I enjoyed Brooke's posting so much on her family's blog that I asked her if I could copy it and share it on our blog...I like postings from Mike but I like to hear Brooke's take on things but I know she has so much on her plate that posting at all is a real accomplishment...editing and copying and pasting can just be more than she can get done! So I appreciate her giving her permission so that we can have it in our family record...and so those who don't look at all linked blogs can get the news!!!

(at this point she was talking about Ellyn possibly needing an aide for her in Primary)... I had my feelings hurt for her a little bit yesterday in nursery, even though it was a dumb reason. The regular nursery leader wasn't there (she was a special ed teacher and the two of us have discussed how to keep Ellyn involved) and when I walked in to get her all of the kids were doing ring around the rosies with the teacher and Ellyn was sitting on the floor with this smile on her face watching them. I know that the teacher didn't know that Elly LOVES ring around the rosies or that all she had to do was take her hand and she would join. Sadie was so cute she grabbed Ellyn's hand and mine and we did ring around the rosies next to them.I was in our ward in a stake capacity yesterday-yes by the way we were made a ward yesterday- I was in Primary the entire time and I just about died. Sadie is hillarious and a little bit loud as well. But she answers all the questions and sings with gusto. She added "cha, cha, cha" to the end of the birthday song and when Jane was the spotlight child she called out "It's my Janie" after only two of the clues. There were countless other little things she did that had me laughing and a bit concerned. She did pretty well but we need to work on not shouting out the answers. Our friend Dave makes fun of me because he says everytime I try to discipline Sadie I'm laughing. It's not entirely true, but sometimes yes.We had ten inches of snow last week in one night by the way and school was only delayed two hours. Jane and Sadie showed me just how tough they were last week, playing outside for hours in the snow. Sadie collided with a sled and cut her chin and her nose and they still didn't even come in till I went out to get them. We have a fabulous hill across the street and they really had alot of fun. Last night it rained and so now our winter wonderland is almost completely gone.

Saturday I went to a R.S. conf for our stake. Four of us from our ward sang "More Holiness Give Me" with the second verse being a german solo by a young woman-newly 18- in our ward. I had to sing soprano because no one else could consistently reach a high C- whatever, not my favorite. Any way, a member of the stake presidency was there and asked if we would sing it in ward conf. the next day. So as we are going up to the podium Gina-the yw-turns to me and says "Please sing the second verse with me, please, I can't do it here by myself." What am I supposed to say to that as we are about to sing, so luckily Mike and I have been able to figure out pronunciation of german words- for the most part and I sang with her. Nothing like a little last minute singing in German to get your heart going.

Okay, I have to go now. Sorry this has been so rambling, very poor writing, and fairly boring. I'm sick and achy today and very tired. Ellyn has a Dr. appt. today which I am not going to miss however. I am really hoping they have some ideas about what we can do with her sleep schedule. Last night was totally typical-still not asleep at 10:30, awake screaming at 3:00am, and back to sleep for an hour from 6:30-7:30. Sometimes she'll fall asleep at about nine and then she's up at 1:00 and awake until four......

I know she loves us!!!!

Barb

So the weekend is over and it was quite an adventure. We went to the audition on Friday afternoon all ready to take the test. We took it...totally different subjects than we had been studying. I can't give any details because we had to sign a confidentiality agreement but it was kinda tough. There were about 20 teams in our timeslot. They only accepted two teams of the twenty to be interviewed by the casting directors. And we were one of the two teams!! We went straight in for a 5 minute interview complete with pictures and videotaping. It was fun, we made them laugh and we felt confident. We were pretty excited for the rest of the day, went to lunch, dinner. Then we sat down and tried to remember all of the questions on the test and remembered all but one. We figured out that our combined score was only 53%...hahaha...kinda sad. So I don't think it was just the test that got us through to the interview...must've been our winning personalities. :)

They called us Saturday night as they said they would but sadly it was to tell us that they had gone with another team. We were pretty shocked because we felt so good about our interview but I think it must've come down to what they were looking for. It could have been our test scores that decided it, who knows. We were also a lot younger than most of the people that were there. And after looking at the people that were on the show last year - it looks like they have different types they need to satisfy and they must have just gone with a different team to be the "young ones". We wallowed in our rejection, ate tons of comfort food and ended up feeling much better about ourselves. :) It was really fun and I am really glad that we tried for it. There is another chance for us to possibly be on the show - there is an individual test online on Feb 14th to put together a random wild card team. We are all going to take it just to see how we do. Plus there is always next year and at least we already have the costumes! :)

