Re: Carrying On

Great letter Kris! Sounds like Ned and Ivy have the same tender hearts. On Saturday when we were cleaning at mom and dads, nicks boys were watching the movie "dinosaur."  I was in the other room when I could hear doe sobbing. I thought maybe Griff had woken up from his nap, but soon found it was Ned. I asked Bret what happened thinking one of the other boys had done something that made him mad. Bret reported that "this is just what Ned does when something sad happens in a movie." I think the mom dinosaur died or something. 

Anyway, it was really sweet! 

Sure miss you guys. Glad you had a good weekend. 

On Monday, April 27, 2015, Kristi Bassett <kristi.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello Family! 

Once again the days kind of blur by. Though I did have a big first this week, that being some dental work (more than beyond a cavity!). For the first time in ages we have dental insurance so we all went in and got checked out. Turns out Blaine needs like three crowns, and I needed a crown and a . . . um. . . can't even think of what it is called, it's more than a cavity and less than a crown. Anyways, who knew dental work was SO expensive?! Even with insurance, it's absurd. My teeth don't even hurt! Anyway, we are going to have to space out all of these appointments because "ain't nobody" got like four grand sitting around for dental work. Anyway, happy to report that even though I am a complete baby with a pain threshold of zero, I am super tough about dental stuff, so it was no big deal getting that "whatever it's called" thing done. My mom probably thinks it is super weird but whenever we go to the dentist I always call and thank her for taking us to the dentist as kids. They didn't have dental insurance back then and we always went every six months. We only go about once every three years when we randomly have insurance, and even then, it's a hard thing for me to want to spend money on :)

Blaine had to work crazy hard last weekend and then followed it up by working 6:30am-11pm on Monday. So by the time my dental appointment came around at 6 PM on Tuesday it felt like I was going on a cruise to Mexico or something. I hadn't been away from the kids in a good long while, so if someone drilling away my tooth is what it took to get a little time away, I was happy to oblige. 

The good news is though work has slowed down a little for Blaine. Well, I don't think it has actually slowed down but a major deadline passed, and we kind of decided that we are going to try to have him work a more family friendly schedule. The alternative was quitting his job, so that seemed a little extreme and it seemed kind of prudent to maybe just put in less hours and see what consequences follow, and if the consequence is that he has to find another job, we aren't really out anything since that is the way things were heading anyways. So we enjoyed having him come home at a more reasonable hour the remainder of the week. 

And then, best news of all, he took the entire weekend off. Starting with an early day on Friday. He took off at about 4 (or maybe a little bit before that even). We met up at the mattress store to check out some new mattresses. Our beloved, amazing, wonderful, magnificent mattress of 10 years is kind of permanently shaped like a 'w' these days, so a new mattress is on our radar. It was fun trying out different types of mattresses, though I realized early on that I had chosen the wrong mattress store, since the cheapest mattress there was like three thousand dollars above our budget, and the one Blaine fell in love with was about twelve thousand dollars above our mattress (but, really, it's the same mattress they had on the titanic, so it would be totally worth it….says Blaine). We will have to keep saving our money for that one :) We didn't really make much progress, since I was hyperventilating at price tags and I couldn't really pull Blaine off of the $15,000 mattresses. So the 'W' will have to suffice for another little while.

Then we headed to Sam's Club. I am the proud owner of a new Sams Club Membership. How could I not? They were on groupon for $45 and that came with a $20 gift card, and $25 worth of merchandise. Couldn't afford not to do it. Plus, they apparently have this "click n' pull" thing where you can order all your stuff online and they gather it for you. Brilliant. Though, after our trip I have to say, I am a Costco fan for life. To use Grandpa Winder's vernacular, it has a better spirit about it. Though we all agreed the rotisserie chicken from Sams was better than Costco. Okay. I know, this is riveting. But I should note that one of Blaine's favorite things to do when he has free time on a weekend is to walk around Costco or Sam's. I find that so funny, but he loves it so much. He would totally love my daily life :)

Friday night we watched Marley and Me. Poor Ivy, we have to put a stop to watching movies where dogs die in the end. She may just die of a broken heart herself. 

Saturday was a great great day! We got up relatively early and got everyone ready and out of the house for a day of fun. 

We hit up Top Golf, which was super fun. It's hard to explain what it is, but I hear they are building one in Utah, so get excited. I really think Nick and boys would love it. It's kind of like bowling meets regular golfing. But with snacks. :) The kids all really enjoyed it. 

We then headed to Sandy's (burger place) for lunch. We were enjoying our delicious burgers when we were swarmed by bees and grackles (annoying birds). My burger became low carb as I jumped away from a bee and lost my bun! A lot of us made a mad dash for the van (Gwen, Ben, Tess and I) while Blaine and Ivy battled with the bugs and bees for the duration of their meal. They are brave!

We then drove to Zilker park and played some frisbee. Tess and I chilled out in the shade with our foldable car blanket thing (highly recommend getting one of those!). The kids all got remarkably better at frisbee catching and throwing! And they all got fried. It was the hottest day of the year so far on Saturday. Ooops. 

Then off to the Barton Creek Greenbelt for some hiking. We were blessed with a great parking spot. There were cars lined up along the road (hard to explain but the entrance is kind of ON a freeway onramp, so parking is al title complicated). We hiked to the falls and found hundreds of coeds enjoying the creek, completely with their blaring music, scantily clad bodies, profanities and we are pretty sure doing other unmentionable things. Even all that though could not detract from what a beautiful place that is. The kids had a blast catching minnows, playing with the ten batrillion dogs, and just wading around. 

After this we headed to Chuy's and partook of a delicious meal, then headed home, exhausted from our fun day. 

We REALLY needed a day like that. It's amazing how refreshing a weekend can be if you don't have to work! 

Sunday was … fine. We started a game of Settler's and now our dining room table is out of commission until next weekend when we can finish. It's fun having kids old enough to play games like this! 

Anyway, now we are off to another week. I am feeling so grateful to be living in America. All of the news of ISIS and earthquakes and the awful things happening around the globe are so scary. I am grateful to live hear where we are free to worship how we please, and where we are blessed with SO much. I have a constant prayer in my mind for all of those suffering in the world, most recently all of those in Nepal. I am so grateful for every day of my charmed life. 

Anyway, thanks for listening! Have a great week :)

Kristi 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BWBassetts" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bwbassetts+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

Carrying On

Hello Family! 

Once again the days kind of blur by. Though I did have a big first this week, that being some dental work (more than beyond a cavity!). For the first time in ages we have dental insurance so we all went in and got checked out. Turns out Blaine needs like three crowns, and I needed a crown and a . . . um. . . can't even think of what it is called, it's more than a cavity and less than a crown. Anyways, who knew dental work was SO expensive?! Even with insurance, it's absurd. My teeth don't even hurt! Anyway, we are going to have to space out all of these appointments because "ain't nobody" got like four grand sitting around for dental work. Anyway, happy to report that even though I am a complete baby with a pain threshold of zero, I am super tough about dental stuff, so it was no big deal getting that "whatever it's called" thing done. My mom probably thinks it is super weird but whenever we go to the dentist I always call and thank her for taking us to the dentist as kids. They didn't have dental insurance back then and we always went every six months. We only go about once every three years when we randomly have insurance, and even then, it's a hard thing for me to want to spend money on :)

Blaine had to work crazy hard last weekend and then followed it up by working 6:30am-11pm on Monday. So by the time my dental appointment came around at 6 PM on Tuesday it felt like I was going on a cruise to Mexico or something. I hadn't been away from the kids in a good long while, so if someone drilling away my tooth is what it took to get a little time away, I was happy to oblige. 

The good news is though work has slowed down a little for Blaine. Well, I don't think it has actually slowed down but a major deadline passed, and we kind of decided that we are going to try to have him work a more family friendly schedule. The alternative was quitting his job, so that seemed a little extreme and it seemed kind of prudent to maybe just put in less hours and see what consequences follow, and if the consequence is that he has to find another job, we aren't really out anything since that is the way things were heading anyways. So we enjoyed having him come home at a more reasonable hour the remainder of the week. 

