He loves it when I make him pose for pictures. :D

So, we went to Peach Days a couple of weeks ago. We went on Friday night and caught the children's parade. The Castellons do love a good parade. The highlight, however, was the Dale Jr. car that was exhibited right there on Forest Street. You would not believe what a NASCAR freak my husband is becoming. He doesn't even like Dale Jr. and still wanted to take a million photos of the car and even the truck and trailer that hauls it. At least I got my dutch oven peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream out of the deal.

Just for a little annoying NASCAR 411... There are only eight races left (hurray!) until the Sprint Cup champion is named. My favorite car, the M&M's car, had such a great year... but has really blown it in the last two races. They just might not win. Blah, blah, blah. Jeff Gordon, the family favorite, hasn't won all year. So I'm not even sure why we have to finish watching the season.
Please do notice that the boys in family had to dress up in NASCAR wear to go see the car at Peach Days.

Futbol Sabado

Saturdays are now all about soccer. Finally we have started our children along the path of futbolistas, and I am sure, with time, they will be great. I have already seen a huge improvement in the last three weeks. E is coaching B's team, the Blue Thunder or Blue Lightning... it changes. I think E is having just as much fun as B, there are seven boys on his team and they play five on five.

S is on a little team of five girls, the Dragonflies (I suggested Green Machine because their jerseys are neon green but the five year olds liked Dragonflies better, go figure). There are five girls on her team and they play three on three. They are starting to figure out which way to run, well, except for the little girl in her prescription sunglasses. She dribbles well, but she just takes off in either direction and runs the ball all the way down the field. Same little girl just happens to have a staph infection... the flesh eating bacteria. OK, then.

We have fun Saturday mornings, but then we are tired out for the rest of the day. I also find it funny how important the after game treats are. Not to the kids, but the parents. They are very worried about "signing up" for the treats and making sure they are there. Another odd thing about the parents is that a majority of them say, "Thanks Coach," after the games. I am not sure why, but it almost gives me the giggles.

God Bless the USA

Today E became a US citizen. (OK... now it is yesterday). Bonnie took our kids for us and we were able to go down to SL together. We got there plenty early, which was nice. The only sorrow was that we couldn't sit together. They took all of the candidates for naturalization (the ones getting their citizenship), they took them all in separately. So the video of "THE OATH" is horrible. It is just the barrette of one woman and the fat hand of another. Oh, well. We are done with immigration!!! It can't get any better than that, fat hand and all. I sat by two husbands of new citizens. One of their wives was from the Dominican Republic and the other from Mexico. We all agreed that we were being treated better then we ever had been treated before when dealing with immigration. Then we realized that all of the people worked for the theater and not immigration. That's why they were being so nice! I was also pleased because I was able to educate two different people about the horrors of the immigration system and help them understand why so many people come here illegally. Always one of my personal secret agendas. : )




There was a representative of the DAR, Daughters of the American Revolution (which, of course, reminds me of Gilmore Girls). They put together a nice packet for each new citizen with passport applications and voter registration cards. Included was the greatest book called "The Citizen's Almanac." It includes things like Patriotic Anthems and Symbols of the US, Presidential and Historic Speeches and Landmark Decisions of the Supreme Court. I love this book!

Just as a reminder, here are some of the wonderful rights we have in this beautiful country of ours. Even more appreciated as I watch every second I can of the Olympics and often find myself horrified at the politics in China.

• Freedom to express yourself.
• Freedom to worship as you wish.
• Right to a prompt, fair trial by jury.
• Right to keep and bear arms.
• Right to vote in elections for public officials.
• Right to apply for federal employment.
• Right to run for elected office.
• Freedom to pursue "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

And some of our responsibilities as citizens:

• Support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
• Stay informed of the issues affecting your community.
• Participate in the democratic process.
• Respect and obey federal, stat, and local laws.
• Respect the rights, beliefs, and oplinions of others.
• Participate in your local community.
• Pay income and other taxes honestly, and on time, to federal, state, and local authorities.
• Serve on a jury when called upon.
• Defend the country if the need should arise.

