Just Chillin'

Hello boys! I sure miss you. Sometimes it just seems so quiet here without you two. But I am so happy that you are where you are doing missionary work. You are both such hard working, obedient missionaries. I love to see it!


Blake, you haven’t looked great the last few times we had phone calls. Try to stay away from mosquitos and cats. And maybe don’t eat any more frogs? IDK. Maybe that’s just me. I’m so glad you’ve got so many teaching opportunities, and I’m glad you get to keep your companion. I really liked the story you shared about gaining the gift tongues just along enough to share your testimony. I hope the language just keeps steadily improving.


Ty, you seem so happily engaged in a good cause. I love seeing you take on new leadership responsibilities. Hearing about the missionaries having visa troubles and needing to be emergency transferred makes me sad for them. What a pain! I loved the picture of your new friend who was able to get baptized last week, and I’m so glad everything went smoothly for that to happen.


This week at home was much more chill than last week. It’s good to have take a breather every once in awhile! This is what we were up to:


  1. We changed our clocks last week. Daylight Savings always confuses me. It just makes me feel like I never really know what time it is—even more than my regular confusion! I’m not sure exactly what happened, but last Sunday I got to “sleep in” for an extra hour which was admittedly nice.  But then for the rest of the week it felt like bedtime by 5pm. It’s just so dang dark! And it’s getting chilly. So pretty much I’m gearing up for hibernation season. I’ll be in bed with my hot chocolate and Minky blanket if you need me for the next 6 months.
  2. I have sad news to report. Glen the fish has died. We are all very upset about this. The boys have been good to keep him fed and keep his bowl clean. We are not sure why he died, but tears were shed.
  3. Tuesday was Election Day. There was nobody on my ballot I wanted to vote for. I considered not voting. It was just a municipal election for mayor, city council and the water district. I was uninspired. But also I just feel so strongly that I have a duty to vote because of all the people who went before and fought for my right to vote. So. I sucked it up and made my vote—including writing in my friend Michelle Barber for mayor. I’m pretty sure it’s the second (or third?) time I’ve written in her name. 
  4. Basketball season is gearing up. The boys have new shoes. Tate and Jett have already been playing, and Jett’s team practices at our house, so that’s super convenient. Dad is coaching one of Tate’s teams, and apparently one of the kids in particular is going to be a challenge to coach, but they are only 7 so it’s all good. Dad and Tate have been playing together in the court and I’m pretty impressed with Tate’s improvement so far. Ethan has school tryouts tomorrow! Ah. Tryouts are nerve-racking. Wish him luck!
  5. Jett finished up his MLK Jr speech contest last week and then had to immediately pivot to preparing for tryouts for the school play. Endeavour Elementary is doing Newsies Jr. this year! It’s going to be so fun. Jett did a great job with his tryouts. He got callbacks for Jack, Davey, and Mr. Pulitzer. He was so disappointed on Saturday morning when he saw the cast list and he was cast as “Race” (Racetrack Higgins). I think he had really gotten his hopes up about having a lead role. But I really don’t think he should be too disappointed. Race is one of the main Newsies, and I think he’s going to have a lot of lines and he will be great at it. I’m proud of him for trying out and being so confident to sing and act in front of people! That takes courage!
  6. Jett’s football team was invited to play in an exhibition game against Cyprus at Rice Eccles Stadium on Saturday. Not everyone from the team was able to participate, so they combined kids from the A and B teams. We definitely got outplayed. The kids from Cyprus were huge. But, Jett got an extra week of football practice, and the experience of playing in a huge stadium, so hopefully it was fun for him. Dad and I freeze our fingers off watching from the stands.
  7. For mutual this week the young women had a “Friendsgiving” meal at the church, and everything was delicious! I came home with a new jello salad recipe I’m excited to make. Afterwards I got to go hang out with my college roommates for a couple of hours because Aspen came to visit from Oregon. It was so fun to see them all!
  8. Dad finally made an appointment with his dermatologist to have a wart burned off of his knuckle. The wart is enormous, and Dad has been putting wart stuff on it for months and it just seemed to get bigger. So the doctor did a treatment and now it’s kinda grayish-black. But he’ll probably have to go back in for more treatments before it finally goes away. Poor dad. I had an appointment with a dentist who specialized in sleep apnea and TMJ. I’ve been getting headaches, and I think they may be caused by me clenching my teeth all night long while I sleep. So I’m going to try a new dental device to see if that might help. Fingers crossed it doesn’t cause more jaw pain! Hopefully it keeps me from snoring too!
  9. Dad and I took Tate with us to Grace Forsberg’s wedding reception last night. That place was hopping! I’ve never been to an indoor wedding reception that was that loud. It felt like being at a school dance. The music was blaring (BLARING!), and mostly everyone was moshing on the dance floor and dripping in sweat. Lol. It was the exact opposite of the reception Dad and I had years ago when we stood in line for 3 hours greeting our parents’ friends! From the photos on display Tate thought the groom looked like Lincoln Bird. He thought Lincoln was marrying Grace! Lol. Lincoln is still just a little too young for that!
  10. Michael went to Idaho with friends this weekend. He was introduced to new friends (because he always needs new friends), and the new friends introduced him to someone’s previous bishop who owns land and razors and a two-seater plane. Against (my) better judgement Michael went up in the plane for a quick tour of the area and had an amazing time. Michael also informs us that he likes to run now. He went on a 15 mile run Friday morning. Wild. 

That's all I’ve got for now! Hopefully this is a smooth week for all of us!

Love you,
Mom















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