Of Washington tomorrow morning.  We are going to visit with the Schickies for New Year's celebrations.  It'll be a lot of fun and we've been planning this trip for several months.  It'll just be nice to get away from responsibility for a few days.  Hopefully the weather will hold out for our traveling!

Marnie, Anne, Peter and I took a trip to Timberline on Mt. Hood today and found that we should have turned back about 20 miles short of the destination. As it was, we made the entire journey up to the parking lot at Timberline and realized that we had to have been crazy to make it that far. Take a look at the conditions in our photos.

This is what happens when you all get together and don't post... now you have to read all the ramblings that come out of my head... here's my latests "journal" entry:

We had a fantastic Christmas this year! The last several weeks have been a crazy blur of tons of fun, lots to do and the stomach flu running through the entire family but it’s been great. It’s finally the end of Christmas day and I get to relax! Here’s an update starting from where my last entry left off:

We celebrated Danica’s birthday on the 12th, sadly she got the stomach flu on the 11th so she didn’t have the best birthday but she was starting to feel better by the time we left for the beach cottages. We woke her up for a birthday breakfast with dad and she got to open her presents. Then I packed the car and got things ready for our weekend. We pulled Hayden out of school early (to his delight!) and met Tom up at his work on Camp Schwab at noon. His work is about an hour away so it was the first time we had been up there. We went to lunch at Burger King, Danica’s request, then checked into our cottage. The cottages were nice and big, we were right by the playground and enjoyed relaxing and riding bikes before going down to the beach. We did BBQ for dinner, put the kids to bed and then just relaxed for a while. Luckily all we had to watch was AFN T.C. so we went to bed early which was good because around midnight Alyssa woke up with the stomach flu... amazingly she was a really champ about it. I slept in the chair and held her so we were prepared and after several hours she seemed to settle down and I was able to put her back to bed. When she woke up in the morning she seemed fine! So we enjoyed the day at the NeoPark. Let me take you on a trip through the NeoPark, a Japanese zoo/farm/pet shop/aquarium/aviary.

You enter in under these bright, colored signs covered with animals and walk toward the building labeled “Main House.” After paying and getting a map you walk through the glass doors and immediately find yourself surrounded by birds. They are all very “friendly” and quite tall but you don’t want to freak out the kids so you act like it’s no big deal and you just enjoy watching them. You walk down the path hoping they won’t really peck your eyes out and that they won’t eat the children’s fingers. While walking you hear something above you and look up to see monkeys in the trees right above. There is no cage, net or glass, they are just above you. Amazing, and frightening, mostly amazing. After surviving the bird attack and managing to out run them you entered the next exhibit, a glass walkway underneath a pond. You are trying to be positive but mostly just keep thinking, this water looks really gross! After passing more birds you come to another exhibit filled with goats! As you approach a small enclosure you wonder why all those dogs are just sitting there and thinking “do I really have to pay more money to go see these dogs?” Yes, you do, but it’s the only way to go see the tortoise. So you ignore the fact that you already paid a lot of money to get in the park and you fork over more yen and enter the “petting zoo.” Fortunately, the money is worth it because the kids love feeding the tortoise, rabbits, guinea pigs and other animals. The highlight is being able to take any of the dogs you want to on a walk around the field. Too much fun for the boy who hates dogs...you can’t believe he is not only doing it but loving it and insists on walking every dog available! Lastly, you decide to splurge and take a paddleboat ride around the pond because the kids think it sounds really fun. Upon leaving you pass many more animals, to random and unusual to even recall but fun nonetheless. You leave thinking, “what a strange place, we have to come back soon” and “where’s the hand sanitizer?”

So that is our Neopark journey, after which we returned to our cottage for nap time. Then we went bowling and got pizza for dinner. It was a fun weekend. On the 16th we had our 8 year anniversary. This is when I should write a tribute to Tom, who truly deserves a tribute, but he hates that kind of thing. So I will just say this: I don’t think I could have ever imagined the way a love and friendship could grow over time. When we got married I loved him so much I thought things couldn’t possibly be better. And yet they are. Tom truly is my best friend and I can’t imagine life without him. If I have my choice of what I want to do in the evening I will always pick staying home and hanging out with Tom. Whether we are playing darts or some other game, watching a movie or folding laundry I am happy and I know it’s where I want to be.

So our anniversary was on the 16th, I had planned a fun surprise date for the 17th because Tom had the day off work. So on the 16th I got to go with Hayden on his school field trip to the movie “Beverly Hills Chiwawa” I really tried to get out of going because it sounded boring and I didn’t want to get someone to watch the girls but he begged and begged and it was his first field trip so I gave in and we had a good time. We ate hot dogs at the theater at 10:30 and through out the day I got stomach ache that kept getting worse. I blamed it on the hotdog and pushed forward and fixed dinner and went to meet with the branch presidency that evening. However, upon leaving our meeting with them the nausea got the better of me and I had to dash out to the bushes... I was so embarrassed, and so sick and spent the rest of our anniversary and the next day with the stomach flu...I had to cancel our date and just be thankful Tom was home to take care of the kids. Happy Anniversary Tom- don’t worry I got you a great gift (as he found out a few days later when he came down with the stomach flu!)

