OK, I still don't know how to do photos on this spot. However, I believe I can write something of our visit. It has been a great time visiting Tom, Tracey, Hayden, Mike, Brooke, Jane, Sadie and Ellie for the past week. Every night has involved some type of sport on TV or some combat-related event on X-Box. Hayden still believes he is running the program with the controller; Jane cooks wonderful snickerdoodles, Ellie just keeps smilin', Sadie....with her "to the core" smile...a real cutie, Mom...another year older and caught up to me; Mike...just getting ancient like me.......and get this: Brooke and Tracey climed a rock climb at the local sporting goods store...like up 50 feet to the bell...amazing! I should not have doubted their ability to do it. They are tough women. We made numerous trips out to the local malls, drooled over the Apple IPOD stuff...but, hey, came out with empty bags. We resisted the temptations...and the cost.

We had a nice trip to BA and Geoff's new condo in Troy, Mich. Another nice trip to have Thanksgiving at Dennis and Lexi's home. You can see by the pictures from ofoto that it was a big event...35 people. Hey, Brent...clear you inbox so you can receive my OFOTO inputs. I keep getting error codes that your machine won't accept the ofoto sharing feature.

We are going to Kirtland tonight for a lighting ceremony and nativity showing. We then to to Lexi's for the night as Dennis is taking us to the airport tomorrow morning. Mike and Brooke and family leave tonight for Ft Benning. They changed their travel plans from Monday to Sunday so the trip won't be so rigorous on all of them.

Mom and I wish we could see all of you at once. We will have made the goal of seeing all of you by the end of January. I believe we are headed down to San Diego in January (mid) to visit Marnie, Brent and Buffy. We look forward to the next time we can all get together and enjoy the family all at once. There is a Duker reunion in 2006 in Eden, Utah. We are dropping the 2005 summer Florida Schick-Stinch reunion. Mom and I are rallying to put a business plan together and if we go into private practice, this coming summer will be a very busy time for us.

More to follow in future blogs. We miss all of you. We both realize that there are only so many times in life when you can have all of your descendants together in one spot at a given time. The last time usually involves Zippa Dee Doo Dah. Love, Dad

Well Kim, it seems like Treven is a great guy and I'm glad to hear you are doing so well. You forgot to mention (or you weren't aware) that Brent and I will also be up next month.
I'm flying up the day after Christmas and Brent will come up on our anniversary on the 2nd of January. We will be in town till the 8th. Did I mention I can't wait?
But before that, I have to survive finals in which I have spent the entire day studying for the first of many exams. Brent has survived the dreaded day after Thanksgiving in retail and is having great success with his store thus far.
Brent and I had a good thanksgiving in which we had my dad and cousin Julie (who lives in San Diego) stay at our home. I actually prepared an entire meal and it turned out great. I only had to make my pumkin cake recipe three times untill I got it right... silly recipe, what's the difference between 1/2 cube and 1/2 a cup of butter anyway? But it did turn out delicious (the third time).
To the Stinchfiled nieces/nephews... Brent and I miss you and hope we can see you soon. We loved seeing all of your Halloween costumes!
Marnie, can I get an estimation of the # of times you've been to Disneyland? Just wondering! I wish I could go as much as you do.
Anyways, take care everybody!

Treven  

Treven and Kim 

Hello all!
I know I haven't said anything lately... I have been busy!! What can I say? So it all started with a boy named Treven Perry. HAHA anyway! I met him in our family ward. He came home from his mission in July so I met him after I got home from my two week trip to see you guys. He went on his mission to Brazil so he speaks Portuguese. He does love playing Xbox... for the brothers. He is planning on being a Chiropractor... Dad is liking that idea! He is the youngest of 5 children. 3 older brothers and 1 sister. He has 10 nieces and nephews... He does love Napoleon Dynamite. He is a dork but in a great way. haha I am a pretty lucky girl though!
Marnie and Anne and Peter will meet him at Christmas... and the time will come for the rest of you guys. We can't think of more because we don't know what you all want to know. But Mom is having me do this... haha so Ask questions if anybody wants to know more!
Old Navy is an interesting place to work at... kinda dumb at times. I won't get in to that though. I am heading down to San Diego to visit Marnie, Brent and Buffy next weekend which is pretty exciting. I head back to BYU Idaho December 31st. I just registered for classes for the Winter. So That's really all the is going on with me! Have any questions? just ask!

