Monday, April 19, 1999

Dear Steven, Grandy, Pappy, Grandmother, and Granddaddy,

I think we skipped spring and jumped into summer. Our weather went from cold, wet, windy weather to sunny, hot "shorts" days in one weekend. Last week we had temperatures in the 80's and even low 90's whereas the week before we were waking up to temperatures around freezing and were wearing our winter coats with blankets over our legs while we watched the boys' sports events. All of the trees have leafed out, and the shrubs and flowers are all blooming. The hillsides are really beautiful. I'm expecting to have a happy medium for the next few days.

We had a nice week last week. I didn't work at all and was able to catch up on household things. I went for morning walks with my friend Wendy several mornings, and Lisa, Linda, and I went for a hike at Rancho San Antonio on Thursday. We saw lots of wildlife--some quail (without babies yet), a rabbit, a baby rattlesnake, lots of lizards, and a lot of other birds. I found out that we were actually on the news when we were interviewed about the aggressive turkeys attacking people during mating season. Neither Linda nor I saw it, but Lisa saw it on the 5:00 news (but couldn't figure out how to tape it). Oh, well! A reporter from the San Jose Mercury News also interviewed me last week. He was writing an article on the sophomore portfolio program that I am helping with at the high school. He recognized that I was one of the parents at the school board meeting a few weeks back and asked me a few follow-up questions about that, too. I haven't seen his article yet.

Michael spent his week anticipating the band trip. He managed to get through his work, but his heart was on the trip. He did well at his track meet at Palo Alto High School and said that he improved his distances by ten feet. They were concentrating on weight lifting during the week, and Michael was pleased to see how much stronger he is now. Michael's literature class finished reading Romeo and Juliet last week and did their performances. Michael chose the part of a monk because it didn't have too many lines. (How different from you, Steven!) He performed it flawlessly (according to Michael) and is glad to have that behind him. Now he is busy reading his enrichment book and has two projects due on the Monday after spring break.

Michael's band trip was a lot of fun. He had to be at the school at 5:30 a.m. Friday. They took buses to Los Angeles and went to Universal Studios that day. They roomed four to a room, and Michael was with good friends. They swam for two hours after getting to their motel and didn't go to bed until long after midnight. On Saturday, they went to Disneyland from 9:00 a.m. until midnight. On Sunday, they went to Magic Mountain before heading for home. They got in around 10:30, and Michael was home by 11:00. It didn't take him long to shower and go to bed, and he is still asleep now at 1:00 Monday afternoon. He must not have slept much on the trip!

David came down with a new cold last week, and it drained him of energy for several days. He coughed so hard that he threw up Thursday night, so he stayed home on Friday except to go in and take a test on Tom Sawyer. He didn't want that hanging over him during spring break. He has to catch up on his journal during the break, but he is caught up on everything else. David played two games of baseball during the week, and Steve took some pictures of him. His team lost a close game on Wednesday by one point. His coaches took the team out for pizza afterwards because they have played so well this season. They easily won their game Saturday morning, so David was happy about that.

David has had a great weekend because his two best friends, John and Aaron, came over on Saturday night and are still here. They go to different schools this year, so their schedules don't match very well. Consequently, they have had very little playtime, and they are enjoying catching up. They play outside for awhile and then inside for awhile. They are really compatible, so it makes it very easy for me. We took the boys to Comedy Sportz on Friday night, and they had a lot of fun there. John's parents took them to play miniature golf last night, and I will take them ice skating later today. I am taking them home later this afternoon, but David is going to John's house after scouts until tomorrow afternoon. I wonder if they will be ready for a break by then.

Steven, we are getting ready for our trip to see you this week and are really excited about it. We will drop off Beau at the doggy hotel at 9:00 a.m. and then head south. I hope you won't have too much homework hanging over you. You certainly are doing a good job of staying on top of your workload.

We are meeting Cathy and Michael Kalisvaart at UCLA Wednesday afternoon so that Steven can show Michael around. We will get the tour at the same time. David will stay overnight with Steven Wednesday night, and Michael will stay with Steven on Thursday and Friday nights. Michael is planning to attend some or all of Steven's classes with him on Friday, too. We are not too sure about our other activities while we are there, but we know that we will go to Universal Studios one day. Steven's college bowl team has advanced (by forfeit) to the next round, and they compete on Thursday night, so we need to be back to the school in plenty of time that day. We will return home on Sunday by mid-afternoon.

Mother and Daddy, I'm glad you had a good trip to Beaumont. I hope your trip to Clifton and the Hickerson reunion will be fun. We will talk to you after we both get back from our trips.

Bennett and Charlie, thank you for keeping us up to date on all the family news. Give our love to Doris. We will have to try her new phone number soon.

Have a good week.

Love,