Heidi & Trace (Dick)

June 1, 2009
LaVerkin, UT


Dear Family,

We hope everyone is well and that you had a fun Memorial Day weekend. I think this was one of the funnest we’ve ever had. It started with Tracey’s high school graduation on Friday, May 22. It was held at Dixie State College in St. George at 11:00 a.m. Trace and I both took the day off work. After the ceremony and lots of pictures with her friends, I took Tracey to a pretty spot in St. George to take more pictures. They turned out so cute. We went out to lunch at Olive Garden, then took Tracey over to the Alltel store to get her first cell phone. The boys are pretty jealous. She had grad night from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. at the Washington City Community Center. They have several pools, a water slide, lazy river, a climbing wall and Guitar Hero. They also had access to the basketball courts, etc. It was built last year; it’s really nice and big, too. She won $35 in a drawing, which paid for her ticket to grad night. They also gave the seniors a t-shirt, a towel and a small knapsack that had their theme “Catch the Wave” on them.

We left for California at 8:30 a.m., so Tracey spent most of the car trip sleeping. As soon as we arrived at Trace’s sister’s (Stephanie) house, it was time to get ready for a late Cinco de Mayo party in honor of Trace’s late brother (Gordon or “Yo”). It was hosted by Yo’s business partner. All of the adults and oldest kids in our families were there, except Trace’s mom. It was fun getting to know the people who worked with Yo and actually knew him better than we did. They are really nice people and thought very highly of Yo. Sunday we went to church in Mission Viejo. They had a great sacrament meeting in honor of the Restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood. Several young men and leaders spoke and gave very good talks. They did a great job singing “The Army of Helaman”. After church, we drove to Glendora to spend some time with Adam, Erik and Katie. Erik gave us some juggling tips and Adam showed us video of his debut as Mel Zorro at his latest company party. His original song, “Love is a Warm Tortilla” was great!

Monday we had an Allen Family barbeque and slip ’n slide party, hosted by our niece, Jackie. Everyone was there except one neice who lives in Colorado. That hasn’t happened in at least 10 years! They have a gigantic slip ‘n slide. It starts on a 3’high inflatable deck/slide that water sprays on. You hold an inflatable board, get up some speed and launch yourself onto the deck and see how far you can go. There are 3 inflatable “bumps” to get over, but the slope of the yard made most people (especially the lightweight ones) slide off before the second one. The whole thing is about 30’ long and very fun. That evening, we went over to my Mom’s house for dinner. We ate outside in the shady yard and had a good visit. There are bunnies in their yard. There used to be lizards and frogs when I was little. It’s like a park. Instead of the gravel that used to be on the ground there is grass. They have taken out the old rotting swingset and playhouse and planted a lot more trees. The boys enjoy playing with Naoki, Mom’s Japanese college student boarder.

Tuesday, we went to Lake Elsinore with Stephanie’s family. We filled up their 12 passenger van and half of their big truck. It was a perfect day – not too hot, not crowded at all. Their oldest son, Jared, was visiting from Colorado. He’s in college. Most of us knee boarded. Ethan got up on the wake board, too. Tracey tried valiantly, but didn’t quite get it. The other boys got close, too. Maybe next time. It was so nice to have a day where I didn’t care what time it was. We just visited, took turns on the boat and played with the kids. They made a great big volcano castle and I made a little one with my nephew, Zale (2 ½). He’s a cutie. Wednesday was Trace’s day to get his bank business done with his mom. Tracey and I got to drive Stephanie’s cute yellow VW bug convertible around for a few hours in the morning for some last minute dorm room shopping. That was fun. Have you been to an IKEA store? They are huge! We had lunch there, but didn’t end up buying anything. We didn’t leave until 3:30 p.m. The traffic wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be. I got to drive for a few hours in the middle to break things up. Trace and I listened to a book on CD about a family with an autistic child (“Faraway Child”).

Wednesday it’s off to Girls Camp for Tracey and me. We’re going up to a cabin at Panguitch Lake – about 2 hours north and east of here. I don’t think I’ve ever been there. I hope the weather is okay. We’re planning to canoe and hike and geocache. Fun, fun, fun! The boys look forward to it, too. Four days without girls (mostly Mom) sounds great to them.

We finished a patio under our barbeque with 16” x 16” pavers before we left on our trip. It took two separate trips to Lowe’s to get it all. It was heavy. The boys did most of the loading, unloading and lifting, except for the final step which Trace did. That was great for our backs. Those things weigh 25 lbs. each! It looks nice now and should cut down on some of the mud the dog tracks into the house. We also camoflauged the dog run with a long reed mat. It looks 100% better. Sam thinks we need a few palm trees next to it. That was kind of funny to hear from him. : )

The other big news is that I am now the Administrator at my office The full-time lady got laid off due to the economy, so now I am doing both of our jobs (running the whole office) part-time. My boss (Chairman of the Board) told me to choose the three most important things and make sure they get done. The rest is just icing The hard part is that we are in the process of planning two big events right now. One is a Golf Ball Drop Fundraiser at the county fair (August) and the other is called the Day of Caring (September), which is a day of service to the community. I have a hard time just working my 4 hours a day. I really didn’t want a job with any stress attached to it, just a little income and time with adults. I really liked the lady I worked with. I used to look forward to going to work. We’ll see how it goes. Trace is really busy at work, too. I keep trying to remember to be grateful that we both have jobs.

Tracey is looking for a job. She had an interview at Buckle (a clothing store in the mall) today. She thought it went well. She should know the results in a few days.

Take care. Love,
Trace, Heidi & kids