I do love our country and I think it is so important that we each do our part to make it better. If we don't like what congress is doing, we should let them know... then vote them out! Same with the state legislature. Too many politicians just like "jobs" and I think they need to know its not OK to just do the same old thing. My fire in my belly right now is about the billions of dollars in tax breaks for big oil companies. Quit focusing on oil shale and get rid of those tax breaks. Or have the tax breaks dependent on the lowering of the price of gas. Or focus on the technology we already have to use less fossil fuels. Lets not help the big oil companies get more business! This is making me crazy, we all just keep buying gas. If we had the money, E would have built us a car that runs on air a couple of years ago.

OK, enough of that. Back to our splendid day yesterday. Here is an excerpt of a beautiful letter from President Bush that inspires me to be a better citizen and made the love of country flow right out of my eyes in the form of tears.

"America has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens. Every child must be taught these principles. Every citizen must uphold them. And every immigrant, by embracing these ideals, makes our country more, not less, American."

"America's welcoming society is more than a cultural tradition, it is a fundamental promise of our democracy. Our Constitution does not limit citizenship by background or birth. Instead, our nation is bound together by a shared love of liberty and a conviction that all people are created with dignity and value. Through the generations, Americans have upheld that vision by welcoming new citizens from across the globe-and that has made us stand apart."

There were 195 new citizens yesterday. There were 48 countries represented. Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico, Indonesia, Peru, Canada... eight from China, nine from Bosnia, and even two from Iraq. The presiding judge was from Mexico himself. He had come as a migrant worker with his family. He became a citizen in 1970 and now he is a federal judge! What a great example of the wonders of this country.

So, full of patriotism we drive home listening to "our" favorite NPR. And as we drive down 7th toward our house we were greeted with the most beautiful surprise! The Bishop and his wife had a couple of scouts put out 8 flags in our yard and they bought bouquets of red, white, and blue balloons to grace our fence. Wow. It made E feel really special. It also made quite a statement in the neighborhood. We would watch people from the window driving by and rubber necking, wondering what on earth was happening. I also enjoyed neighbors just dying to ask what was going on but they didn't quite dare. We just let them wonder. I am planning a surprise pot luck dinner in our yard on Sunday evening to celebrate. You are all invited.



So hip, hip, hurray for the USA and one of her newest citizens!

B, B, B... its all about B

I thought it would be fun for all of you to experience B's mind and its workings. The following are comments from B during sacrament meeting. We went to two sacrament meetings yesterday because apparently my niece is out of jail and wanted to bless her nine month old baby. Anywho, as B would whisper to me, I would jot down the things he said and try to "smile and nod" answers as often as possible to keep it quiet.

Our meeting:

• I really want a white light.
• How do you get chicken pox?
• Do chicken pox ever go away?
• Guan? (The speaker was just home from a mission in Guam.)
• Did you know Wall-e is only in fe-aters (theaters)?
• Do you want to own the movie Wall-e?
• When we are done with church can I see how fast I can run with these shoes? (He was wearing his new school shoes for the first time.)
• Maybe I can run 40 miles per hour.
• How do you spell Eve? and Wall-E?
• When are we going to get a GPS? When we get a GPS we can go to DiAnn's house.
• Where are my fingers? I can lip (lick? flip? He just said lip...) them off. Can I?

Next meeting:

• Hey look at the clock, it is almost over.
• How long do 1st graders have to stay in school? (He started school today.)
• After school tomorrow can we eat at MacDonalds? I want a new Star Wars toy.
• Saturday can we go buy another parakeet so Guapo has a friend? (Our neighbors gave us their parakeet.)
• Do you have your wallet with you?
• I have my wallet with me.
• Your name Julie, but her last name is Beck. (The speaker had just quoted Julie Beck.)
• When are we going to have humming birds?
• How many more days of the Olympics are there? Good thing you have it recorded. Then you don't have to cry because you have it recorded. Then you can delete when you're done. And don't delete it until you want to. And I know you deleted Star Wars, know why, because Darth Maul is scary!
• Remember the statues we saw on the computer? (The statue army in China.)
• Do you have any food? I'm hungry. I'm hungry. (Whinier now) I'm hungry, I'm hungry, I'm hungry, I'm hungry. (Louder)
• (Me: Please be quiet, you are embarrassing me.)
• I know.
• I - Want - To - Go - Home!
• How long is it going to take?
• Maybe it was starting when we heard the music at the beginning.

Thankfully E had some treats he shared with the monsters that held them over till the end of the meeting!