On to the next adventure...



marnie

School is going great. Treven and I had our first 2 anatomy exams this week and the first one we both got 106% on it and the second test I got an 88% and Treven got a 95%. Which is great!!! We are definitely loving our classes. Work is going well too even though Treven is so tired everyday! I work only Monday and Friday from 4-10p which works out well for me. I just figured out what my minor is going to be. I am a Health Ed major and if you are a secondary ed major you have to have a minor. So my minor is Exercise & Sport Science Teaching also known as Physical Ed Teaching. I also just figured out that I am going to start "Fast grad" this fall, which is going year round. I called today to figure out the requirements. I have to have over 50 credits which I do, maintain a 2.8 GPA and I have to take at least 15 credits while I am in the Fast grad program. I already was planning on taking 14-16 credits a semester so I would finish in 4 semesters. If I do this Fast grad, I am going to be done with all my classes Summer of 2008 and then all I have to do is my student teaching which I can do Fall of 08 or Winter 09. So I would graduate December of 08 or April 09. So I really think I am going to this fast grad thing. It would be so nice to think to be done by the end of next year! I just have to apply so I am going to pick up the application on Monday.
Melia is doing great. She is growing everyday and has started (again) to sleep through the night. She stopped sleepin through the night for like two weeks after she got her shots. She is talking and smiling so much and has rolled over from stomach to back about 5 times.
We are coming home on February 16th to February 19th. We get in at 9pm on Friday and leave at 2 in the afternoon on Monday. We have friends getting married on the 17th so we want to be there for that and it's my birthday weekend which is a boost. We were going to drive, but it really isn't worth driving through the night on Friday in the middle of Winter to save 45-55 dollars. So we are going to fly out of Boise. Which makes me happy!
Treven is already looking at medical schools just to get everything figured out. He is looking at University of Washington and University of Utah as his top two. Our friends let us a book with all the Medical schools in the US and the requirements and all this information. It is really nice! For those who don't know, Treven wants to go to med school for either Psychiatry or Neurosurgery. It's a passion for him!
Well I love you all, Melia is so tired but won't go to sleep so I have to go help her! Congrats to Sean and Bridget! In one of the pics of Mary, she looks like Melia!

Kimberly

We are leaving in 5 minutes for our audition in Beverly Hills for the World Series of Pop Culture!!! We are nervous, excited...ready. I will let you all know how it goes later tonight. GO 3M CHANKLAS!!! WOOHOO!!

--
marnie

Hey,

Brooke I was just letting you know that you have a whole month before wishing Peter Happy Birthday...His birthday isn't until FEB 28th. You crack me up.

Anyways, all is well here. Just school, work, and volleyball. I am finally getting another coach to help out with my team. I have been having emails and calls from parents because their girls aren't playing enough or they aren't being pushed. I had a rough couple of days but everything is better and it will be nice to have another pair of eyes at practice.

School is good 2 weeks down, 30 to go until I am finshed. By that I mean this semester (14 more weeks) and fall semester (16 weeks). I did find out the other day that I do have another class I have to still take but it is an online class that I can take in the summer.

Peter is enjoying work. He had lunch yesterday by himself with the owner of the company...the owner has been trying to schedule this for a while I guess. They love Peter there and are looking at him, once he gets is professional engineers license, to open an office over in Oregon, I think near Salem. We will se how things turn out...that wouldn't happen for another 3 years or so.

We are heading up to McCall this weekend to go to the Winter Carnival with our friends Justin and Laura. We haven't been up there with them in a while and since Laura's mom has a cabin on the lake there, we have a great place to stay while we are there.

Andrew is growing by the day and I can't believe he will be 6 months on Tuesday. He is so much fun to be around...when he isn't fussing....which makes it hard to leave him at Day care all day while I head off to school, but I know it is the best thing as I need to finish asap so once I am done I can spend all of my time with him.

We love you all and miss you tons.

