The Great-Bringing-Nicole-Home-Adventure Week 3

August 13 - 19, 2017

Life in Nyssa {from my parents weekly letter}

We are privileged to watch the miracle unfold in Vietnam of Rachel and Kurt receiving Nicole and seeing her accept and love them.  Meanwhile, on the home front ...  

There is one Jane Romans when all her siblings are home and another Jane Romans when she is home alone.  We are glad we got to meet the second Jane Romans on Friday when everyone else went to school.  She is so pleasant.

Austin started as manager of the football team this week.  Because his friends are managers, too, he loves to go to practice.  Now his parents have an excellent carrot to dangle when they need to have work done or homework finished.  

Twice-a-day football practices never finished at the same time from one day to the next.  I'm not complaining since I always had a good book handy. 

Why is it that our grandchildren devoured the mac-and-cheese-chicken-enchilada dish that Emma prepared as part of the back-to-school dinner but refused to eat it as a leftover?

Jane went down the big swimming pool slide by herself for the first time.  She was very proud of herself, and rightly so!  That was part of the 3 hours we spent at Lakeview Pool in Nampa with the Farnsworth cousins.  It is a small, shallow, inexpensive pool with a good slide.  Perfect for our group of little cousins.  We had our work cut out for us when a summer school class of about 25 kids showed up and filled the pool.  It was harder to keep an eye on ours.  When Spencer exited the pool 1 hour before the others, Ben kept him busy by showing him how to make and braid a leather bracelet.  

We appreciate Elaine's thoughtfulness as she tried to give us a break from child-care duties by getting together to swim on Wed and coming to visit on Saturday.  She brought food and games for the kids yesterday afternoon.  We learned that Spencer can keep two balloons in the air the longest.    

After 2 1/2 weeks of contention, we arrived at the breaking point this week.  As a result, I pulled Austin away from the dinner table to talk and then Emma.  They both have been trying harder.  Why did I wait so long?           

The McFarland USA movie was so good that the girls watched it two nights in a row this week.  

The best dish washers award goes to Ruth and to Lucy.  The other five nights of the week the dishwashers try to avoid the work at all cost and then have to be called back 4 or 5 times before the work is finished.  

At 11 year old scout day camp, Spencer and his cousin Braxton arranged to get together on Saturday afternoon.  The possibility of going with Spencer motivated Austin to get up from his sick bed and mow the grass.  The play date didn't materialize but we got the grass mowed.   

Is it possible that Rachel never hears "thanks, Mom, for driving me to ..."?  I think it's possible.  

On the first day of school Claudia pulled out of the driveway, drove up the first hill and at the crest saw two deer on the side of the road.  As she drove by the large fawn spooked and jumped in front of the Romans' suburban.  Now the suburban has a big dent in the passenger-side bumper and the deer is dead.  Claudia continued on to school.  Emma and Lucy arranged for Emma to take Lucy to her 1st grade classroom. The first day of the school class consisted of a lot of talking about the eclipse and practicing how to put on the eclipse glasses.  Ontario is in the path of the full eclipse!    

Ruth likes leg stretching and exercises while seated in a chair.   She exercised with me 2 days in a row this week.  It would have been more but then school started.  We do YouTube videos of aerobic, strength and flexibility exercises for seniors.   (Seniors are allowed to use a chair.)  

We start family scripture study with a short video from the lds.org home page or LDS Newsroom.  Then we jump into the Book of Mormon.  

We have spent a lot of time with our grandchildren.  We feel more comfortable with them and they with us.  We had some great experiences together.  When it has not been so great, we remember that grandchildren are works in progress, just as we were at their age. 

Meanwhile in Vietnam ...

The Great Bringing-Nicole-Home-Adventure Week 2

August 6 - 12, 2017

LIFE in Nyssa {my parents weekly letter}

Week Two of watching the Romans grandchildren is in the books. We realize why Rachel's weekly letters are so long, a lot happens when there are eight peoples in the family.

