To Kevin from Dad July 24, 2011

Hi Kevin,

It’s been a great week. The Girls went to EFY at home, so they were gone all week. Mom and I had the house to ourselves all week. We almost didn’t know what to do. We had all our favorite foods (the girls ate at EFY) and almost couldn’t fill the dishwasher with dishes. We went to a concert in the park and several long drives. We also saw the new Mormon movie “17 Miracles”. It was well done, and of course like all of the pioneer stories a real tear jerker.

The Girls had a good time at EFY. They went in the morning about 8:00 and came home at 9:00. Games and spiritual experiences were to be had all week.

We are off next week to the Family Reunion. Be gone for a couple of weeks. We will let you know how it goes. But not in too much detail if we are having fun.

Keep up the good work. The Church is True. The work is hard but worth it.

Dad

P.S. Your plaque looks great. We were able to get all 5 of the scriptures on it. You picked some really great scriptures.

Leete Letter July 11, 2011

We enjoyed a typical Oak Hills 4^th of July.  Our ward put on breakfast for the neighborhood which was a huge success.  There was a long line the whole time.  Brian rolled our bbq up to the park to cook on.  They served French toast, pancakes, sausage, scrambled eggs and juice.  We had a good time visiting with neighbors and ward members. We enjoyed the parade at 12:30.  Melissa marched with her trumpet with the Westview crowd (she didn't have a souzaphone to play-so used her trumpet.  She said that she just fingured the notes but didn't play since it would be in the wrong key!)- they got a donation and also free tickets to the bbq at the park for doing so.  It was a small group but they sounded good. Some ward firends invited us over for a bbq at 6- so we went and enjoyed that .  I made choc chip cookies to take over.  They had a nice crowd there- including several elders and our new mission president.   Rachel invited a couple of  her friends to come watch the fireworks with us.  They came early and cooked some marshmallows over the fire pit.  We all went up to our reserved spot at 9:30.  It gets more crowded each year, but the show is always good.  Afterwards we did some fireworks in our driveway. 

Westview mini-band

Once a year we wear these shirts!

Melissa writing Melissa

Writing names

Brian Sparkling

Emily, Serena, and Rachel

Tues the 5^th we kind of just relaxed.  We have been watching the Harry Potter Movies one at a time for the past few weeks gearing up for the last installment on the 15th. (the girls have 12:16 am tickets)  We only have 3 more to go now.  Melissa is racing thru the books trying to read them all in time.  Tomorrow (Tuesday) she and her friend will have an all day movie watching marathon. 

Brian has been taking day trips on the motorcycle with the girls.. He is ready for some new scenery and a longer ride- he says he is tierd of looking at trees- they block anyother view.   He took Rachel to Tillamook to the cheese factory on Wed the 6^th.  Her highlight of the trip was her dad buying her a little foam block loaf of cheese which all of the girls think is soooo cute! 

Melissa went to a friend's sweet 16 masquerade party on Friday Aug. 8th. She spent time making a mask to match her formal that we made for her when she went to the MYS Ball.  We had some drama with that dress the morning of the party- we had been working on repairing some rips in the tulle and had it laid out on the sewing table upstairs the night before.  When Mel went up to look at it (after we had all been pulling weeds in the front yard) she freaked- the cat had barfed all over the dress!  I was at home depot at the time and received the panicked call from her.  I rushed home to find the dress in a horrible mess.  We wiped up and flushed  the “yuck” as best as we could, stuffed the dress in a big garbage bag, and ran off to find a dry cleaner. Unfortunately the only cleaners that could do it in a day, had already turned off their boilers for the weekend.  So we went home and washed it in our washer on the delicate cycle, crossing our fingers.  It didn’t wash all out on the first try, so we spot hand washed it and put it thru again. After the 2^nd try it was ok. Luckily it was a sunny day so we hung it out to dry in the backyard, hoping it would be ready to wear in time.   It was! And Mel looked beautiful in it for the big party that evening.