The meetings were great thankfully. Ours had a missionary that just got home in June from Micronesia. He spent 18 months on Pon Pei island and learned their language. Wow! I think he said only about 10, 000 people speak Pon Peian. He talked about the Book of Mormon and its power to change lives. Our second meeting we had an RM who served in Siberia. His mission was as large as the US from NY to CA... but only 10 cities in all of that space. Amazing. He spoke about teaching our children obedience. Topics I really needed to hear!

Church. Good times.

B and Death

B has been freaking me out a little lately. He had a couple of weeks there where he was consumed with the thoughts of death. First he was getting sick. A head cold that included pain and pressure in the sinuses. One morning he called me over to the couch and said, "Mom, I need to talk to you." As I walked toward him tears started flowing and he sobbed out, "I don't want to die!" I hugged him and tried to comfort him. Then he said, "I want to say a prayer so that I won't be scared to die." That just broke my heart. He was so scared! We prayed and he felt a lot better. Later on in the afternoon he told me, "Mom, I wasn't dying, I was just getting sick." Whew!

B has also bombarded me with questions about the body and the spirit, the Spirit World and the Resurrection. One day as we were leaving Walmart he started asking, "Does a spirit know its dead? Can a spirit see itself? Does it hurt to be a spirit? Will I know who I am when I'm a spirit? Will I like the same things?" I tried to get across the point that his spirit is "him" and he would still be the same B, but we left him pondering.

He has also questioned many times who would take care of them if Papa died, if Mama died. So, we have been covering that again. I told him I would take care of them or Papa would. "But, what if you both die?" he asks, crying again.

"DiAnn will take care of you."

"How will DiAnn know that you are dead and she needs to take care of us?"

He has a point there, I thought, as I answered, "We'll give her a call."

It didn't work... "How are you going to call if you are dead?"

"You can call."

"I don't know her phone number!" panicking now.

"It is on the cell phone." I could see that he wasn't convinced so I tried a different route. "The police will call DiAnn." That seemed to calm him down.

Hours later he started again, "Who is going to take care of us if you and Papa both die and DiAnn dies, too?"

"Susan," I answered without missing a beat.

"OK," he was satisfied with that answer.

I don't know... do you think B knows something I don't? We shall see I guess. My children do tend to have prophetic abilities. Months ago Silvina called to tell me she was pregnant and she had just found out they were having twins! After I hung up the phone in my excitement I called out to S who was sitting right in front of the TV watching a program. "Hey, Sarah, Silvina is going to have two babies!"

S answered without taking her eyes off of the television, "Yeah, a boy and a girl." Hmmm. I did tell Silvina what she said, and now Silvina calls her the little prophetess. Because, sure enough, she had a boy and a girl. Go S!

They also have uncanny abilities to forecast when I am going to be angry... sometimes. Other times they still seem oblivious and are surprised when they get in trouble. So, maybe we are all safe for a while.

E is funny

This is a picture of E and his brother when they took down a huge tree in my father-in-law's yard. The kids loved seeing him spray saw dust everywhere so he just kept going. He loves to make the kids laugh.

E had a really bad Sunday a while back. He has this bad habit of leaving the keys in the ignition in the van with van turned on. Not running but lights, radio, etc. left on. He also is always late on Sunday morning... so we run out to get in the van and the battery is dead! We only would have been a couple of minutes late if we could have left then but...

So, of course we think about jumping the van's battery. Two problems... 1. We used to have a battery in the garage we have used in the past when he left the keys in the ignition, but unfortunately he had just given it to his dad the week before. 2. E also has a bad habit of selling our cars, without fail the jumper cables go with the car he sells. Well, he has recently sold the Durango and, go figure, we have no jumper cables. To get to church we had to cram three car seats into the back of the little car and still take two cars. We were so late it was humiliating to walk into the meeting. Bad day for E.

Last night my neighbors were over and we were talking about Breaking Dawn. Neither of them have finished it yet. They totally freaked when E started talking about the book. He just kept jibbering nonsense in Spanish even, but they ran away in fear.

I find it hilarious that E loves Bluegrass music. Someone at work gave him free tickets to an outdoor concert of Bluegrass and we were in heaven. The Mike Irvine band played followed by Fire on the Mountain. It was great. I love to see how much E enjoys it and he cracks me up when he asks, "How could anyone not love this beautiful music?" We even bought a CD.