And then, best news of all, he took the entire weekend off. Starting with an early day on Friday. He took off at about 4 (or maybe a little bit before that even). We met up at the mattress store to check out some new mattresses. Our beloved, amazing, wonderful, magnificent mattress of 10 years is kind of permanently shaped like a 'w' these days, so a new mattress is on our radar. It was fun trying out different types of mattresses, though I realized early on that I had chosen the wrong mattress store, since the cheapest mattress there was like three thousand dollars above our budget, and the one Blaine fell in love with was about twelve thousand dollars above our mattress (but, really, it's the same mattress they had on the titanic, so it would be totally worth it….says Blaine). We will have to keep saving our money for that one :) We didn't really make much progress, since I was hyperventilating at price tags and I couldn't really pull Blaine off of the $15,000 mattresses. So the 'W' will have to suffice for another little while.

Then we headed to Sam's Club. I am the proud owner of a new Sams Club Membership. How could I not? They were on groupon for $45 and that came with a $20 gift card, and $25 worth of merchandise. Couldn't afford not to do it. Plus, they apparently have this "click n' pull" thing where you can order all your stuff online and they gather it for you. Brilliant. Though, after our trip I have to say, I am a Costco fan for life. To use Grandpa Winder's vernacular, it has a better spirit about it. Though we all agreed the rotisserie chicken from Sams was better than Costco. Okay. I know, this is riveting. But I should note that one of Blaine's favorite things to do when he has free time on a weekend is to walk around Costco or Sam's. I find that so funny, but he loves it so much. He would totally love my daily life :)

Friday night we watched Marley and Me. Poor Ivy, we have to put a stop to watching movies where dogs die in the end. She may just die of a broken heart herself. 

Saturday was a great great day! We got up relatively early and got everyone ready and out of the house for a day of fun. 

We hit up Top Golf, which was super fun. It's hard to explain what it is, but I hear they are building one in Utah, so get excited. I really think Nick and boys would love it. It's kind of like bowling meets regular golfing. But with snacks. :) The kids all really enjoyed it. 

We then headed to Sandy's (burger place) for lunch. We were enjoying our delicious burgers when we were swarmed by bees and grackles (annoying birds). My burger became low carb as I jumped away from a bee and lost my bun! A lot of us made a mad dash for the van (Gwen, Ben, Tess and I) while Blaine and Ivy battled with the bugs and bees for the duration of their meal. They are brave!

We then drove to Zilker park and played some frisbee. Tess and I chilled out in the shade with our foldable car blanket thing (highly recommend getting one of those!). The kids all got remarkably better at frisbee catching and throwing! And they all got fried. It was the hottest day of the year so far on Saturday. Ooops. 

Then off to the Barton Creek Greenbelt for some hiking. We were blessed with a great parking spot. There were cars lined up along the road (hard to explain but the entrance is kind of ON a freeway onramp, so parking is al title complicated). We hiked to the falls and found hundreds of coeds enjoying the creek, completely with their blaring music, scantily clad bodies, profanities and we are pretty sure doing other unmentionable things. Even all that though could not detract from what a beautiful place that is. The kids had a blast catching minnows, playing with the ten batrillion dogs, and just wading around. 

After this we headed to Chuy's and partook of a delicious meal, then headed home, exhausted from our fun day. 

We REALLY needed a day like that. It's amazing how refreshing a weekend can be if you don't have to work! 

Sunday was … fine. We started a game of Settler's and now our dining room table is out of commission until next weekend when we can finish. It's fun having kids old enough to play games like this! 

Anyway, now we are off to another week. I am feeling so grateful to be living in America. All of the news of ISIS and earthquakes and the awful things happening around the globe are so scary. I am grateful to live hear where we are free to worship how we please, and where we are blessed with SO much. I have a constant prayer in my mind for all of those suffering in the world, most recently all of those in Nepal. I am so grateful for every day of my charmed life. 

Anyway, thanks for listening! Have a great week :)

Kristi 

Re: Really quick

Maybe I'll be clays favorite 

Aunt if we tell him I ate potatoe bugs. 

On Sunday, April 26, 2015, Nick Bassett <nick.w.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:

Just checking in to say hello.

Things are going well here all things considered. One of the main highlights of the last couple of weeks was doing work out in the yard. The boys were so good to work alongside us Working in grandma and grandpas yard, and pulling weeds in our own yard. We got the boys some work gloves and we have been so pleased at how well they have worked outside. We wish somehow that would convert over to their work ethic inside. :)

I have been doing more running lately which has actually been kind of fun and refreshing. I'm slower than I was but am totally ok with that. Just trying to keep my metabolism up.

Another funny and random thing is Clays love of bugs. He is constantly out in the yard and has collected probably hundreds of lady bugs, beetles, earwigs, and more. He loves bugs so much that when he heard gorillas had bugs in their hair, he sincerely told Stefs mom that he wished his hair was full of bugs too, especially if they were potatoes bugs. :)

Love you all!

Nick

Sent from my iPhone

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BWBassetts" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bwbassetts+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

Really quick

Just checking in to say hello.

Things are going well here all things considered. One of the main highlights of the last couple of weeks was doing work out in the yard. The boys were so good to work alongside us Working in grandma and grandpas yard, and pulling weeds in our own yard. We got the boys some work gloves and we have been so pleased at how well they have worked outside. We wish somehow that would convert over to their work ethic inside. :)

I have been doing more running lately which has actually been kind of fun and refreshing. I'm slower than I was but am totally ok with that. Just trying to keep my metabolism up.

Another funny and random thing is Clays love of bugs. He is constantly out in the yard and has collected probably hundreds of lady bugs, beetles, earwigs, and more. He loves bugs so much that when he heard gorillas had bugs in their hair, he sincerely told Stefs mom that he wished his hair was full of bugs too, especially if they were potatoes bugs. :)

Love you all!

Nick

Sent from my iPhone

Re: Checking-in

Thanks for keeping the letter writing alive Nick. I hadn't heard about the tennis lessons - fun! We're excited for Stef and her new calling

Sent from my iPad

> On Apr 19, 2015, at 11:02 PM, Nick Bassett <nick.w.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> This will be short and sweet. I'm sorry I've been slacking the last few weeks. Here are some of the happenings in our family:
>
> Nick is traveling up and down I15 meeting with doctors all over the state. It's interesting work and I have quite enjoyed the wide variety of people with whom I get the chance to interact.
>
> Stef is going to be called (please don't share out of this group) to Primary President and is going through the revelatory process of selecting councillors right now. She will do such a tremendous job. I'm so proud watching her take this responsibility in such a serious way recognizing the opportunity for good with these kids.
>
> Bret is doing well. He still wears his patch, does well in school and is taking tennis lessons which he quite enjoys. He has also lost most of his teeth which reminds me of old coach Rick and referring to me as "gummy".
>
> Clay is sweet (and sour). He has the ability to just be the cutest little guy ever but sometimes his anger comes out in ways that surprises us all. We are trying to help him find ways to cope with his anger but as all of you parents know...this is tough.
>
> Ned is still as sweet as can be with a touch of terrible twos mixed in. He stayed in nursery by himself for the first time today in a long time. He needs a hair cut but we do love his "floppy" hair. If you haven't seen or heard him sing "honey honey honey" by Darius either, you need to. It's sure to put a smile on your face.
>
> Overall life is grand. We have been working hard in the yard lately preparing the soil to he planted. Special thanks to do for lending us his tiller.
>
> Loves to all!
>
> Nick
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BWBassetts" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bwbassetts+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

Re: Life in Texas

Very entertaining read. Sorry Blaines job haas been rough. Glad things on the home front were a little better. Love you guys!

On Monday, April 20, 2015, K Bass <kristi.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:

Haha, a roomba is a robot vacuum! 

On Apr 20, 2015, at 10:15 AM, Rosey Bassett <roseybassett@gmail.com> wrote:

Kris, 

I enjoyed every second of that read!  And I really wanted to write last night....and then I didn't.  I'm sorry.  It will be my goal to write sometime this week.  I think you are doing such a lovely job of raising your kids and making everything work with Blaine's crazy, crazy work schedule.  You are both inspiring! I am so curious...what's a roomba? 

