Obligatory Crazy Sadie Pic

Thank you Aunt Adina and Uncle Dave! Tennis anyone?

Change of Command Day Family Pic

Change of Command Day

Well, this week with another bank's turndown for financing, we have decided to be content with the great job that Dad already has. Great income, vacations and benefits and minimal worries! The banker was really nice about it but one of the problems is that we are so highly leveraged (banker-speak for have a lot of debt) that if anything did not go according to plan or better we would be dead in the water. Lesson for all of you...debt really limits you! We are doing alright with it and made our final plans to go to Japan in April. Not a bad consolation prize!

We have two other financing organizations that would finance us when I get a job. Who knows when that will happen...and I'm not sure it would be wise for us to do even then.

We went to see the Aviator tonight...good movie! He was one weird guy. We are going down to Sacramento tomorrow afternoon for Paul Wecker's 50th birthday returning on Sunday morning. We got really cheap tickets so we decided to do it. We'll also get to see Gramma while we are there which makes her really happy.

Anyhow...I'd better get to bed.

We love you all,

Mom and Dad (Dad's not writing but his heart is in this!)

Happy 19th birthday! You are almost out of the teens!! Hope you have a good one and have fun.

We love you!

Love, Anne and Peter

I would never have thought a waterfall could be so pretty in the winter!

Frozen waterfall!

Hayden was so excited to sleep in his Spongebob sleeping bag!!!

Here we are at Hocking Hills State Park, this is called Cedar Falls.

Well Tom seemed to really enjoy his birthday and was happy to get so many birthday messages! We have been having a great time in Cleveland. Last weekend we drove to Hocking Hills State Park which is about 45 minutes outside of Columbus (a 4 hour drive from our house). We went with 5 other couples and stayed in these two bedroom cabins (tow couples per cabin). On Saturday we went hiking and saw the most beautiful frozen waterfalls! They were gorgeous and the sun was shining making them sparkle. It was relatively warm and the day was perfect. We had a wonderful time. On Valentine's day we went out to Red Robin, with Hayden. Not exactly fun or romantic since Hayden just ran around the restuarant but atleast I didn't have to cook! Yesterday for Tom's birthday we had sugar pancakes in the morning, he went to the driving range in the afternoon and then we went to the CAvs game, you can't ask for much more than that!!!
Hayden is really starting to "mature" (if there is such a thing for a two year old.) He is grasping the idea of consequences and gaining more control over his behavior. It's really nice. He still has a lot of energy and just likes to run around but now we do circle time in the mornings and he's really enjoying learning his colors, numbers, shapes, etc. He gets really excited about things so it's been a lot of fun.
I've been doing a lot of scrapbooking lately. I went to a four week class at Lexi's house, it was great. I'm actually almost done scrapbooking Hayden's first year of life so I only have one more to go... hopefully I can catch up!!! I'm reading the 4th Harry Potter, it's great. Adina thanks for the book ideas, I'm always looking for something new. Also, my birthday is April 29th.
It's fun to hear from everyone! Keep us posted. Take care!
Tracey

Morgan clutching her pig and sporting Mom's glasses 

It took 5 minutes to get Parker into this shell - he was convinced it would close on him! 

Taylor checking out some "poo" at the OMSI Grossology exhibit. That's right..."poo". 

Isaac, the weary traveler 

Happy Birthday to Kenn, Tom, Kim, Ellyn, & Peter! Did we miss anyone for February? Sorry we are a little late - it has been a slow recovery from our trip. Dave is still dropping off to sleep every night at like 9:30!

Jane - you look gorgeous with those pearly whites! We are anxious to get to the states and find a good ortho for Isaac - he has quite a mouthful (thanks to me). I hope his smile is as great as yours when he's done with braces!

Not too much on the home front. We had a great trip to "America", including visits to an Egyptian Museum, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Winchester Mystery House, OMSI, and more. It was great! Now, we are awaiting official orders so we know what day we can catch a plane back to the states. Dave is in the elementary school today doing screenings on the kids for Dental Health Month.

