We went to the Evensen Heritage family reunion last Saturday. I was in heaven! The girls who planned it, Carrie and Sheryl, did so much work. They found recipes for chest rub, soap, raisin cake and bread in Great-great Grandma Margarethe's diary.... then they made samples of them all for us to take home! I bought a CD with so many great pictures and histories on it... including the journal of Margarethe. Glorious... I saw Grandpa Slade's brothers Uncle Chester (and Aunt Phyllis) and Uncle Jimmy. Lots of Dad's cousins were there and said to tell dad hello. Joyce, Kay and Vickie.... Sheryl and Brenda, Sandra's daughters (she is the daughter of Mary Fern). I was really sad to have just missed DeLeon and Sandra and Shauna & Dorothy... but I had a great time.

B's school... He is so cute. I guess last Friday was show and tell, but I didn't know until after school. He took a toy out of his back pack and told me he had shown it to his class for Show and Tell. What an independent little guy. Somehow I thought I would be consulted on important matters like these.

This is a picture of B's first day of school. That is S in the back ground checking out a Princess back pack that belongs to some girl in B's class. I couldn't tell you the name of any one in B's class because he doesn't know anyones names. At least he knows who is teacher is.

By the by, check out Ticee's beautiful baby on her blog. So delicious!

My sweet B had a great day at school. He said, "I love school!" at least five times on the way home. He mentioned that he didn't have any scissors when Mr. Garcia said, "If you are a boy and you have scissors, put them in this box." Who knows? I am guessing that it has to do with the list of supplies they asked us to donate. We took ours in last week. I am afraid that everything about school from here on out will be a little mysterious. Never knowing what he is really talking about. I well remember some of the stories I heard from parents when I was teaching.... about what they tried to piece together.

He said they played a game during recess with ocean animals. "I was an octopus, no a shark, a good shark. And we killed the bad sharks, ate them up." Hmmm.... that could go either way.

He ate school lunch... I must secretly admit that therein lied my biggest worry. How was he going to get to the cafeteria? Know where the trays were? Get catsup if he wanted some? Open his milk? Find the garbage? Carry everything without dropping it? Stay seated while he ate? Yes, I have been stewing about this all week. All seemed to turn out very well. "I didn't know we would have blue berries and uvas (grapes). My favorite!" When asked what else he ate, "Mac and Cheese." We have never really eaten "Mac & Cheese" at home, and we certainly have never said the words "Mac & Cheese." Who taught him that? Yet, another mystery.

I was excited to do homework with him, alas, there was nothing in his backpack. Mystery? And then there is the mystery of the name tags. B said out of the blue this afternoon, "Hey, the ladies didn't give back my card that I gave them to eat lunch." I certainly hope they kept it.

Thus ends my saga of sending my first child to his first day of school. I shed a few tears as he entered the classroom, but I could hold it together as long as I didn't have to speak. When E asked me what had happened when I talked to the secretary about school lunch, I cried quite a bit. It took him awhile to realize that he didn't have to be angry at the secretary. It was just requisite for me to break down a little watching our little guy grow up. I am crying right now as a matter of fact. Quite therapeutic, I would say.

Love to all!

Well... the baptism was great. I wish we could spend more time together as a family. There is never enough space or time. What we really need is a millionaire father who would build a giant home that we could all fit in with all of our families. That way we could all have plenty of time to talk and let the kids play together. Dream on, dream on.... It would be nice though.

We got to run down and see Susan and Ticee before Jodi left. I was only mean to Jodi once, and yes I still feel guilty. I can't wait till I am a gentler, kinder person. Some of the highlights were doing water aerobics with Susan in the Orderville pool. A bunch of old ladies and a couple of young ones. Susan up in front showing us the moves and yelling, "Work it ladies, work it." Even just imagining it could bring one much joy.

I also loved watching Ticee trying to pretend like she wasn't having contractions. I was determined to try and clean her house a little and she refused to let us work alone. So she valiantly worked along side, about killing herself, pretending the pain and exhaustion away... just like a true Slade girl. I loved washing the tiny baby clothes and taking care of them. The worst was that we had to leave a day before he was born. : ( But little Deidrick got here safely and seems to be just as adorable as his brethren.