Thanks for writing, 

Rosey

On Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 7:55 AM, Kristi Bassett <kristi.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:

I was so happy to see that Nick had written that I just had to write as well, to keep our family letter writing alive :) 

Things are trucking along here in Texas. I remain thoroughly convinced that I married the most incredible and hardest working person on the planet. We've had a lot of hard weeks work-wise, but I would say that this week definitely takes the cake. I feel so bad for Blaine! He got put on a litigation (prosecution = lots of paperwork, writing patents, etc., litigation = a case going to court, lots of research and writing and strict deadlines, high pressure!). He has worked a couple of 60+ hour weeks in a row, and even put in a full day Saturday and, gulp, had to put in almost a full day on Sunday. There was just simply no way he couldn't, his entire team was working all weekend, he was getting e-mails every two minutes all day and all night. It's one thing to have a crazy work week and then to have a weekend to relax and recuperate, but to push on through the weekend and then right in on to a new crazy week…it's insane. The other sad/stressful thing is that the trial is set for right during the time that we have been planning on going to Hawaii. We aren't sure yet what will happen, the case could settle before, or the trial could get pushed back, but that trip is like… what gets us through some really hard times, and if we can't go (or even if just Blaine can't go, I'm going no matter what ;) it just makes things look a lot more bleak and hard to deal with. 

But enough about that. . . (though please do keep Blaine in your prayers!). 

We had a pretty good week, all things considered. I think Gwen made a really concerted effort to try to control her emotions this week (well, at least for the second half of the week). It wasn't perfect, but it was much much better than usual. As always, the days kind of blur together but some highlights (or at least, some things I remember). 

* Going to the wildflower center. Holy Smokes, we caught the end of the Bluebonnets and there were just fields and fields of them. The Wildflower Center closes at 5PM, and we got there at like 4, but enjoyed walking around and playing. 

* Enjoying our $1 footlong sandwiches from Thundercloud Subs (it's their 35th anniversary and to celebrate on Wednesdays they have one sandwich that they price with their 1980s pricing…or something like that). 

*Meeting up with a friend and then walking around Lady Bird Lake. I don't know who the city planner of Austin was, but I have to tip my hat, having that trail and greenery right in the center of downtown is just such a wonderful idea. I love walking around Lady Bird Lake. I has been kind of rainy lately and so it was nice and cool and just a perfect way to spend a morning. We followed that up with hitting up Trader Joes. It's always fun to go there with a friend to see what they buy. I love their coconut greek yogurt, Thai Green Curry Sauce, chocolate chunks, pizza dough, tortillas, and more :) 

* On Friday night I knew that Blaine would be working late, but rather then mope around and try to keep space between me and the kids, I decided to just embrace it and have a kid/mom party. Gwen was actually in particularly good spirits, so we had a Just Dance party, which was SUPER fun. Then we used our trader joes pizza dough and made our own pizzas (so delicious!), we spread out a blanket and ate our dinner while watching a movie. I picked "Where the Red Fern Grows". Which, in case you are wondering, is every bit as sad as you remember. The kids liked it more than I thought and poor Ivy, she's the only one who actually cried out loud (well, besides me). She was a hot mess. Like…uggggly crying. We had to console ourselves by watching some funny animal youtube clips before bed. It was the best night we have had as a family in a long time (Blaine got home just at the end of the movie).

* We got a roomba! I don't think we will wind up keeping the roomba, but it has been fun to have him around for a few days :). The poor guy so desperately wants to clean under our couch, but it's a total death trap, one way in and he can never find his way back out. He scares the bejeebers out of Tess. It was a noble idea, but I think we will be returning the little guy (sniff). 

* It was an epic garage sale day on Saturday. I scored a baby gate for the top of the stairs for $5! It's a really nice one and I am pleased!I had one in my amazon cart for upwards of $100, so this was a great find (we need one that will work with spindles at the top of stairs, and one where we don't have to drill). 

* Our neighbors must have bamboo because we have random bamboo shoots popping up all over our yard. Did you know bamboo grows like…three feet a day? It's a little bit like jumanji out there. 

* On Saturday we knew Blaine would be working and we had several birthday parties for the kids to attend (Ivy had one and Ben had two). So the day was spent shuttling them around and in the interim is when we took Gwen to go cut her hair. She really is loving it (more I think she is loving all of the attention she is getting for making such a big change :). She looks really cute, but I do miss her long hair! Luckily her hair grows fast and I am sure we will be donating it again in no time! 

*Saturday night we had a big storm roll through! There was a particularly bright flash of lightning and loud crash of thunder. I have an app that shows me where lightning has struck, and it hit about three doors down. I was surprised we kept power, but our circuit breakers in the kitchen flipped off. It was crazy! 

*Tess is cute as a button and now waves in TWO ways. I don't think it is possible for her to be any cuter than she already is. She is pulling herself up to standing now. She says mom, mama, dada, and hi. Oh boy does she ever say hi. She is probably the most social little 11 month old you've ever met. Unless of course someone besides me tries to hold her, then she gets very shy :). 

Okay, well that was a lot of random stuff, but hope you enjoyed and keep writing! 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BWBassetts" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bwbassetts+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BWBassetts" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bwbassetts+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

Re: Checking-in

Great little recap on all of you. Loved it. Thanks!

On Sunday, April 19, 2015, Nick Bassett <nick.w.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:

This will be short and sweet. I'm sorry I've been slacking the last few weeks. Here are some of the happenings in our family:

Nick is traveling up and down I15 meeting with doctors all over the state. It's interesting work and I have quite enjoyed the wide variety of people with whom I get the chance to interact.

Stef is going to be called (please don't share out of this group) to Primary President and is going through the revelatory process of selecting councillors right now.  She will do such a tremendous job. I'm so proud watching her take this responsibility in such a serious way recognizing the opportunity for good with these kids.

Bret is doing well. He still wears his patch, does well in school and is taking tennis lessons which he quite enjoys. He has also lost most of his teeth which reminds me of old coach Rick and referring to me as "gummy".

Clay is sweet (and sour). He has the ability to just be the cutest little guy ever but sometimes his anger comes out in ways that surprises us all. We are trying to help him find ways to cope with his anger but as all of you parents know...this is tough.

Ned is still as sweet as can be with a touch of terrible twos mixed in. He stayed in nursery by himself for the first time today in a long time. He needs a hair cut but we do love his "floppy" hair. If you haven't seen or heard him sing "honey honey honey" by Darius either, you need to. It's sure to put a smile on your face.

Overall life is grand. We have been working hard in the yard lately preparing the soil to he planted.  Special thanks to do for lending us his tiller.

Loves to all!

Nick

Sent from my iPhone

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BWBassetts" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bwbassetts+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

Re: Life in Texas

Haha, a roomba is a robot vacuum! 

On Apr 20, 2015, at 10:15 AM, Rosey Bassett <roseybassett@gmail.com> wrote:

Kris, 

I enjoyed every second of that read!  And I really wanted to write last night....and then I didn't.  I'm sorry.  It will be my goal to write sometime this week.  I think you are doing such a lovely job of raising your kids and making everything work with Blaine's crazy, crazy work schedule.  You are both inspiring! I am so curious...what's a roomba? 

Thanks for writing, 

Rosey

On Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 7:55 AM, Kristi Bassett <kristi.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:

I was so happy to see that Nick had written that I just had to write as well, to keep our family letter writing alive :) 

Things are trucking along here in Texas. I remain thoroughly convinced that I married the most incredible and hardest working person on the planet. We've had a lot of hard weeks work-wise, but I would say that this week definitely takes the cake. I feel so bad for Blaine! He got put on a litigation (prosecution = lots of paperwork, writing patents, etc., litigation = a case going to court, lots of research and writing and strict deadlines, high pressure!). He has worked a couple of 60+ hour weeks in a row, and even put in a full day Saturday and, gulp, had to put in almost a full day on Sunday. There was just simply no way he couldn't, his entire team was working all weekend, he was getting e-mails every two minutes all day and all night. It's one thing to have a crazy work week and then to have a weekend to relax and recuperate, but to push on through the weekend and then right in on to a new crazy week…it's insane. The other sad/stressful thing is that the trial is set for right during the time that we have been planning on going to Hawaii. We aren't sure yet what will happen, the case could settle before, or the trial could get pushed back, but that trip is like… what gets us through some really hard times, and if we can't go (or even if just Blaine can't go, I'm going no matter what ;) it just makes things look a lot more bleak and hard to deal with. 

