November Letter

 Dear Family & Friends,

Hello. How are you? This month was good. We had Thanksgiving this month. We went to Aunt Melissa and Uncle Randy's house for thanksgiving this year which was nice because we haven't been there in a while. We had a great dinner and I got to spend some good time with my cousins while we were there. I'm thankful for my family and all of the fun stuff that we do with them. 

Dad's birthday was this month too. We went to Texas roadhouse for his birthday and had a nice birthday lunch for him. We spent most of the day playing games with him and mom got him a little tiramisu cake for him. I got him knee sleeves for the gym which unfortunately were a size to small so I had to send them back and I'm getting a size up for him. I love my dad and all the things that he teaches me. I couldn't ask for a better father. 

School is going good. It's kind of boring considering that all my classes are easy elective classes. I still like going and seeing me friends there. All my time now goes towards school, work and going to the gym. It's pretty repetitive but it's nice to have busy days because it's pretty fulfilling. I signed up for a school trip to Japan this month which is going to take place next summer. I have to save a lot of money for the trip but I think it is going to be an awesome, unforgettable experience that will be worth it. I hope that you all have a great holiday season and spend a lot of valuable time with your friends and family. Bye.

Love, Eric James Barnhisel

October Letter

 Dear Family & Friends, 

Hello. How are you? This month was great. We took a jeep ride with some other members of our ward up tower mountain this month. It was fun to be at the top with our ward friends and to see the scenery up at the top. 

We did a lot of outdoor things this month with the weather cooling down and the leaves changing colors. My dad, Sam and I drove up Payson canyon to see the colors and it was nice. We got out at the top and had a nice walk as well which was fun. 

I went to Sadie Hawkins this month with my friend Ashlynn. It was a lot of fun. For our day date we went up Payson canyon and played games and had a fire up there. We also painted pumpkins on the day date as well. The day of the dance we took pictures in the rain which was very cold but certainly something I'll remember. We ate dinner at one of our group members houses and then went to the dance. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad that I got asked. 

Cam from France came to stay with us this month for two weeks. He had fall break so he came to visit which was awesome. While he was here we went to a Jazz game and we went to lagoon. I brought him to school with me for the two weeks because I wasn't on break. He got to meet a lot of new people at school and I got to meet some of his friends here as well. I'm glad that he came and I got to see my buddy again. 

Halloween was this month too. We went to the Woodland Hills trunk or treat at the stake center where we usually go for Halloween. Our costumes don't really have a theme anymore so we just dress up however we want. I wore a mask from one of my favorite shows, Bleach. Sam dressed up as an army guy and Kyle dressed up as Bob Ross. After the trunk or treat my friends came back to our house and we played Jackbox and some other games. 

The weather certainly is cooling down now. We have snow at our house which is a stark contrast from the warm and sunny weather we had just a few weeks ago. School is going good and I'm getting good grades. I guess my life is kind of the same everyday now. All I do now is go to school, work and the gym. It's nice to have structure though and a plan to go off each day. I hope you all have a great November and enjoy the snow. Bye.

Love, Eric James Barnhisel

September Letter

 Dear Family & Friends, 

How are you all doing? This month was good. At the start of the month I went with my friends to see The Kid Laroi live in Salt Lake City which was awesome. It was super cool because it was my first concert and I had a great time there with them. I've been going to all of Salem's home football games as well. Our team isn't great this year but we've had a few good games. We stomped Maple Mountain this year which I was glad about because they are one of our biggest rivals. I like going to games to hang out with friends and watch our team play football. I went to wings and wheels this month as well. Wings and wheels is an event in Spanish Fork where people from all over Utah will bring their race cars and race them. They also were flying a lot of different types of planes there as well. It was awesome to see some really cool race cars. There was a Lamborghini Huracan there that reached 199 miles per hour which was awesome. They also had a WWII bomber there doing simulated bombing runs which was super cool. I'm glad I went and hope to go next year as well. Schools going good as well. I went on a Japanese field trip this month. We went to Skyridge high school and competed in something called Undoukai. It's a Japanese sports festival and it was really cool. I competed in a 100 meter relay race there which was fun. We also competed in events such as tug of war and basketball. It was really fun and I'm glad that I went. My classes are pretty easy this year it being my senior year and all. I'm going to start applying to colleges this week which is exciting. I hope you all have a great fall. Bye.

