8/15/21 Family Letter

 HI Eve!!!

I went to one of my Friends birthday parties!

It was really fun!!!

We went to the dentist. As we were driving home I felt really light headed but I'm fine now.

We went swimming for YW. It was really fun!

I had to babysit the teachers this week which was a lot better than I thought!

I got to babysit Nate's kids on friday! They were quite a handful, but it was fun!

Next week school starts. :(

Wish me luck!

LOVE YOU!!!!

Mari Barlow

Well, back at it I guess

School starts tomorrow. I don't think I'm ready.  I worked a lot this week too, but I still managed to have some fun. Logan and I went golfing, but it was a really small and poorly maintained course, and the staff was rude. It was an experience to be sure, but we'll be going to the trusted riverbend course next time. Agent Average filming hasn't progressed much, but I just quit Chick-Fa-La because of school, though, so we'll see how that goes. Anyway, good luck!

Hyrum

Sweet Eve,

How was your week?  How was the meeting with Elder Stevenson? How's the head? How is the work?  We pray for you all the time.  How is Karen?  

We went to Jaron's farewell today.  He gave a really funny talk about how he used to be the most depressing kid when he was small.  He told how Christie put pictures of him smiling all over their house to try to help him be more cheerful.  Do you remember Jaron as a gloomy kid?  Anyway, he said how he was really shy and wouldn't talk to people.  He told how one day (about 5 years old) he signed up to be in a Primary talent show.  Christie asked him what he was going to do.  He pointed to the word "roar"....and that's what he did (he actually "roared" today to demonstrate.  He said after that, he had enough confidence to talk to people and develop his talents.  He said that because he's willing to be brave, he can go on a mission and talk to people.  He's such a cute guy!

Kade and Britta were married this week too.  Britta is a doll! The temple was wonderful! (Micaela also went through the temple yesterday).  It's been a big week for our family.  For all the bad and scary in the world, there is so much good to make up for it.

Tomorrow the kids start school.  I start teaching 'summer school' all week.  It's only until noon and so it's a good way to ease into school.  I teach 2 classes, about 17 students each class.  I know most of the students.  It will be fun to see them again.  In preparing for the upcoming school year, the headmistress asked if I would add the 7th grade students to my music classes.  I like most of the 7th graders, but the challenge will be how to create lesson plans geared for their age so they don't feel like it's a continuation of what they did with me in 6th grade.  I would love some suggestions if you have any ideas.

Our fireplace is almost done.  We have 6 shelves on the sides of the fireplace (3 on each side).  When talking about how we should decorate the shelves, the kids had a great idea!  They suggested that each of us in the family get a shelf.  We can put things on it that represent us.  As you all get married and have kids, your shelf can have pictures of your kids and other mementos from your life.  Example, Emma and Matt's shelf can have something from Brazil, and maybe a picture of them standing in front of their house.  Hyrum said he wants an heirloom sword on his shelf.  It will celebrate each person in our family.

We had a wonderful family discussion about D&C 88.  Some of the highlights- 'loud laughter' means laughter at the wrong time (like during spiritual time) or laughter that is 'crude, crass, and condescending."  That kind of laughter is different from joyful laughter. The right kind/timing of laughter is a gift.   We also talked about how "light attracts light".  We will attract friends who value the qualities that we reflect. "Be the light...be the kind of person you would want to be, others will be attracted to you. I think you are a wonderful example of this.  You have always been a cheerful, fun person.  You seem to attract those who are also cheerful and fun.  Thanks for being a good example to our family.  We love you so much!

 Mom

Millie,

We are eager to hear about how your meeting with the Apostle went.  Hopefully you were able to work a full week without incident.  

We have had a week of service.  Bishop Chandler was down all week with COVID.  We were able to take dinner to them.  We were able to help with Kade and Britta's wedding.  My assignment was to help with the Dolewhip machine.  The provider of the machine did not bring a generator.  He argued with Keith and Christie whether they ordered a generator.  Matt and I were about to join the debate but decided to refrain.  We were not happy with how he was talking to Christie.  First the guy drove to the Lever's house instead of the reception center and blamed Christie for the wrong address.  He then blamed her for the lack of a generator.  Matt and I went to Walmart and bought a few buckets of vanilla ice cream and bowls so we had something to offer.  Dean was able to find a generator and with about half of the reception over we had the Dolewhip harden enough to serve.  A large line formed and then we ran out of firm Dolewhip.  By the time that Kade was wanting some Dolewhip we had some for him. As we were cleaning up Carrie mentioned to Dean that she was planning to write a scathing Yelp review within earshot of the owner of the device.  He ended up not charging them for it.  Christie asked that I smoke some pork for Jaron's Farewell.  It was going well until I totally forgot I was smoking pork.  I normally smoke pork for 6 hours.  By the time I remembered I was smoking pork, it had been cooking for 11 hours.  It was not great.  Matt also smoked some pork and when I found out he overcooked his pork I felt better.  They both tasted good and everybody thought it was awesome.  Only I knew better so I did not say anything.  Jaron spoke about him being shy as a little kid and how he signed up for the Primary talent show.  His talent was to Roar.  When his turn came up he roared like a lion and sat down.  In his talk he roared like a lion.  It was entertaining.  He then spoke how he found his confidence and everything worked out.

Everybody starts school tomorrow.  We had the blessings tonight.  We reviewed our new schedule as a family.  We discussed a great Come Follow Me lesson.  D&C 88 has a lot of great nuggets and we applied to the beginning of school.  We talked about being the light you want to attract.  How to handle bad news and still have a positive outlook.  Hopefully it will make a difference.  The Section also references the typeof laughter to stay away from.  It reminded me of the conversation you had with the Elder saying you laugh too much.  Don't worry about that knucklehead.  You be you

The remodel is almost complete.  We will not have someone in to hang the TV until next week.  The kids gave Tiffany some great ideas on how to decorate the shelves we now have to work with.  I think Tiffany is really happy with it.

We are excited to hear how your teaching pool has progressed.  We are excited to see how you have progressed.  Keep doing your best and take opportunities to open your mouth whenever you can.

Love,

Dad

D&C 88:68