But enough about that. . . (though please do keep Blaine in your prayers!). 

We had a pretty good week, all things considered. I think Gwen made a really concerted effort to try to control her emotions this week (well, at least for the second half of the week). It wasn't perfect, but it was much much better than usual. As always, the days kind of blur together but some highlights (or at least, some things I remember). 

* Going to the wildflower center. Holy Smokes, we caught the end of the Bluebonnets and there were just fields and fields of them. The Wildflower Center closes at 5PM, and we got there at like 4, but enjoyed walking around and playing. 

* Enjoying our $1 footlong sandwiches from Thundercloud Subs (it's their 35th anniversary and to celebrate on Wednesdays they have one sandwich that they price with their 1980s pricing…or something like that). 

*Meeting up with a friend and then walking around Lady Bird Lake. I don't know who the city planner of Austin was, but I have to tip my hat, having that trail and greenery right in the center of downtown is just such a wonderful idea. I love walking around Lady Bird Lake. I has been kind of rainy lately and so it was nice and cool and just a perfect way to spend a morning. We followed that up with hitting up Trader Joes. It's always fun to go there with a friend to see what they buy. I love their coconut greek yogurt, Thai Green Curry Sauce, chocolate chunks, pizza dough, tortillas, and more :) 

* On Friday night I knew that Blaine would be working late, but rather then mope around and try to keep space between me and the kids, I decided to just embrace it and have a kid/mom party. Gwen was actually in particularly good spirits, so we had a Just Dance party, which was SUPER fun. Then we used our trader joes pizza dough and made our own pizzas (so delicious!), we spread out a blanket and ate our dinner while watching a movie. I picked "Where the Red Fern Grows". Which, in case you are wondering, is every bit as sad as you remember. The kids liked it more than I thought and poor Ivy, she's the only one who actually cried out loud (well, besides me). She was a hot mess. Like…uggggly crying. We had to console ourselves by watching some funny animal youtube clips before bed. It was the best night we have had as a family in a long time (Blaine got home just at the end of the movie).

* We got a roomba! I don't think we will wind up keeping the roomba, but it has been fun to have him around for a few days :). The poor guy so desperately wants to clean under our couch, but it's a total death trap, one way in and he can never find his way back out. He scares the bejeebers out of Tess. It was a noble idea, but I think we will be returning the little guy (sniff). 

* It was an epic garage sale day on Saturday. I scored a baby gate for the top of the stairs for $5! It's a really nice one and I am pleased!I had one in my amazon cart for upwards of $100, so this was a great find (we need one that will work with spindles at the top of stairs, and one where we don't have to drill). 

* Our neighbors must have bamboo because we have random bamboo shoots popping up all over our yard. Did you know bamboo grows like…three feet a day? It's a little bit like jumanji out there. 

* On Saturday we knew Blaine would be working and we had several birthday parties for the kids to attend (Ivy had one and Ben had two). So the day was spent shuttling them around and in the interim is when we took Gwen to go cut her hair. She really is loving it (more I think she is loving all of the attention she is getting for making such a big change :). She looks really cute, but I do miss her long hair! Luckily her hair grows fast and I am sure we will be donating it again in no time! 

*Saturday night we had a big storm roll through! There was a particularly bright flash of lightning and loud crash of thunder. I have an app that shows me where lightning has struck, and it hit about three doors down. I was surprised we kept power, but our circuit breakers in the kitchen flipped off. It was crazy! 

*Tess is cute as a button and now waves in TWO ways. I don't think it is possible for her to be any cuter than she already is. She is pulling herself up to standing now. She says mom, mama, dada, and hi. Oh boy does she ever say hi. She is probably the most social little 11 month old you've ever met. Unless of course someone besides me tries to hold her, then she gets very shy :). 

Okay, well that was a lot of random stuff, but hope you enjoyed and keep writing! 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BWBassetts" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bwbassetts+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

Re: Life in Texas

Kris, 

I enjoyed every second of that read!  And I really wanted to write last night....and then I didn't.  I'm sorry.  It will be my goal to write sometime this week.  I think you are doing such a lovely job of raising your kids and making everything work with Blaine's crazy, crazy work schedule.  You are both inspiring! I am so curious...what's a roomba? 

Thanks for writing, 

Rosey

On Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 7:55 AM, Kristi Bassett <kristi.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:

I was so happy to see that Nick had written that I just had to write as well, to keep our family letter writing alive :) 

Things are trucking along here in Texas. I remain thoroughly convinced that I married the most incredible and hardest working person on the planet. We've had a lot of hard weeks work-wise, but I would say that this week definitely takes the cake. I feel so bad for Blaine! He got put on a litigation (prosecution = lots of paperwork, writing patents, etc., litigation = a case going to court, lots of research and writing and strict deadlines, high pressure!). He has worked a couple of 60+ hour weeks in a row, and even put in a full day Saturday and, gulp, had to put in almost a full day on Sunday. There was just simply no way he couldn't, his entire team was working all weekend, he was getting e-mails every two minutes all day and all night. It's one thing to have a crazy work week and then to have a weekend to relax and recuperate, but to push on through the weekend and then right in on to a new crazy week…it's insane. The other sad/stressful thing is that the trial is set for right during the time that we have been planning on going to Hawaii. We aren't sure yet what will happen, the case could settle before, or the trial could get pushed back, but that trip is like… what gets us through some really hard times, and if we can't go (or even if just Blaine can't go, I'm going no matter what ;) it just makes things look a lot more bleak and hard to deal with. 

But enough about that. . . (though please do keep Blaine in your prayers!). 

We had a pretty good week, all things considered. I think Gwen made a really concerted effort to try to control her emotions this week (well, at least for the second half of the week). It wasn't perfect, but it was much much better than usual. As always, the days kind of blur together but some highlights (or at least, some things I remember). 

* Going to the wildflower center. Holy Smokes, we caught the end of the Bluebonnets and there were just fields and fields of them. The Wildflower Center closes at 5PM, and we got there at like 4, but enjoyed walking around and playing. 

* Enjoying our $1 footlong sandwiches from Thundercloud Subs (it's their 35th anniversary and to celebrate on Wednesdays they have one sandwich that they price with their 1980s pricing…or something like that). 

*Meeting up with a friend and then walking around Lady Bird Lake. I don't know who the city planner of Austin was, but I have to tip my hat, having that trail and greenery right in the center of downtown is just such a wonderful idea. I love walking around Lady Bird Lake. I has been kind of rainy lately and so it was nice and cool and just a perfect way to spend a morning. We followed that up with hitting up Trader Joes. It's always fun to go there with a friend to see what they buy. I love their coconut greek yogurt, Thai Green Curry Sauce, chocolate chunks, pizza dough, tortillas, and more :) 

* On Friday night I knew that Blaine would be working late, but rather then mope around and try to keep space between me and the kids, I decided to just embrace it and have a kid/mom party. Gwen was actually in particularly good spirits, so we had a Just Dance party, which was SUPER fun. Then we used our trader joes pizza dough and made our own pizzas (so delicious!), we spread out a blanket and ate our dinner while watching a movie. I picked "Where the Red Fern Grows". Which, in case you are wondering, is every bit as sad as you remember. The kids liked it more than I thought and poor Ivy, she's the only one who actually cried out loud (well, besides me). She was a hot mess. Like…uggggly crying. We had to console ourselves by watching some funny animal youtube clips before bed. It was the best night we have had as a family in a long time (Blaine got home just at the end of the movie).

* We got a roomba! I don't think we will wind up keeping the roomba, but it has been fun to have him around for a few days :). The poor guy so desperately wants to clean under our couch, but it's a total death trap, one way in and he can never find his way back out. He scares the bejeebers out of Tess. It was a noble idea, but I think we will be returning the little guy (sniff). 