Jodi got home safely and was so glad to be reunited with all of her boys. I just remembered that her phone was stolen.... I wonder if that issue was ever resolved. Susan's purse was stolen as well at Walmart in St. George. Things usually happen in three's, so the next person who gets something stolen... let me know.

I was also able to meet up with two of my friends from the mission, Darla and Christina. We all went to see our mission president, Presidente Lyman. We took our kids and it was sheer craziness, just like everyday of my life. I was so thrilled to be able to see Darla, Christina, Presidente and his wife. They include the very most favorite people from my mission!! May we never forget Guatemala and all of the blessings we have in our lives from "giving" the Lord a small year and a half. I wrote "giving" because I ended up receiving so much more than I gave!!

We were so sad about the death of James E. Faust. I will never forget his conference address a couple of years ago when he cried because he felt that once when he was younger he hadn't treated his grandmother the way he should have. It just shows his tenderness and kindness. What a great man. Also, many of my friends are sad because there is one less Democrat in Utah. Alicia and Nathan moved away... as did Ana and Justin. I am afraid that soon there won't be any Democrats left. Hmmmm....

I also had our first book club meeting in our new ward. We read Ride the Laughing Wind by Brenton and Blaine Yorgason. (Blaine, what kind of a name is Blaine? It sounds like an appliance. .... name that movie) What has happened to the Yorgasons? Have they written anything lately? I did love the book, and yes I am a little ashamed that I hadn't read it already. Any one who has ever been to an Anazazi ruin should definitely read this book. Loved it....

Our book club dinner was an interesting time. I did find out that one lady pays her husband $40 an hour to do his geneology. She is willing to pay him up to $500 a month. He is so stuborn, though, and will not do his geneology... and she can't figure out why. My comment was, "I am guessing that you don't share money." They have been married for 45 years, for those of you out there who were wondering. The next book is The Sunflower by Richard Paul Evans. Can't wait to see what I will learn next month.

After all of that catching up... now to the real news... It is almost time to pick up my little guy from his very first day of Kindergarten. He was so handsome in his kacki pants and white polo shirt (that they had him tuck in right when he came into the room). E drove separately so he could go to the gym afterwards. He surprised us by having the video camera ready when we drove up to the school. He was able to film B climbing out of the van with his oversized Spiderman/Venom back pack on. I got teary eyed as he marched into the classroom with just a little wave. S and R started crying and refused to walk out of the front doors without B. "Don't leave him!" S also kept trying to convince me that she is five (three). She thought she could trick me into letting her go to B's school.

Now I must go see how his first day went. I am off....

Too much information about the under clothing, yes, I agree. But when I was in so much pain... it affected my reasoning. Thankfully the shoulders are almost better and there should not be any more embarrassing confessions.

Jodi arrived safely yesterday. Wow... one week without children or husband. This is starting to be a reoccurring theme... first Ticee, then Jodi. May I please be next!

Di got here at the crack of dawn, around 6 a.m. I think. They drove through the night. I hope they will be able to get a couple of hours of sleep at least.

Tomorrow is the big extravaganza... Tyler's baptism. We are all very excited for Steve and Tyler. It should also be fun for all of us.

Wednesday my companion from the mission came up with her kids and we went to the dinosaur park. I had a really great time and my kids did too. They loved playing and running around. I let R & L run around for the first time. They are usually tied up in the stroller with absolutely no freedom. They were fun to watch, enjoying their freedom yet always making sure they were close to me. How long do you think that will last?

Christina is going to hook us up so we can go and see our mission president. I think that will be super fun. We haven't seen him for at least five years.

Oh, and I went to the gym yesterday. There must be something in the air at the gym to make people act like jerks. The people working at the gym just stared at me like I was an idiot. I had questions and I told them it was my first time there. But to no avail. There was no help available for me. They will not scare me away, little pip squeaks.

My favorite moment occurred on my self guided tour. I was wandering through the women's locker room and stumbled upon a completely naked older woman. She had apparently just finished her swim or shower or something. She just smiled at me and said hello. By the time I was on my way back out of the locker room, she had put her garments on. Funny.

I made Jodi go to WW with me last night. I think she was afraid it was like a cult or a wierd rah, rah, meeting. Our leader is great, though... and I think she was pleasantly surprised. He is funny. She also surprised me!