The last story is from when DiAnn and her girls went to church with us. As we left the house I noticed his "trick pen" in his pocket. When you click the pen to use it a jolt of electricity is sent to your thumb. I knew E was hoping that someone would need a pen. The opportunity arrived towards the end of sacrament meeting. Morgan and Heather were drawing pictures with my kids and we needed one more pen. E was thrilled to offer up his pen. He held very still waiting for the moment, I had to turn away because I was afraid of getting the giggles. Sure enough, JOLT and a little yelp. Then every one had the giggles as the pen was passed around. Good times. Sure do love my husband.

R & L's Birthday and S's Birthday

Could it be true that I didn't ever blog R & L's B-day? It was so darn cute.

So, first to assuage my guilt, I must cover S's birthday because I probably didn't blog that either. Happy Birthday S!


Here are some cute pictures of S. When their b-day is on a weekday we make a cake as a family, hence the lovely and may I say elegant princess cake. My favorite would be to have a dress like hers with real M&M's on it. I think everyone has fun helping to decorate, then when the cake doesn't look so great, I can pretend that it is because of the kids helping. : )

The other cake was a lovely store bought cake and S did a "mordida" (took a bite of cake) after we sang to her. Gotta love that blue frosting!

Then we have a party on Saturday with a pinata. I am afraid that is pretty much stuck as a tradition for life. They love the pinatas and we are finding better and better prices. S's was $12 and R & L's was only $8!





I was in a dilema with the twins. One wanted Hello Kitty, which I love as well, so I thought we could just go with that as the theme. But then R started saying things about L's b-day. She didn't realize it was her birthday as well. See, R wanted Diego. When I started looking at Diego things then R accepted that it was her birthday as well.
We ended up only finding a Hello Kitty pinata... so we glued a Diego napkin to one side making it half Diego and half Hello Kitty. I also ordered a cake that was half and half. It was a masterpiece! I love birthdays.

So... I was talking on the phone to Ana (She had her baby on Sunday! Hurray!) and I look out the window just to see B peeing outside right by the garbage can. When I talked to him about it later, after he had "cleaned" it up with the hose, I asked why he had been peeing outside. His answer was, "I didn't want the ants to kill the potato bugs." It took me a minute of just staring blankly at him before I asked again why he peed outside. "To kill the ants." I told him his pee wasn't going to kill anything so next time just go inside to the bathroom. Now that, my friends, is quality parenting.

So the Bella Cullen link didn't work... but a nice person named Deaana left the correct link... http://www.myspace.com/thebellacullenproject

and here is another try with a pretty picture.



Which doesn't work either. The girls are just trying to get their music out there... so enjoy the picture and their music but not with the same link/click.

So much to blog... so little time. A question: Do you eat the little skins on peanuts? Why or why not.

A shout out to Steve, lost 10 lbs! Way to go, Idaho! (Hope that wasn't told me in confidence).

Thank you so much to all those who came to the Slade family reunion. I think everyone had a good time, until the batteries ran out. But seriously folks, I know my kids were in absolute heaven. They ask everyday... "Are we going to Janett's house? Susan's? Ticee's? DiAnn's? Grandpa's? Steve's?" Just pile in the car kids and we'll head out. We really should do some sort of trip, but I'm afraid if I just think about it and never really plan it, we won't end up anywhere but right here.

Just thought everyone should know that apparently S can write as well as read. I bought her a little book with the wide lines and the letters to trace and she just went to town! She does much better now than B did when he was in Kinder. I am telling you, she is not only beautiful but a genius as well (and with no help from me... I don't know how this is happening).

I should have led out with this, can't believe I left it till this far into the blog... I am still floating from last night (wink, wink). I saw a preview for CHUCK!!! That's right, Chuck is coming back ladies and gentlemen. No need to worry any more.

I need to finish the blankets I am making. I am crocheting around the edge of baby blankets. Cutie pitutie... Ana is going to give birth any minute now and I am afraid that Jodi's baby is coming early, maybe she is already here!

I started a sewing circle in RS and we taught a few people how to crochet the edges. They were all speedy learners. I was especially impressed with Bonnie. She had never crocheted before in her life and she learned how to do the blanket! Bonnie was as stalwart as a pioneer, not giving up until she got it. I am very impressed. : ) Kudos to you Miss Bonnie.