* It was an epic garage sale day on Saturday. I scored a baby gate for the top of the stairs for $5! It's a really nice one and I am pleased!I had one in my amazon cart for upwards of $100, so this was a great find (we need one that will work with spindles at the top of stairs, and one where we don't have to drill). 

* Our neighbors must have bamboo because we have random bamboo shoots popping up all over our yard. Did you know bamboo grows like…three feet a day? It's a little bit like jumanji out there. 

* On Saturday we knew Blaine would be working and we had several birthday parties for the kids to attend (Ivy had one and Ben had two). So the day was spent shuttling them around and in the interim is when we took Gwen to go cut her hair. She really is loving it (more I think she is loving all of the attention she is getting for making such a big change :). She looks really cute, but I do miss her long hair! Luckily her hair grows fast and I am sure we will be donating it again in no time! 

*Saturday night we had a big storm roll through! There was a particularly bright flash of lightning and loud crash of thunder. I have an app that shows me where lightning has struck, and it hit about three doors down. I was surprised we kept power, but our circuit breakers in the kitchen flipped off. It was crazy! 

*Tess is cute as a button and now waves in TWO ways. I don't think it is possible for her to be any cuter than she already is. She is pulling herself up to standing now. She says mom, mama, dada, and hi. Oh boy does she ever say hi. She is probably the most social little 11 month old you've ever met. Unless of course someone besides me tries to hold her, then she gets very shy :). 

Okay, well that was a lot of random stuff, but hope you enjoyed and keep writing! 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BWBassetts" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bwbassetts+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

Life in Texas

I was so happy to see that Nick had written that I just had to write as well, to keep our family letter writing alive :) 

Things are trucking along here in Texas. I remain thoroughly convinced that I married the most incredible and hardest working person on the planet. We've had a lot of hard weeks work-wise, but I would say that this week definitely takes the cake. I feel so bad for Blaine! He got put on a litigation (prosecution = lots of paperwork, writing patents, etc., litigation = a case going to court, lots of research and writing and strict deadlines, high pressure!). He has worked a couple of 60+ hour weeks in a row, and even put in a full day Saturday and, gulp, had to put in almost a full day on Sunday. There was just simply no way he couldn't, his entire team was working all weekend, he was getting e-mails every two minutes all day and all night. It's one thing to have a crazy work week and then to have a weekend to relax and recuperate, but to push on through the weekend and then right in on to a new crazy week…it's insane. The other sad/stressful thing is that the trial is set for right during the time that we have been planning on going to Hawaii. We aren't sure yet what will happen, the case could settle before, or the trial could get pushed back, but that trip is like… what gets us through some really hard times, and if we can't go (or even if just Blaine can't go, I'm going no matter what ;) it just makes things look a lot more bleak and hard to deal with. 

But enough about that. . . (though please do keep Blaine in your prayers!). 

We had a pretty good week, all things considered. I think Gwen made a really concerted effort to try to control her emotions this week (well, at least for the second half of the week). It wasn't perfect, but it was much much better than usual. As always, the days kind of blur together but some highlights (or at least, some things I remember). 

* Going to the wildflower center. Holy Smokes, we caught the end of the Bluebonnets and there were just fields and fields of them. The Wildflower Center closes at 5PM, and we got there at like 4, but enjoyed walking around and playing. 

* Enjoying our $1 footlong sandwiches from Thundercloud Subs (it's their 35th anniversary and to celebrate on Wednesdays they have one sandwich that they price with their 1980s pricing…or something like that). 

*Meeting up with a friend and then walking around Lady Bird Lake. I don't know who the city planner of Austin was, but I have to tip my hat, having that trail and greenery right in the center of downtown is just such a wonderful idea. I love walking around Lady Bird Lake. I has been kind of rainy lately and so it was nice and cool and just a perfect way to spend a morning. We followed that up with hitting up Trader Joes. It's always fun to go there with a friend to see what they buy. I love their coconut greek yogurt, Thai Green Curry Sauce, chocolate chunks, pizza dough, tortillas, and more :) 

* On Friday night I knew that Blaine would be working late, but rather then mope around and try to keep space between me and the kids, I decided to just embrace it and have a kid/mom party. Gwen was actually in particularly good spirits, so we had a Just Dance party, which was SUPER fun. Then we used our trader joes pizza dough and made our own pizzas (so delicious!), we spread out a blanket and ate our dinner while watching a movie. I picked "Where the Red Fern Grows". Which, in case you are wondering, is every bit as sad as you remember. The kids liked it more than I thought and poor Ivy, she's the only one who actually cried out loud (well, besides me). She was a hot mess. Like…uggggly crying. We had to console ourselves by watching some funny animal youtube clips before bed. It was the best night we have had as a family in a long time (Blaine got home just at the end of the movie).

* We got a roomba! I don't think we will wind up keeping the roomba, but it has been fun to have him around for a few days :). The poor guy so desperately wants to clean under our couch, but it's a total death trap, one way in and he can never find his way back out. He scares the bejeebers out of Tess. It was a noble idea, but I think we will be returning the little guy (sniff). 

* It was an epic garage sale day on Saturday. I scored a baby gate for the top of the stairs for $5! It's a really nice one and I am pleased!I had one in my amazon cart for upwards of $100, so this was a great find (we need one that will work with spindles at the top of stairs, and one where we don't have to drill). 

* Our neighbors must have bamboo because we have random bamboo shoots popping up all over our yard. Did you know bamboo grows like…three feet a day? It's a little bit like jumanji out there. 

* On Saturday we knew Blaine would be working and we had several birthday parties for the kids to attend (Ivy had one and Ben had two). So the day was spent shuttling them around and in the interim is when we took Gwen to go cut her hair. She really is loving it (more I think she is loving all of the attention she is getting for making such a big change :). She looks really cute, but I do miss her long hair! Luckily her hair grows fast and I am sure we will be donating it again in no time! 

*Saturday night we had a big storm roll through! There was a particularly bright flash of lightning and loud crash of thunder. I have an app that shows me where lightning has struck, and it hit about three doors down. I was surprised we kept power, but our circuit breakers in the kitchen flipped off. It was crazy! 

*Tess is cute as a button and now waves in TWO ways. I don't think it is possible for her to be any cuter than she already is. She is pulling herself up to standing now. She says mom, mama, dada, and hi. Oh boy does she ever say hi. She is probably the most social little 11 month old you've ever met. Unless of course someone besides me tries to hold her, then she gets very shy :). 

Okay, well that was a lot of random stuff, but hope you enjoyed and keep writing! 

Checking-in

This will be short and sweet. I'm sorry I've been slacking the last few weeks. Here are some of the happenings in our family:

Nick is traveling up and down I15 meeting with doctors all over the state. It's interesting work and I have quite enjoyed the wide variety of people with whom I get the chance to interact.

Stef is going to be called (please don't share out of this group) to Primary President and is going through the revelatory process of selecting councillors right now. She will do such a tremendous job. I'm so proud watching her take this responsibility in such a serious way recognizing the opportunity for good with these kids.

Bret is doing well. He still wears his patch, does well in school and is taking tennis lessons which he quite enjoys. He has also lost most of his teeth which reminds me of old coach Rick and referring to me as "gummy".

Clay is sweet (and sour). He has the ability to just be the cutest little guy ever but sometimes his anger comes out in ways that surprises us all. We are trying to help him find ways to cope with his anger but as all of you parents know...this is tough.

Ned is still as sweet as can be with a touch of terrible twos mixed in. He stayed in nursery by himself for the first time today in a long time. He needs a hair cut but we do love his "floppy" hair. If you haven't seen or heard him sing "honey honey honey" by Darius either, you need to. It's sure to put a smile on your face.

Overall life is grand. We have been working hard in the yard lately preparing the soil to he planted. Special thanks to do for lending us his tiller.

Loves to all!

Nick

Sent from my iPhone

Re: Livin' the Dream

Fun letter. I loved the details about the carnival...especially the kid with the red face. That kid has endurance! That is a good quality to have in life. So glad Gwen and Ivy could "get along" even if it was for a few minutes. And I love that your kids are runners. I'm sure it helps that they see Blaine and his determination to run (and they enjoyed plenty of stroller rides on his runs.) way to teach good principles by example! 

