2/6/22 Family Letter

 Hey Eve!

Ice skating with the Young men/ Young Women was so fun but dangerous. 3-4total injuries. 

Alssya Sprained her ankle, Luke Wilfert got a concussion, and another kid hit his knee pretty badly.

We had Chinese New year. It was so fun! Not the same without you though.

 The Hope walk was so fun! Afterward my friends came over to have Hot chocolate and to play games. 

Later that night I went to Hangout with the main cast of Wizard Of Oz! It was really nice of them to invite me even though I'm not a lead.

We played lots of video games. 

Today( Sunday) Grandma Charleen came over to give us some of Grandma Shea's jewelry. 

We talked about death. And I learned lots of things about Jersey's death.

 I went to therapy after the fact and apparently In therapy I moved all the furniture away from the windows. I have no Memory of this. 

Anyway Grandma gave me some really cool rings and necklaces.

Anyway Love YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!
- xoxoxoxoxox MARI BARLOW

Sup

I just realized that you'll be back for the MDT Musical! Probably. 

If you are, you'll get to see me be a drunk stonemason!

So here's my weekly tea.

For the majority of the past year, I've had a crush on a girl named Liv Hiener. unrelated, but her sister is Cece, Mari's best friend.

She had a boyfriend for a while, but they broke up recently. Long story short, I started to try and build the friendship, but I guess I went about it wrong.

She's a very sensitive and caring person, but she also struggles mentally with a few things, so she was feeling all bad about how she "didn't feel the same way about me".

So I found it best to tell her I was never into her in the first place, and she had nothing to feel bad about. The second part is true, but it still stings to know that.

Oh well.

Anyway, about to go into a new week, trying to make it a new attitude!

Also, how does this sound? 

Your grandmother shows up out of nowhere bearing a gift from your great grandmother who's been gone for almost two years.

This gift is a gold chain necklace studded with diamonds of an unknown entity bearing an unknown symbol.

Sounds like the start of some fantasy story, right? Well, grandma Charlene just came by with some of great grandma Shea's old jewelry to give to Mom. 

But there was one piece she thought was more masculine and she gave me the necklace described above. I spent some time trying to find out what it is, and it's origin, but so far nothing.

Well, love you! Can't wait to hear from you!

Hyrum

Sweet Eve,

I guess the other kids told you about Grandma Shea's jewelry.  She had a lot of jewelry!  A lot of her things are real gold/jewels/diamonds/pearls.  I saved a bracelet/ring set for you.  It's main stones are the pink tourmaline birthstones for October.  The set is real gold (and likely real diamonds).  It's very pretty!  I have an opal ring (October birthstone- October has two birthstones, Opal and Tourmaline) that Grandma told me she wanted me to have. I also got some of her pearls, gold necklaces, and her gold/diamond tennis bracelet.   I also got Grandma Violet's wedding ring.  I'm getting quite a collection of family wedding rings! I guess that's one way to do family history!

By the way, thank you for taking the time to write such nice letters each week.  You have created a wonderful record of your mission.  How are the "MY PLAN" papers coming?  What are some of the questions you have to answer?

This weekend we supported the Hope Walk.  Mari was the only one who actually walked (we just met up with them at the end because Joey had a Vet appointment for his yearly checkup).  It looks like Riverton has adopted a teal color to accompany the traditional Hope Squad yellow.  I think the teal is their chapter color...but I'm not positive.

Today I played piano for another baptism.  I didn't have as much time to prepare so I didn't feel as confident as I hoped.  It got the job done and people felt the spirit, so overall it was a success.  

Chinese New Year was fun.  We had Nate and Eliza's family and Grandma and Grandpa Barlow.  There was so much food.  Matt and Emma came even though they had flown in from England just a few hours before.  Nate brough envelopes with money in them for the kids to pick.  Matt and Emma got the grand prize...$20!  Rocky got $5, Hyrum got $2, Mari and Duncan got $1.  You should have seen how excited Duncan was about his dollar!  You would have thought he just won $1000!  Sunshine is getting so big too!  That girl can eat!

Dad and I went to dinner at the O'Hara's last night.  We ordered out Chili's.  I'm helping them with their front yard landscape in exchange for a dinner.  It was fun to spend time with friends! Also, an old friend brought us over some sourdough bread today.  It's delicious.  It was made from a sourdough start that was certified  in 1849.  She's going to share some of her start with me!

I hope you have a wonderful week!  Please stay warm!

 Mom

Millie,

We hope you are staying warm.  We have been watching the weather and hope you are navigating it all OK.  We are going down to Bryce Canyon for President's Day weekend.Tiffany really wants to get out of town.  It will be a little colder than it is here and will involve a lot of hiking.  There are very few restaurants. We rented a top floor of what looks like a barn.  It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

We went on the Hope Walk, . . well . . . we tried to go on the help walk.  We took Joey in for a few shots and it took longer than we thought it would.  By the time we caught up to the walk they were crossing the street to the little park they end at.  We hung around for a few minutes and then brought Mari's friend back for some hot chocolate and games.  Joey did not respond well to the shots.  He took all day to recover.  We got concerned but he is bouncing around today and is fine.  

We celebrated Chinese New Year on Friday.  We had Nate and Elize and Mom and Dad over.  It was fun.  I tried a new beef fish that did not work out.  It was good to get together.  Mom and Dad do not want to get the FHEs going again until the COVID surge dies down a bit.  They want to protect Grandmother as much as possible.  

The Sisters had a baptism today.  It was a long day and I'm beat.  We started early and ended late.  Good luck this week.  Stay warm!

Love,

Dad

D&C 21:4-7