The Fridge is Fixed

Hola Elder Nielsen,

This was another crazy fast week. Starting the week off in Alaska made the week go by extremely fast. I had a good time in Alaska, but I did not leave the hotel except to go to church last Sunday. The conference ended Tuesday around noon, and Tawny and I were going to rent a car and follow another group up North to see some of the northern Alaska spots. But Tawny was sick, and I did not want to go by myself, so I just stayed in my hotel all afternoon and evening and worked on taxes. I got a lot done, so it was nice. We had to catch a taxi to the airport at 3:45 am, so I set my alarm to get up at 3:20 am. It was a very short night. We checked out of the hotel and got to the airport around 4:15 am. We flew to Seattle and had a 6 hour layover in Seattle. Then we flew to SLC and had a 2 hour layover there. While we were waiting for our flight to Elko, there were 2 sister missionaries and an Elder coming home from their missions, so I had a good visit with them. The elder served in Toronto Canada, 1 sister in Mexico and another sister in England. It was nice talking to them. I did not get to Elko until 9:45 pm, so I was flying home literally all day. It was good to be home. It was snowing in Salt Lake, and cold here in Elko. Most of the snow had melted where we were in Alaska except down by the river where there were still ice and snow.

I went to work on Thursday and tried to get caught up for being out of the office for a week. I bought those 2 pieces in Twin to fix the fridge, so I went down and had a teacher in the electrical department solder on a new fuse and bypassed the old burned out fuse. I came home for lunch and put the attached the mother board back in the fridge and it worked. That was a miracle. I was afraid we were going to have to buy a new fridge for $1200 or but a new mother board for over $200, but instead, we had the fridge working again, running quietly like it did when we first got it for $7.83.  I love you tube. It has saved me literally thousands of dollars. Friday I went to work as well, I had meetings and had to get a few things done. I worked on taxes until 9:30 pm that night in my office. Wednesday, Addie got sick and she stayed home sick from school Wed through Friday. She had a high fever and slept on the coach all day. She is feeling better today, but she came home from church and fell asleep on the kitchen floor in the sun shine. We had the missionaries over for dinner today and she ate and now she is back sleeping again. So I am not sure if she is 100% or not.

Yesterday, we had the credit union annual meeting and Carly and Addie got $25 each and the rest of us got skunked. But we got free donuts and orange juice. Summer, mom and I went to watch Elko play Fallon. Fallon is down this year. They had 10 seniors graduate last year and the Williams boy who played 1st base, graduated earlier this year, so he could go on his mission. He got called to Ohio, but had to have shoulder surgery. So he will end up going the end of May. Elko won Friday 14-8, we were 1 point away from 10 running them, but could never get that extra run. Sat. morning, Fallon beat us 3-0 and we won the afternoon game 8-7. So they were all close games. Fallon's ace, Mendez was hurt and only pitched 2 innings, so that did not help them too much. So Elko is in 1st place in league, Spring Creek is 2nd. Elko beat Spring Creek on Tuesday by about 8 runs when I was in Alaska. 

The NBA playoffs started this weekend. The Warriors won 73 games and beat the old record of the Micheal Jordan Bulls of 72 wins in a season. So we are voting for the Warriors and Stephen Curry. He is amazing.

We got the bug back yesterday and it runs great. That guy fixed a lot of things on it and it runs great. That was in exchange for 5 years of tax returns. I think that was a great exchange. He bought a new battery and replaced some old hoses etc.  So we got the bug and refrigerator fixed this week. Those are major accomplishments in my book. Amber and Kevin made it to Michigan ok and the truck ran fine and he started his internship this past week.

The due date for taxes is tomorrow, so I will have to have a huge day tomorrow and try to finish up all the ones I have to do or extend. I have about 7 or so that I am working on now. I will be glad when it is over and we can concentrate on other things. The hunting tags are due tomorrow, so I will have to apply on line. I think I will just put in for deer for Summer and I and get bonus points for the other animals until you get home to pack them out for me.

We hope you have a great week. Keep working hard and send your companion home with a complete 100% effort these next few weeks. We love you and are so happy you are on your mission. I talked to mama Conklin at the baseball game yesterday and told her how much you enjoyed those shoes she bought you and she told me to tell you that they sure love you and are thinking of you. I guess Jacob got his first start as a college pitcher yesterday. I am not sure how he did.

Remember who you are and who you represent. This is a very special time in your life, give me all you have, might mind and strength.

Love,

DAD

Dearest Elder Nielsen,

Well, Dad fixed the fridge, that guy is becoming a YouTube fix-it man.  I'm going to make him a honey-tube list of all the things that need fixing around here.  We lived for 4 weeks without a fridge!   I developed a system of freezing plastic juice bottles in the freezer in the garage, and I would take them out when they were frozen solid and put 2 of them in the fridge and they would keep things relatively cold like a cooler.  Then after 24hrs when the bottles were thawed I would exchange them for 2 more frozen, and just keep exchanging them between the freezer and fridge.  It worked all right, but things would spoil faster since it wasn't as cold, so I avoided buying much fresh food.  We ate more frozen food.  We had TV (frozen) dinners one night and the girls thought that was pretty cool.--No pun intended!  I have certainly appreciated what I have taken for granted in our modern world.

Dad was in Alaska for the first few days of the week.  Too bad he didn't get to do too much in the way of exploring.  You two will have to go there together one day and go fishing.

Saturday, we went to the Credit Union annual mtg. --you know the one with the free donuts?  We didn't come up any big winners in the drawings, but the Carly and Adelaide got there $25 envelopes, and we were out of there in a half hour, so it's worth it.  That afternoon Dad and Summer and I went to the baseball game --Elko vs. Fallon.  It was not a good game for Elko, they had such a hard time getting anyone around the bases.  We had 3 innings when they had the bases loaded, but left them stranded.  Fallon ended up winning 3 runs to 0.  Elko won 2 out of the 3 games, but that was their first league loss. 

I forgot to mention at that first baseball game we went to a few weeks ago that we saw Natalie Kump and her mom.  They were visiting from Canada and Natalie was going to be attending UofU on a soccer scholarship in the Fall.

Adelaide has been sick the past few days.  She missed 3 days of school because her head hurt and she didn't feel well. She just laid on the couch and slept for about 3 days straight.  She seems to be feeling better now.

Amber and Kevin called tonight.  They made it to Michigan and they are doing well.  The truck traveled great and they are settled into their apartment.

The bug got fixed and we have it back now.  I took it to a choir practice tonight and it ran just perfect.  Yeah!

I hope you are having a great week.  You are in our prayers everyday and we love you so much, love Mom

PS Do you ever get discouraged?  You always seem so positive :)  I'm looking forward to Mother's Day!