FHE

Monday we were talking about families during FHE. We sang, read a poem from the friend ... then the idea was for each of the kids to draw a picture of our families and on the pictures we would write ways we could improve our family. I don't remember why R was so mad but she was on time out just a screaming when we discovered S writing "mama." Rache wasn't happy at all but we just ignored her tantrum the best we could. All the kids drew our family and when R got off of time out she just started jabbing viciously at her paper with her pen punching holes in it. Then she crumpled up the paper and threw it. I tell you what, that girl is scary.

After hanging up the other three pictures we went back into the other room to finish with a little discussion, a song and a prayer. Then what to our wondering eyes did appear? See for yourselves...



Rach had drawn our family on her legs! She kindly explained who everyone was... but I must say the Papa's and Mama's faces were looking pretty grumpy, on her legs, that is. Look at their mouths.

Apparently She Can Read!

So, Monday for FHE we were drawing pictures of our family then writing down ways we can improve our family and hanging them on the wall. B likes to label everyone and I guess S is tired of being "out done." I look over and S is writing "MAMA" on her paper! Of course tears came to my eyes because she is absolutely amazing. I am telling you, I didn't teach her that.

Then today I heard her sounding out cake and trying to write it. I called her over and we worked together for a while. She asked me to write a variety of words on her paper and she could read them all back to me. The video is the proof... it is a little long, however. So, sorry... I was just so darn proud.




Teary eyed again, Rachy got worried and ran over to see if I was alright.

Stories

Bonnie invited us over to eat last week and I looked around the house to see what I could take. I didn't have anything to make a salad with... not fruit, chicken, pasta... just couldn't think of anything. So I turned to brownies. Yummy... I made some turtle brownies with nuts and caramel and took over some ice cream. Bonnie grilled chicken and hot dogs and made dutch oven potatoes, delicious. While we were eating Kyle heard a bang inside of the house. He jumped up and ran in, being especially attuned to that sort of thing. It turns out that Hazel, the dog, had climbed up on the table and had eaten the whole pan of brownies! She started in the middle and worked her way out, leaving only a ring around the outside of the pan. I think the dog was trying to get the crustier part on the outside of the pan when she knocked the brownies off of the table, hence the Bang! Grrrr. No brownies for humans. : (

We have started swimming lessons this week. The kids absolutely love it... but it is wearing me out just a little. The lessons start at 10:15 and we try to shower the kids before we go, so they won't have to shower at the pool. That shouldn't be so hard to do... but it is. I get home from the gym and hurry and feed, shower, suit up, load... We have been on time everyday, of which I am very proud.

The first day all of my little monsters were nervous. They were asking questions about what it would be like, wondering about their teachers and what they would be like. When we got there Brigham got put with the director and he has really progressed. He just tries and tries to swim, float, kick etc. with no fear. He swims like he is riding a bike. It is funny... The thing that really freaked him out was jumping into the pool at 6 feet. He wouldn't do it at six feet, but he jumped in at five feet with a noodle. Chicken liver.

Sarah is in kind of a blah class. Not making a lot of progress. She pretty much does the same things she did last year. But she loves it. She comes out of the pool grinning from ear to ear.

Rachel is practically giddy in the water. She enjoys every minute of it from the very first. She does have a hard time following the teachers instructions. She wanders off often, spashing and jumping. There is like a semi-autistic girl in her class that wanders all of the time and often Rachel will just follow her.

Now Leah... Oh boy. The first day she cried/screamed for half of the lesson. She played for a minute with the class then got out about 10 minutes early. The next day they changed her to a different class, too many problem children in the same class. Leah cried for about 10 minutes the second day but her teachers were very patient with her. Now she only screams bloody murder for about one minute and then she enjoys the rest of the lesson. The screaming is still plenty enough to be embarrassing.

Strange how I always think I am going to blog... yet I never do. Interesting...

I did want to share some things that I learned while Dad was staying with us. We loved having him. My girls still ask at random times, "Where's our Grandpa?" I know I made him pretty uncomfortable but I am still holding out hope that he will stay with us again.

While he was here he read The Key-Lock Man and a book of short stories by Louis L'Amour as well as Shape Shifter by Tony Hillerman. Donna has said that he reads but doesn't comprehend what he is reading, so I would give him little quizzes. I kept asking what the book was about and how it turns out. Although I didn't read the books myself, it sounded like he knew what was going on. Not that I doubted, mind you, just wanted a little evidence. : )

Dad was also here on May 26th, the day he married Mom. I grilled him on that subject as well. Here is what I found out. Dad came home from his mission in early April. Grandma and Grandpa Slade were living in Salt Lake at the time. Dad moved in with Eddie and Carolyn, apparently so he could date Mom. They were engaged within a couple of weeks because he said he gave them (Edith and Mom) a month to get the wedding together. Edith loved Dad (so he says), even before he went on his mission. So, when they got engaged so quickly, she was OK with it.