PS August 2005 sounds good to everybody right?? HAHA

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your feasts in your own respective places. I am just getting ready to go to mine. As I am sure you all have heard I am dating someone. His name is Matt Butler and he is really cool. You would all like him a lot. I am having Thanksgiving with his family in San Diego because I have to work tomorrow and I needed to stay in San Diego. It should be fun, I am excited.

Anyway I just wanted you all to know that I am well. I only have two weeks of classes left before the semester is over. Kinda stressful but it will be nice to have a break. Only one semester more. I am taking an independent study course with my professor who owns his own advertising agency next semester. That should be a good experience. Networking is always fun. Work is starting to get hectic because of the holidays but it should go by quickly. I went to Disneyland yesterday. It is so beautiful there when it is decorated for Christmas. I will have to send you all pictures of the revamped castle and the decorations and such.

I also wanted to tell you all how thankful I am for all of you. For your love and support in all that I do. I really appreciate it. I know I am sort of taking a different road that the rest of you have taken but it is what I need to do and what is right for me. Thank you so much for your wonderful examples and lives. I am sad that I don't get to see you all this Thanksgiving but hopefully I will see you all soon. I love you all and miss you very much! Have a great Thanksgiving and give everyone kisses for me!!

Best Friends 

Whoa! What a hit! 

Hayden's Halloween costume 

Well since we are so behind I haven't gotten around to even posting about Halloween but I suppose late is better than never! Hayden dressed as an Indian's baseball player and we wore our Indian's gear to be his fans. He loved every minute of it! He is completely obsessed with baseball and if he sees anything that even says Indians the way their logo is written he gets really excited. We went trick-or- treating with Lexi and crew. Hayden even learned to say "rick reat" and thank you at each house. He was so excited that he wouldn't even let me help him carry his heavy treat bucket for fear that I might take his candy from him!!
Kenn and Barb are here with us this week and we are having a great time. Hayden warmed up to Papa really quickly and just loves having them around. The Georgia Stinch's will be joining us Wednesday and we are having Thanksgiving at the Debaltzo's. I'm excited to have everyone here and really excited that I don't have to do Thanksgiving dinner at my house! We only own 4 chairs so we would really be pushing it!
Hayden is doing fantanstic, he's getting so much older it's unbelievable! My current favorite habit he's picked up is that he says "no thank you" when he doesn't want something. Now of course, I still frequently get the typical "NOOO!" while he's throwing something but the sweet little smile he gives when he says "no thank you" makes up for those other times. Oh, and he likes to use napkins when he eats which always reminds me of Taylor. He's also learned to say "Halo," should I be proud of him? :)
It's so much fun to hear about how grown up the Japan Stinch's are getting, we can't wait to see you all again.
Buffy your new hobby sounds really good, hopefully you'll have my name for Christmas next year and I can get a new hat and scarf, I really need those things around here and yours looks so cute!
Peter and Anne we really want to come and visit when we are in Utah so we need to get in touch.
Marnie your pictures are great, it looks like you're having a great time! Keep posting the fun pics they are so much fun to see!
It's late and I'm going to try to add a picture but I don't even know where do start so I need to go back and figure things out! Have a great Thanksgiving everyone! Talk to you later!

Well, Mom and Dad were here last weekend to visit during my end of the year tournament and Mom kept pestering me about needing to post something about us for once. Well now that I actually have the time I can say that I am able to do it now. Life has been incredibly busy with tests and volleyball; hoever, volleyball has ended and that leaves me to more and more time to sleep and do homework...basically be a normal college student. Anyways, for all of those who thought I was crazy for taking biology, chemistry, physics and cell biology at the same time were very much correct. I have had a difficult time juggling all of those classes along with volleyball and being a wife. I had quite the stressful week last week and was close to switching my major. But now that I am able to have more time and can see myself passing all of these classes with a C or better, I think I will ride this biology train for at least one more semester to see how I really do feel about it. Scool is ending this semester in about a month and I cannot wait for the end of my cell biology class...never take it, it sucks. Peter however is doing very well in his last semester as an undergraduate and spends alot of his time consoling me and letting me know it will all turn out just fine. Thanksgiving should be a great break from actual school however I get to study for three tests that take place the next week throughout the whole vacation. We are heading to good old Newport Beach for the weekend and I am very excited to get back to california.. I have missed it along with In-N-Out!