I wish we could see Tess. I would love to see how she interacts with Griff....someone just a little bit smaller. I wish we were coming for max and rosey's Memorial Day weekend. Thank for writing! 

On Monday, April 13, 2015, Kristi Bassett <kristi.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello Family!

Sunday night letters are darn near impossible these days with 2 o'clock church! We get home, race to get dinner on the table and cleaned up and then somehow it is always like PAST bedtime by the time we are done with that. Then Blaine and I get daunted with the workweek looming ahead of us and hit the hay by about 9, or at least try to! Life is barreling on at a break neck pace these days. Blaine and I were just talking yesterday about how we are really just living the dream now, as teenagers we would be excited for the days when we had a real job, and a house full of kids, and here we are! It's not quite as romantic as we had envisioned, but we are grateful to be here, living the life we always dreamed we would! How lucky are we??! 

Having lifetime fitness back in our lives has been really fun. Monday night we went rock climbing for family night. All of our kids are really good at it! Even Bentley, who is notoriously nervous, was doing amazing! Ivy and Gwen can both scale to the top of a couple of the courses. Though we think party of Ivy's success is that she weighs like ten pounds and the rope practically pulls her up, ha ha :). It was fun to have a family activity that we could all enjoy (I enjoyed from the safety of the ground). Then we had a quick lesson on the drive home about how we should build our life on the ROCK of the gospel. Pretty slick eh? 

The rest of the work days kind of blur together. It's been an absolutely gorgeous week here in the ATX though. The bluebonnets are breathtaking. Blaine the other day said "Gosh, I am going to get in a car accident and die because I can't take my eyes off of the blue bonnets". It really is striking to be on a freeway and have both sides of the road just glowing purple and red and yellow. The weather has been relatively mild, with overcast clouds keeping the intense sun at bay. 

We've enjoyed evenings out doing sidewalk chalk, shooting hoops, riding bikes and jumping rope. 

Friday after school Gwen had been invited to a friends house. I took everyone else to the Circle C metro park (it's like a mini Zilker park, with trails, soccer fields and a playscape). It was really beautiful outside and we happily ran in to about three of Bentley's classmates. They all ran off to play and a few minutes later Bentley comes running over to me with a bloody mouth and face and was just beaming holding up a tooth. Apparently they were doing a train down the slide and there was some tumbling and his tooth got knocked out. It really wasn't even loose! So now he is a toothless wonder! Judging from the picture of Bret mom sent it seems those two boys are missing all the exact same teeth, with Bret missing one more than Ben, but don't worry, that one of Ben's is loose and should be gone any day now! So that was some excitement at the park. 

Saturday was a really great day. First of all, Blaine didn't work, which was really really really great. I was able to get up early and hit some garage sales. At the last minute I almost caved and took Ivy and Tess with me, wanting to let Blaine get some extra sleep, but I really felt like I just needed some time without any kids, plus my neighbor Ashima wanted to come, So I left the kids and headed out, not without making some of the worlds best pancakes before hand though. 

Later that day we got all geared up to head to the elementary school fun run. I was hesitant to sign up for this fun run fundraiser, but man, they really got the kids all jazzed up about it. It was pretty expensive, the race fee was $25 per kid, but since I had neglected to send in donations for like the last five things the school had asked for I felt like it was time I started contributing. Plus the race fee included a t-shirt and a wristband for a three hour carnival. It was SO FUN. It really was the perfect fundraiser. Much better than selling candy bars or cookie dough or whatever, and I am sure they raked in SO much money (they had food sales and an amazing silent auction too). The fun run was just the most adorable thing ever. There is a 1/3 mile loop around the school and each time they completed the loop they got a thin bracelet. So it worked to start each age group at a different time. They even had pre-k kids start the race. You had to be there, but it was adorable. The kindergartners were equally adorable. Our kids did amazing. Bentley and Ivy had each done about two miles before they even stopped running! (They maybe walked a bit in the back of the school where I couldn't see them, but they came blazing by when they ran past the crowd). In the end each of our kids did 10 or 11 laps, and one time Gwen and Ivy even went past holding hands (which I think they did for the shock factor for us, and it worked, Blaine happily forked over several dollars for a treat for them for being so nice to each other, it was really sweet while it lasted). 

One funny thing from the fun run, some friends from our ward were sitting close to us, they have a 7 year old and a 5 year old who were running together. The five year old kept getting more and more red as he would do laps. Finally his mom was like "Andy, do you want to take a break", his eyes widened huge and he was like "you mean we CAN STOP???" ha ha. Poor kid, didn't realize he could stop whenever he wanted! 

The carnival was fun with lazer tag, horse rides, trampoline things (you know…where you can do the flips and stuff), and typical carnival games. There was also the most adorable petting zoo, complete with a chick, bearded dragon, bunnies and a HEDGEHOG, which was hands down the cutest thing I've ever seen. 

We left very happy and it was probably the best fundraiser I've ever been a part of! Oh and I won the only auction item I placed a bid on -- a year long pass to the wildflower center (kind of like the Thanksgiving Point gardens,but with rattlesnakes,  and really close to our house). The retail price was $80 and I bid $75 ;) it was something I was planning on buying anyways.

Then we headed to Torchy's for dinner. That's when things got really wild. No, but it was pretty funny. We took up two tables, Ivy spilled her water all over the floor and before they could get that cleaned up Bentley sat his taco down on the table and Tess IMMEDIATELY grabbed it and threw it on the ground, much to all of our astonishment. It was just the most chaotic dinner ever and in the middle of it all we were getting texts of Max and Nick and Stef's date of a peaceful trip to the gardens, it just made us laugh. We were a disaster, I am super surprised they didn't ask us to leave or something. Ha ha. And then since we were having so much darn fun we headed to Target at bedtime, to try and figure out a solution to our non baby proofed house. Tess is crazy. Something clicked this week and she is just ALL over the place, opening drawers, eating sticky notes, making breaks for the stairs. We've got to get our non baby safe house under control quick!

Sunday was nice, we had a leisurely morning, followed by church and then we drove around looking at some different neighborhoods to see if they might be a good fit for our family. 

And now we are off on another whirlwind week. A dungeon and dragon tour sounds like just the kind of respite we would love! We hope you have a great time mom and dad, stay safe! Can't wait to see updates and pictures! 

Love,

BNKBASSETT Family :) 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BWBassetts" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bwbassetts+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

Re: Livin' the Dream

LOVED your letter.  I loved your analogy of how we need to build our lives on the rock... if you ever revisit the concept of rock climbing as a family again, here is a GREAT Mormon message (for youth) which they will enjoy...on rock climbing.

Loves.

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/a-secure-anchor?lang=eng

On Mon, Apr 13, 2015 at 7:42 AM, Kristi Bassett <kristi.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello Family!

Sunday night letters are darn near impossible these days with 2 o'clock church! We get home, race to get dinner on the table and cleaned up and then somehow it is always like PAST bedtime by the time we are done with that. Then Blaine and I get daunted with the workweek looming ahead of us and hit the hay by about 9, or at least try to! Life is barreling on at a break neck pace these days. Blaine and I were just talking yesterday about how we are really just living the dream now, as teenagers we would be excited for the days when we had a real job, and a house full of kids, and here we are! It's not quite as romantic as we had envisioned, but we are grateful to be here, living the life we always dreamed we would! How lucky are we??! 

Having lifetime fitness back in our lives has been really fun. Monday night we went rock climbing for family night. All of our kids are really good at it! Even Bentley, who is notoriously nervous, was doing amazing! Ivy and Gwen can both scale to the top of a couple of the courses. Though we think party of Ivy's success is that she weighs like ten pounds and the rope practically pulls her up, ha ha :). It was fun to have a family activity that we could all enjoy (I enjoyed from the safety of the ground). Then we had a quick lesson on the drive home about how we should build our life on the ROCK of the gospel. Pretty slick eh? 