They were sealed in the Salt Lake temple. He only remembers parents being there. He said his brothers were pretty wild at the time. Then he just said the reception was nice and not like the ones now because there was dancing. Then he said, "You have a picture," and went over and grabbed the framed wedding photo I have of them at their reception. Cute Dad.

After they were married they lived in Vernal and I can almost remember what he told me he was doing for a living. Selling insurance? Working at the car wash with Grandpa Jack? Anyone out there who can help with that? But then he got "called up," from being in the reserves. That is when he went to Washington. He said Mom came up later/soon. I do know that is where DiAnn was born.

Some words of wisdom from Dad. While he was here I also asked him if he regretted anything he had done in his life. He got that kind of disgusted/you're ridiculous look on his face and said no. "No use in that, you can't change it. Look forward."

One day we were talking about Donna and some of the struggles. I was trying to make a hard decision and Dad said, "It is a hard road to crawl." I got a little teary eyed because of the literal truth of that comment. He has just been crawling through for quite a few years now.

It still makes me laugh how much I long after Dad's acceptance. I felt great, still feeling great, after I asked him if he thought I were lazy. A surprise laugh came out of him and he shook his head and told me, "Anything but..." Hurray! He doesn't think I am lazy. (Yes, I see how pathetic I am when it comes to my Dad.)

I am so glad that Dad is now in Washington. I hope all is well. And congrats to Autumn on her graduation. Not to leave JD behind... he was the star of his graduation. Congrats JD!

I must announce how excited I am that DiAnn and her girls were able to visit Forks and La Push.


I think DiAnn went a little teen on us. Scrambling after any thing free from Forks, driving as fast as Edward did in Randy's hotrod, ordering just what Bella did at the restaurant in Port Angeles. I would have been right there with her if I could have. Also, thanks to DiAnn, I have been able to learn much more about the Quileute tribe, Jacob's tribe. Amazing tribe. I must say, hang onto your culture! Whatever it may be.

Silvina had her twins a month early. She had toxemia. The babies are still in the hospital (they generally stay in until their due date). I am aching to see them.

52 days and 13 hours until Breaking Dawn comes out. What twists await us? I do know that Stephenie (my BFF) will leaves us all happy and content. Everyone will find happiness, even Rosalie will smile. I am sure of it. Jacob must find love. Edward and Bella will get married. Charlie needs something... it breaks my heart to think of Bella disappearing, he would be devastated. By the by, there is a lot of good fishing near Forks, another tidbit I learned thanks to DiAnn's visit. Charlie loves to fish. Oh, and Leah Clearwater must find some happiness.

Love to all!

Stephenie Meyer!

Quick Highlights:


This is what I put on my T-shirt... it looked cute and Stephenie Meyer really liked it! She told me that herself and told us to get our picture taken by Emily, her cousin. Ticee's shirt said, "Fiesty for a peace-loving body snatcher, aren't you?"

We were late making the T-shirts and we had to drive to Toole to pick up my friends sister! So, we were late and missed Stephenie Meyer's 15-20 minute discussion. : ( But, right when we walked in a man came up to Ticee, who was holding Diedrick, and asked if she had gotten her book signed yet. Come to find out, those with babies got to go first!! Even before the people who had camped out the night before to be in the front rows. We all got to go with Ticee and we sneaked in Sally, some girl who's leg hurt.

We went right up and got our books signed. They had to be opened to the title page... two from the Twilight series and as many Hosts as you had. So, I bought extra Host's and got them all personalized. I was so excited! Stephenie told Ticee that her baby was cute, which he is! And she told me that she loved my shirt.

We were done so fast that we didn't know what to do with ourselves. So, we stayed a few minutes and took some pictures... Ticee got to know Stephenie's extended family, aunts and uncles... they loved Diedrick as well. What would we have done without Diedrick! If we would have waited until "our place" in line... since we came in so late we could have waited until 10 or 11 p.m.!! Good times...