Also on Friday, we were able to serve lunch to the Elders at the stake center where they were holding a zone conference.  The mom’s of missionaries from our ward were asked to do it.  One remarkable sister in the ward was in charge and organized it all.  All I had to do was put stuff in my crock pot the day before and cook some rice.  It was a build-you- own-burrito and was well received  by all those hungry Elders (about 60).  The girls helped serve at the buffet table.  It was fun.  There was a young lady (she was about 17) that showed up at the stake center and wanted to know what was going on and if she could help.  Of course we put her to work.  Jess and Mel had a good time visiting with her- and they sat with the sister missionaries to eat.  It turns out she wasn’t a member, but likes to volunteer.  She lives in the neighborhood  and felt ok about coming by the church because the elders had tracked into her house the week before. Of course the sisters were eager to talk with her during lunch and got her address for further discussions!  After the meal was over the elders  asked us all from the kitchen to come into the cultural hall and had us stand up front by the stage.  They had us introduce ourselves and tell us where our sons were serving then they sang us a couple of songs- Army of Helaman- with the words changed as a thank you- and As I have Loved You.  Then they all came and shook our hands and thanked us personally.  It was really touching, and wonderful to be able to serve them. Of course we thought of our own missionary eating burritos in Brazil, and hoped the members were watching over and taking care of him too.  It was nice.

We Finally Made it to Summer Vacation!

We had a wonderful week at YW camp.  The theme this year was RSVP -Return to the Savior Virtuous and Praiseworthy. The scripture was the 13^th article of Faith (this year’s mutual theme).  The camp had a party theme- each cabin a different party. 

 The YCLs (Party Police)  welcome all the YW to the PARTY

Melissa was a councilor over 2^nd years and she had a blast – her cabin was the Harry Potter Party.  Jessica was with the 3^rd years:  Dance Party.  Their 4 cabins were Swing (that is where Jess was), Fiesta, Ballerina, and Hip Hop (Rachel was in this cabin).  I was with the 1^st years helping with certification and was cabin mom for the Masquerade Madames.   Jessica was also a YCL (youth camp leader) and they were the Party Police.  They all did a wonderful job decorating thier cabins.  I'll post some pictures when I get copies.

Counselors of the Harry Potter Party Cabin

Masquerade Madams

Dance Party

The  women leaders at camp were all Superheroes. For this skit I was a chauffeur in the League of Extraordinary Women. (all the superheroes bestowed a super power on the YW).  Instead of cabins doing skits this year each ward did one. Requirements were for the skit to each contain a wig, swim noodle, pose, and movie quote.  Our ward did project runway.  All the designers used a noodle in their design, and of course the models each had a wig.  We had “short people” as our judges (Rachel was a head and feet, and Jessica was a set of arms).  Rachel said the movie quote at the end which was "Alas, Earwax". Pretty stupid but fun. 

The Project Runway, Camp Edition  Judges

As usual, camp was one big party, but extremely spiritual too. A great experience for all.  Highlight for the bishopric of course was winning the canoe race on Bishopric night.  They had a nice fireside with us.  Talked about listening.  Getting away from the noise and distractions of the world and listening.  They had us all find quiet places outside by ourselves and listen and pray.  It was a spiritual experience for us.  Brother Atack gave everyone ibuds (earplugs on string attached to nothing) with this note: “iBud  Inspirational listening device.  Take time away from the world to listen to your Heavenly Father.”  Jessica (and the YCLs) did a great job working and planning the camp this year.  She wrote a nice part in the scripture study program on “Endure”  for the devotional on Thursday night and she bore an inspiring testimony on the subject.  Camp ended on a high with Saviors Eve on Thursday night, and testimony meeting on Friday morning before heading for home.

Leete Ladies

Saturday was relaxing being home.  It was nice to sleep in my own bed and take a long shower.  Melissa and Rachel went to a Teri-stake dance at Seaside on the beach.  Jessica and I went to wedding reception, then picked up Brian from max station as he was returning from Montana where he visited his dad and the two of them toured Yellowstone, and did a quick visit with Jennifer in Rexburg. 

Sunday in Sacrament meeting Jessica was called up from the congregation to share her testimony of camp.  She did a wonderful job telling of all the things that she has learned from camp the last 7 years.  After that the Stake president put a new bishopric and we heard testimonies from the old and the new.  A very nice meeting. 

Now that camp is over, and Brian is on his sabbatical, summer vacation can now begin! The weather is being freaky – we’ll have a sunny day here and there, but  today it is raining again.  A very wet year we’ve been having.  We started by working in the yard Monday morning.  The girls ripped out the bushes by the stop sign.  I trimmed the roses.  We will work a few days in the yard each week. For FHE we planned out  (kind of) what we want to do this summer.  We’ll do day trips. Brian will also take each girl on a short motorcycle trip.   Before the reunion in August we will head down and stop in San Jose/San Francisco area and do stuff.  After Reunion do the southern California stuff- mostly theme parks.  We’ll see how it all turns out.