Dear Family,
It’s the 14th and I can’t believe I haven’t seen any family letters yet. I will take that to mean I can still write one and not be late. :0)
Well guess what. Our Barrus family has had an influence on Ryan’s family. Last month we had our 1st ever Keller Family Reunion. It was just with Ryan’s immediate family and although we all live in UT and see each often, it turned out to be such a blessing to the family. We went to Yellowstone and rented a reunion lodge in Island Park, ID. It had everything we needed to feel right at home. Before going we met to talk about all the logistics of family reunion and next thing I know I’m saying, “well in my family what we always did was…….” Ryan’s family liked the way we did the meals and stuff and it was cool to see them follow our example. Ryan’s dad even said at the end, “Sherry said their family does this every 2 years. Maybe we could do something like that.”
I think there is something about leaving your everyday life behind you and spending all your time with your family that really brings you together. It really felt as though Ryan’s family had forgotten what it was like to be together as a family. We did some sightseeing in the park, but I think the most fun we all had was when we were at the cabin playing games after the kids went to bed or just talking while the kids played. We played Liar’s Dice (a fun game!) and it was funny watching everyone put down their public face and just be themselves for awhile. I want to phrase that better, but I’m sure you know what I mean.
One of the days Ryan and I decided we wanted to take Jared canoeing down the Salmon (?) River. His sister Steph was the only one daring enough to go with us. When we got to the launch site there was thunder and lightning so we decided to go back to the rental place (where it was overcast but not raining) and paddle around a bit. I was so excited. It reminded me of going to Boundary Waters when I was in YW. But it turns out paddling around on a river, that has a current, is a lot different than paddling on a lake! Steph and I took one canoe and Ryan took Jared in his (he being the stronger paddler). Steph and I made our way out against the current and when I looked behind us Ryan was quickly catching up. We went a little further and felt this tug to check on Ryan and Jared one more time. I was so surprised by what I saw when I did. They were about 100 meters away, back by the dock. Jared was walking onto the shore, followed by Ryan walking through the river, and behind him was a guy bringing their canoe back to shore.
We turned around and made it quickly back to the guys. Jared was so mad! But Ryan was laughing pretty hard. “How did you get dumped???” I asked. Ryan said the current grabbed them and it was a lot harder paddling by himself than he thought. I really wanted Jared to see how much fun canoeing is so I told him to hop into our canoe. “Aunt Bob and I won’t dump you,” I promised. “See? We’re really good.” “Nein!” Jared said. (When Jared is really serious about saying no he always says it in German.)
“Ok,” I said. “Stay by dad and we’ll be right back.” What happened next will I think keep Jared away from canoes for a long, long time. Instead of getting out to launch our canoe, we decided we could just paddle out with our oars and then turn around in the river. Well, the river had other plans. We got stuck in the current which pulled us into the side of the dock. Something about going under the dock must’ve created a vacuum because quick as lightning our canoe was sucked under the dock, flipping upside down and tossing us out in the process. It wasn’t very deep. We could stand right back up and Steph and I felt into a fit of laughter. It was so funny! We walked back to shore where Ryan was waiting with, “oh my, how did you get dumped?!” ;0)
Since the reunion I’ve suggested the Keller family start writing family letters. They aren’t as enthusiastic about that idea as the reunion idea. Oh well.
I have to say that Connie, Tammy, and I are were SO SO SO excited when we read that Stewart made into BYU’s Divine Comedy! We have been long time youtube fans of DC and absolutely love their TV show, Studio C. Our cousin’s famous! Congratulations, Stewart! We’ll definitely come see one of your shows.
School has started and Jared’s now in 3rd grade. He’s excited that he gets to learn cursive this year (I didn’t think boys liked that) and do more multiplication and learn division. I’ve added grammar to his German days. He’s reading fairly well in German and it’s time to start writing. I started with the pronouns and asked him if he knew what a pronoun was. “No, but I know what a noun is.” Now he knows what a pronoun is and can tell you in English or German.
Jared’s also playing soccer again and Ryan’s his coach. Ryan still loves coaching and he takes the games so seriously. He really wants all the boys to do well. Today was their 2nd game (we missed the 1st, we were in Disneyland last week) and one of the dads of the new parents lost his temper with Ryan. The guy’s son has ADHD and this poor kid literally just stands out there when Ryan puts him in. Ryan believes in letting everyone play, but he will always give the boys who are working (even if they’re not the best) more field time than anyone that’s going to sit around.
Apparently this dad didn’t think Ryan was giving his son enough play time. Ryan hasn’t even met the dad before and out of nowhere the guy comes over to Ryan and starts yelling. “I see how it is! So you’re not going to play any of the little kids, is that it? You’re a f******* a**hole!!!” He went on to swear a lot more and made a move like he was going to throw a punch. Ryan didn’t lose his cool, but he stood up for himself and said how it wasn’t fair to the other boys on the team who are working their butts off to put someone in who’s just going to stand there. Then the guy took his kid and left. It’s sad because Ryan really wants to work this kid and has really tried, and only found out after the fact that he has ADHD. Luckily Jared was playing and didn’t see the encounter, but other kids on the team did. Not a fun experience for Ryan.
I think (fingers crossed) after 2 years (please oh please) that I have finally stabilized my hormones. I don’t know why I took so long, but I finally went back to the doctor who did my hysterectomy. About 2 years ago his NP had told me that 2 mg was way too high a dose and put me on 1 mg and since then (especially this past year) I have been lost in the hormone jungle, bouncing around between different versions of HRT. My doctor explained that at my young age 2 mg is a low dose (I could go as high as 4). So I’m back up to 2 mg and felt better overnight after I changed. Whew! This is what I figured out. Two years ago I started having hot flashes and night sweats and panicked. I couldn’t get in to see my doctor so I went to his NP and everything has gone downhill since. If I’d just been patient, I could’ve saved myself a lot of misery. Oh well. Live and learn. Oh, and guess what else. In the past couple months I have gained 22 lbs (from the testosterone the NP had me on) and I have stretch marks on my butt!! Now I can relate to pregnant women a little better. ;0)
What else? We went to Disneyland last week. We did Legoland and met one of my Burt cousins and her family at Huntington Beach. Ryan and I got sick while we were in CA and they happened to have record heat while we were there (98*!), but it was fun. As we were leaving the beach, herding the kids towards the showers to de-sand, it felt so odd to me that my cousin and I were the grownups and that our kids are the kids. It doesn’t feel like we’re “big enough” to be parents.
Time to get dinner going. I hope everyone’s doing well and having a good start to fall.
Love,
Sherry, Ryan, and Jared
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