Love,
Anne

Hi family. I hope you are all doing well. We are- just busy. Barb, I didn't realize we could still make a choice about the picture. Mike told Kenn to just pick one, if you didn't get that message. I didn't see that blog until after that Sunday because of our computer being down, also, I didn't know where to look for the picture choices anyway. If you still haven't chosen one I would prefer one that is cute of everyone-duh- even if it means that Ellyn isn't looking right at the camera, because that's just Ellyn and I don't want it less cute of the girls for eye contact- does that make sense at all?

Peter and Parker happy belated birthday. I can't believe it's already Parker's b-day again. Time flies!

Things are going well here. We got 10 inches of snow the night before last and the funny thing is that school was only delayed by 2 hours. Quite a difference from Washington. We have a great sledding hill across the street behind the playground and we had alot of fun out there yesterday afternoon. The snow is beautiful and it is a bright sunny day and I love it.

Let's see, what else? We travelled to the Nurnburg ward on Sunday and had a really wonderful time in the German ward. They bent over backwards to accomodate our English speaking family in primary and in Sacrament. I'm glad we had such a good experience because with my calling I have to go to every ward Mike goes to and Jane was not really thrilled about that.

The girls are doing well. Ellyn has been having some sleep issues again and that has been tiring and frustrating. Mike and I are actually putting in a request to move to different housing. With our house right by the main road and the walking trail right beside all of our bedroom windows (being on a corner) we think the noises are waking her up and then she can't get herself back to sleep-that is without crying for about 40 minutes- which wakes up the whole family. Also, she has learned how to open the front door and with the main road right there it makes us very nervous (not so much for right now, but summer when the kids are in and out). There is a house plan in some nearby housing that is on a quiet road, with a finished basement where I could take Ellyn in the middle of the night (have our family room down there) so that she doesn't wake up the whole family. I have to go see her Dr about it today and see if he will authorize it. Her therapist is willing to put in a statement because she knows we've tried everything we can. Jane isn't too thrilled because she really likes the friends that she walks home with but we do things with one of the families on a regular basis, the other friend I don't really want her hanging out with anyway and next year she wouldn't be walking home with them anyway. Plus one of her friends lives on the street where the house is located and I think most of it is that she just doesn't want the chaos of moving again. I think she will be fine and I think she will like the other house better anyway. Wish me luck (although by the time you read this I will have my answer-most likely).

I hope you are all doing well. Marnie, good luck. Keep us posted. I have to go clean my kitchen and oh, the rest of the whole house. We love you all.
Love, Brooke

Check out the Schickedanz blog for the stats on their new arrivals....Congratulations, Sean and Bridget!

Also, Tom and Tracey posted pictures from Disneyworld on their website (Ohio Stinchfield's) They are well worth seeing! It looks like you had a great time.

I told several of you my sad story of my UGG boots encounter with a dog at a quilting meeting last night. The dog bit through to top of the boot--the top of the foot portion. Dad suggested I take it back to Nordstrom and see if I could get a new pair. I did and they will be shipping a new pair to my home. Now I believe all the stories...I told them what exactly happened and they still are giving me a new pair.

I also washed my clip IPOD yesterday....it was a bad day for me. But I am going to call American Express and invoke their "buyer protection plan" that supposedly will give your money back or replace anything you buy regardless of the reason for your need. Anyhow, I will let you know how it works!

Love you all,
Mom

You know, after having our family birthday party on Sunday, I totally spaced out that yesterday was his birthday. I hope he had a great REAL birthday!

Safeway is nice, isn't it!!!

Love,

Grandma Barb

Just wanted to wish Parker a happy birthday! Hope he is having a good one.

Thanks Mom for the good luck wishes. I am cramming like crazy, there is a lot to know! I should get back to it now. Love you all!


-marnie

Well, now the days at the coast in August are out. When we received the paperwork, it stated emphatically that no more than 10 people could be in the house AT ANY TIME. That counts children! We have 17 counting all the kids that were planning on coming. So even getting another house or motel rooms wouldn't work. Apparently, it is a Lincoln City ordinance to eliminate big drunken brawls but is enforced on anyone. So we were back to square one...the initial house is way too big....and expensive. It accomodates 26 or 27 people....and there are no houses in between available on the coast.