Love, Eric James Barnhisel

August Letter

 Dear Family & Friends, 

Hello. How are you. This month was great. We built the pergola in our backyard this month. We didn't help as much on this one as we did on Sam's play place but we still helped where we could. It's a nice addition to our yard. 

We went to Beaver again this month. We went with the Dewey's and we stayed in a nice cabin. We went fishing a lot while we were down there and we went on some awesome four wheeler rides. We went up to an overlook that we always go up to whenever we are on a trip down in Beaver. We also went fishing pretty much every night and some mornings. It was a nice trip and I'm glad that we went down there. 

We did most of the work on the play place during July but this month we added all the finishing touches to it. Ben made a pirate's wheel that he mounted to the third platform and we got a pirates flag to go next to the wheel. Ben also put a large canvas cover over the table on the second platform so when kids are out there eating or sitting at the table they can have some shade. 

School started up this month and I'm a senior now. My classes are awesome and now that I have most of the required classes done I can take fun classes now. I have one required class and that is animal science because I needed another science credit but even that class is a lot of fun. I'm taking Japanese which is a super fun class, I'm also taking guitar and a bunch of cool history classes. I'm really enjoying this school year so far. I hang out a lot more with my friends now that school has started which is kind of weird considering the fact we had more time during the summer. I love going to football games and seeing all of my friends there as well. I hope you all have a great end of summer and are ready for fall.

Bye. 

Love, Eric James Barnhisel

July Letter

 Dear Family & Friends, 

Hello, how are you? This month was great. While me birthday was last month, we celebrated my birthday at the beginning of July. We went to top golf down in Murray and it was really fun. It was my first time going and even though I don't golf I still had a fun time there. We got some really good food there as well.

I went to Beaver for a family reunion/camping trip. It was really fun down there. We went rock climbing one of the days which was awesome and we went four wheeling a lot. It was super dusty which was like the only downside and it got a bit cold at nights. It was great to be able to see a lot of my family on my dad's side and be able to spend time with them. 

We went up to Washington for our big vacation this summer. Washington is like my favorite place on Earth so I had a great time up there. We went to Mount Rainier which was amazing. Last time I was at Mount Rainier it was really cloudy and foggy but this time there were clear skies so I got to actually see the Mountain. The landscape was incredible and it is definitely a place that I want to go back to many times.  

We went to Seattle while we were in Washington as well. It was really cool to experience a new place and I'm glad that we went. We went to see Pike's place market and got to see all the fun things there like the fish throwing and the gum wall. We went on a big Ferris wheel and got to see the city from up high which was awesome. We went to Chinatown which sadly was pretty run down. I think if things in Chinatown were spruced up a bit, it would be a great tourist destination and a cool place to go visit. 

We stayed on the beach for part of our Washington trip. We had a nice little beach house that we stayed at that was about a 2 minute walk to the beach. We tried to swim in the water but it was pretty cold due to being further up north. We went and visited Gray's harbor which was cool because we visited it as well on our last trip up to Washington. I'm glad that we got to go to the beach because I love beaches.

We went to a rainforest on our trip as well and that was awesome. Makes me wish that Utah got more rain because the vegetation there was crazy. It was like being in a jungle and the cool mist in the rainforest was so nice. I would love to live in a rainforest when I'm older because they are awesome.  

We spent part of our summer building a play place for Sam and his friends in our backyard. It was hard work sometimes but we got to learn a lot from the building process which is good to know. It is sweet now that it's done and I hope Sam and his friends make a lot of good memories on it. 

I'm back in school now which is fun. I'm a senior so I hope this year is going to great. I love to hang out with my friends and we hang out most nights now that school is back in. I hope you all have a great summer. Bye.

Love, Eric James Barnhisel

June Letter

 Dear Family & Friends, 

Hello. How are you? This month was great. We went jeeping up Payson Canyon this month. It was a lot of fun and we got to see some awesome scenery. The forest service hadn't come through to clear the trail though so we had to pull a lot of trees out of the way of the trail. It was fun and I had a great time.

