February 9, 2006

Dear Family---

            Hey today is Dad’s birthday.  Happy Birthday Dad!!!  You know you’d think that at some point in time things would slow down, but that just NEVER seems to be the case. 

            I guess the most exciting news is that Erin is getting married.  She is coming here on Saturday and we’ll meet her fiancé.  He was at the AP on her mission.  They hooked up just a week or two after she got back.  He was here visiting old companions.  He is from Mesa, Arizona.  He got home last summer, so just like Drew and Jennie, Erin is about 2+ years older than her husband, or soon to be husband.  They are getting married in the Salt Lake Temple on May 20th.  They will be living in Provo because he will be going to BYU.  By the way, his name is LeRand Dixon.  Heather wanted to know what was up with my kids and quick marriages.  I don’t know.  Ask them.

            Kyle and Sheree are doing great.  Sheree quit babysitting her sister’s kids because it was just too much.  So, she is now adjusting to no added kids and I’m sure that is a good adjustment.  Kyle is working at I Works and does the entire computer stuff from writing programs to running the server. 

            Drew and Jennie are up north living in the Avenues.  Jennie works in Farmington as victim advocates for the city or country, I’m not sure.  Drew is going to school and working.  He really likes his job.  They are supposed to come down over President’s Day Weekend and play.

            We don’t hear too much from Alix, but I did send her homemade rolls for her birthday and I guess when she got them they were frozen.  I didn’t even think of that, which would probably mean that I’ve been living in Southern Utah a long time.  She is doing well working at Albertson’s and going to school. 

            Katie is healing ever so slowly.  She has a doctor’s appointment today and we’ll see how the progress is coming along.  She has her learner’s permit and is getting her driving hours in with me.  She wears glasses that block out her bad eye so she doesn’t see double, and I’m sure that is a good thing.  She started with a new piano teacher in November and started teaching Brook and Brady the first of the year.  She’s quite the taskmaster about making them practice.  It’s harder to get away without practicing when someone in your house can hear when you practice.  Katie is starting a soccer tournament team this week and thinks it should be fine with her eye.  She will NOT be trying out for softball because that is entirely different with one eye, or seeing double.  She will probably try out next year again. 

            Brook and Katie signed up for EFY this year.  Brook goes the first of June with Ciera and Ciera’s sister, and Katie goes the first of July.  They are really excited because they had so much fun at EFY last year.  Brook signed up again for percussion for high school.  She really likes playing percussion and it shows because she is consistently tapping or beating out some sound of anything she can find with her hands or feet or whatever.  She loves playing church basketball, and her coach said she is very aggressive at defense.  She torments the other team relentlessly. 

            Brady just found out this morning he made the border league basketball team.  They had 40 kids tryout and they took 12-13.  He was excited, but felt bad because there are four little boys his age in our ward (including him) that have played all sports together since they were four, and he and another boy (Tanner Smith) made the team and Reggie and Devin didn’t.  I guess they play three games on Saturdays for a month and then it is over.  This is sort of just on the “border” of junior high and high school ball.  Brady’s tournament baseball team also plays over President’s Day Weekend and over spring break, then it is on to regular little league and that team doesn’t play again until fall.  Yes, Brady is always rushing off to some practice or game or some sort. 

            Poor Dean.  He is burning the candle at both ends.  It is home show time right now and the poor wallpaper guy is the last one in and always under pressure because they are always behind schedule.  That all ends today though, and then he has a hotel he is doing vinyl in and a youth center.  So he is booked out for several months.  That is good for money, but bad for Dean’s nerves.  We’ve decided when you get older that stress is less easy to deal with in big lumps.  Dean is also still scoutmaster and will hang in until Brady is out of his troop and probably want to move on by then.  He was Blazer leader for about 2 ½ years before he was scoutmaster, so it’s been a long run.

            As for me, Trudy, I’m cruising this semester.  I don’t have any classes.  It’s been kinda fun.  I have to take a Ceramics class at Dixie this summer and a Behavioral Analysis class at USU this summer and I’ll be officially graduated the end of the summer.  Who would have thought when I started school, I would be graduating just before I turned 50?  I have loved every minute of school.  I’ll probably go through withdrawals when it is really over.  I’m still Primary President and my counselors and secretary don’t want to be released.  They like where they are at in primary, even though we have been in about 2 ½ years.  I like it a lot.  I just hate having to keep the primary staffed.  That is my only complaint about my calling.  I love the little kids.  I love to teach them.  I really enjoy going into classes and substituting when teachers are gone because you get to enjoy the kids on a more individual basis.

            Well I think this is closing in on the bottom of two pages, so I guess I’ll close.  We are all so grateful that Jennie is doing better and she is in EVERY prayer offered at our house, as well as the rest of the Baum clan.  Maybe we should bless that Ross will do better with knowing which day of the week it is because he took Bradley to the wrong  pre-school class on the wrong day this week.  Sorry Ross, it was just so funny. 

            Hope to see you all in July.  I’m going to be sending more details soon about the reunion.  Have a great day.

 

Love, Trudy and the rest of the Santa Clara Berryessa’s