Here is a letter I just wrote to Brandon and Kaber. I think it has a funny story in it so I will post it.

May 13, 2008

Dear Brandon and Kaber,

I have been having a hard time getting letters written so I thought I would try getting a letter out to both of you. Apparently you have both been transferred recently to new areas. It is always fun getting to know a new area and new people… but sometimes it is a little frustrating as well. Trying to remember where the streets are or not knowing which members will help you. I think sometimes it is nice for the members, too. They get to meet a better missionary in both of your cases (wink, wink) and they get a clean slate. Maybe before they weren’t that great at helping the elders or maybe they weren’t really active. But now they are on equal footing. I also think it is great for members to be asked to help, even if they don’t say yes. That way they are given an opportunity to choose to serve the Lord… or, you know, the other guy.

I was thinking about how excited I was for Kaber helping the couple get married and then baptizing the father in Spanish. Yippee! Then I remembered one of my funniest baptisms. When I arrived in Satelite they already had an investigator named Raul Ulizar. He was an older gentleman, about 84 if I remember correctly. His friend, in his twenties, maybe a relative, had been baptized in a different area and was so excited about the gospel. The friend sent the missionaries to Raul and he started receiving the discussions. Raul progressed really well and we set a baptism date. His only request was that his friend would baptize him, which we thought was great. Raul would always have a connection with his friend, his baptism and the church.
The baptism day came and we were set. The interviews were done, the pila (font) was full, we had told the Branch President and our Mission Leader, Raul had come to church, members were involved in the talks and the music etc. The baptism was going well and Raul and his friend entered the font. The friend was so nervous but he said the prayer very well. Right after saying, “…in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Amen,” the friend crossed himself before he “dunked” Raul. A cross like the Catholics do!

You can imagine the gasp that spread throughout the room. Everyone was looking around, whispering, in shock, wondering which church they were in. The Branch President and our Mission Leader were beside themselves. They kept asking where we had found this friend that did the baptizing and how do we know if he is worthy? Good point! We hadn’t even thought of asking the friend to bring a “recommend” from his Bishop. Ooops. Silly us.

Anywho, they decided to let the baptism stand and hopefully the records of Raul are entered in the heavens. That was embarrassing… Don’t let just anyone baptize, ya hear. I tell you, what they say is really true, “The gospel has to be true, if not missionaries would have ruined it long ago.” I made some pretty crazy mistakes. But now they are just fun memories. I am pretty sure we didn't do any lasting damage, I hope.

Well, we love you so much! Your parents both told me how fantastic it was to talk to you on Mother’s Day. We are so proud of you and pray for you many times a day. If we don’t mention you in our prayers, Brigham really gets after us. : )

Love ya tons!

WIC...

Today was the dreaded WIC visit. I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get out the door. If you get there late you must reschedule and the end result is you lose milk and cheese and juice. So, we were only a couple minutes late.

There was the nicest lady there waiting for her appointment. She was put together nicely, pretty and pleasantly smiling. I kept watching her and wondering about what happened to my smile? So, I paid attention and I mostly smile when I am alone. Now I am practising smiling even when I am busy with all of my monsters and their fits.

We got a pretty feisty lady to check our income, address, names, etc. She had a couple of little stuffed teddy bears sitting by a plant. S touched a bear and feisty lady snapped at her, "Don't touch that."

Then L & R joined the party looking at the bears. Another lady walked by and threw out, "Don't play." Crazy women... why on earth would they think that toys were going to call the attention of kids? Of course the children should stay away from toys.

I ended up holding a crying L and keeping R & S away from the toys by blocking them out, using my old basketball skills. I also must admit that I said, "Those aren't for kids. Sorry, they thought they were toys."

The only other travesty was that L didn't gain enough weight so we have to add an additional visit. I am not sure if you can recall that this happens every single time. Last time L didn't gain one pound in six months... so we had to return in two months and she had gained two and a half pounds! I believe that was an error in record keeping or something, I mean come on. Well, this time since she weighed 25 1/2 pounds last time and today she weighed 26.4... they are making her come back! She is supposed to gain one pound, not 0.9 of a pound. I have serious issues with their data collection and lack of accuracy. But, thank you for the milk.... that is me trying to be positive.






