Spring break and other fun

The picture where I am standing is with one of my 8th grade classes. The picture where I am kneeling is with my seniors. In other schools where I have been, wearing black clothes is associated with depression, being "goth" or gothic, or even veganism or vegetarianism. Not so here. The kids just really like the color black. I don't pretend to understand it.
Dear Family and Friends

Spring break was adventurous. We went to the dentist for the girls. No cavities! That was a blessing. Diana had some dental work done too. It was really great to see family and friends on our trip.
We were surprised when Roger called and said that he would be coming down, so we got to see those guys. That was really great. Dave and Ging had a hot dog roast in their back yard and we decided to use Dutch ovens and the hot coals and bury some meat in a pit. After several hours, the meat came out delicious as well as some Dutch oven bread that Ginger made.
I was also reminded of how much I hate working on sheetrock when I helped ed for a few hours on a couple of days putting mud on the walls. I really hope when I get to the point of building a house, I will be able to afford hiring someone else to do the sheetrock. I think Ed hopes I will hire someone else. I’m not positive, but he might just dislike the stuff as much as me.
We have had elder hostel volunteers for our last two weeks of teaching. The elder hostel assigned to my room before spring break was a master teacher named Phil Rice, from the San Francisco area. He taught for 30 years and he was very good at it. He took over one day teaching for me, and he just had those kids’ full attention for all 30 minutes he was talking. He was talking about writing format and they were staring open-mouthed like he was revealing lost city of Atlantis. He keeps bees and has worked with juvenile delinquents as a volunteer. It was really good for me to spend time talking to him and learning from him.
My elder hostel volunteer this week was Lynn Barber for Colorado Springs. She was very nice and patient with me. She taught English for 24 years and was obviously an effective teacher too. These folks pay their own way out here and just want to help. It is a neat program.
Mahrin is walking in her walker a little now…the first walking since her surgery in January. She is mostly just supporting her weight with her arms, but she is still pushing with her feet. Dr. Stevens, her surgeon, came down to Blanding Friday and it was reassuring to hear him say that everything was looking fine. He prescribe her Baclofen to loosen her leg muscles, and that has been helping with her spasticity.
Lara is apparently feeling adventurous today. She and Sadie wandered off twice in search of adventure without telling us where they were going. She loves “cooking” which so far has resulted in the smearing of some yogurt mixed with water and some sliced up bread and mutilated apples.
Sadie is a strong-willed one who knows how to diffuse a hard situation. As I was herding them back to the house, they knew they were in trouble. Sadie looked over her shoulder at me and called, “Look out Lara, there’s a monster behind us!”
Lara told her that it wasn’t a monster, it was their daddy.
Adelaide is standing up to things and gabbling on quite a bit about things. She is so patient. Twice in the last couple of days, I have gone in to see if she has woken up from naps, and she has just been playing quietly in her crib.
Diana stays busy with good things. She has been taking an online class for registered nurses from Murray Chunn’s (my nephew by marriage) mom. It has been challenging and fulfilling for her.

Pictures of the girls

Here are some pictures of the girls.

Pictures from top left:

Lara loses a tooth

Adelaide in her cool hat

Sadie wonders what will happen next

Our family, less baby, in a tube on a perilous slope

Adelaide in her most common environment

Dear Family and Friends,

            Where to begin?  Our family rotated through sickness from Thanksgiving to Christmas, but we finally got better.  We had Christmas here, and after Santa got done at our house, it looked like a pink plastic bomb had exploded.  There were dollies, castles, and hair accessories galore.  David, my big brother, was appalled when I told him what Santa had brought to our house.  “What did you get?” he asked hopefully.  I got just what I wanted, a set of hard-anodized titanium/aluminum alloy cookware that is durable and nonstick to the extreme.  My brother was not impressed with my masculine acquisitions.  I told him I also got some dark chocolate.  He is probably still worrying about me as I write this.  He will probably never understand my world in a house full of estrogen.

            Diana also got the cookware, and we are both happy with it.  We enjoyed getting lots of family pictures and newsletters.  Thank you.

            We left Christmas day and drove through a blizzard.  We were the only tire tracks in the snow on the road through most of Wayne County. We finally arrived at Dan and Lisa’s house at 1:30 in the morning.  The next day we were able to see Lorelei and Jason, Roger and Johanna, David and Ginger, and Melanni, so the adventurous trip was worthwhile.  I should add that we drove through snow and ice almost the entire way and the Blue Bullet didn’t slip once.

            There was one interesting aspect of driving.  I was asleep as we drove toward Capitol Reef National Park.  When I woke up, Diana was driving our packed minivan at over 50 mph around the tight corners that feel dangerous in dry conditions at 40.  She was doing this through five to six inches of freshly fallen snow.  I couldn’t believe it!  She usually drives too slow for my taste, especially when it is dark.  I thought she must me living on the edge.  We would hit the curves which come every two or three seconds at that speed at about 45 miles per hour, then she would floor it and accelerate through the curve like she expected to come out on the straightaway at the Indianapolis 500.  I sat with muscles clenched and eyes wide.  She later claimed that she thought the road was covered in dust or just looked a very uniform gray.  Imagine her surprise when she stopped in the middle of the road when I insisted on driving and she was standing ankle deep in powdery snow!

            We spent a fun and eventful week in Kanosh for the break.  Highlights were test driving cars in Utah Valley and our 8^th anniversary, and of course, spending time with family.

            I really enjoyed hanging out with Steve and Roger, and learning all kinds of cool stuff from Steve that I would have never even thought of. 

            It was fun to see everyone else too. 

            Well, time flies.  Gotta run.

Love you guys,

Lewis, Diana, and the girls