Ls & Ws

Hey there—
I hope you had a great week. You sounded like a strange mix of discouraged and zen last week. It’s such a tough spot trying to figure out where to spend your time and energies.  I know you are working so hard, and I’m so proud of you. I can only imagine how difficult missionary work is. 

Ok. Lol about the guy who speaks American AND British English. I mean. The biggest difference I can think of is the British calling a bathroom a “toilet.” They call sweaters “jumpers.” And cookies are “biscuits.” And now you too speak American AND British English. You are well on your way to becoming a polyglot. See what I did there? I’m teaching you another new word. Smarter by the day!

I’m super interested in trying an amazing mango lassi in Singapore with naan and curry from Little India. Also hot pot! Oh the food scene! 

Magic the Gathering looks fun! And reading Saints sounds interesting. I hope you enjoy it and learn a lot. 

A couple of Elders in your chapel photo had ties that were fire! You should find out where they got them. 

This week was jam-packed busy and I’m exhausted.

1. Sports, sports, and more sports. Tate played basketball. 

Jett played indoor soccer and basketball. He also had his end-of-season football party where he was awarded “Best Hands.” (4 Corners Champion! Too bad X men can’t have the ball thrown to them!) His party was at the South Davis Rec center and Tate got to go along and swim with the team which was a lot of fun for him. 

Ethan played a lot of basketball between games and practices for Hard Knox and Centennial. On Tuesday Centennial played Legacy and we got beat bad. But once the score was out of range, coach put in Ethan and the 8th graders and allowed them to play. Dad said this is when he would rather just stay on the bench, but I think it was a good opportunity for Ethan to show his coach he belongs on the court. He went out and made at least one 3-point shot and an assist. The next game was against North Davis and was basically the opposite scenario. We had a very significant lead by the end of the first quarter. Ethan ended up getting some really good playing time. He went in and immediately put down two 3-point shots. Hopefully he’s building some trust with that coach. Jeez. I got to go early and bring breakfast for the team that morning, and it was fun to be there with them on game day. Saturday Ethan had an all-day volleyball tournament, and his team played well. Bless your dad for getting up at the crack of dawn to take Ethan in the morning. I don’t think I could have hacked it. 

Blake played some pickup basketball this week and is planning to try out for the high school team tomorrow. Wish him luck! He also was awarded Academic All-State for football. There were only 17 other 6A football players in UHSAA that got the award, so that’s really impressive.

Despite living in a house with five sports fanatics, I had to learn from my NPR politics podcast about Saquon Barkley’s FREAKING AMAZING spin reverse hurdle and is absolute defying of gravity. I will send you some screen shots so you can appreciate the athleticism and know that move will never be done agin. 

2. On Tuesday I drove down to visit Grandpa in his new retirement home in Provo. He seemed to be doing very well, and I walked down to the dining room (using his walker!) to visit with him while he had lunch. Even though he’s only been there a few weeks he had friends in the dining room saying hello to him. His small apartment was decorated with furniture and artwork from house and it felt just like walking into his home. It was really nice to see him all set up in such a familiar setting. While I was there we could hear the residents practicing Christmas songs with the choir, and they were planning a group outing to the Bean museum the next day. I hope this is a great place for him and that he will enjoy the company there.

3. Tuesday night was an absolute bust. Such a disappointment. Alisa invited me over to watch the election results. She made loaded nachos and chocolate chip cookies, and we sat on the couch together stress-eating and ultimately commiserating together as the results rolled in. Trump pretty much crushed it. He won every swing state, and was the first Republican to win the popular vote in 20 years.I had faith that America would make a better choice this time around. But it looks like we will be subjected to another four years of his corruption and chaos—and this time with fewer boundaries. I think I might have to swear off the news and bury myself in a new hobby. Honestly. I’m pretty discouraged. Every single person I voted for lost. Every single one. Why do I even bother. Sigh. I was bugged that my Kamala sign got stolen because I wanted to save it. So I watched around town to see if there were any signs that got abandoned on street corners. I was lucky to find an awesome, big sign that I brought home Friday night. Dad’s gonna be so excited!