Last Saturday E and I got a babysitter from the Spanish Branch and headed off to SL. We met Alina and friends at the Bombay House for dinner. Wow, she is fun to be around. Also part of the party were Reno and Star, Alina's brother and his wife; Brian, husband; Emily and Judy, FoA (Friends of Alina) and Aaron, a cousin. They were all spectacular company and it was refreshing to remember that there are many normal, funny people out in the real world. Oh, and the food! Delicious! I think Susan would like it. : ) Ana told me that it is one of her favorite places to eat as well. Small, small world.

The photo is thanks to Alina... did I mention we saw the Sultan? Jasmine's father?

Oh.. and did I mention that my husband is hot....

Death

A friend's daughter died from complications from childbirth this week. It was a lady I taught with in Brigham, she was always so wrapped up with her kids, their lives very intertwined. At the time I couldn't believe that she was so involved with her children's lives, having recently been dropped off in Brigham and finding myself walking to work and to the grocery store. I had a car quickly after the first snow storm. Thank you Janett and Alma, I am still grateful for that loan!

Yesterday I found myself aching for closer ties with my family. The funeral was so beautiful. Her parents talked and her sisters spoke. They took turns talking about qualities they loved about Candace, sharing funny stories and making promises to Candace, now that she can't take care of her kids and her husband. They will step in as a family and wrap them in love. The thing is that they really will. They get together a couple times a month as a family... we fight about getting together once a year. It has really left me a little melancholy. That coupled with the price of gas, cutting traveling plans to shreds, has me in a very somber place.

Candace's mother, my friend Susan, said, "If I could have bottled up your giggles and the little hand prints you left on the windows and walls, I would take them out now and scatter them around the house." It really hit home to me how much we need to appreciate each day. I am determined to focus more on the happy moments than the crazy, vexing moments. My kids do really cute and funny things... but often all I can remember at the end of the day is the messes they made or when they didn't obey. From this day forward, I will document something positive they have done everyday. Sometimes on the blog, sometimes in their journals and other times, more importantly, talking to E and telling the kids personally. Asi sera. So let it be written, so let it be done.

Right now R is moving the rocking chair back and forth while L is hanging half way off. Fun is had by all.

Have I mentioned that S can spell her name. You may be thinking, "Who couldn't spell their name if it was 'S'?" But I was very proud and a little teary eyed when she surprised me by spelling out her name.

One last note on death. A lady in our ward went in to wake her husband up yesterday... and found him dead. Very sad. The funeral is on Monday and as RS we are in charge of the luncheon. Wish us luck!

May none of my loved ones die today.

With love,

Julie

R's Surgery

R had to had some dental work done and so they put her out completely at the surgical center. It was horrible. The anesthesiologist was a very quiet thin man that hunched forward to talk and to listen. He was very soft spoken and kind. After he had explained everything then we "laid" R down on the table. She was fighting and scared, trying to cling on to me. Then they started giving her laughing gas and she wouldn't calm down. All of a sudden she went limp and they sighed like it was a relief and we were done. Then she started curling her arms and legs in weird ways... and it was freaking me out. The anesthesiologist just started pumping the gas more quickly and I was sure she was going to die or have brain damage. The other guy said, "She is still really fighting this." That is when I felt the splatters of my tears bouncing off the table. It was horrid.

She finally stopped contorting herself, and then I had to leave her. I tried to hold back the sobbing as the dentist told me he would hurry so I don't have to worry about her too long. Then I stumbled into the bathroom and had myself a good cry. When I was calm enough, I tried to call E to give him an update... but I found that I really didn't have it together yet.

Eventually they called for me about on hour later and R was just waking up.... mad as could be. I tried to hold her but she was a little psychotic about the IV. She kept yanking on the tube anytime her hands escaped. Trauma. The nurse did come back soon and took out the IV. Then R moved on to the name bands she had on her ankles. She was screaming and kicking, "Off! Off!" I tried to distract her by singing, showing her things, "Look at that curtain," didn't go over so well. Funny, but the thing that did the trick was explaining that as soon as I had some scissors I would cut them off. She calmed right down.

She was pretty clingy for the next couple of hours, but really she did great. This all happened last Wednesday. I had a hard time talking about it, so I couldn't blog it until now. I still cried remembering. It was the weird muscle movements that threw me over the edge. The only thing that is freaking me out now is the follow up calls to see if she is doing OK. The Surgical Center called twice and her dentist just called this morning. Is that normal?

Any who, everybody go brush your teeth right now. I will go brush R's teeth now as well.