Dave and I watched "The Grudge" the other night - scared the snot out of me. It is set in Japan, so that made it even more interesting.

Some recent reads:
"The Rule of Four" (similar to "Da Vinci Code", but not quite as interesting)
"God's Secretaries: The making of the King James Bible" (interesting)
"The Kite Runner" (liked it very much)
"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" (an easy, entertaining read - I think you would like it, Tracey)

Anyway - we are sure looking forward to seeing everyone sometime this summer! We miss you all and love to read about what's going on in your lives! By the way - when is Tracey's Birthday?

Adina

Happy Birthday to Tom and Ellyn! Hope you all have a great one!
Thank you Tom, Tracey and Hayden for the birthday card. I appreciate it greatly!

As for other things, Treven finds out in an hour and an half if he got accepted to BYU Idaho. Thats at least what we believe by what they are saying on the web site. I am having a good time here in Rexburg, It is freezing... this morning it was -1 but felt like -15 because of wind chill! fun stuff! I have a biology test tomorrow and an american heritage test next tuesday so this weekend is study, study, study! I miss everybody and I wish I could be home. I don't know what I am doing for my birthday.... there isn't anything planned yet so maybe nothing. Oh well..

By the way Mom, I need a oil change for my car and ink cartridge for my printer...

Love you all!
Kim

Happy birthday Tom! Hope you have a good one!

We love you and miss you!

Love, Anne and Peter

Hey everyone! Happy Birthday Ellyn, Tom, and Kimberly (in a couple days)! I hope you are all having a blast on your birthday.

Per the title, Matt is sick! :( He got an ear infection last week and we think he is having a bad reaction to the antibiotics he was given. That combined with running 13 miles in the rain and getting a little dehydrated has turned into no fun. He was really bad on Monday night with a fever and a serious stomach ache. He slept and rested all day yesterday, pretty weak from not being able to keep any food in. I went and saw him this morning and the fever has gone down but he is still feeling pretty crappy. I guess Valentine's is going to have to be postponed for a while. Sad.

On a lighter note, I went and saw a taping of Will & Grace last night. It was really fun and we almost got backstage passes but the taping went too long and the actors had to leave. But it was fun to watch the LONG process of filming a hit sitcom. And I got to see all the cool actors and have fun with my friends. Cool experience.

Well enjoy your birthdays and pray for Matt to get better! Love you all.

Marnie

Boy, did I blow it!!!! As soon as I sent my post, I saw Brent's Happy Birthday..and I didn't even mention it.

Happy Birthday, Tom! I have been thinking about it this morning and will call you this afternoon when you are back from school....27....Wow!!

Mom

Hope your Birthday goes well. OLD MAN!! Also Baseball is coming up, anyone for Fantasy Baseball.

See ya
Brent

I am finally trying to figure out pictures for myself. I helped Martha set up a blog for her family this weekend and she tried some pictures that did not work out for me, at least. So I thought I would experiment..not sure whether the one from "hello" will come through. I was trying to put it on our profile but couldn't figure that out...Help, Mike!!!

Anyway, the Schickies do have a blog...since I opened ours up for them to look at for an example...I'll give you their site....Superschick.blogspot.com.

I had a great weekend with Beppie Anne and Martha. We saw quite a few old friends including having lunch with Peter and Anne and Betsy in Provo on Saturday. Diane Kort Johnssen is living in American Fork with her husband and went into premature labor and is in Utah Valley Hospital so Betsy was there helping. We also saw Jay and Martha Ball (where we had the lunch after Kay-Kay's burial) on Sunday. On Monday morning we went to breakfast with some friends we grew up with in Berkeley. Very fun!!! In addition to all the entertaining, we went to the Spoken Word broadcast...and a Daughters of the Utah Pioneer Museum in Ogden. Martha has really gotten into geneology and I'm going to be doing it with her...very fun.

Still no further news on the practice..we have another bank looking at it who will give us an answer by the end of this week....No job yet on the horizon for me!!!

We love you all,

Mom

Just trying this out......

Jane got her braces off yesterday!

