20th High School Reunion

You know you're old when you start a conversation with, "It seemed like only yesterday when..."

Well, here I go anyway. "It seems like only yesterday that I was in High School, " and for good measure I'll add, "It seems like only yesterday that I went to my 10th High School reunion." The truth is that 3 weeks ago I went to my 20th High School Reunion and it was super fun. Even though I didn't reach some of my appearance goals (better weight, hair, outfits, etc.), I wasn't held back by these trivial matters. I was extra happy to see each person who attended, to meet spouses and kids, and to get updates on lives. I can't wait for the next time we're together. Here are some pics from the occasion.

Big pictures left to right, top to bottom:
1. Rockelle Rasmussen-Dixon and me. Rockie is one of the 13 girls from Leavitt my age. (Andy Molcak was the only boy our age and I sooooo wished to see him but he didn't make it.) Rockie exudes energy and makes me smile with just a small intonation of her voice.
2. Brad Nielson and me. Brad is an optometrist (asked me about my eyes so he could "write off" his trip--ha!) and has FIVE kids. He is hilarious. I laughed off all the calories of that roast beef dinner! His wife, Amy, is one of my favorite people even though I don't really know her that well. She and I share random interests and personality traits and we seem to attract the same types of men...Australian wannabes. Ha ha ha. Inside joke.
3. Me. It's all about me...riding on the float in the Heritage Days parade.
4. I had to take a picture of my fancy toes for Kenna in case they didn't make the trip home. I needn't have been concerned. They're still going strong and I've been wearing black sandals and anything that matches for nearly a month now.
5. Jana Atwood-Jensen, Stephanie Phillips-MacDonald, Sue Scott-Warmink and me. I love these girls. There are too many happy, funny, sad, embarrassing, crazy stories to share about this little group. Quincey Gladstone-Atkin and Tracey Leavitt-Bright would have made this mini reunion group complete. We have GOT to get together before another 10 years drifts by.
Small pictures left to right, top to bottom:
1. Marlon Michel and all his hot dogs.
2. Rockelle-Rasmussen Dixon and Sheri Bingham-Terpstra. Sheri was a great surprise! She and her husband, John kept their table laughing all night.
3. Cliff Baldwin won my vote for being the most helpful in contacting people before the reunion and for being the most friendly at our parties...and it's not just the freckles talkin', Cliff.
4. Sherylee Doig-Kartchner (with her hubby, Monte) was a total honey when I called to ask her to bring a grill to our picnic. She and her family are off to Arizona to start a new, WARMER adventure there. Good luck, guys.
5. Shelley Kormos-Quinton. Looooove Shelley. She's the most calm and dependable person. She sweet-talked her husband into driving us on the float in the parade and brought her uber-handsome, taaaaall boys to our family picnic.
6. Lisa Johnson and Reed Lawlor. Lisa was another good surprise. It was a relief to have someone show up who hadn't recevied a formal invitation and wasn't upset by the fact! Reed was a rockstar and a rock. He helped me a ton by running errands, driving me to the Friday activity, and by not thinking I was a complete idiot when being an emotional disaster.
7. Mrs. Rusty Walker, Rusty, and Marlon Michel. This pic says it all. Marlon entertained everyone with his great, although somewhat elaborated on stories all night. Rusty was friendly and had one of the best looking spouses there :-)
8. Kevin Smith sporting a fu-man-chu and a mullet. He deliberately ignored my plea not to wear a HOOTERS shirt to the family picnic. Ha ha.
9. Jason Lehr. Even quieter than in High School!
10. Andrea Creed and fiance and Kevin Leavitt and fiance. Love was in the air. We nearly had to get Kevin and the future mrs. a room!!
11. Steve Rasmussen and darling, happy wife.
12. Duane Beazer and wife, Patricia. Duane was another helpful guy to have around. He still lives in Cardston and was able to contact people about our plans. He was the only one who recognized a few of our classmates because he's seen them around a little.
13. Our not-so fancy parade float and signs.
14. Corey Jarvis and wife. Another happy, beautiful couple. Their four kids look just like their daddy!
15. Wade Henniger doing what he's famous for!
16. Dale Antal and wife of less than a year. Dale is the only guy I didn't recognize. He was super out-going and had a great time being our mystery guest.