Seminary Graduation

High school graduation didn't include refreshments.

We just got home from seminary graduation. I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was so massively better than high school graduation that I couldn't help but be impressed.

My favorite highlight was when one of my freshman students (Halden) played a number on the organ. And he played it just the way I like it. Loud and fast. I knew I could count on him. He really is quite talented - he has actually played on the Tabernacle organ and the organ at the Conference Center. He promised me that someday when he is a famous organist he will dedicate a piece to me - "In honor of my freshman seminary teacher...who likes her hymns loud and fast"....or something like that.

Pomp and Circumstance

That's a lot of empty seats to fill...
There's Alex - next to last row about the 7th from the left (he's just this side of a short kid)

See that lighted area near the top of the picture? That's where we were sitting. Yup, nosebleed section.

Steve pretty much had to sprint from one side of the arena to the other side to get these last two pictures (Alex in line and Alex crossing the stage). Yea Alex. Yea Steve.

And here's the Boy Wonder himself.

The Family Robe

Appearing for the 5th time tonight!

We bought this robe for David - back in the day. I think it cost around $30. Every child of ours that has graduated from MPHS has worn this baby. We totally lucked out the year Stephanie graduated - she was assigned to wear red that year (the school colors are red and white). Usually most of the girls wear the white robe (which can be incredibly tacky - depending on what they wear under it). Lucky us. We didn't have to fork out another $30 bucks for another robe.

I had to have Steve haul out the sewing machine this morning - the bottom 4 or 5 inches of the zipper had come unsewn. Easy fix.

I need to make sure I have extra batteries for the camera tonight. One more set of pictures of the family robe. Yea, Alex!

Seminary Breakfast/Final Day!

My class drew and wrote notes to me. Even one or two siblings of classmates wrote a note.

We had a pretty good turn-out. I think we counted about 65 kids - out of a possible 80ish. Considering the fact that it is graduation day and half of the seniors didn't come, that's a pretty respectable showing.

My class. From left to right: Halden, Jared, Olivia, Kate, Preston, Me, Melanie, Heidi, Kate, Derek and Bruce. We had a great year together - quite the awesome group of kids. Now we can all go back to normal human sleeping schedules.

There's a Dinosaur in my Freezer...

..and he's hiding on the shelf under the Otter Pops.

Today is Stephanie's birthday. I think she's 26. Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday.

A couple of weeks ago I made a space shuttle cake for Trevor - he loved it. I was talking to Stephanie afterwards - I volunteered to make a cake for her. Trevor heard me and piped up with his suggestion. A dinosaur cake. For lack of a better idea, a dinosaur cake it is. I admit that it's not quite up to my usual standard...but in my defense it was nearly 90 degrees in my house last night AND I was running a fever (a reaction to the DPT shot that I had gotten the day before).

And there you go.

Enriching the Health Care Industry...One Appointment at a Time.

I had a physical yesterday. Well, part of a physical. Unfortunately circumstances conspired against me and I will have to return in a couple of weeks for the part that couldn't be done yesterday. Dang. My doctor also set me up for my annual mammogram...as I knew she would. She also suggested I make an appointment with my orthopedist - to answer some questions about my wrist/shoulder situation. And she set up an appointment with a gastroenterologist...since I'll be 50 this year (if you don't know what that one's for, don't ask - you don't WANT to know...trust me).

I also have my regular physical therapy sessions coming up.

Did I mention that Steve made appointments with the eye doctor for the entire family?

Our Man in Japan

Dear Family and Friends,

It`s great to hear that you`re all still doing well. I hope those who have a birthday on June 4th are able to enjoy it.

My past week has been pretty good. On Tuesday we had interviews with President McIntyre and received some great advice as always.

On Wednesday Elder Obata and I went on an exchange and just had a really good day as far as proselyting and teaching is concerned. I`m often surprised by the people who stop and talk with us. I`m sure I`ve talked to more different people on my mission than my whole life before my mission.

We helped some members move on Saturday, fortunately they`re staying within the ward`s boundaries.

Anyways, on to other stuff I guess. Congratulations on making it one month on food storage. I hope you enjoy a lot of fresh produce and non-powdered milk among other things tomorrow. If it were me I`d buy some chocolate milk to celebrate :P. Unfortunately good chocolate milk is hard to find and expensive in Japan. Oh well, the sushi is a lot easier to find here :).

The weather is getting warmer still. It`s not too hot most of the time but the humidity makes it a little uncomfortable sometimes. Oh yeah I forgot to mention last week I got to go to a fireside hosted by the BYU Wind Symphony Orchestra. They were originally going to have it up in Ibaraki but because of the swine flu they ended up doing it in this stake instead.

Well I guess that`s it for this week. Really not much to say I guess. If you emailed a recipe for regular pancakes and a recipe for waffles I`d appreciate it. I don`t think those recipes are in the family cookbook.

Sincerely,
Elder West.