We keep getting rescued. The four girls went to Nampa on Monday to visit the Farnsworths. Dirk left on Wednesday morning to pick them up. And as soon as they arrived Austin and Emma got ready for a youth activity of water rafting on the Boise river. They left at noon and returned around 9 pm. Emma was one tired chicka after 3 days of activity. Thursday she stayed in her P.J.´s and was happy to be home. They enjoyed the mega rafting trip too!

Thank you Elaine for hosting the girls! They all had a great time! They went to a splash pad, ate pizza, played, held Claire, watched a movie and enjoyed the opportunity to be together.

While the girls were away we had FHE with the boys and quiet dinners. Spencer had flag football on Tuesday and Thursday nights. He scored a touchdown on Tuesday and two on Thursday. Go Spence!!!! Dirk & I also went to the temple on Tuesday afternoon. That sweet spirit greeted us at the door. So very welcome. We love the physical changes they have made to this lovely temple.

WORK & PLAY

Rachel has left a list of summer rules the children need to do before enjoying media. We are SO grateful! Grandpa is great to go down the list with them before the Kindle is passed out or computer privileges given. But a lot of the time is just checking things off and not always quality. Yes, we remember they are children and works in progress. A lot of follow up is necessary, a lot. We remind one little person to flush the toilet, others to place dishes upside down in the dishwasher so they will get clean and not fill up with water and like all parents repeat, repeat, repeat asking children to do this or that. 

Oh Thursday we did a family work project. We went outside and swept off the cobwebs on the house and washed windows. We will just say that it was not an easy task. Friday we wanted to continue and sweep out the carport, wash the cars and clean off more cobwebs in the carport. 

This week we introduced the kids to "Relative Race," a TV show where four couples race to find relatives each day that they have never met before. (See BYU TV) They like it as much as we do! Yeah! We have allowed them to watch two shows a day. But they were so into Relative Race and wanted to finish it and see who wins. So Friday morning Grandpa proposed our second family work project and if we do it then the reward would be to watch four shows of Relative Race! Now they were interested. Of course playing with water when you wash vehicles is always helpful. Family work project two had participants who were more engaged. Grateful for progress!

Saturday morning we had a smaller work project of bathing Jackson the dog. It required less time, less people and water. They enjoyed it more than Jackson. Poor dog, he is a good dog. Saturday afternoon the Farnsworths came to visit and have dinner with us. It was interesting to see how nice the playroom and house looked without us even asking. Motivation can be the key! Work and play!

We enjoyed the visit of the Farnsworths. It went too quickly, but was great to have time to visit and play. The girls did a mega fashion show. Thanks Ben for grilling the hamburgers. Claire is a month old and getting bigger and cuter, but of course. We ended with games of fruit basket and charades.

Saturday evening they watched the last two shows of Relative Race and Spencer picked the winning couple! He was pleased. Don´t worry they still haven´t seen season one so we have another carrot to dangle. 

*Did you know that since February Emma has had 400 sales on her Etsy account? Wow, go Emma! She sells banners and cup cake toppers for parties. She does the graphics and then the customers can download the banners and cupcake toppers. Great job Emma!

*Did you know that Ruth has been the sacrament meeting chorister in her branch for over six months? The sister missionaries were transferred this past week and they were suppose to do the music while Rachel is away. Ruth and I did it today since the Hermanas left. Pretty cool to do the sacrament music with your nine year old grand- daughter! Ruth does well.

*Did you know I finished scrap booking of the Richards Retreat pages and Nicole´s red afghan this week? 👍

*Did you know Jane comes down the stairs every night and calls to me around 2 in the morning? She sleeps in the middle of the bed with us. She has only missed one night. 

*Did you know 91 year old Glen stopped by and visited us on Wednesday? He brought his keyboard and we sang along. We did Red River Valley and other old songs. Sister Tracy brought him with her when she was returning a table and tarp.