The rest of the work days kind of blur together. It's been an absolutely gorgeous week here in the ATX though. The bluebonnets are breathtaking. Blaine the other day said "Gosh, I am going to get in a car accident and die because I can't take my eyes off of the blue bonnets". It really is striking to be on a freeway and have both sides of the road just glowing purple and red and yellow. The weather has been relatively mild, with overcast clouds keeping the intense sun at bay. 

We've enjoyed evenings out doing sidewalk chalk, shooting hoops, riding bikes and jumping rope. 

Friday after school Gwen had been invited to a friends house. I took everyone else to the Circle C metro park (it's like a mini Zilker park, with trails, soccer fields and a playscape). It was really beautiful outside and we happily ran in to about three of Bentley's classmates. They all ran off to play and a few minutes later Bentley comes running over to me with a bloody mouth and face and was just beaming holding up a tooth. Apparently they were doing a train down the slide and there was some tumbling and his tooth got knocked out. It really wasn't even loose! So now he is a toothless wonder! Judging from the picture of Bret mom sent it seems those two boys are missing all the exact same teeth, with Bret missing one more than Ben, but don't worry, that one of Ben's is loose and should be gone any day now! So that was some excitement at the park. 

Saturday was a really great day. First of all, Blaine didn't work, which was really really really great. I was able to get up early and hit some garage sales. At the last minute I almost caved and took Ivy and Tess with me, wanting to let Blaine get some extra sleep, but I really felt like I just needed some time without any kids, plus my neighbor Ashima wanted to come, So I left the kids and headed out, not without making some of the worlds best pancakes before hand though. 

Later that day we got all geared up to head to the elementary school fun run. I was hesitant to sign up for this fun run fundraiser, but man, they really got the kids all jazzed up about it. It was pretty expensive, the race fee was $25 per kid, but since I had neglected to send in donations for like the last five things the school had asked for I felt like it was time I started contributing. Plus the race fee included a t-shirt and a wristband for a three hour carnival. It was SO FUN. It really was the perfect fundraiser. Much better than selling candy bars or cookie dough or whatever, and I am sure they raked in SO much money (they had food sales and an amazing silent auction too). The fun run was just the most adorable thing ever. There is a 1/3 mile loop around the school and each time they completed the loop they got a thin bracelet. So it worked to start each age group at a different time. They even had pre-k kids start the race. You had to be there, but it was adorable. The kindergartners were equally adorable. Our kids did amazing. Bentley and Ivy had each done about two miles before they even stopped running! (They maybe walked a bit in the back of the school where I couldn't see them, but they came blazing by when they ran past the crowd). In the end each of our kids did 10 or 11 laps, and one time Gwen and Ivy even went past holding hands (which I think they did for the shock factor for us, and it worked, Blaine happily forked over several dollars for a treat for them for being so nice to each other, it was really sweet while it lasted). 

One funny thing from the fun run, some friends from our ward were sitting close to us, they have a 7 year old and a 5 year old who were running together. The five year old kept getting more and more red as he would do laps. Finally his mom was like "Andy, do you want to take a break", his eyes widened huge and he was like "you mean we CAN STOP???" ha ha. Poor kid, didn't realize he could stop whenever he wanted! 

The carnival was fun with lazer tag, horse rides, trampoline things (you know…where you can do the flips and stuff), and typical carnival games. There was also the most adorable petting zoo, complete with a chick, bearded dragon, bunnies and a HEDGEHOG, which was hands down the cutest thing I've ever seen. 

We left very happy and it was probably the best fundraiser I've ever been a part of! Oh and I won the only auction item I placed a bid on -- a year long pass to the wildflower center (kind of like the Thanksgiving Point gardens,but with rattlesnakes,  and really close to our house). The retail price was $80 and I bid $75 ;) it was something I was planning on buying anyways.

Then we headed to Torchy's for dinner. That's when things got really wild. No, but it was pretty funny. We took up two tables, Ivy spilled her water all over the floor and before they could get that cleaned up Bentley sat his taco down on the table and Tess IMMEDIATELY grabbed it and threw it on the ground, much to all of our astonishment. It was just the most chaotic dinner ever and in the middle of it all we were getting texts of Max and Nick and Stef's date of a peaceful trip to the gardens, it just made us laugh. We were a disaster, I am super surprised they didn't ask us to leave or something. Ha ha. And then since we were having so much darn fun we headed to Target at bedtime, to try and figure out a solution to our non baby proofed house. Tess is crazy. Something clicked this week and she is just ALL over the place, opening drawers, eating sticky notes, making breaks for the stairs. We've got to get our non baby safe house under control quick!

Sunday was nice, we had a leisurely morning, followed by church and then we drove around looking at some different neighborhoods to see if they might be a good fit for our family. 

And now we are off on another whirlwind week. A dungeon and dragon tour sounds like just the kind of respite we would love! We hope you have a great time mom and dad, stay safe! Can't wait to see updates and pictures! 

Love,

BNKBASSETT Family :) 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BWBassetts" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bwbassetts+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--

 

Bret Bassett 

Bret Bassett  - PMP | International Product Manager |

4268 Sherm Circle West Valley City UT. 84120

Home: 801.968-0760 | Cell: 801.815.5860 | bretbassett@gmail.com

 

Re: Letter 04- BAWB: New Calling

I know I'm behind. I'm sorry. I just have to write and apologize once again that we were not able to be there. We wanted to be so much it just didn't work out. We are so proud of you dad and admire your faith, diligence, and hard work!!

Hope that sciatic nerve is getting better!

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 30, 2015, at 1:30 PM, Rosey Bassett <roseybassett@gmail.com> wrote:

Dad,

I was so grateful that I got to be a part of your fun day.  I truly marvel at your commitment and devotion to the Lord, and to this gospel.  I am so grateful for your example of making the Lord your number one priority, you never whine about the time you have to commit, or how uncomfortable it must be sometimes to do what you have to do.  You  just do it.  I loved hearing you speak, and especially enjoyed your thoughts on family.  I also loved spending the evening with everybody just hanging out.  It was a great day! 

I sure love you, and am so so grateful for you and Mom.  

Rosey 

On Sun, Mar 29, 2015 at 11:15 PM, bret bassett <bretbassett@gmail.com> wrote:

Letter 04 - BAWB - new callings

Sunday, March 29, 2015

10:15 PM

 

I'm just going to write about today.  It was momentous for mom and I.   And it was so nice to have Rosey/Max/Janey/Warner/Griffen/Grandma W/Brent and Nancy/ and Pres. Tobar (home stake presidency) close-by to hug.  But then there was a lot of hugging going on

 

It started by my going to the Gr1st YSA ward bishopric meeting at 8:00.  Normally the meeting was at 7:00.  It was a calm wonderful meeting.   We talked about all the normal things happening in the ward.  We reviewed sacrament meeting agenda.  WE talked about handing off my responsibilities to Cornell Porter, the 2nd counselor in the ward.  And he seemed to not need a lot of orienting…

 

I then went downstairs and sat in the chapel with mom and the kids in the congregation.  The Taylorsville 1st YSA Ward (my new ward) Sacrament Meeting was great.  The Stake President (Berne Broadbent) released Bishop Troy Dial, and Gordon Burns, and David Perkins as counselors.  He then sustained me as Bishop, Dave Perkins as first C and Karl Thorup as 2nd C.  Then the farewell, welcome aboard party started.  Speaking was as follows: Bishop Dial, Sister Dial, Gordon Burns, Sister Burns, Me, Mom, Dave Perkins, Sister Perkins, Karl Thorup, Tina Thorup.

 

I can't describe how confirming it was to hear them speak.  These are my people.  They are about mom and I's same age.  They have been faithful their whole lives.  That means that They got married about the same year we did.  They have kids the same ages (approx.) as our kids.  The went to college the same time we went to college.   They progressed in their callings about the same time as we did.   But it's their faithfulness that is so endearing to me.  They love people.  They love the gospel.  They love the book of mormon.  They are disciplined in their lives and how they live the gospel.  Mom will like the fact that they are also loves of the outdoors…and physical activities like hikes, etc. 