Peter has now decided to finish his masters by next December which means we are moving after next fall semester. We are looking at many different places however we are pushing for some place up near the Wshington/Oregon area. It is excited to know that he will be working and earning money in the "real world" instead of these side jobs like running front door ads. I will not be finished with schooling by then but I will finish wherever we end up. I can't wait to be out of school and have the ability to be a normal person. Believe me, being a college athlete is great but you will never be able to be a normal college student.

It was fun having mom and dad here for the two days that they were here and I really wish others would come and visit too. I experienced my first round of migraines on Monday and at midnight that night it got to be so bad that we headed to the ER to check out if something else was causing them to happen. Turns out it was just migraines and we were sent on our way with a prescription for migraine medicine at around 3 in the morning. Lets just say my body wants to crap out on me right now in all directions. I am just glad this is all happening while I have not been in volleyball. Anyways, Buffy I now know how you feel when you get your migraines.

I probably should get back to work, so I hope to hear from you all. Adina, Peter and I will be at my parents for Christmas so feel free to send the gift there.
We love you all and wish we could visit but our budget and time just won't allow it. e to see you all sometime soon.

Love, Anne and Peter

The picture was taken at the Saga Balloon Festival...hot air balloons, that is. We went down there a couple of Saturdays ago - kids really enjoyed seeing the balloons come in and land, but I think they were really hoping one would crash into something. Kids will be kids...
All is well in Sasebo. Had parent-teacher conferences this last week. We heard pretty much what we expected to hear: Isaac is very smart, but does things too quickly and is not very organized. He did make honor roll and is working hard to do his best. That's all we ask. Taylor is being considered for the gifted education program at his school - upon recommendation from his teacher, who claims that his reading, writing, spelling, etc is way beyond that of his classmates. The kid is a sponge... and always asking questions. If you ever get stuck with him in the car, get ready for the barrage: What is that? What does it do? Why did they put it there? How does it work? And they go on and on! Parker and Morgan continue to be peas in a pod - not wanting to do anything without the other. They could care less about Isaac and Taylor - the world is theirs alone. Not sure how Morgan will react when Parker goes to school next year.
Dave and I remain busy - wrapping up our time here in Japan and actively searching out the possibilites in the good ol' US of A. We have a lot of work to do, but it's exciting. I went to my first Karaoke room the other night. A good friend of mine is leaving next week, so we went out to dinner and then "karaoke-ing". We found a karaoke palace without a bar - it's like a hotel where you rent a room by the half hour and you karaoke - or if you're me - you mostly watch those around you make complete and utter fools of themselves. It was fun.
Anyway - would love to hear more updates from all of you - and would love to see more pictures! Brooke, Tracey, & Barb - if I can figure out how to post pictures, then anyone can - so get to it! Also need to know where to mail Anne and Buffy's Christmas gifts this year - not sure if you want them sent to your home address or somewhere else - let us know.
Lots of love...Adina

Can YOU find the Americans? 

Hello,
Yes, that would be a picture of me that Brent posted. Brent wanted to see if Grandma would get a kick out of seeing that someone else has taken up her hobby. I learned this week how to crochet a hat to send to children going through chemotherapy. Five years ago I would have laughed at the thought of me doing anything domestic. Apparently now I'm hooked and am working on a scarf... don't count on me learning to cook anytime soon though (sorry Brent).

Check it out Grandma 

Well it was 86 degrees here for Halloween. Does anyone else see anything wrong with that? I know it is a little late to fill you in on our Halloween but I'm going to anyway. It was hot. Mike had to work all day of course so the girls and I went to two parties- our old ward's and our new ward's. Our post decided to keep Trick-or-Treat on Sunday, Oh the drama! Jane made a good choice and decided we should stay home so we went to the two parties instead. Way too much candy and stickiness. The girls were darling, someday you might be able to see and not just take my word for it. Jane was the new modern Strawberry Shortcake, Sadie was a fairy princess, and Ellyn was going to be a Lady bug but it was too dang hot so we took a Sharpee to a onesie and made her a little ghost. Baths and bedtime were never quite so sweet.