We tore down the rock on the front of the house this month. My mom thought that it was ugly so we tore it down and replaced it with wood board and batten. We had a fun time tearing the rock down and helping with the project.

Fathers day was this month as well. I'm so grateful for my dad and everything he sacrifices for me. He spends a lot of his time doing stuff with my brothers and I when he could be doing stuff that he wants to do. I love my dad. 

My parents went to Germany this month and I had to watch Sam and make sure the house didn't get burnt down. They were gone for a week and a half.

Summer is going good. I like hanging out with my friends and doing stuff with them. I'm looking for another job right now so hopefully I'll find one soon. I hope you all stay cool during these hot months. Bye. Love Eric James Barnhisel

May Letter

 Dear Family & Friends, 

Hello! How are you? This month was great. We went camping up Payson canyon this month for fun. It was fun to drive up there and we had a fun time camping. We found this huge tree near where we were camping at. We had a fire up the canyon and cooked hotdogs. My dad brought a portable generator and we even watched a movie up there.

Mothers day was this month as well. I'm so grateful for my mom and everything she does for me. She has provided me with so many blessings and taught me to be a responsible young man. Thank you mom. 

School's over now and I'm on summer break. Summer break has been pretty boring to be honest so far. A lot of my friends are just busy now and cant hang out as much. I'm making the best of it though. I've been working out a lot and getting bigger and stronger so that's pretty fun. My last day at Costa Vida was yesterday and now I'm looking for a new job. I've spent a lot of time lately doing outdoor stuff. I love going on walks/hikes and going fishing. I hope you all have a great summer. Bye.

Love, Eric James Barnhisel

April Letter

 Dear Family & Friends, 

Hello. How have you been? This month was great! We went down to Moab for jeep safari this month. We hadn't been in a long time and now that we have a jeep again, we can go to things like jeep safari more often. It was a great trip and we did a lot of fun things. We went on a trail called buttes and cliffs for our first trail. It was fun and a great intro to jeeping for me but we had to stay in a group and we had a lot of older people that loved to take their time so the trail lasted for a while. I got to start jeeping for my first time on this trail and it was a lot of fun. 

This picture was taken at the lookout point on Hell's Revenge. We went on Hell's Revenge on Saturday morning and it was awesome. We woke up really early and got on the trail before tons of people showed up. There were only two other groups on the trail with us that morning and it definitely made the experience better. We had a great time on that trail and I definitely want to go on it again. 

We were in Moab so we had to go to the T-shirt shop. That is one of the only things I remember about Moab from when I was younger. We got some cool shirts there and it was cool to go back there after not being there for so long. 

Prom was this month and it was awesome. I went with my friend Savannah and we had a great time. We did an escape room for our day date which was really fun. It was a zombie themed room and we got out with 13 seconds to spare. For dinner we went to Tepanyaki in Orem which was fantastic. I got some really good sushi there and it was awesome to see the chef cook our food in front of us. The dance was a lot of fun and after we went to one of our group members houses and crashed. It was a great experience and I'm so glad I got to go with Savannah. 

Schools almost out now. At the time of me writing this I only have about 3 more weeks left until summer break. I'm working at Costa Vida right now and I really like it there. We have great management and I have great co-workers as well. My friends and I do a lot of fun stuff together and we cant wait for summer so we can do even more fun things. The weather is getting warmer now and all the trees are in blossom. Spring is one of my favorite times of the year and sometimes I wish it would stay like spring all year round. I hope you all have a great spring and hopefully enjoy some warm weather. Bye.

Love, Eric James Barnhisel

March Letter

 Dear Family & Friends, 

Hello. How are you? This month was good. Sam's 5th birthday was this month. It's crazy how time flies. Sam is already 5 and that is crazy to me. We had a lot of ice cream for his birthday because that is Sam's favorite treat. 

St. Patrick's day was also this month. I view it as a pretty basic holiday. We had green pancakes in the morning and then I went to school. 

