5/23/21 Family Letter

Hi Eve!

 We had our introduction to the SBOs ( for the newcomers) . It was really fun! All of the new sbos are some of my close friends! 

I also spring cleaned my room! I'm super excited for school to be out. It was a blast but I'm excited for summer.

On statarday I got soaked at a stake carnival. It wasn't our stake but I still knew a lot of people. My friend invited me and it  was a party!

 Also me and my friends like to have a hangout party almost every week. This time we played 4 square volleyball. it was a blast! any way I hope you have a great week ! 

LOVE YA ! 

Mari Barlow :)))))))

 

Yello!

I've been really busy. Work has been brutal lately, with me working max hour shifts days in a row. School is winding down. Mostly. I have two major tests that will make or break my grades, and none of my teachers will grade things, which is bad because of the Zero Out. They put in all the assignments for the rest of the year as zeros, to see if the seniors will graduate or not. But for the rest of us, it's just stressful. I also have to take one of those tests early because I have a surgery on that day. Well, that's pretty much it for me. I miss you

Love

 

Hyrum

 

Sweet Eve,

Your videos are so fun!  It's my favorite thing to open up social media and...THERE YOU ARE!  

So, we got Hyrum this funny instrument called a "Melodica".  It's a piano keyboard that works by blowing air across the reeds.  It sounds like a mix between a harmonica and an accordian.  He's been playing pirate shanties.  We've been rehearsing for our trip up to Wendell, ID for that Women's Conference.  We will be doing "There is Sunshine in My Soul Today" singing plus Mari on Ukulele, Hyrum on Melodica, me on fiddle and Dad on box drum (and maybe egg shakers).  We will also do "I Need Thee Every Hour" 4 part harmony, acapella.  It's been fun practicing! 

 

Hyrum is having surgery on his wrist this Thursday.  He's having the ganglion cyst removed.  Mari has a dance concert (OHMS) tomorrow.  We also went to Emma's dance concert to watch her choreography.  Her students did great!  My choral concerts went really well!  They were fun.  The school president wasn't too fond of the "Pop" music I taught them.  She made a comment about how Carden is a school that teaches "Classical" education.  However, the Head Mistress (my boss) said it was a wonderful concert and it was good to bring the fun back into music. The parents also said it was the most fun concert they had ever seen at Carden.  One dad even came up to ask for a copy of the song titles for his playlist!  

 

More big news:  My interview for OHMS Orchestra went really well.  Mr. Perkins was one of the interviewers.  It was fun to talk "shop" with him.  I felt that if the offer was extended, I would accept.  Part of the interview was that they would need to contact my current employer (Head Mistress).  It was really hard to meet with the Head Mistress and tell her that I was interviewing for the OHMS Orchestra position.  I told her that I loved working at Carden but I also loved teaching Orchestra.  She gave me a big hug and told me that I needed to do what was best for me and my family, but that they didn't want to lose me.

 

The next day, the school president (who is the Carden orchestra teacher) asked to meet with me.  With tears in her eyes she explained that she is getting old and having health problems. Her husband is very sick (they are surprised he's still hanging on) and she has many pressures with running the school.  She said that she wants to offer the orchestra to me starting next year.  She told me I could re-create the orchestra program to attract new students. They would put me on as a full-time teacher and pay me salary.  After talking to Dad and praying about it, I felt like I should accept this offer so I withdrew my application at OHMS.  I'm so excited to teach orchestra again (grades 1-8) in addition to my choir/general music classes.  Later I found out that the Head Mistress negotiated that arrangement because she really wants me to stay at Carden.  I am grateful, but I can't help feeling bad that maybe the orchestra was taken away from the president.    

 

I hope you have a wonderful week!  I love you so much!

💜 Mom

 

 

Millie,

 

It has been really fun to see your Instagram posts.  I've been voting on your questions.  I hope that does not mess up whatever tracking you are trying to do.  I would like to say it was a slow week but we did not have much down time.  The big news this week is your Mom's promotion.  I'm sure she told you about it.  He told the Headmistress that she was interviewing for the Orchestra position at the Middle School and the next day they offered her the Orchestra at Carden if she stayed.  The current teacher only accepts those that have private lessons and then pads the performances with her private students and adults.  There are many students who play but say they will not play in the school Orchestra because the music is boring.  They have been trying to keep everything classic.  Your Mom is about to rock their world and have a battle with the hold conductor.  She has big plans to get as many participants as possible.  

 

Your Mom had a performance at Carden and invited me to it.  It was a concert for all the classes she was teaching songs to.  It was very entertaining.  The kids did great and the songs were really fun.  The big takeaways are that they were the quietest kidsI have ever seen entering an assembly.  They came in single file and were told not to talk.  They stood until all the kids came in and then they greeted the Headmistress.  Some of the songs were funny and I laughed.  I had 3 rows of kids look back accusingly and they kept turning around to take a look at the man you dared laugh at an assembly.  They had part of the song where they were trying to get the audience to clap with the songs and they could not get the audience to participate.  Several of the 6th grade boys were faking that they knew the songs for the full year.  They could hide behind their masks.  For the performance they were maskless and could not hide.  It was obvious who was ready and who was not.  Your Mom said that for the final parent performance these "fakers" sang with their masks on.  It was a good experience to see your Mom in action.  She was awesome and did a great job.  I can't wait to see what she does next year.

 

We opened up the cabin yesterday with Grandma and Grandpa.  It was a good road trip.  I thought we had opened up the cabin and were done until Grandma got into Spring Cleaning mode.  We cleaned out all the window tracks and attacked the windows until they were very clean.  We stayed about 3 rs longer than I thought we would.  We came home and then went to support Emma's dance company with their performance.  Emma's numbers were choreographed very well.  She did a great job and we are very proud.  These dance Moms don;t know how to watch a Broadway number.  They performed Children from Matilda and these Moms wanted to cheer after every kid sang a line but they cheered right over the next kid's line.  It was a little frustrating but then I remembered these are not my kids.

 

That is our week.  Hyrum has minor surgery this week on his wrist.  Mari has her dance performance tomorrow.  They had to delay it due to some COVID infection on the squad.  It should be a busy week.  We are very proud of you.  Keep missionaring the best way you know how.  Magic will happen to those who put in the effort.

 

Love,

 

Dad

 

D&C 52:9