First Day of School 2008-2009

Today it was back to school....McKenna is in 5th grade and has Mrs. Garoutte and Calvin is in 1st grade and his teacher is Mrs. Jenkins...both seem really nice. The kids were very excited last night and both slept with me which meant Will slept in Calvin's bedroom. (he prefers that bed honestly) Half way through the night Calvin decided to join Will and wanted to talk to him and expressed some nervousness about school. Will said Calvin must have said about 20 prayers to have a good first day. :o) McKenna was nervous but that girl can sleep. :o)






This is Conner a friend & class mate of Kenna's they walked to their line together so I could walk Calvin to his class which was on the other side of the campus.





They both said they had a great day! They got to see old friends and make a few new ones and are ready to try it again tomorrow.

Name Sake....Grandpa Leslie

Earlier this week I was sitting at the table with McKenna and out of the blue she began asking me the two Grandpa's that have died in our family...Will's step-Dad that raised him Fitz and my Grandpa Leslie. Tragically my Grandpa Leslie died on 8/7/1974 which was 2 weeks exactly before I was born so 34 years ago. He drove a semi truck and hauled gasoline, one evening he was driving to Gallup, NM when several horses ran out onto the 2 lane highway, he tried to miss them and his truck which was fully loaded somehow exploded. (I don't know if he hit a horse or not - according to the article he did hit one of the many horses) Because it was out in the middle of no where on the reservation, there was little anyone could do and rescue crews had to come from far away. His truck burned for hours and hours...they only found 30 lbs of him as a result. I was told that there were burn marks on this highly traveled road for years and years. This was especially hard for the family wondering if he suffered or if he could have been saved etc. As you can imagine this was extremely devastating to everyone who knew him and loved him especially his wife and their 10 children. My Mom, his daughter was big pregnant at the time and decided that she would name the baby Leslie after her Daddy.
This is the article that the insensitive paper put out...it wasn't accurate and wasn't very nice considering that it made him sound like he was speeding, driving wrecklessly and didn't mention he had been a trucker for a long time and was trying to not crash or mention his family or his life in the military etc. They didn't take him to the hospital either as the article says...but you can see what is left of his truck.



This was his last Christmas Dec. 1973 with his Mother and two of my cousins...he is holding Jenny Hamblin and his Mom I think is holding Glenna Taylor.


A picture of Grandpa Leslie with his 5 boys my Uncles Monte, Grandpa, Rusty, bottom row is Jerry, Phillip and Mark not sure what year it was taken but I know it was one of the last pictures.

I've often thought of him and loved hearing the stories about him. I've always felt a special connection with him even though I've never met him, at least here on earth. I'm sad that he died and proud to bare his name. He was and I'm sure still is a wonderful and honorable man, husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather who is dearly missed. My Grandma Glenna his widow remarried but still remains sealed and in love with her true love Leslie Hathcock.

Thank you to my Aunt Toni who scanned and emailed these pictures to me today!!!

More Fun Times at Amazing Jakes

We went to Amazing Jakes which is an all you can eat buffet (salad, soup, potatoe, pizza, pasta and dessert bar), indoor laser tag, rock climbing, arcade, several rides, mini train, bowling, mini golf, bumper cars and go karts all indoors! We had a blast we got there at like 3pm and ate, went and played til 8pm,ate again and headed home around 8:30pm. We were full and had a blast! Just look at these pictures...they crack me up especially my Mom driving that semi truck game! I would highly suggest going on a Tuesday before 3pm to get the discounted all day pass and staying til as late as you want or closing time which is 10pm...well worth the money! Super Fun!

What a fun week!

We had such a great time with my Mom, Sister Brandy and two little sweeties Kyah & Adia! They flew in on Sunday and went to church with us which ended up being my last Sunday in Relief Society for who knows how long because I was called into Nursery & in cub scouts as the committee chair (that's another story in it's self). Anyways we all gained about 5-8 pounds during the week that they were here with all of the good cooking each of us did. The kids had a blast playing and I'll be blogging more fun stories later this week. We took a trip to Springerville/Eagar, Arizona to visit some of my Mom's brother's and sisters & cousins etc. WE had a great time and were treated very well with our Uncle Jerry putting us up in their beautiful new home and all of the home cooking by Aunt Susan & Auntie Debbie! So much fun visiting with everyone! We drove back home Saturday evening and then I had to return them to the airport Sunday morning. Boo Hoo!!! We were sad the rest of Sunday missing them already!

Thanks for coming we had a blast and only wish it were longer or that we lived in the same city so we could play all of the time! Thanks to Pops & Tyson for letting your special girls come & visit us!

Fun Times at Amazing Jakes

Too Cute!!! Or at least I think so!

These two are so cute! I love it when Calvin

wears a hat he looks adorable and we are still loving McKenna's beautiful new hair do! They are growing up too fast!!!!!

SO EXCITED......My Mom & Brandy are coming!!!

I'm so excited my Mom, Sister and two nieces are flying in tomorrow Sunday morning around 11am and are staying until the following Saturday afternoon! I have to work the entire week but at least it's only from 8am til noon Mon - Fri....so FAMILY if you are in town I know they would love to see you...come on over or maybe we can meet up in the afternoon or evening while they are here! :o) We want to take them to Amazing Jakes, a museum and a water park or pool during their stay and you're welcome to join us! We can go out to eat or have a bbq....