So....we would suggest that for the Oregon coast part in July or August we just do a weekend and stay at the Pelican Shores together. They have rooms with kitchenettes and they are right on the beach...and it has an enclosed pool also. We'd stay for a Friday and Saturday night...coming back on Sunday afternoon. I need to get from those who would be trying to do this...which weekend would be the best...July 20-22, July 27-29 or August 3-5 so we can make reservations.

Dad and I are also planning on going to Gualala over Memorial Day weekend. Megan Bodily put aside several sites for us since, in our enthusiasm last August, we said we...and some of our family...may want to come. No one needs to feel obligated in any way but we do need to know if anyone would like to come. I think we all have good memories of our Fremont campouts!. Dad and I will be driving down on Thursday to Friday...stopping on the way...staying at Gualala on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then starting back on Monday...again stopping on the way back up to Washington. If anyone wanted to fly into Sacramento, we could pick you up on the way down and drop you off on the way back....just a thought. Do let us know if you want to do it so we can adjust the number of sites.

We love you all.....Good luck to Marnie on her tryout this weekend!

(Mike and Brooke...I am still waiting for your choice of pictures!)

Mom

I spoke to Dad and we decided to go ahead and reserve the house for the 4th through the 8th. Who can come can come....Please let us know. We'll have two units within the house. I think there are a total of five queen beds within the house. It has at least two decks....here is the link to the website http://www.a1beachrentals.com/site/Overview/PropertyID__18437/sd1__08-04-2007/sd2__08-08-2007/3545/default.aspx.

Anyhow, let us know how many can actually commit to coming. We'll keep it no matter how many come. We may have a little sharing of costs as people can...thinking about $100 per person...not counting babies. I don't want that to cause anyone not to come, however.

Love,
Mom

I have talked to several of you but we have cancelled the big house on the Oregon coast that we originally reserved. It is too big for those of us who can come. I am trying to find another house on the beach for us. I have found one that is available from August 4 to August 8. That is a Saturday through a Wednesday. It looks very nice and is half the cost of the big house for the week.

I'm not sure that will be available by the time people get back to me...but for my search...how many of you could come....

July 19-23
July 26-29
August 4-8

Let me know ASAP!

Love,

Mom

I don't know if I have ever related to all of you the amazing difficulty there is in getting anyone to get my name right. Any take out, just about every time it is Marty or Barney or some other variation.Well, we got a picture of it for proof!



Feel my pain siblings with your common names...feel my pain.

Mali (Harrison) Gardner called today to tell me that Chris's brother, David Gardner, was injured in Iraq. He is in the army and was run over by a bobcat (tractor) accidentally. In surgery his fever spiked and necessitated amputation of his foot. He has now been transferred to the hospital in Germany. She called to see if it was close to Mike as she wanted to arrange to have someone give him a blessing. It is not but I did e-mail Mike to see if he could get any contacts for her there. In the meantime, I suggested that she call SL church headquarters and talk to the military affairs people to see if they could give her a contact there.

Anyhow, I'm sure he could use all of our prayers. He is married...his wife is pregnant..I think Mali said she is due in four weeks. They are out of Ft Bragg.

Love to all,

Mom

Well I certainly don't envy all you who are dealing with the snow and cold. I am whiny enough for how cold it has been down here in the last week. Now I know that it is not as cold as it is in Idaho or Washington but it is unusually cold for San Diego and we are just not made for that. Nothing down here is. Our houses are not as insulated, our clothes are warm enough...it has been 30 degrees outside for the past few days when I have left my house in the morning. Crazy! I did discover though that my car has a 'ding' when the outside temperature goes below 36-37 degrees...took me a while to realize what the noise meant!

I went to the Justin Timberlake concert last night, thus the title. I am completely exhausted right now and I can't wait for the next 40 minutes so pass so I can drive home and go to sleep. The concert was fun although he did a weird thing with the jumbo screen so you could barely see him most of the time. But his songs were good. I really like FutureSexLoveSounds, SexyBack, and Cry Me a River (my fav). We got there sorta late so only saw the end of Pink performing Get this Party Started but it was really cool. She was spinning around on a ribbon while singing like Cirque De' Soleil. Very impressive. We got to be in a private suite which makes for a very different concert going experience. Most of the people there were in their mid to late 30s but very nice. Definitely quieter than it would have been had we been sitting with all the fangirls.

