23 February 2025
VOLUME 13 – NUMBER 596
Galentine’s dinner at Yarima’s
This week Rima hosted Galentines, which is like a girls’ Valentine’s Day party, and it was a lot of fun! Everyone brought a charcuterie board of some kind, and Rima also provided individual pizzas, so we had a ton of food. I had such a good time hanging out with everyone, eating yummy food and making refrigerator magnets.
On Tuesday we were over at my parents’ house. Ellie and Charlie were playing with my dad on a beanbag and Charlie ended up falling off and hurting her arm. She wasn’t moving it and would cry whenever someone touched it, so Braden took her to urgent care to get it checked out.
We found out it wasn’t broken, but they told us we would have to take her to an orthopedic specialist to figure out what was wrong. The next day Braden talked to someone at the orthopedic place and they told us based on the x-ray, it looked like it was nursemaid’s elbow.
Jen and Endia at Galentine’s dinner
I had never heard of that but Braden said he and his siblings experienced that several times growing up, and Jenny and Arkin explained a way they had always used to pop it back in place. Braden attempted to pop Charlie’s elbow back into place following their instructions, but had to stop after a few tries cause she was screaming at him.
It was really hard to watch her be in so much pain. Thankfully Jenny came to the rescue later that day when she stopped by to visit. She had researched an alternate method, and was able to pop it into place!
Charlie felt such relief, and whenever I asked how her arm was, she would proudly stick it out and show me and say “all better!” Braden and I were so grateful for Jenny saving the day!
Charlie’s hurt arm
This week, I ended up going out with Hazel. We went to see Captain America: Brave New World in theaters. It was a pretty good movie—far from perfect, but still pretty good.
It was really fun just talking about Marvel stuff with Hazel. If I haven’t already said it before, Hazel really likes movies, and some of her favorite genres include Marvel and Star Wars.
Hazel and I talked about things that the movie did right, and things that they could’ve done to improve it. I do recommend this movie, just make sure you don’t go in with your expectations too high, otherwise you might be a little bit let down. Overall, I had a fun night with Hazel.
Monte and Hazel after Captain America
This week I was able to work so much. My boss really wants me to pick up shifts, because she likes how I work. I worked two 12-hour days and a few 8-hour days. Most of those days are working in memory care.
My boss’s daughter Smurf works in memory care, and she and wants me to work there more. I’ll be permanent in memory starting in March.
One day Smurf taught me how to pass meds. I found out I will be learning to become a med tech. I passed meds for about an hour. It was easy, but it was also stressful making sure I passed the right ones.
Galentine’s dinner
On Monday, Mom and I went to Rima’s house and had a charcuterie board party with all the older girls. I really did enjoy it. We also made clay magnets. For dinner we made our own pizza. It was really great having a chill time.
On Friday, Riley and I got to hang out. We got some ice cream and had dinner. I tried honey fries that he made, and they tasted good.
On Saturday, Isaac, Kai, Veidi, and I went to Yaretzie charcuterie board party. We brought homemade popcorn. That was really fun spending time with her.
Family dinner
I'm writing these newsletters backwards and I feel like I've started the last (next few) the same way: “I had two and a half dates this week…” So, since I actually wrote the next week’s newsletters already, stay tuned for more dating details.
I had two dates on Saturday. One was a scavenger hunt and the other was just dinner. Then the half date was not really a date, but we got together to finish off an escape room board game that we didn't finish while on a date from last week. Anyways, it's all been a lot of fun.
Mom at Galentine’s dinner
I also went to the BYU vs. Kansas basketball game with my roommates. BYU won! I've only been to two BYU games this year. The other one was a football game, also against Kansas. So I've only seen BYU vs. Kansas games in person.
This game was better than their football game. I love going to the stadium or Marriott Center and just going crazy during a game, there's not really any other experience that compares to it.
Family dinner
This week I got sick, so I had to stay in bed, but I got to watch shows to help pass the time. I also did sleep a lot. I started to get better, so I was able to go to Yaretzie’s party, where we had nachos for dinner and a bunch of treats.
After dinner, we made things with clay, and we talked a lot. It was fun being there and hanging out with her and her friends. I also had a fun time playing with Matias.
Clay magnets from parties
For those of you that don’t know, a “gel blaster” is a gun that shoots small water-soaked balls that burst on impact. Well, because Troy's old gel blaster pistol wasn't working, he bought a new one. It was a rifle just like mine, except he chose purple instead of white—those were the only two options.
One day, I decided to get off work so we could play with them. We played around the whole yard—front and back—and had a blast! (get it?)
We played a form of Capture the Flag, and it was really cool. It felt super realistic—bullets flying past and exploding as you take cover, shooting, pushing the enemy as adrenaline takes over your thoughts and actions!
It was so fun! Sometimes we like to think about having a full-scale battle at like the park or something, with teams of three to five players. Now that would be epic!
Troy with new gel blaster gun
When I got my new gel blaster I was so excited because then I could play with Kai. My other gel blaster’s battery kept overheating, so I decided to get a Surge Gel Blaster XL.
The difference between mine and Kai's is that mine is purple and it has glow in the dark gel-lets. It cost $110, and I was surprised, because it was supposed to come in a week, but it came on Friday.
At first I didn't think the package was my gel blaster, because it was rapped in a black garbage. I thought it was a bomb, but when I opened it it was my gel blaster.
The first time I played with it, the battery lasted a very long time. It also tells you when it is on low battery, but it never went to low battery, so we were able to play for a couple of hours.
The one thing that stoped us from playing was the gel-lets. We had to stop and refill our guns to finish our game. We finished in the nick of time, because I only had a couple shots left. Kai won the game because he found my flag first.
Family dinner
Thursday marked six years since I left on my mission, and Sunday was my four-year anniversary of returning home.
Being able to teach missionaries over that time has been surreal. I couldn’t have ever predicted that my life would end up like it is now, and I am so grateful for all the experiences I get to be a part of each day.
This week Monte took Kai and I to the movie theaters to watch the new Captain America movie. At first, I wasn’t planning on watching it, just because most Marvel movies that come out aren’t too entertaining and aren’t the greatest.
However, Monte had gone and seen it already and he told me it wasn’t as bad as everyone said it was. He also said he would pay for my ticket, so I decided to go and watch it, cause why not?
I actually ended up liking it. It did come with certain things that I didn’t like about it, but It was one of the better Marvel movies I’ve seen recently, and I enjoyed it!
Family dinner
One day after everyone got back from going to the temple, Dad decided to get old fashioned cereal, to show us what he used to eat when he and Mom were kids. I think Dad and the temple people were talking about a Marvel movie trailer that talks about being on a Wheaties box?
So Dad bought a cereal called Wheaties, and Cheerios, and he also bought old fashioned shredded wheat, which isn’t like froster mini-wheats. The pieces are huge, and there is no frosting on them.
Before we ate them, Dad wanted to watch the Thunderbolts trailer, which is where someone talks about being on a Wheaties box.
Dad doesn’t like a lot of Marvel movies, but he said he might like this one. He said we should watch it in St. George in May when we go to Gloria’s and Isaac’s graduation, because that’s when it is going to come out.
Dad’s old fashioned shredded wheat