Dave

Just throwing this out there as I am looking at the next month that will undoubtedly fly by. I really want to do the Grotto this year and possibly see the Nutcracker ballet. I get that not many may want to do the ballet but I have been swearing to Brent that I wanted to see it each year we have been here and have not. But if the Vancouver fam wants to go to the grotto or the ballet, let me know so we can get a date nailed down. The grotto is open from 5-9pm daily until Dec. 30th and is free admission... sooner than later would probably be the least crowded. We have heard about 50% discount tickets for the ballet on a local news station and will lookout for that. Any other holiday activities that anyone else is doing that would like to share?

I’ve been feeling a bit down about missing out on all the family holiday gatherings that are coming but our Okinawa family really came through for us this past Thanksgiving weekend. It was fantastic!!! Back in August we all got together and reserved cottages at small resort on a base up north. We’ve been there a few times but never along with anyone else. It was the perfect set up- 7 families, Hayden was the oldest of the 20 kids. All the cottages in a small fenced in area on one little road surrounding a playground and within walking distance to the beach. The kids were everywhere, riding bikes, rollerblading, digging in the sand, swinging and just enjoying the lack of supervision while the adults relaxed and hung out!
We started Thanksgiving off right with a football game that was a blast (thank you to the pregnant moms who watched the kids so the rest of us could play!) Then we gathered for appetizers for lunch, got some food prepped, put the Turkey in the oven and headed to the beach! The waves were great and the sand plentiful! Then we cleaned up and met for dinner. We had enough food to feed us all for three meals, three fantastically delicious meals! I don’t make anything that requires more than three ingredients but my friends are fantastic cooks and I totally benefitted! My mashed potatoes and rainbow jello turned out fine and I did contribute a stellar apple pie and pumpkin pie. Yum!
After dinner the kids had a scavenger hunt, a p.j. movie party and it was off to bed so the adults could stay up way to late playing games. Every night we would put the kids to bed, lock the doors and meet for pie and games at one of the cottages while monitoring the kids with baby monitors, walkie talkies, and cordless phones...it was awesome. (There is a perk to being on an isolated little military base- totally safe!) By the time we left on Saturday I was exhausted but so happy, I just kept smiling on the drive home thinking about how thankful I am to be here with so many wonderful people. Who would have thought that this far from “home” I could have so many amazing friends. We truly have become like family, the kids play like cousins and adults just enjoy our time together and everyone has unique and special things they bring to the group. This Thanksgiving, while so far from the rest of my family and things that are familiar there is no question I was the most thankful for friends...and the blue water and perfect weather helped...on the drive home I noticed that instead of passing trees full of fall leaves changing colors I was passing trees full of bright orange flowers. There were hundreds of them and they were gorgeous...ah yes, it might be far from “home” but for now it is home.

On a related note, Hayden did a little Thanksgiving play in his class at school and he was one of the two narrators and did a fantastic job! He's on the far left, reading one of his parts.

Hey bro, we wish you all the best. It's awesome to be home with family for your birthday. We were thinking of you today. We'll get a relay in here soon. Just keep training. See you soon!

Dave

Happy Birthday Mikey!

We hope you are having a good, worry-free day and that it has warmed up a bit! I keep thinking of the fun Thanksgiving and birthdays we had with you last year....and getting your I-phone! I am sure you are having fun with the Allens this year... And no school on your birthday!

Love you,

Mom. (and Dad who is in the middle of some
I-phone game)

Happy Birthday!!! I hope you have a great day! I am so excited to come up to Washington for Christmas and see you. Thanks for being such a great grandma! I love you! Happy Birthday!!!

Today is Mom's 61st Birthday. Now, we're the same age again. I have to take the lead each year for about 9 months and it really feels lonely up here. Then, comes Turkey Day and Mom and Michael's Birthdays....and then I have a companion to share the age group with me again until February. We're off to run here in Boise to try to burn off some of Anne and Peter's wonderful Thanksgiving Day meal. Peter cooked his turkey in a oil cooker..and it was amazingly moist and delicious. Thanks to the two of them for a wonderful day. Hope you are all enjoying your Day/Weekend with your family. We'd love to be at each of your homes but, hey, we can only stretch our bodies so far. Next time around? Where in the world will we be? Who knows? Happy Birthday Barbs, Babbs, Barbie. Love you, 14

Adina, Isaac, Ray Jr. and I ran the Turkey Trot Run for Hunger this morning in Stockton, CA. Isaac did the 5k, Adina, Ray and I did the 10k. Alot of runners, 3000 or so. The 10k'ers did ok around 50-54 mins, not placing of course. Isaac came in somewhere around 15th place. I am anxious to see what the results are for his 13-18 age group. He should be towards the top. He came in somewhere around 18 mins, roughly a 6 min/mile pace. He really wants to represent Washington in the Oregon/Washington Clash CC run within the next 3 years, so he's shooting for that.

