October 16th Barons Update
Last week Kayla and I finished selling all five boxes of chocolate she got for a school fundraiser. With 60 bars in each box, it’s no small feat to sell 300 bars. Thanks to many of you who purchased them – and probably 100 BYU students! I’m not sad I don’t have to spend hours knocking on college apartment doors with Kayla anymore, at least for this year. We sold enough to hopefully raise enough for Kayla to go to Lagoon this Spring with her choir.
Fall is so beautiful here in Orem so last Sunday we went up to the Squaw Peak overlook to check out the view and beautiful leaves. It really was nice other than the few hundred other people with the same idea. Can you spot my favorite place?
Ruby auditioned for Aladdin, Jr. at her school and got the role of one of Jasmine’s three friends. We don’t know much about the part but we think they have one song and probably a few lines. We’ll find out more soon. The play is in January sometime.
The term ended for our children. All I can say is they all passed every class and I’m really glad it’s over and I’m not looking forward to the rest of the year. This year has been a lot harder for all of our children and I have to help way more than I’ve ever had to.
On the bright side, at the beginning of the term, Kayla was really struggling to keep track of what she had due in all her classes and was doing a lot of last-minute homework. So we got together and made up a little spreadsheet of her classes and the days of the week and now she’s really good about writing everything on it and it motivates her to do things so she can cross them off. It also helps her prioritize what to work on.
Last week Tyler and I were looking on Ancestry because they did an update to their DNA section. Tyler recognized the name of one of the people it said he was related to as his birth sister. So Tyler has been video-talking to her on the phone a lot and talked with his birth brother at least once.
They talk a lot about things they have in common – and there’s a lot. He’s been really wanting to know a lot of those things so it’s sort of like we’re having our own little Relative Race reunion. I think it’s been healing for him to talk to his sister. She is older than Tyler with three children and she has been able to tell him a lot of the details of his mother and birth.
Unfortunately, his sister says Tyler shouldn’t talk to his birth mom so that’s sad for Tyler but at least his sister is really nice, outgoing, and friendly and I have even enjoyed talking to her a few times. She said she has been looking for him and is really happy he’s doing well and she may drive out here from Tampa, FL for a visit in the spring with her children.
For Fall Break, Megan and Tyler chose to stay home while the rest of us went to St. George. We stayed at Sports Village in Green Valley and got a two-bedroom condo and Mom got a little one-bedroom one a little ways away.
It was fun to show Grandma a lot of the places we like in St. George and we did some things that everyone seemed to enjoy, like going to three cemeteries, going on scenic drives, reading family history stories, hanging out at the pool and clubhouse, going out to eat, going to Pioneer Park, the Farmer’s Market at Tuachan, going Geocaching, making Sunday dinner together, etc.
We really enjoyed going on a trip with someone else and having our own separate places to stay. We would love to go on a trip with any of you who want to next time. Is anyone up to going to St. George for the week after Christmas and/or Spring Break? It’s best to book early to have more choices and find the places that don’t raise their prices for the holidays.