Kurt, Rachel and Nicole update.  Nicole has her passport! Monday morning she is having a  physical and TB test. They will read the test on Wednesday. She will also pick up her visa this week. If all goes well they are hoping to leave on Thursday night and arrive here on Friday night. (Remember they are 13 hours ahead of us.) They are ready to come home and the kids are ready to have them come home too. We talk daily with them and enjoy texts and Marco Polo videos. This communication has helped. Rachel also prepared a paper chain for each of them before she left and they tear off a chain daily. Some days they get a treat that goes with that day. The kids have done very well. Rachel and Kurt continue to give us good reports of Nicole. She is very loving! But she also likes to pull hair. Somethings are universal! Kurt has hurt his back and we all continue to pray for him. We also pray that Rachel´s lost phone will be returned from the taxi.

This coming week is the last one before school begins. We plan on doing some more play and work. Hope you all find the same balance in your week too!

The Great Bringing-Nicole-Home-Adventure Week 1

July 31 - August 5, 2017

LIFE IN NYSSA {from my parents weekly letter.}

Monday - Taking Rachel and Kurt to the airport marked the beginning of our 3 week long babysitting adventure.  In the afternoon Austin went to the high school to sign up for classes.  We took Spencer to flag football practice at 5:30 pm.  Ruth, Lucy and Jane tagged along.  In the evening we had a lesson about forgiveness (using the story of Grandma Donetta Green) in FHE.  Water had been running from the ditch down the driveway all day so I went back to check it.  The ditch was full and water was escaping out of holes that gophers had dug.  Worried that the holes would get bigger, I consulted with Austin, who talked to the neighbor, who came on his 4 wheeler.  The neighbor returned home and reduced the amount of water in the ditch, which stopped the water that was running down the driveway.

Tuesday - Grandma Cindy picked up 5 kids and took them to her house for cousin time since all the Romans cousins were in town.  They returned Wednesday evening.  Austin spent the afternoon with his friend Josh.  In the evening they came over and then spent the night, playing one board game after another.  

Wednesday - Josh left at 10:00 am and Austin took his CLEP test at TVCC in Ontario at 1:00 pm.  He passed the exam and earned the maximum number of 3 classes of college Spanish credits.  

Spencer went to 11-year old scouts and Emma to Mutual.  Emma returned from the Mutual swim party at 11:00 pm.  The YW have a reputation for late night activities.

Thursday & Friday - We had our Richards Retreat activity with a Vietnam theme.  We talked about the Hanoi Hilton and then went to the Old Idaho State Penitentiary in Boise.  The Penitentiary was impressive and fairly well preserved.  We were able to walk through the cell blocks (one was 4 stories high) and peer into individual cells.  We enjoyed reading the posters about the inmates and their crimes until the kids asked what rape was.

In the afternoon Claudia started the making of crafts with the grandkids and Ruth, Lucy and Jane painted a water color on silk painting.  On Friday morning Austin, Emma and Spencer did their silk painting and then there were more crafts.  All of the grandkids made a fresh spring roll.  Afterward I took them to the Vale Swimming Pool where they swam with their Romans cousins for 2 hours while Claudia set the table and cooked Vietnamese food.  In the evening we ate delicious spring rolls and pho.  Not one of our grandkids liked the spring rolls, and even less the peanut and fish sauces.  (That is consistent with the other 2 families of grandchildren.)  Oh well, more for the grandparents to eat.  After dinner the grandkids opened their red envelopes and lit sparklers to celebrate Vietnamese Tet (New Year).   

Saturday - Claudia did all the laundry in the house.  Spencer, Ruth, Lucy and Jane went to a Primary activity.  Spencer and Ruth were the only ones there that were older than 8 years old.  They didn't complain.  They all came home with "slime" (similar to play dough).  

We ate a freezer meal and watched "Moana" in the evening.

• Rachel and Kurt call on "Whatsapp" about every day. 
• We tell the grandkids a couple of times each day what Rachel and Kurt are doing.  It is interesting for them because their parents are going to bed when we are getting up and so on. 
• The Romans is a family of leaders.  They all have an opinion about what should be done and how.
• We like the 30 minute media rule.  (They can use the computer for 30 minutes after doing a long list of other activities like reading, playing outside, doing service, etc.)  It has made our babysitting easier. 
• After observing that dishes come out of the dishwasher dirty, we included an agenda item in a family meeting about how to clean dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.  The grandkids listened to us patiently.