School is going great. My classes this semester aren't too challenging and a lot of them I find to be pretty fun. Were on spring break right now and about to go back to finish off the school year. I just got my braces off after 3 years (finally) so that's a positive. I have a great group of friends right now and we hang out and do a lot of fun stuff together. I'm working at Costa Vida with my friends right now and it's pretty fun. My managers there are awesome and there's some cool people working there as well. I hope you all have a great spring. Love, Eric James Barnhisel 

February Letter

 Dear Family & Friends, 

Hello. How are you? This month was great. My mom's birthday was this month and instead of traditional cake we had these little fruit cake things which were pretty good. Dad got her a bunch of new pots and pans because our old ones were getting pretty old. 

We went down to St. George for Kyle's soccer tournament this month as well. It was awesome down there and was a great escape from winter up here. The place we stayed in was huge and was a really nice place too. Kyle won his soccer tournament and he played really good. We went hiking while we were down there as well. We went to a cool canyon location and hiked down into it. We also got to see the Russell's and the Danielson's while we were down there as well. The only bad part about the trip was the ride home because it took us 7 hours because of harsh weather and lot's of traffic.

We left sunny St. George to come back to a foot of snow. I swear it snowed for 4 days straight. It's alright though because now I'm just looking forward to it all melting. 

Schools going good right now. My classes aren't too difficult and I love to hang out with my friends while I'm at school. Our school basketball team has a game tomorrow up at the University of Utah which my friends and I are going to go watch which should be pretty fun. I've been working a lot and enjoy my job. I hope you have a great end of winter. Bye.

Love, Eric James Barnhisel

January Letter

 Dear Family & Friends, 

Hello. How are you? There is only one picture this month so I'm just going to have to talk about what else I did in January. We went sledding at Soldier Hollow this month. It was a lot of fun and a lot has changed up there since the last time we were there. I also saw one of my school friends there which was crazy given the fact that we were there on the same day at the same time. 

Winter Break ended this month and we went back to school. My new classes for this semester are a lot of fun and there super easy as well. I've been going to a lot of my schools basketball games with my friends. They are a lot of fun to watch and out team is pretty good. Track starts up pretty soon so I'm excited for that. I hope you all have a great winter. Bye.

Love, Eric James Barnhisel

December Letter

 Dear Family & Friends, 

Hello, how are you? To start out this month we went on a Christmas train up in Heber. It was cool and Sam had a blast. They brought us hot chocolate on the train and gave us mugs to take home after the train ride was over. It was more geared towards littler kids but was fun nonetheless and was a great start to the Christmas season. 

We went to Evermore this month as well. It was really cold but it was a really cool place. We had a sword fight which was pretty fun and we also got to do knife/shuriken throwing as well. We got some really good cider while we were there and saw all of the cool stuff in the park. 

We had our family party this month and it was a nice change of pace. We made Italian food for this party instead of having ham and turkey like always. It was also pretty low key and relaxing and we got to see and socialize with our extended family. Grandma got us gifts and she got me a nice pair of winter gloves which are really useful. 

We have been getting a lot of snowstorms lately and we used the opportunity to go snowboarding and skiing. This was my first time snowboarding and it was pretty difficult to say the least. It was fun though and I hope I can do it more in the future. We have around 3-4 feet of snow up here in Woodland Hills and the snow banks on the sides of our driveway are really tall now.  

I got a guitar for Christmas and I'm taking lessons now which I'm super excited about. I've been picking up a lot really fast and it is super fun to learn. Apart from the calluses on the tips of my fingers and side of my thumb I'm really glad to be learning guitar. I want to make music when I'm older and this is something great to learn to help me achieve that in the future. 

We had Grandma, Aunt Amy and Billy as well as Uncle Darren and his family over at our house for Thanksgiving dinner. We had Ham which was really good and Aunt Amy brought scalloped potatoes which were delicious. I'm glad I was able to spend time with my family on Christmas and overall this Christmas was great. 

I go back to school tomorrow which means I can't sleep in anymore. Track starts tomorrow which I'm excited for and hopefully we have a great turnout. My life is pretty busy now adays with school, work and guitar. Track will add to that but it's great to fill your time with things to do. I hope you all have a great winter and a great start of 2022. Bye. 

Love, Eric James Barnhisel