Michael cooked a gourmet dinner on Mother's Day. Here's the assembly line putting the shish-ka-bobs together. Oh, my. They were SO good.

Alex and Max the day Alex was baptized. (Max interpreted the missionary discussions.)

Alex came up for breakfast today and said, "hey, my dreams last night were in the English language!" It's May 24th which means he's been here exactly five months. Alex's English has drastically improved over the last week or so. His reading and writing have also improved substantially. Alex gave an oral report (with props and exhibits) on Denmark a few days ago. He reported that his teacher was very impressed and asked the other children what it would be like to go to Ukraine and give a report in Ukrainian in only five months.

Don't get me wrong, there's still challenges, but all in all he's doing really well. He seems to be getting along better with his peers, doesn't complain much about what we feed him, and fights very little when it's time for reading and homework.

Alex was baptized a couple weeks ago and was ordained a deacon yesterday. He seems as if he's taking it very seriously. He's excited to pass the sacrament this Sunday.

We spoke to Eric Saturday evening. He is scheduled to fly to Bagdad Tuesday morning for a couple of weeks. He says the heat there is tough to handle, 112 degrees for a few days. He said it's cooled a little. They have a swimming pool, but his group works such long hours that he never gets a chance to enjoy it.

We're gearing up for Gage's wedding in two weeks (June 5). It snowed today, and not just a little. But, the nice thing about spring snowfalls is the snow's gone in an hour or less and the grass is all nice and green. We just hope the cold weather does not damage our flowers and vegetables we planted a few days ago.

Alex has been meeting with the missionaries in our home for the last couple months. It has been a wonderful experience for our entire family. Max, a returned missionary who served in Russia, has been helping us with the interpreting, although Alex really understands so much without interpretation. We have had some great discussions, and I truly believe Alex has a pretty good understanding of things. Today while I was playing the piano, he came and sat by me and asked me what the Holy Ghost felt like. Before I could even answer, he asked me if it felt like the sun was shining on you and making you feel warm inside when you felt sad about something. I told him "Yes." He said, "Oh, I already felt that." One day he was intent on finding out who Heavenly Father's father is. We finally just told him it didn't matter, some things we don't need to know, but it told us he was thinking about things. We had our last missionary discussion tonight and went through the baptismal questions. He had a clear understanding of each question. He has developed a good relationship with Max and Elder Hill and Elder Reams. I will never forget the look of surprise and happiness on his face the night we talked about eternal families and that he could some day return to Heavenly Father and be with his family forever. It was a totally new concept to him. Alex's baptism is this Friday, May 14, at 6:00 p.m. at our church, 5980 South 1300 West. We invite all friends and relatives to join us for the special occasion.

Marissa and I attended a fun shower for Emily at her Aunt Char's house. It was a "time" shower. Each guest was assigned a time of day, and they brought gifts that would be used at that time. For instance, Marissa and I were assigned 8:00 a.m., so we gave Emily a waffle iron, etc., things that would be used at 8:00 a.m. It was really fun. I had never attended that kind of shower before.

These are Emily's cute cousins.

All kinds of laundry supplies to be used at 10:00 a.m.

Oops! Slinky honeymoon attire!

We met Michael's side of the family at Olive Garden to celebrate his mom's birthday. Sixteen of us squished into a tiny room. It's what you call "family togetherness." It was very fun. Afterwards we went to Jay and Linda's for birthday cake. Happy birthday, Leila!

Wedding dress shopping with Marissa. Sorry, but I can't show the one she chose. She looked gorgeous in all of them, however. It was such a fun afternoon wedding dress shopping with my only daughter.

Random shot of Marissa and Zack

Checking out the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, which is where they've decided to be wed.