4. If I had my preference I would have just stayed in bed all day Wednesday wallowing in my disappointment. But fortunately I had scheduled with Valerie to go to lunch the next day. I haven’t seen Valerie in forever, so It was really good to see her again and catch up. We met in Salt Lake and had lunch at Gourmandise and I had the most heavenly sandwich with ham, cheese, and jalapeño jelly. I’m still dreaming of it. Val said Ben is home from his mission and going to school at UVU. Jacob is on his mission in the Philippines. It sounds like he started shortly after you.

5. Thursday was “jersey day” at Endeavour for Red Ribbon week. I didn’t see the littles before school because I was doing breakfast at the Jr. High. But I saw Jett when he walked in the door after school. I wish I had taken a picture! He had pulled out every jersey in his entire closet and wore them all—one on top of the other! He was so bulked up he could hardly move. His teacher must just shake her head when he pulls stuff like that. He was miserable all day but refused to take them off!

6. Thursday night I took Tate to Classic Fun Center for free skate night with his school—and he absolutely LOVED it. He switched back and forth between his scooter and his roller blades about 17 times—because of course he did. But he stayed until the very, very end, and I’m guessing he will be asking me to take him back soon.

7. Friday I got a text from my Dad saying that there was a big fire close to Ryan and Kelsey’s house and they were evacuating. I guess my parents had driven out for a quick visit, and literally as they pulled into the driveway Ryan and Kelsey shoved things into their car and they all drove away from the fire. Kelsey said they put their goats in the back of their minivan! I guess the fire got scary close to the house, but luckily they were able to contain it and the house was not damaged. They were able to go back home later that night which seems like a miracle to me. 

8. Also on Friday Jett was elected by the 5th graders to be mayor of BizTown. His campaign speech was hilarious. I kept asking him if he copied it from a Big Nate book or something and he said no, but Nate Scott helped him write it. Jessica tells me they may have had some help from AI.

“Hey everyone. I’m Drip Lord running for mayor at JA Biztown. Now you might be wondering why you should vote for me. Well I got three great reasons. 1—I promise to make sure everyone gets paid in doughnuts. Just kidding. And I will make sure BizTown runs smoothly. No-one wants to see Maverick with no drinks or a bank with no money, right? 2—I have amazing leadership skills. I mean I managed to organize my sock drawer and convince my dog to stop chewing my shoes. Let’s be honest, that’s pretty impressive. 3—I’m not afraid to take action. If elected I’ll make sure every voice is heard unless you are the one who ate the last piece of pizza which we are going to have a serious talk. So, if you want a mayor who’s serious about getting things done and also knows how to have a little fun, vote for Drip Lord. And let’s make BizTown the coolest place to work and hang out.”

9. Saturday night I quarantined myself to my bedroom to force myself to finish writing a talk for sacrament meeting. Meanwhile the rest of the universe was watching the BYU - Utah game. I watched the family chats explode with disappointment at the “worst clock management in the history of the game” and Bramhall’s shaking their fists at the unfairness of cosmic forces on all things good and holy this week. Then the chat went silent for a good hour. And then. I hear dad from the other room whooping and hollering. Everyone thought the game was over. But a controversial call brought the game back to life and BYU scored with 3 seconds left on the clock. Ute fans are BIG MAD—robbed! I'll let someone with the deets fill you in.

10. Today I spoke in church. Because my brain appears to be broken, I am unable to get my thoughts organized early. I have to collect ALL the information, study ALL the things first. And even if I do that early, I just can[’t make myself focus on an outline until it’s too late. Too late to really finish my lesson or talk the way I would like to that I can edit and hone my main message. Sigh. This was no exception. I was up until about 2, but didn’t finish before bed, so I got up early (for me on a Sunday). The plan was to finish my talk and get dressed with plenty of time to get to the meeting 10 minutes early. Well of course I walked into the chapel 5 minutes late to take my seat on the stand. Not even the fear of embarrassment could get me there on time. And even then I thought I’d have at least a few minutes to finish up my talk while we had the sacrament and youth speaker. Lucky me the sacrament was over in record time and I was the first speaker. Sigh. Before I knew it I was at the pulpit still trying to get my thoughts organized and introducing myself as a mom to 5 boys. Luckily dad corrected me from the back! Anyway. It went alright, and I’m glad it’s over now! Since I didn’t really finish writing my talk out I had to wing the last little bit. But I’ll try to get myself organized and maybe send you a copy to read. 

Love you kiddo,

Mom