Everything here is going well. Mike was able to return to his human form for two weeks during cycle break and we all realized how stressful this is on our family. I know you aren't supposed to wish time away but I am anxious for February. He is now in the middle of total control and has more than the average amount of "winners" in this class. Jane is playing soccer again. This year it has become pretty competative and much more structured than past seasons- good and bad (I think the refs really enjoy the power trip). We are getting used to it. She has started piano and the upper grade choir at school. She is very busy and I feel like I've become one of "those moms." She still has plenty of play time and has a great time with all the little girls in the neighborhood. Sadie had her 6 week check up for her leg. The Dr. said it looks great and she doesn't limp at all anymore. What a relief. He wants to check her again in 6 mos. All of the sudden Sadie is becoming more of a helper than a chaos causer. We went to three Dr. appts. last week and she sat quietly through all of them. I was amazed and grateful. Ellyn spent last week teething and had a rough time of it. Poor baby. She is such a sweet and happy little soul normally it just breaks your heart when she is so sad. We had alot of bonding time- mostly from 12am-3. Good times, good times. I am fine. Just doing my best not to kill MY dog. She basically takes up more of my time and patience than all of my children combined.

Sadie just ran in with no diaper on and told me she needs to go potty cuz she tooted. No, she has not once actually gone potty in the toilet but she strips out of her diaper about 5 times a day. Dave and Adina, Jane got a UTI when she was two and a half. I gave her the medicine and told her she would feel better if she wore underwear (manipulative, I know). She was trained in two days. I think Sadie will be a different story so I have no advice except to lie. Terrible, I know.

Hello everyone. A sad tale is about to be told. It is a story about a girl named Marnie, who is usually very responsible and keeps her valuables with her at all times. This young girl works at Sport Chalet and on one pleasant and calm Thursday night she went to work. Alas, it was 5pm when all of the hustle and bustle of young professionals are rushing to the gym that is situated next to Sport Chalet. Because of this she had to park to the right of the store where it is somewhat dark and shadowy. Marnie went to work and had a grand ole time. Upon leaving the store at 10pm she arrived at her car, only to find that the front passenger window was shattered in pieces all over the inside of the car and the surrounding parking lot. Like a good little girl she called her parents to find out what to do next. Soon into the conversation she found that she did not have her Dell mp3 player in her purse. Alas, she had left it in the car! What a foolish girl! So now this poor girl is tonight without a dellpod but has a brand new window and a cleaned out car with only an emotional scar. Poor Bonnie! She was so sad! I am sorry to say but this tale is true and it happened to your sister Marnie yesterday. I am dealing with the pain and will hopefully soon be reunited with a proper replacement for Belle (my dellpod). I hope you are all well and keeping safe. I am fine and now I know that I will NEVER leave such valuables in my car again.

Hello everyone! Georgey did it again! Yeah! Thanks for sending your halloween pictures. Very cute, as usual. San Diego is good. It is cooling down so that is nice. I am making it through school and having fun in the process. My classes are getting pretty interesting so that is good. Here are a couple of pictures from the weekend. I love you all and miss you a lot!

love, Marnie

Poor Morgan. Her body got ahead of her feet and she took it on the cheek. But, she's still smilin'!

I went to my first Japanese onsen (public bath/hotsprings) yesterday. Now that was interesting! Pretty cool actually. Very relaxing! Sorry, don't have any pictures to share with you. Trust me, you wouldn't want 'em.

We have officially begun the flag football season. I am coaching Taylors team. It's going to be a lot of fun. Isaac is in the older league and loves it. That season will go through mid-December.

Would love to hear from some of you. . . are y'all still there?

Dave

The Scooter 

Wanna see Monstas? 

Very Silly Girl 

Silly Girl 

It was really fun to see all of the pictures that were sent. Tom and Tracey sent a picture of Hayden in his baseball outfit....since I haven't learned how to attach pictures I can't scan and send it. Tom???

I think Mike and Brooke probably took pictures but Brooke is in the same boat with me in being ignorant on how to attach pictures...and Mike in the throes of a new class coming in.

However....we got a real kick out of the rest of the pictures.

Dad handed out toothbrushes and candy in his SpongeBob outfit. It was funny to hear the comments. Our house is getting known from last year for the toothbrushes. I guess we will have to keep it up!

Kim has a new hearthrob....I'll let her write about it....

I am still unemployed... I got a call about a consulting job on Friday and he said he would call me back on Monday for an initial meeting. However, I heard nothing today so it may be a false alarm. I keep reminding myself to be patient and things will work out in the end. However, I am not naturally a very patient person. Awwwwk!

We love you all,

Mom