Familia

We've had a couple of busy days. Yesterday was Michelle's wedding so I took all the cats and went down to the temple. It was so fun. Dad and Donna came up with Becki and Cardon. Uncle DeLeon was there, as were Dorothy and Paul. It was so fun seeing Dad with Terry, DeLeon and Dorothy. I couldn't help but remember Lisa's wedding three years ago, pre-stroke. Dad was joking and laughing with his siblings. This time there was still joking and laughing but also a polite addition of trying to include Dad and ask him questions etc. Dorothy took a couple of pictures of Dad while he was just standing alone. She loves her brothers so much!

Afterwards everyone went to eat at a Golden Corral and I just honed right in. (Is that even a word?) I got to have Dad drive down with me. He talked to me about dinosaurs with feathers and their articulation. I talked to him about getting engaged in the temple we'd just left. The best 30 minutes of the day. At the restaurant Becki was such a huge help with my little monsters. S adores her and sticks to her like glue. (Speaking of glue... our neighbor gave us a play kitchen... yes, we are thrilled... the other day S broke out a glue stick and was trying to glue the plastic sink back into place. She rubbed glue everywhere!) Aunt Debbie made me happy... twice! First she said she really missed us girls (that goes out to all of the good Slade girls), and she tickled R and said to Donna, "I don't know how you can stand to stay away from these kids. I would be up here all of the time." That's right. Cute kids.

Today the city had a "party" for their employees and families. We came home loaded with goodies. They gave us all bags, water bottles, balls, stuffed animals, pedometers, stress relievers and much, much more. The kids loved it! We signed up for a contest to get moving, as in exercise. We also need to add veggies and water to our diet. Piece of cake... we keep track for a couple of months and may win a trip to Disneyland! Watch out!

After the wellness extravaganza we went to a surprise birthday party for Melvin. If you knew Leah and Melvin (a couple who previously were part of the Spanish Branch), you would know how weird it was to surprise Melvin. The Palmers and the Fonsecas were invited along with Leah's family and it was in Melvin's family's house. For such on odd group of people, it was surprisingly pleasant. Jason Palmer finally started speaking to me. He never liked me while we were in the branch but now he opened right up. His great-grandfather happens to be Thomas Chamberlain who helped settle Orderville. Go figure.

There was also 38 year old Andy who has Down's Syndrome. Wow, that is a long time to take care of your son. His dad was so great with our kids. He sat down and explained that Andy had Down's and sometimes acted a little silly or did funny things. I think it really was perfect for B and S so they wouldn't be afraid of him, instead they played well with him.

Leah (not mine) started snapping picture like crazy and I found it very funny. She is such an interesting study. At first I thought she might be a kindred spirit ... but I haven't ever been able to really break through. She adores Melvin, which I also find very funny. He is so stand-offish and, well, rude. But she thinks she caught the greatest prize out of the pond. It is nice to see how much she loves her husband. I hope people know that I caught the priziest prize and I love my husbando.

And, as a last note... I am almost better, getting over the cold. All that's left is the cough. So, today I returned to the gym. I saw the naked lady from my first visit, she was fully clothed this time. I asked her about swimming laps. I am trying to get up the nerve to go in and swim laps. She mentioned she also does the sauna. Don't think we need to ask if she wears clothes in the sauna. Woo, woo.... Ticee and I are going to see who can lose the most weight before Christmas. I know, not fair to Ticee who is already small, but she suggested it. Anyone want to join in?

Love to all!

E found a show on PBS called "Songs from the Mountain." He was enthralled and called my into watch. It was blue grass/folk music, a lot of fun, with banjos, fiddles etc. E suddenly said, "How could music this beautiful ever lose popularity." How cute is that?

I also love it when he folds clothes and puts them away. There is no better gift on the planet!

These are some more pictures we took at the reunion. I told L it was a potty and she was ready to use it! Cute kids. May I state once again how glad I am that I can stay home with my little monsters. At least until they get into school.

Some fun things have happened lately. I walk 3 miles every morning with my friend Luz. We always wave at people because we see the same people drive or walk by every morning. One little Asian couple drove by on their way home from the cookie factory. (Sometimes they still had their hairnets on... and we've seen them close to the factory.) The husband has always been pleasantly surprise when we wave... Now they wave at us first. : ) The other day they saw us and quickly pulled over, frantically motioning for us to approach the car. "Cookies for you! Cookies for you!" As they handed us a bag, the wife (who always drives... interesting little tid bit) was chanting it over and over. (It kind of reminded me of Alina's "papas fritas" story.) They had brought Luz and I a box of cookies. So sweet.

We have many other "wave at" friends, but my favorite is a girl who used to refuse to look at us. We have now won her over and I'm sure we will soon be swapping addresses.

The other day B heard some program announcing their web address and he told me he wanted to go there. Then thoughtfully he asked, "Mom, what do you think it says at Heavenly Father.com? " That's my boy.

S & B wanted to play in the water and S couldn't find her swimming suit. I put some shorts on her and had to force a shirt on her. She thought she should be able to go topless like B does. A few minutes later I looked out back to check on them. I found S running around topless and B peeing off the balcony. Beauty, eh? I'm sure nobody in the neighborhood thinks of us as white trash... well, mixed trash....

Now to church. I am not used to people not loving me, so this English ward is really throwing me for a loop. I haven't found any soul mates yet, but there are some nice people. There is also a clique of youngish couples that I really don't want to be in... but the women are always in nursery. My girls have decided to scream bloody murder if I don't stay in nursery with them. This is something quite new. I am sure that the three of them got together and planned it as torture for me, payback for leaving the Spanish Branch were they were goddesses... everyone fought over who got to take care of them or play with them. Now I must sit and listen to these women talk about hair and bodies and shopping etc. Every now and then I feebly try to enter the conversation... but I haven't been successful yet. Ick... After an hour of that E came to spell me off.....

Sunday School, I had no idea what the lady was talking about. She tries to share her thoughts but everything came out disjointed... or it didn't make connections in my brain....

Sacrament meeting... The science hater from the previous week in SS gave a talk. The week before he had mentioned that the world worshiped at the feet of science and blah, blah, blah... After church I went up to him to let him know how much I loved science... and that was exactly what I said. I just wanted him to realize that many scientist love God and recognize his power. OK... So, his talk was supposed to be about labor, work... but he spoke about Charles Darwin vs. Joseph Smith. He said many horrible things like only God knew how the earth was created so we should just wait until he tells us instead of wasting time trying to figure it out. At one point he read a quote, which I missed because of a small riot taking place in our bench, and then said, "Did you hear that Sister Castilony? I only say that because last week she accused me of being a scientist hater." Wow, now that was rude.

I must admit that I shed a few tears in the van after church...

Then I had to see his wife last night at scrapbooking. She spoke about how no one in the ward came to see her when she was in so much pain. Last night she kept saying, "She's not talking to me," and she would point at me. However, I had to "talk" to her quite a lot. She trapped me on the way out telling me about her daughters step-son and his abuse, her other daughter's reproductive history, her mom's Alzheimers, her yard... and much much more. Why did we leave the Spanish Branch again?

I must be off to announce the Book Fair at faculty meeting at B's school. Why do I love his school? Uniforms, teachers from Spain and Taiwan, Spanish spoken often everywhere and everyday, 25 kids per class, high expectations. Love it!

Love to all!

Julie