I stayed in LA last night (which meant a late late night) so that I could attend a meeting for the Yahoo search marketing that my company uses that I am in charge of. I was totally exhausted and the meeting was pretty disorganized but I still got some stuff out of it. And I got some free SWAG which is always fun. :)

So after I recuperate from my last couple days I will be getting super serious about studying for next Friday's audition for the VH1 WSOPC. While we were in LA yesterday we got our costumes together. We are gonna look pretty cool. I will be sure to post a picture when everything is ready.

Anyway, I wanted to post a little update on what is going on down here. Oh yeah and I saw a 'celebrity' yesterday - anyone remember Jonathan Silverman? the brown haired guy from Weekend at Bernie's? We saw him when we were going to dinner at the famous Pink's Hot Dogs on LaBrea and Melrose. We also went to the new super trendy place in LA called Pinkberry...frozen yogurt with fresh fruit...groudbreaking, I know.

--
marnie

Another snow day - the novelty of the kids being home from school and having snow on the ground is wearing off. Especially after a three-day weekend and two snow days last week. The kids are thoroughly enjoying the snow (and the time off from school)- but I am getting nothing done.
Oh well - it is good family time. We spent the day yesterday at OMSI and saw Happy Feet on the OmniMax while we were there. We also saw Night at the Museum this weekend with Buffy - I really like that movie. Today I think we will conquer haircuts and other errands, if the snow lets up.

Anyway - we are working on our calendar this year - scheduling vacations and conferences - and we have spoken with Paige & Brian - who would love to join the Disneyland trip. We are thinking October. I told her I would get back to her, since they are likely planning out their year, too.

Mike - we found Lost Cities and also picked up Tally Ho - it is made by the same company and is another fun 2-person game. Thanks for the recommendations.

I'm off - the kids want to go out and play, so I need to get in the shower before half the neighborhood is over here, tracking snow through the house and leaving my front door wide open.

Adina

For anyone that will be in the San Diego/LA area or would come down for it - the registration for this year's Disneyland 5K and Half Marathon is open! The 5K will be on Sunday Sept. 2nd and the Half Marathon is on Monday Sept. 3rd.

This year capacity is only 4,000 people so if you want to enter make sure to do it soon!!! The registration fee is $30 for the 5K and I am not sure for the Half Marathon.
Register here!

(I am doing the 5K!!)

--
marnie

I need all of your preferences for pictures...

I have D & A's, T & K's, Marnie's-----I need M & B's, P & A's and T & T's. ( We can just get B & B to do it here tonight) Please send me the picture # that you want.

Thanks,

Mom

Well everyone, since you haven't figured it out, we stole Bully and took him home with us. Andrew liked him so much that we took him. Anyways, this is a picture of a famous Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan who also has the same thing as Andrew. You can see it really well in this picture. I found out from the lady that is going to babysit Andrew that there was a famous bollywood actor that had three thumbs too so I decided to look it up.

By the way Mike, We went out and bought Power Grid and the German Ticket to Ride today. Peter thought you would be excited.

Love you all,
Anne

Well, I have been a bit remiss on adding anything. Since everyone left I have been trying to put my hours in on my new job and getting the house back in order. It was so great having everyone here..the game nights, the good food...and just the love of everyone, but life does return to normal. My job is going well. I think I am catching on to what I am supposed to do. A lot of it is just reasoning and word processing skills. Grandma is getting more and more out of touch with reality. She asked Dad the other day where his mother, Barbie, was...and asked me whether I had see her mother today. We did find out that she had a UTI which can cause a lot more confusion so she is now on an antibiotic. She seemed a little better today although she called one of the other women, Barbie. I'm hoping it improves because if it doesn't we will have to pay for someone else to work there so someone can be with her all the time.

We have several things I have found as I have cleaned up. Please claim what is yours so I can send it out to you. Also, if you have noticed anything else missing let me know. I'll look around. Some I have already identified and talked to you about so I'm not going to put them on this listing...

1. A sponge bob with rabbit ears
2. An I-tunes video card (it may have already been used...or may be Brent's...I forgot to ask him and he is asleep right now!!)
3. A book- The Lincoln Lawyer, Michael Connelly
4. A puka shell necklace with shells (been here quite some time..Jane's??)
5. Child's white socks
6. Adult white socks--look like women's socks
7. Argyle socks- grey and black with small red threading
8. 2 different Snow White underwear---what is it about snow white???