I was just thinking about how I haven't posted forever and really enjoy checking in on everyone else... but I never have time. Then I realized as I am sitting on the couch watching So You Think You Can Dance while Noah sleeps that this is all the time I've got so I better hop to it!

So Hymns of Thanksgiving has come and gone for another year. This was my 4th year participating in the choir for this event. This year it will be playing on the nbc affiliate's channel on a loop for most of Thanksgiving day as well as Idaho public television in the evening. As you are all aware this last week has been interesting and stressful. I am grateful for the opportunities and great blessings we have recieved. Anne has been an awesome support and partner. As I said Hymns of Thanksgiving has passed us by and I am somewhat sad to admit that the performance happened for the most part on autodrive for me as my mind was elsewhere. I will say though that three verses of the "Star Spangled Banner" was not on autodrive. I feel honored to be a part of and share that experience with others. It seems that no matter what religion, education, or any other cultural background we may come from, we can agree on the fact that we have a pretty awesome country even though not every aspect of it is perfect.

So Mom and Adina are in the air somewhere over the Atlantic and I am following Toby Keith to Scotland (...not really - Mom and Adina will get that). I am leaving in about 10 min to catch my train, bus, plane to Edinburgh where I'll spend a week traveling through Scotland on my own. Well, not totally on my own - don't worry - I am doing a 5-day tour so I'll have plenty of new people to meet and enjoy the rain with. :)

Having Mom and Adina here was SO fun! I am so glad that I got to share the trips to Rome and Stockholm with them as well as show them my life over here. Glad I can have someone from home who has some idea of what I am talking about! So thanks to Dave & kids and Dad for letting them go for 11 days to spend time with me. Lots of memories made that won't be forgotten.

Ok - gotta go! Off to see the Scots!

Here is a link to see the FIRST 500 photos from our little trip. What can I say? I went a little camera happy. Feel free to click through and view them here. I'll add the second album when it is finished uploading.

Here's the 2nd album. Enjoy!

As I sit here in the penthouse suite of the Thon Opera Hotel (Barb scored us a sweet upgrade), I can't help but think of all the insight I have gained on this 11-day journey. In addition to the wealth of knowledge that I gained at the various sites and museums, I have learned so many life lessons.

I have learned...

1. Barb snores.
2. Tylenol PM is a God-send (mostly because of #1).
3. I don't like anchovies.
4. 'Slutta' means 'stop' in Swedish.
5. Marnie cannot jump turnstiles. She will try, and you will laugh... but she can't.
6. Do not go below channel 1 on a Swedish hotel TV. Just don't.
7. There is no such thing as 'personal space' on an Italian Metro.
8. The fig leaves in the Vatican Museum are removable.
9. The toilets in Rome have no seats.
10. In Norway, you can cross the street without a care - they will stop. In Rome, stop, look & listen, because they will kill you.
11. Contrary to what Rick Steves says, do NOT tell a waiter in Rome to simply 'make you happy'.
12. Reserved seats in a movie theater is a pretty cool thing.
13. There are 3 airports in Oslo, and I've been to all 3.
14. Marnie was born to travel.
15. Barb can do anything.
16. There's no place like home.

