Yes, I delayed getting my newsletter stuff in and it is my fault that the newsletter is due. I just kept waiting for better stuff to write about, but unfortunately, nothing novel was happening in our lives, just the same old diary stuff: get up, go to school, do homework, practice musical instruments, eat, go to sleep, etc.
Siovhan got into the BYU Broadcast Journalism Program. She is currently studying hard for the tests that come before finals. She was laid off at Trade Select and hasn’t decided if that was a blessing or trial. She wants to be available to work at KBYU if given the opportunity.
Braden made it on the High Honor Roll. It has been something he worked hard for. He tried out for the Milford High Orchestra on Monday and will find out later today if he did well enough to become a member. He loves Geometry and tries to make his mom crazy by making all things number and angle related. The show NUMB3RS is his favorite show. He is still the Troop’s Senior Patrol Leader.
Ben is doing well in school. He loves being an eighth grader. He has become even more social than in past years. His dad frequently reminds him that the days are not revolving around him, that there are other family members with needs and wants. Ben often tells him that the sooner that we all realize it is all about him, the much better off our lives will be. (Of course he says that with a smile, but we know he means it!) He is still taking guitar lessons and we have seen some great improvement.
Mikaela is a smart girl, but she is very much like her dad: she loves to be outside and hates doing homework. She has never had a teacher who didn’t love her, and this teacher is no exception. The teacher loves to tease Mikaela and Mikaela doesn’t always realize that she is being teased her other teachers were so serious. She is currently learning how to play the violin and loves to practice. Did you get that? She LOVES to practice!
I am still doing the Ward Missionary/Young Women President calling. We have reactivated a member who hasn’t been to church in over four years. She has had a really tough life. She is so receptive to what we have to teach. When the missionaries teach a lesson or when we teach her, she is like a sponge. I have not seen that much desire to learn and to change in a person before. It is miraculous! I feel depressed
when we don’t have lessons to teach. I often ask the missionaries for their input and love being taught by these wonderful young men, who seem so much wiser than this forty-plus woman.
Howard has a busy schedule for December. He will be gone most of the month. He is looking forward to his trip though. He will be in Australia, Japan, Brazil and China. It will be his first trip to China and he had to go through the process of getting a new passport and a
visitor’s visa to China, just for this trip. To be allowed into China, you have to have more than six months left on your passport (actually a lot of the Orient is changing to this rule). Howard had about three months left on his passport, therefore he had to apply for a new one and he only had about three weeks to get all the paperwork done. We are waiting for his passport to come. He leaves on the 28th of November, so it is getting close to the wire. Howard flew out to Utah to spend a few days with Siovhan. He will fly back on Thanksgiving Day. Siovhan will take him to the airport and will then drive to Nephi for the turkey dinner.
We hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving! We love you all!