Dad is working a lot since he has started at Dr Wong's this last Monday. That is going well so far. We're putting off really thinking about any decision until at least April or May. Speaking of April, when Pres Bush gave his speech last night, they talked about orders been issued for units to go to Iraq now...Mike, have you heard anything?

We are giving a party on Saturday for the Loomis's (friends from our ward) that are moving to Utah this month. We are going to play "It's about Time" and the "Amazing Race Game", I think. I also have found about 4 sets of Phase Ten cards so we may have several groups play that. There will be about 20 people. Mike, can you play teams for "It's about Time" and not have to split the group into several games. At the New Years Eve festivities you split them up but I didn't know why.

The title refers to our weather. It snowed yesterday...less than an inch on the lawn but the roads were wet and it is now about 18 degrees so everything is frozen. I'm going to call Curves now and see if they are open. The schools are closed so I'm not too sure and I don't want to drive on the icy roads only to find that Curves is closed. Dad and I think we'll join the gym where we had our pictures taken. We just finished a free trial and we're now at the decision point. It helps both of us as it gives me more intense aerobic exercise than I get at Curves although I will continue to do both.

Speaking of pictures, I need to have your preferences for the pictures by Sunday as I need to let Alex know which ones we want to be put in High resolution and cropped etc. If you don't let us know, we will just pick one that we like. We'll provide one picture for each of you and will give you the electronic file of any that you would like. Also, I will be e-mailing each of you for some geneology info that I need....some of the spouses info as well as endowment and baptism dates.

Love you all!

Mom

We are currently offline. I am posting from work. Since our phone is internet based, this is why you cannot get a hold of us. I will try to get it figured out. In the meantime, you can e-mail me at mike.stinchfield@gmail.com.

Thanks,

Mike

I just found that if you try to post a comment from another blogger account (like I tried to post from my google/blogger account) it asks for approval from the administrator. I logged in to approve my own comments and found a ton of old comments that have never been posted!

I guess I will have to check that more frequently. In case you want to post a comment and it does that - you can sign in as the main user (stinch******) and go to post then on the upper left tab for posting there should be a "moderate comments" section - just approve the comments there.

Just FYI.

-marnie

After all of the fun over the holidays, I guess it was time for a lazy weekend. I had not intended to lay around most of Saturday and Sunday... I had big plans to go with Brent to downtown Portland and go to movies and have a great time during his weekend off.
But of course a cold hit the Stinchfield house and it took me down good. On Saturday morning the only thing that mattered to me was finding some non-psuedafedrine drug to stop the horrible sinus pressure from making me go crazy. (I am one of the lucky few who cannot tolerate the red pill because my heart goes a little bizerk)
So instead of painting the town red, Brent and I cozied up on that big couch chair and watched way too much football. I'm sure Brent was secretly happy that I didn't feel up to going out because this is his idea of the perfect day. And of course I didn't care what was on TV as long as I could doze in and out of sleep. I do have to say though that Brent definitely proved himself an excellent caretaker with running out to the store for cold remedies and such without being asked. I feel very blessed to call him my husband.
Other than that excitement there has been nothing new. Of course Brent and I are still making trips over to the house every other night and obsessing over what we need to purchase for livability... window coverings for the bedroom, bathroom, shelving, etc.
Our jobs are going well. I am trying to finish my Washington state license papers so I can work my 5th day on our side of the river for extra money... of course for house stuff!
Well, that's my blogg-saving contribution. Take care all,
Buffy

Yes, at 3 am...

"Are you talking about the brown guy or the peach guy?"

"He just hugged that man because he really likes him" (After UF TD)

"Ahhh, look at that, he put the ball down on the ground for his friend to have"

"These are the husbands playing"

maybe more to follow...

Mike

Melia had her 2 month check up today and she was measured at 24 1/4 inches long and weighed at 12 lbs 14 oz. So she is in the 90th percentile for weight and 95th for height. Everything is going great with her and she is growing everyday. She also got her shots today so I just gave her some tylenol and now she is out!

Our classes are going well and we are definitely busy with work and school and Melia. But that is how it is so we just have to deal with it! I am starting work a week from today. They got me a two day a week shift on Monday and Friday from 4pm-10pm and if I wanted that shift I have to start 2 weeks early, but it is worth it.

