We got to visit with Evanses the end of April!  It was so fun to get to see them all.  How the kids have grown!  It was great to just hang out and watch them do what they do.  The weather was mostly pretty cold and wet so we didn't go anywhere or do anything outside very much.  It was fun to see the little boys play in the rain and water.  They loved to get out in it and Susan was great to let them do it.

Matthew seeing pictures of himself playing in the rain and water outside.

Kids having cocoa and toast after a rainy day at school.  

Serious practice at the piano.  Alice also takes flute and is good at practicing it too.  Robert also takes piano and does very well with his practicing.

We got to take Alice and Robert to the skating rink one day.  They skated and did really well, but then decided they wanted to also play some games with the money Alice had brought.  They played some of them together as she shared her money with Robert, but then she decided that it wasn't worth the money to get what they got as prizes.  

We were glad Alice decided not to spend all her money.  It's pretty painful for us to see her hard won money go down the drain like that.  But you have to try it out once or twice and then decide.  

One day Susan thought it was dry enough for us to try to plant potatoes.  She has the garden in her yard and she also has this piece of ground in a public garden area that she wants to develop.  We dug and dug and planted but then it started to rain again and so we had to stop.  Matthew wasn't very impressed with the gardening.  He and Dad finally went over to the playground to check out the swings and climbing things.  Susan put this barrier around her plot to try to keep out the varmints.  

We loved getting to visit and it was hard to leave.  And we look forward to seeing them all again at the reunion!

When we got home and were at the temple Brother Beaman said he just had some little tortoises hatch!  Well we had to go see them!  Lara and Sarah and Heather and we went over and checked out their new babies.  

They are so little and so cute and perfect!!  They have to keep them in the house and make sure they are kept at the right temperature and get the food and water they need.  It seems strange that they can even survive in nature!  The adult tortoises are about the size of a breadbox and have elephant looking feet.  They aren't turtles, but tortoises.  They have several of them and they are also kept at the right temperature and fed just the right things.  These are eating some romaine that we brought.  

And the latest thing we experienced was dinner out to celebrate Jer's birthday!  He turned 80 yesterday!  He looks pretty tired here because we had served all afternoon at the temple and met the family for dinner at Saltgrass Restaurant at 6.  Heather had gotten there first and got us started with a reservation.  It was to be an hour and a half wait since it was also graduation night and also Saturday night before a three day weekend.  

Finally got a table and finally got to eat.  We had a really good dinner and lots of good company.  Jon treated us all.  Dad had prime rib and took home a piece of cheesecake.  That's all the cake we needed since we are all trying to be careful and maybe lose a little weight to fit into our clothes more comfortably.  And what a treat it was to have Mike call at just the right moment to wish him a happy birthday!  

The bishop came tonight to give Dad his official release from the peanut butter factory so he is free of that now, and we asked if maybe they could use us in the mission home for something.  We could file papers or even inspect the apartments or whatever they may need.  It's good to feel useful.  

I finished bowling this past week too.  It's over for the summer and will start again in August. That last day we played "double tap" which means if the first ball you throw leaves just one pin then it counts as a strike.  I loved that because I got some really good scores!   My best and final score was  168!!  My average is 96.  And they also passed out awards and I got $146 back for one thing and another.  Not too shabby!  It was a fun day.  I told Dad that with that money I plan to buy him a bowling ball and shoes and a bag.  We bowl together on Tuesdays in Humble because it's $2 day and he always picks out a ball from the rack and rents shoes and sometimes he can't find the ball he likes.

So now we have a wedding and a farewell and a reunion to look forward to.  And maybe a baby blessing if we are there at the right time.  We dearly love being with our family!  Thank you for being who you all are.  We love you so much!