Halloween and Disappointment

Dear Ty,

Hello, Hello! It was great to talk to you tonight as always. I’m sorry that the work in Sibu is hard and discouraging. But I am glad to see you continuing to work hard and learning to depend on the Lord. Don’t give up, and don’t compare yourself to other missionaries. Just continue to trust and do your best. I hope you have a restful p-day, and a fantastic week. And I hope your cookies and hot pot are delicious!


1. Whew—this was a long week. Re-entry to real life was rough after being out of town for so long. I did so much laundry this week. Honestly so many loads of laundry. I felt like the entire week I was just trying to dig out from piles of stuff all over the house that accumulated while I was gone. Plus the added mess of halloween costumes and candy and pumpkins and decorations. It was a lot.

2. Halloween was really fun. I took Tate and Jett to Scary Hill on Monday night. We mini golfed, and went on the hay ride which was so delightfully creative, that we went twice! I ordered Tate a Black Panther costume over a month ago, but hadn’t gotten anything for Jett, so on Tuesday night I got out the Halloween bin to try and find something. Jett debated between mad scientist, the pink fortnight costume, and werewolf. And ultimately ended up using all three for various events. But Tate discovered Spiderman and all the Star Wars costumes and then suddenly didn’t want to wear his brand new Black Panther costume any more! Sigh. Wednesday night we had a fun ward chili cook off/carnival party. I didn’t get to go to either of the elementary class parties this year, so I was bummed about that, but I did at least get to go over and enjoy the Halloween parade at the school. Dad was not interested in joining me for some reason. That night we gathered with the neighbors at the Hyde’s house for dinner and then Dad took Tate out trick-or-treating with Gavin and Ness. Jett roamed the neighborhood with his friends without any adult supervision!
Ethan joined his friends to trick-or treat for a bit and then watch a movie, and Blake hung out at Adam’s house. I passed out candy, cleaned and watched the old Hocus Pocus—a classic.

3. Michael said BYU was HERE for Halloween this year. He said probably half the people in his classes were dressed up in costumes, and of course he party hopped all over the place. 

4. Friday we blessedly had no school and could sleep in. I continued to try and dig out from the mess. Braden Bramhall came over and I had a big candy swap with him. He had a whole ton of candy he is allergic to, so I swapped his chocolate for my leftover gummy bears and airheads. Then Michael came home and we headed out to the high school for Blake’s game against American Fork.  Blake was pumped and ready to go out there and win. They outplayed American Fork, but ultimately lost the game. Farmington consistently marched the ball down the field, but American Fork got two break-away moments when they were able to run the length of the field to score. And then at the endif the game we had possession and more than a minute left to score, but we fumbled the ball. They recovered it, and the game was over. We lost by 4 points. As you can imagine, Blake was very disappointed. It was a tough way to end the season and his high school football career. 

5. We had a ton of other sporting events this week. Jett has his last outdoor soccer game of the season—a shut out! Nice way to go out. He’s playing basketball and starting up with indoor soccer. Tate had his first basketball game. He’s playing 1st grade in Farmington because Kaysville wouldn’t let him play up. And he’s definitely the best one on the court. Ethan’s Centennial team played Central Davis and Fairfield and lost both games. Ethan didn’t get any minutes against Central Davis, but he did get to play a little in the Fairfield game. He’s pretty frustrated by the situation. But I’m glad he’s at least got his foot in the door again by being on the team. He’s at least getting a lot of playing time with his Hard Knox team. And—not that I watched any of it—but the Dodgers won the World Series in game 5 against the Yankees. 

6. Blake worked really hard on his BYU application essays that were due this week. Oh man, that process is painful. Nobody is applying to BYU unless they REALLY want to attend. Dad and I did our best to offer feedback and editing. He stayed up most of the night on Wednesday finishing them up, and then submitted his application around noon on Friday. I’m really glad he got it all taken care of before his game. He’s really not happy to learn that the scholarship application requires 3 more essays. Sigh. No rest for the weary! I told Ethan he should plan to write his essays the summer before his senior year so there is plenty of time to edit and revise. But who are we kidding? He should just start now. 

7. A few health updates in the family—Grandma Rawson now uses a hearing aid. Hopefully that’s a helpful change for her. I get the feeling she’s not thrilled about it. Great Nana did not make her donuts this Halloween because she has shingles, which can be highly contagious. Shingles can be really painful, but apparently she’s not in any pain, so that’s good news. My sister Alison got some bloodwork done, and she’s pretty sure she has Celiac disease (wheat/gluten intolerance). That will be confirmed in an endoscopy in a few weeks, but it’s likely she has it, which is such a bummer. And finally Great Grandpa was taken to the hospital Friday night. He woke up in the middle of the night confused and agitated. He seemed fine in the morning, so they are not really sure what was wrong with him. My understanding is that he will be staying in a care facility from now on.

8. The weather in Utah has turned and it is chilly outside now. There is a bit of snow in the mountains, and we have had several absolutely beautiful, crisp days.

9. This was the final week of the election. Tuesday is Election Day! You know how much I love Election Day. That said, I’m also really ready for it to be over. It’s been a wild week, but like many democrats, I’m “nauseously optimistic” that Kamala Harris will win. Also, just still astounded that so many people are willing to cast their vote for Trump who appears more addled and deranged by the day. I came home from church today and noticed my Kamala yard sign had been stolen. Boo! I was planning to hang that in my garage until the end of time. Anyway—by this time next week we should know who won. 

10. I got cornered at church by Brother Roylance, and now I have to speak in church next week. Boo. Hopefully I have the brain capacity to deal with the election and writing a talk this week!

Love you Ty! I’m sending all my good vibes your way—and praying you will find lots of friends to teach this week!

Mom