June 20th, 2006

Boy how time flies! Sorry for the delay Chuck – we’re still a little scatterbrained these days, but it’s getting better ! It’s always fun to read everyone’s newsletters and get the latest scoop. It sounds like we all keep pretty busy (understatement of the year!) Well, this is the latest from the Baum Shelter:

Bradley: has certainly had his fair share of Hospital time during the past month. It was a rough 2-3 weeks with ER visits, fevers, leg pain, tests, more tests, etc. We are happy to say that he has made a full recovery and is doing awesome! He’s back to his old self. Bradley has become quite social – and thinks he needs to be playing with a friend at all times. Nathan is pretty cool about letting him tag along when he goes to a friend’s house to play. It makes Bradley feel so grown-up!

Sarah: loved playing soccer this season and having her dad as her coach. It was a good season and she’s looking forward to playing again next year. Sarah had an awesome year at school! When she started, she was below grade level in reading, and by the end of the year she was actually above grade level. Just amazing! Sarah’s favorite thing is to play with her best friend Ashley. They are like two peas in a pod. We’re so grateful that Sarah found a good friend that she ‘clicks’ with.

Nathan: is totally obsessed with a game on the internet called ‘Runescape’. I don’t really get it, but he eats, sleeps, and breathes for Runescape. We actually had to put a limit on his computer time – it was getting just a little bit out of hand (understatement once again). Nate is now in Webelos and is thoroughly enjoying it. He has a great den leader – which really makes a difference! Otherwise, Nate can be found playing with a couple of his friends from the neighborhood. It certainly is becoming hard to keep track of who is playing where . . .

Nicole: is now into running. She runs with a couple of her friends 3x a week. They seem to enjoy it – even though I think they are in it more for the social aspect, rather than for the fitness – which works for me! Nicole just started taking voice lessons again – and absolutely loves it! Ali and Nicole learned a piano duet and played it in Nicole’s choir class to compete in West Jordan Idol. It was kind of fun because they made the first cut and thought they were pretty cool. The ‘cool’ part was that they had so much fun doing it – hopefully they will play it at the Family Reunion !

Ali: is all about reading during the summer! Whew – I don’t know how she does it – but she can spend hours reading one book after another. It’s pretty amazing! Ali is still taking private viola lessons – and she of course still plays the piano. I love to listen to the kids play the piano – especially church hymns. It brings such a good spirit into our home. Ali is also looking forward to being in the West Jordan Marching Band. She loved being a part of it last year – but I have to admit, by the end of October I was having Ali withdrawal symptoms – I swear we never saw her!

Jennie: Well, what do I say about myself? It’s a KidFest at our house during the summer – which is fine with me. I really don’t mind having friends ‘hang’ at our house – and they have such good friends – it makes it very easy to tolerate a few extra faces around the house! Um . . . I still go to an aftercare group once a week at NLC. It’s good for me. I will also be seeing a therapist a couple times a month. I still have to work hard to keep myself on track – it’s very easy to slip back into old habits. My main job right now is to 1) take care of myself, and then 2) take care of my family. That in and of itself is a full-time job!

Ross: just finished a catalog for a company in Ohio. It turned out very nice – and he’s hoping to do more work for them in the future. There was rumor today that he may be able to pick up another client in Ohio. That would be awesome! We have learned with Carson, that self-employment is definitely feast or famine. I don’t know how people do it! The stress level can be off the chart sometimes. The good news is that Ross loves what he does. He enjoys his side job more than he does his ‘real’ job – but it all works out. We’re grateful that he has both for right now. Ross keeps busy with taking care of the yard – someday we hope to put in a sprinkler system.

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone at the family reunion!

Love,

The Baum Shelter 