The couches are wonderful and they actually fit in our living room! I love them! We will have to post some pictures. Treven and I are also thinking of coming down to San Diego this Summer after we get out of school at the beginning of July!

Well thats all going on with us... just getting used to it being the winter!

Kimberly

I am finally recovering from my post-holiday funk...I am rising before 10 and making lists again. The holidays were amazing - thanks to all those who made the effort to be here - we know traveling is not always easy - destroyed or missing luggage, the flu, ornery and tired kids, various belongings left behind, early flights - it made our small commute to Salmon Creek seem like a breeze. So - thanks. (Mike - you left your hat and gloves behind - we will get those to you.)

Kids are back at school, Dave is back at work - now as the official owner and head honcho. Morgan went in for a cleaning this morning - she has got to be the only five year-old that yells "Yahoo!" when told she is going to get her teeth cleaned. She loves the hygienist and she is cavity-free. About a week ago, Dave had to go in on a Sunday for an emergency patient. It was a crown prep so he asked me to assist - I think he thinks I know more about dentistry than I really do. It went well, though I could see him stifling laughter under his mask. This poor woman - though she was amply warned that I was not the regular assistant and was a very good sport, she was a pawn in Dave's little game. We are both determined to get me trained so that I can really assist at the practice in the future.

My spare time is spent preparing for the course I am teaching next month - and I was recently asked to organize a health/nutrition/fitness group for Enrichment. So - right back into the grind.

T 'n T - Dave & I were discussing our own Disneyland trip soon - since you and Marnie are (or will be) locals, it would be fun to all go together.
Kim & Treven - glad the furniture got there - and thank YOU for getting it out of our garage!

Time to start the day.

Adina

Okay Marnie, I'll help you out by posting this story about Hayden. When we lost our luggage on Monday Hayden came up to me and said "Now we are like the family who lost everything." I was confused and asked what family he was talking about. He said "The family on Arrested Development!" We've been dying laughing about it all week! For those that don't remember that is what is said in the opening credits, something like "The family who lost everything and the one son who kept them together..." Funny kid.

We switched to morning church today and it was nice to be done so early. Hayden went to his CTR class and got a CTR ring and loves it! We've been making a lot of changes with him now that he is a "big kid." Simple things really but it's been nice, for instance, he now has to eat the peel on his apples, he has to sit at the table and feed himself his entire meal and other basic acts of independence. He is also doing really well at remember to say the "th" sound on his words like "thanks vs. sanks" and "three vs. free" and "something vs. somefing". He's really growing up!! His 4 year old check up his tomorrow.

Danica is getting so close to walking! I know we keep saying that but now we really mean it. She takes up to 6 or 7 steps at a time and will simply let go of one piece of furniture and walk to another without any coaxing. It's just a matter now of figuring out how to not fall down! She is also growing up and no longer gets a bottle, her binky is confined to the bed and she is up to 18 lbs. Hopefully we can pack on a few more so she can get that better carseat!!

The house it almost back in order and kids are close to their normal schedule only sleeping in until 8 or 9. We leave for Disneyworld a week from tomorrow. Now that we know we are moving so close to Disneyland and we got to do some fun traveling for the holidays we thought about cancelling the trip and saving the money but it just sounds too fun to give up. The airfare was free but everything else is pricey! We have a few more days to decide but I think we are going to go.

Well that's my two cents for today. I dont' know if you'll read this, but Sean and Bridgette we think of you constantly and hope things go well with the little ladies! We wait anxiously for the good news!

Take care!

Tracey

I was just playing with our new work camera that we got today with our new copy machine! :)

Well everyone,

We have returned to our humble and small abode. I am so glad to be home even though I wish I could live there so I could have family wecould see every so often. I have been watching the America's Next Top Model marathon since I've been home. They are going thru all of the seasons this week. I have been taking care of lots of stuff at home and still have to get lots done before school starts in 2 1/2 weeks.

Volleyball started back up yesterday and we are going strong now until the beginning of May. Our first tourney is Jan 19-20th so I am getting the girls ready to play against other teams. Our biggest hurdle is rotations and where to be when the ball is being served at them. Anyways, it is lots of fun but hard work.