Masked up and feel like I'm back in the air Navy. Now, the mask is another experience, but let me tell you, not bad. All you have to do is keep your mouth shut with 5000 psi of air blowing into you nose. Your lungs almost explode when you inhale, "Oh, I'll adjust that down for you Kenneth". "How is that now". Hey, how about asking me that before we start and cut it to 1000 psi, JON!
Really, not that bad, very comfortable and just have to get used to keeping your mouth shut OR you will end up with the one that covers you nose AND mouth. Didn't want that. So, in and out of consciousness and awake at 0550. Apparently, I moved my fingers enough that HAL picked up on the motion and told JON that I was done with this test. Thank you, HAL, I am! I get up, Jon removes most of the tape and glue. "You can take the rest off yourself when you get home". What if I had to take the bus home, then what? I looked like I just came in out of the passing of Hurricane Helga. Then, he gives me the parting questionaire. How did you sleep late night? I don't know, I was asleep. How many minutes did it take you to fall asleep? Sorry, I forgot to start and stop my timer. How many times did you wake up last night? Are you kidding me? How am I supposed to know that? You had the camera, JON. OK, there are more questions but I'm not going to elaborate now. Test results in 4-5 weeks. I have no idea if I qualified for American Idol, Survival, So You Think You Can Dance, or America's Funniest Home Videos. Probably the last one.

I actually was amazed at how well my lungs filled with the mask, how quiet the machine was and how unobtrusive it was. I am comfortable this morning. Still a little fatigued as you really wonder if what you are doing during the night is ok, such as adjusting wires, moving the mask for a better seal, turning on each side, moving appendages, etc. That removed from the scenario, I think the mask is a good way to go. I don't know if I snored or not. They'll let me see that on the review. Barb might want to come along for the premier showing.

So if something like this is a happening in your life, you may want to set it up to save your life from heart attack and M.I.'s. Take care, sleep well. Nine hours of sleep versus 4 or 5, not bad. Heading for the shower to remove the glue and tape. Later, Kenn/Dad

So, last night at 2100, I started my "sleep study" to see what I do, how I sleep and if I can roll over and fetch a bone while asleep. For those who don't know the answer to the last one, apparently I can but I won't know for five weeks. I know this: wires are made for TV's and radios, not for human beings. Tape, glue and IR lights are for halloween decorations, not for me. So, into the room at 2100, taped and glued in all accessible places, I said accessible, wires trailing down each leg, out each arm, across my chest, my chin in three places, my eyes, back, side and front of my head, top of my cranium, finger wire with ET light on left pointing finger. I noted an infra-red thingy in the upper right of my room and a omnidome thing in the left front. The TV screen, I'm sure, glowed purposely all night. There were some alien red and green lights here and there, they said fire alarms, etc. I didn't believe any of it. When they asked me to change into my night clothes, did those things watch me?

Anyway, lights out. Now, Kenneth, sleep. Oh, sure. Sleep in a strange room with the atmosphere of an old hotel on Highway 66, two pillows made in China, and I'm supposed to sleep? Right. Did you ever turn over on your side and wonder if the octopus tied to your body would strangle you until your eyes popped out? Well, I did wonder just that. I did okay but thought I had parachuted into some high tension wires. "Try to sleep on your back" Hey, Barb, do I sleep on my back? Not on your life. But, on my back I did and the Jon said later I spent most of my time on my back. Well, what the XXll do you want me to do, Hey, I am Gulligan and you're the little guys. I'm tied to the bed and I can't do much more than wiggle my toes. Somehow, I managed to sleep on my back, then right, then left...the whole time realizing that every cough, snort, throat clearing, finger movement, scratch, etc...was be in recorded in HD and Surround Sound, for future residents at some Doctor's gathering in Orlando at the Annual Sleep Apnea Conference. I can see an audience of 500 (half of them asleep themselves) laughing at me as the presenter comments on my reaching for my nose with my index finger......Oh well, I always wanted to be in movies. At 0100 Jon comes in and says, Do you want to go to the bathroom? Well, of course, I told you I get up every night to do just that. So, I did. Have you ever tried to walk with 3000 feet of clothesline tied to your body? Back to bed and now the "icing on the cake" or in their terms, the mask on the nose test. It is now 0100 and I have to go to 0600. More in next blog. :)

We are just resting for a bit now on our day of lots of travel. I think we figured it out as being the following order of transportation....

We leave in about 10 min for the last part of that on our next leg to Stockholm. So more pictures to come of that but here are some from Rome now that we have a normal internet connection for a bit.

At the Colloseum

The Roman Forum

The Dome of the Pantheon

Waiting at our Metro stop

Medusa's head at the Vatican Museos

just to give you some scale...

The Pieta in St. Peter's

In St. Peter's

The reliable stand-by - Coke Light

At the Villa D'Este in Tivoli outside of Rome

When in Rome, do as Romans do

Hoping for a visit back to Rome!

Our last night in Campo Di Fiori - building in the back left is where Julius Caesar was assassinated