 

And yet these are not wimpy church-boys.  One plays semiprofessional basketball and golf.  He actually wins money playing both.  The other is a scientist, and he writes his own patents.  One of which he foresees could be worth $1 Billion.  I know it sounds like this guy is living out in la-la land.  And I anticipate telling him that unless he has an army of lawyers who can fight an army of all the other lawyers from big companies, there isn't a prayer in heck that he'll see even 1/4 of it.  But  they are both successful men in so many ways.  And yet their greatest strengths is their faith.

 

I anticipate just the joy of working with these men and their wives will be fulfilling and satisfying.

 

 

After speaking in Taylorsville 1st YSA, mom and JW waited around and stayed for our Granger 1st YSA ward sacrament meeting.  This was a wonderful satisfying meeting where mom and I both got to say goodbye to the ward where we had served the last 8 months  .I could look around and name nearly every name in the sacrament meeting.  Which is about how long it takes me to learn names like that.

 

Anyway, a young man in our ward spoke (his name was actually Josh Powell) I spoke, then mom spoke.  I love speaking with mom.  She has the perfect spirit when she speaks.  It's honest, touching and always makes me so glad to belong to her.  She thinks so much like me, that it makes it fun to hear her.

 

After our testimony's then the new counselor spoke.  His name is Pres Summers.  And then Sister Summer spoke.  They both have a wonderful spirit having served as Stake President only recently.

 

After Sacrament meeting I was set apart as Bishop of the Taylorsville 1st Ward.  And my counselors were set apart after that.  Then my counselors and I went and had a bishopric meeting and dismissed for the day. 

 

I came home, did some writing on a book about spiritual metaphors, fell asleep and had a nap.  Then we ate dinner where I got the red plate (You Are Special) and JW came over.  We ate, played games, and watched some videos which to me is the perfect day.

 

Anyway, my heart is settling down after a long anticipated day.  It's not totally settled because I know how much work there is ahead.  But the YSA look great, and I hope to get to know them quickly.

 

Here are some of the thoughts I shared during my talks.

 

Smoking:

 

I remember a story of Monroe McKay who was a Bishop in a YSA Ward, who smelled his favorite smell coming into church.  .

• His comment was this… "I walked into church today and I smelled my favorite smell… Cigarettes"
• It is the Lord's way of telling me, "I'm going my job".
• The interesting things with smoking, as a sin, is that it stinks.  Everyone knows you've been sinning.
• But imagine if the greater sin of pride, or being dishonest, or of immorality had a stink to it.  IF we all came in with the stench of pride, we'd have to open all the windows and doors  just to breath.
• We can't judge.

 

The Gospel is not a sanctuary for saints, it's a hospital for sinners.

 

And since we are not perfect, since we are all sinners, we all belong here.  WE all BELONG.

 

So I hope you'll feel comfortable here.  That when you come you'll check your judgement at the door, and just come to be strengthened.  And to strengthen others.

 

Perfect Families/People

• When I grew up there were 2 families that we watched on TV all the time… Leave it to Beaver, and The Addams family.
• If I were to ask you which of these two families had the most in common with typical LDS families, which would you say?
• I suspect if you knew both families, you'd think that Leave it to Beaver had the most in common.  But I think in reality, the answer could be the Addams Family.
• A lot of dysfunction, but a lot of issues.
• I don't know what kind of family you come from, but most every family I know in the church or out, have some interesting dysfunctions to work through.
• In fact as you look through the scriptures, there are lots of examples of people with issues:
• The Bible starts off with the Story of Cain and Able - jealousy so strong it led on eto kill the other.
• The Book of Mormon starts off with the Stories of Lehi's family and his dysfunctional sons.  Two of them hated the third so badly that they sought to kill him over and over again.
• Then there's the story of Joseph and the coat of many colors.
• Even if you look at the family of Elohim, 1/3 of his children rebelled against him,  and so powerful was their hatred toward their father, that they waged war.
• And on and on.

 

 

You belong.

• Why do I share this story of people with problems.   
• It's because we all have issues.  We all have dysfunctions.  We are all damaged goods.  We are all sinners.
• That' okay.   We have a savior.  We have someone who will find us even when we are lost.  Someone who will fix us when we realize we need fixing.  Someone who has taken on the most terrifying trials we all face, and made them so they are doable…when we lean on him.

 

• So I am happy that I'm here, and I'm glad you're here.  I hope we will learn and help one another grow.
• I hope I can help, and I know you can help me.
• So feel good here.  That's what we do here.  Help and strengthen us as we strive to overcome our various issues.

 

I am delighted and humbled to have been called to serve in this ward.  It reminds me that the Lord loves me to entrust me with you great YSA.

 

A lot of people have talked about how great I am. 

 

When Karen Nordgren is talking, she will say all the time "Oh this is the greatest story, you're going to love it."  And then Nancy will say, "I'll be the judge of that."

 

When people talk about how 'great' Bishop Bassett is, I can almost see people cross their arms and say "I'll be the judge of that."

 

I pray that I can serve diligently.

 

Or something like this…anyway, I think it went better than my rough notes above.  But they don't want us writing our talks out, so I am never quite sure of what actually came out.

 

Anyway, thanks to all for the support.  I appreciated texts from those who couldn't come.   And could feel your support the entire day.

 

I love you all.  And am so proud of the way each of you serve in your callings.

 

And in case max doesn't announce his new calling, he's been called as Ward Exec Secretary.  Wow.  That will be a big calling for him.  We sure pray for him as well.

 

Looking forward to conference this week.

 

Loves.

 

Dad

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BWBassetts" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bwbassetts+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BWBassetts" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bwbassetts+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

Re: Love from Mom

We pray and hope dad gets better soon! Great recap of your week. Bitter sweet to leave your calling. Love ya. 

On Sunday, April 12, 2015, Wendy Bassett <wendy.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Family,

I missed last week so I better not miss again.  Everyone is in bed after a long but wonderful Sabbath.  But I shall write.

It was great to go to Taylorsville 1st Ward and see dad up front conducting and see the mantle of leadership upon him.  It's a real thing!  This is where the Lord wants him.

We meet in the Institute Bldg where the stake offices are and during Sunday School our stake president, President Broadbent called us in to release me, or notify me of my release that will happen the day after we get home from our trip.  We had such a sweet conversation and I was able to share, through tears, the way this calling has blessed me.  It was tender and a sacred time for me to have dad by my side handing me tissues!

The rest of my day was filled with more Relief Society. Since I'm not officially released until our stake conference on April 26 I had plenty to do.  We got to orient a new presidency and also had a meeting with Rosey and the other Chairs who are in charge of our big June event.  It was all tender to me personally since it was lots of "lasts"

It was great to have Stef plan Nick's Birthday dinner at our house.  We ate taco salad and fruit smoothies and blue layered jello and all kinds of good stuff.  I love when other people plan stuff as I seem to get in a rut!  We ate lemon cake with 31 candles.  I thought the smoke alarm would go off! We sang to Nick and enjoyed our time together, ending with an impromptu magic show.  We sure missed Blaine and Kristi and kids.  It was fun to have Blaine call in the middle of it all!

Yesterday Rosey Max and I went to help Sid and Stef move into their new home just around the corner from Jill and Kyle's SJ home.  This one is bigger and has tons more parking space.  Poor dad wasn't well enough to come but we worked hard to represent him!  The new home is beautiful!

I helped tend the boys on Saturday evening so Nick and Stef could go on a date.  The boys are fun and cute.  I got some one on one with Ned and he is so adorable!  It is amazing to watch how much he imitates his brothers.  Good thing they are such good boys to set a good example.  He even tried to spell things to me since that is what Clay does.  So cute.

I substituted in the Temple on Friday morning and ended up serving with my 6th grade school teacher, Miss Cheever.  Except for her hair going gray she looked about the same to me!  To quote Grandma Bassett - it was one of my gifts for going to the temple.  Grandma taught that Heavenly Father always gives you gifts when you go to the temple, so I always look for them.

Dad told you about his poor legs.  I fasted for him and continue to pray mightily for him.  He can hardly tolerate any weight on his leg.

I'm suddenly so tired I better close.  Dad and I leave on our trip in three days - Wednesday morning.  We cannot wait!  Pray for dad.

Love to all,
Mom

Sent from my iPad

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BWBassetts" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bwbassetts+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.