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.