it is so hot outside we don’t want to sleep with any blankets and the grass is all green and we have gone camping a few times. Still she is all the time telling me what she wants for her birthday. And has even put in orders for when she turns 6!
Last Monday for FHE we met up with some other friends and took the whole family roller skating. It was a good time for Stiles, he picked it up pretty quick, but it was a bit beyond Marcus. Well we were pushing Hunter and William in the strollers and I asked Marcus if he would like to ride in the stroller. He immediately declined and told me that the other kids would laugh at him! I pushed him into the stroller and pushed him around the rink and showed him that he was going much faster than all those other kids and they probably wish they could have a ride themselves. It was a good deal and he took several rides. Erica didn’t do too hot skating either but she was much more entertained while pretending to play the arcade games. Jon was acting like he was 12 and I had to keep on telling him to settle down or else they were going to throw him and the other Dads there with us out! They had a blest teasing the kids and just being kids themselves.
Well Dallan I am sure that there about a million other things I could tell you about but I can’t remember them right now. So I will just let you know that I am so proud of my little brother. You are such a great example to all my kids and to Jon and I. We pray for you always. Your work is so important so get out there and get back to it. I’ll go clean up the mess Hunter has made while I have been writing this… Do I smell smoke? -YEP it is the toaster- Little monster!!!!!!

Love you Much , Monica And the rest of the Woodin Nickels