Sunday 25th
Dear Family,
It has been a great week with very few if any dull moments.
Mom has been kept busy with Relief Society visits and organizing, various activities and assignments as well as preparing a talk for the Ward Conference Priesthood/RS Combined meeting. Go Mom! You are an extraordinary super woman.
Tuesday, we enjoyed the good weather by going to Tyler's football game where Dad got some cool action photos of Tyler making an end run.
Wednesday, we went with Stebar's to the St. Clair Inn and enjoyed strolling on the boardwalk and a dinner on a beautiful Michigan fall afternoon.
Dad helped Ryan build some shelves in his closet and did some more insulating of the basement. It is looking good. Dad played or survived a game of racquetball and had breakfast with a couple of friends from Ford. It was good see and listen to them.
We enjoyed the “Reflections of Christ” exhibit at the Stake Center this week end and visited with a few of our friends that we found there.
Today, we were well entertained by the North Shores Ward Primary Program which featured all of our children and grandchildren who belong to that ward. What a joy it is to be with them! Afterward, we went to our ward for the Ward Conference, where Mom spoke in a combined Relief Society and Priesthood meeting about being spiritually prepared. It turned out pretty good and she is glad that it is over.
We love you all, Mom & Dad

18 October 2009 - Sterling Heights, Michigan

Sunday 18th -
Dear Family,
It has been an interesting week for us.
Mom's Relief Society has been coming apart at the seams with two sister's relatives - one husband and one father - being hospitalized with serious heart attacks, and another one with a funeral of her mother. Mom has been extra busy plugging holes to keep the Relief Society afloat. We are sure this wave “shall come to pass” and the Relief Society will return to an even keel. No dull moments with this stewardship.
Thursday evening, Mom had a leadership meeting at the Stake center so Dad went to the family history library to find out more about her ancestors. Get this - Mom's grandfather, Ambrosio Gatti, was born in 1859 when the Austro-Hungarian Empire ruled what we call today Como, Italy; therefore, he very likely was born Austrian. However, in that same year (1859) Como was liberated from Austrians as part of the “Italian Unification”, which is basically the Italy we know today as shown on the political maps. He might have never known anything about this since he was only a few months old at the time, and always considered himself Italian as he grew up. Unfortunately, I was not able to find any birth records from that area (Como) in that time frame.
Saturday afternoon, was a busy time with picking up Samantha at the roller hockey rink and taking her to her last soccer game and taking Joshua home after his roller hockey game after picking up Preston from a birthday party. Confused? - believe it or not Dad did the whole thing without getting lost. Later, Mom and Dad watched Preston, Jacob and Sophia while Ryan & Maureen went to a wedding of one of Ryan's high school friends. We enjoyed our time with them - took them to a McDonald's with a big corkscrew slide. We stayed there until they were all tired and then took them home and put them to bed. The strategy worked - they went right to sleep. Sunday morning, we made them a pancake-and-egg breakfast and got them ready for Aunt Vanessa to take to church. We then went home and got ready for and went to church where Mom conducted the Relief Society meeting. One of the less active sisters she visited came to church for first time in many years.
Mom talked with Suzana this week and she seems to be improving i.e. she was more like herself than before. Based on what her daughter Danielle says, we are hopeful that she will be completely recovered in the next few months.

Love y'all, Mom & Dad

Sunday October 11th - Sterling Heights, Michigan

Sunday 11th
Dear Family,
Weather - It was gray and rainy much of the week, but the weekend was beautiful, sunny and cool.
Sports - This week we went to a couple of 7th grade football games and took a few pictures of Tyler playing quarterback. Dad took a few pictures at Josh's roller hockey game on Saturday. We attended Jacob's soccer game - he scored 9 goals in the rain.
Home Improvement - Dad helped Ryan deliver 91 rolls of insulation to his basement and on Saturday afternoon started to insulate his basement. Dad finished the seemingly never-ending saga of the repair job on David's mirrored closet doors. We sure hope it sells.
Bed & Breakfast - Friday night we were visited by a couple from Corpus Christi, Texas that we had met during our mission. They stayed the night (also a young-adult age daughter) and had breakfast with us before going on to Niagara Falls and New York. It was great to get caught up on news and see some of our friends from Corpus Christi.
Church - Mom “successfully” (she is not quite sure of that) conducted her first meeting in Relief Society and Dad taught the High Priest Group with only 4 hours notice. We hosted a priesthood fireside at our home in the evening. We did an endowment session in the temple on Thursday and Dad got some of the family history records corrected.
Love y'all, Mom & Dad

4 October 2009 - Sterling Heights, Michigan

Dear Family,
This week we had the opportunity to serve others, enjoy each other's company, appreciate creativity and to contemplate the most important things in this life.
Mom's birthday - after lunch with Vanessa and Maureen, we went to Birch Run for some Christmas shopping and a chicken dinner at Frankenmuth.
Tuesday, while Mom was visiting some of the Relief Society sisters, Dad went on some visits with the missionary Elders, including a Rio Wraps lunch.
Wednesday, Mom had her Relief Society Presidency meeting and Dad took David's closet door mirrors to be replaced.
Thursday, we went to the temple and were able to do some service for our own family members and a few others and clarify some of the family records
Friday, we went to the Detroit Institute of Art, for several hours; we enjoyed some marvelous works of very talented and creative people. Some obviously, were divinely inspired.
Saturday & Sunday we watched & listened to and were inspired by the General Conference talks.
We celebrate, with the rest of our Brazilian family, that the Olympics will be in Rio de Janiero in 2016, but more importantly, we are grateful for Suzana's continued progress as she recovers from a stroke. Suzana, we love you and pray for you.
We love y'all, Mom & Dad