Andrew continues to grow but not much since you saw him last. He has his 6 month appointment at the end of the month and I don't know where the time has gone. It is weird to think we have had him in our live for almost half a year. I know it is not much time to some of you with older kids but it is alot for us.

Peter and I are doing well and are having fun. Friday, Peter is going night skiing with a friend of his for his friend's birthday then we are going out to dinner on saturday night with them. We will finally break down and get a babysitter other that the ones for school. It will be weird.

All is well and love you all!

-Anne

We had a fantastic time on our visit out to Washington but it is nice to be home and getting settled back in! The kids are still on Washington time and have slept until 10:00am every day this week, it's awesome! (Although that means I sleep in also so we are getting nothing done everyday!) Our flight back was okay but we barely made the connection in Vegas and our luggage didn't so we didn't get that until Monday night. Luckily that happened coming home and not going there! I was trying to help Hayden not be so sad about leaving Washington so I reminded him of his friends here who have missed him. He got the idea that they would be waiting for him at the house! It was pretty funny and luckily we got home so late I convinced him they had to be home with the their parents. Danica still shows very little interest in walking but we are diligently trying to bribe her into it. I think Tom just wants to prove she can and I want her to quit put her hands all over the dirty floor and wearing out the knees of her pants and the toes of her shoes!

We leave for DisneyWorld in a week and half, on the 15th, so I am busy making the last minute arrangements for that. I am hoping we can get by without a car since there is a free shuttle from our hotel. My main concern is food, I don't want to eat out every meal for a week but we can't go to the grocery store without a car so I just may pack an entire suitcase full of stuff like break, PB & J, chips, applesauce, pop tarts, oatmeal, etc. But I guess we'll see... some you Disney veterans, what have you done to keep cost down and fast food to a minimum?

Hayden decided to take the rest of the money he got from Papa and use it to buy the Lego Boba Fett's ship. He is so thrilled and watched Tom for hours as he put it together. He was flying it around the house showing me all the things it can do. Thank you Papa! I had to take a moment to remind both Tom and Hayden that it is made of legos and they need to be prepared for it to break sometime and not to panic!! Hopefully it will be okay! Adina, we got Danica a Fisher-Price piggy bank to replace the school bus. It plays music as you stick the plastic coins in she loves it. Thanks!

Okay, I"m off to bed but just felt the need to help in the blogg revival. Lexi called today and said she'd been tempted to blogg something for us while we are there just to keep the blogg alive! Sorry everyone else!

We are doing well here in Rexburg. We are glad to be home and relaxing before school starts, which is tomorrow. Our classes seem like they are going to be great classes, but we are going to have to put a lot of work into our anatomy and phys class. Melia is growing faster and faster by the day and she has her 2 month appointment on Monday so we will see really how much she has grown.

We called the subsidized apartments yesterday to see where we were on the waiting list and we are #8 which is great! We were #22 at the beginning of December so they is a huge chance of us being able to move in in the next 2 months.

We got the couches last night from Dave and Adina and again, thank you so much for saving them for us. They are great, we just have to figure out what to do because we still have our other couch. So we have 3 couches right now and our living room isn't big. (the subsidized apartments have bigger living rooms).

This blog is a little boring, but that is what is happening in our world. Love you all!

Kimberly

We had some great times together with little need to blog about anything but as we move back into routine I think we need to get back to the regular style blogging.

Happy New Year everyone! The year is starting well in San Diego. I am back to work and busy busy busy. We have already (well, my boss has already) sold about what we sell in a month in one day! So looks like the year is starting out right! :)

I am trying to fall back into my routine which is much nicer for me. Everybody needs a little vacation but too much is, well, too much. My old roommate, Sandy, is visiting this week. She is staying at her aunt's house in North Park so I got to spend some time with her this last weekend and will again this Friday probably. She is moving back to San Diego in May so she is on the job hunt right now and trying to relax after the football season (she is an athletic trainer for Texas Tech). So she is busy but it is nice to have her visit.

I have the Justin Timberlake concert in LA in a couple weeks which should be really fun. And I really need to start cracking down and seriously studying for the VH1 WSOPC. I only have 3 weeks! I am trying to be pretty persistent with Matthew and Michelle about studying since it depends on them too. :)

Anyway, it really is busy so I need to finish eating lunch so I can get back to work. Love you all!

--
marnie

Melia is actually looking at the camera so that is a big reason we picked it.