I can’t remember what we did that weekend other than attending the Christmas party at the CO’s house. On Tuesday, the 23rd, Hayden turned 6 years old! He wanted a weird science birthday party and we had a lot of fun with it. We wrote invitations with disappearing ink and at the party we did all sorts of experiments. I love the internet and wealth of ideas I can find there. Fortunately two of the kids moms stayed and helped us because the number of kids at the party got out of hand! I said he could invite 6 kids which somehow turned into 12!!! Tom had the day off so it was perfect to do it on his actual birthday. We all had a blast and luckly Tom didn’t come down with the stomach flu until after lunch. Ugh... I took the kids to Burger King for dinner to get out of his hair! While sitting at BK and watching the kids play I felt the pains of those who I know that are spending the holidays without their spouses. I was spending a few hours alone... the sacrifice made by the military families is so immense. While I pray to never know the sacrifice first hand, I also know I will be forever grateful to them and it has changed my outlook permanently.

On Christmas Eve Tom had to drag himself out of bed for a uniform inspection at work. Luckily it only took a few hours in the morning and Tom was feeling okay. We went to our friends house at 4:00 and the kids did gingerbread houses, we ate soup and salad and then went caroling around the neighborhood. After a few houses Danica turned to me and said “Mommy, why do we just keep singing and singing?” I told her we wanted to wish them all a Merry Christmas to which she just laughed and said okay. Christmas morning was wonderful. Santa delivered the trampoline just as the kids had asked. Alyssa got a toy kitchen and had so much fun with it we couldn’t get her to open her presents. The kids were very spoiled by relatives and all came out happy. At 1:30 Tom picked up some of the single marines that he works with and they stayed for the rest of the day eating dinner, playing darts, watching The Office and playing games. I am thankful we could help them get out of the barracks and feel like it was a holiday. I’m also thankful I am finally “grown up” or something and was capable of making a nice holiday meal without hating every minute of it. I use to pity my mom because she had to be upstairs cooking while I played with my new toys. It really wasn’t that bad though. And I did get a fabulous new toy for Christmas. I got a PIANO! Many of you are probably thinking “I didn’t know she played the piano!?” Well, my sweet grandma spent many years teaching me and although I don’t have a talent for music I did learn to play and with a lot of practice I can do it. Now that I am a “grown up” I actually enjoy finding a minute to sit down to practice here and there! Plus, this will help with my new calling. Yes, I got released from the Primary Presidency because the president had to go back the U.S. indefinitely. My new calling is primary chorister. Please stop laughing, it’s not that funny...okay, actually it is. No, I still can’t sing but hopefully the kids won’t care and the teachers will forgive me. (Do any of you remember when my karaoke character died on the x-box game?) I love primary music and will do my best to teach it the kids.

Okay, one last big announcement: Alyssa is walking!!!! She hates every minute but she can do it! I had already scheduled an appointment with early intervention specialists and I plan to keep it so that the physical therapist can check her out because she just hates walking and I want to make sure it’s just because she’s stubborn! Hopefully with another week of practice she’ll begin to like it.

Okay, I must now stop. I'll post pictures later.

I just want to take this chance to be the first to wish you a Merry Christmas! We enjoyed a fabulous day. Santa came and delighted the children with a toy kitchen for Alyssa and a trampoline for Danica and Hayden. They were also spoiled by us and by all of you! They spent all day just playing and playing! I stayed busy playing with them and making dinner for three of the dental techs that work with Tom. They rode the bus down here around 1:30 and spent the day away from the barracks, just hanging out. I was pleasantly surprised with how dinner turned out, I don't usually do the holiday meals so this was my first solo shot at it.

Anyway, this is just a short update, really just taking advantage of the fact that Christmas is over for us and just starting for you. We hope you have a Merry Christmas!

Tracey

Now, for those in the mid-west, lake states and the Rocky Mtns, Unintas or Tetons, this isn't a big deal. For Portland and Vancouver, it is the end of the world. Speeds are down to 20 mph on all the roads, domos don't put on chains when called for..they just don't get it. Here are some photos to show how "near the end" we are.

This is the first birthday that you don't have to share with Morgan...since your day starts so much before ours does.

I hope you really enjoy your oven and make all sorts of creepy things!!!

Love,
Grandma Barb and Papa

Today has been a wonderful day in our home. Mike, Brooke and family and Peter, Anne and boys arrived today. I have to applaud their efforts to drive on one of the worst of driving days in Portland/Oregon/SW Washington history. Mike and Brooke came up from California on the I-5 and Peter and Anne came from Boise on the I-84. By the way, 84 closed today due to ice an snow. These are some of the photos around the house today. Marnie flew in from sunny San Diego a few days ago. Treven has to fly home the same day. So, we basically will have had all but the Tom and Tracy Stinchfield's who are deployed to Okinawa until 2010. We plan a visit over there before they come home. Have a great Christmas and New Year. Kenn and Barb

No "blanky" for me!

I love her!