Hi, I am now 1! (Notice Sadie in her new favorite outfit, red tutu with big blond wig, with nothing else!)

Yeah, Sleeping Beauty Hair, Right...

Birthday Girl Destroys Cake

Ellyn,

Sorry We are late, But Happy 1st birthday! I hope you had a good day and had fun with your family!

We Love you!

Love, Auntie Anne and Uncle Peter

Happy V-Day everyone!

I saw this article on cnn.com and thought I would post it:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/14/valentine.town.ap/index.html

-Anne

Hey everyone,

Well this afternoon, Peter received an email supposedly from Washington Mutual saying that it had suspected fraudulant activity with our account and that it was currently deactivated and that we had to follow a link to reactivate it. It sends you to the normal wamu.com sign in page to sign in. Then it asked for the card number, pin number, expiration date, and the 3 or 4 digit number on the back of the card(basically everything you would need to use it). So after Peter had done this, because we assumed it was Washington Mutual, we noticed on the wamu.com website that they said that they would never ask for our pin number over email. So immediatly we figured this must have been something wrong so we called the Washington Mutual number and we were told that it was not them who sent it to us and that it had been a random person trying to get our information. We ended up cancelling that card and changed basically anything that would have to do with what info we had given to them.

I am just alarming you all that this is something that can happen and to delete the message as soon as you receive it or let washington mutual know about it. Anyways, we have everything resolved now and are going tomorrow to make sure everything is changed. I really hope you all will never have to deal with this.

Other than all of that stuff, we are doing great and having fun here in Provo. We love you all and can't wait to see you all again.

Love, Anne and Peter

Today was the San Diegito (sp?) Half Marathon, no your sister Marnie did not run it but her boyfriend did! Matt did really well even in the rain! Here is a shot of him just after the race.

Things are going well in San Diego. I am getting into the jive of school, slowly. And I am already counting down the weeks till I graduate(May 21st...). My internship is going well and I am learning a lot. Sport Chalet is still the same, drama drama drama. But it is fun sometimes.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!! Sorry I couldn't see you all, Dave and Adina, when you were here! Congratulations on the practice!

I love you all!

Marnie

David- Brent and I told my mother about the dental practice you are planning to buy and funny enough, my mother is in the market for a new dentist. She had mentioned the description if the dental office and said she thought it looked like a nice place. She then asked us to find out the name of the dentist and sure enough it's the same one that she was already considering! Congrats on finding a place that you were looking for and hopefully all the details work out well.
By the way, Happy Valentines day to everyone!
Buffy

Well we got home. Let me just give you a quick synopsis of our trip back.

• 0430 Wednesday - Woke up in Vancouver, drove to SeaTac airport (3 hours) and arrived at 0829, one minute before 'showtime'. Much too close because if you miss showtime, you don't go.
• 1130 Wednesday - The time we were supposed to leave SeaTac. Incoming flight delayed 1.5 hours. Finally got on at 1300 only to be told that they needed to close a door on the bottom of the plane and it would take another 1.5 hours, so we all got off. Waited for 1.5 hours, got back on, the plane taxied out 100 feet, then they said the door opened again, another 45 mins waiting for them to close it again. So, about 1600 we actually leave SeaTac, 12 hours after waking up.
• 11 hour flight to Yokota (northern) Japan. Lost 17 hrs to time change.
• 1830 Thursday- arrive Yokota Air Force Base. We get off the plane, go through immigration for 1 hr, sit for another 30 mins, then are told that because of the delay, the flight crew cannot safely fly the next let tonight.
• 2130 Thursday - Finally arrive at lodging at Yokota to spend the night (the airline paid for lodging and food).
• 0330 Friday - All the kids wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed. I wake up, Adina sleeps for a little longer.
• 0900 Friday - Bus pickup to go back to terminal.
• 1400 Friday - Plane leaves for Iwakuni Marine Corp Air Station.
• 1600 Friday - Arrive Iwakuni.
• 1700 Friday - Find out that our reservations for lodging in Iwakuni were canceled because we were space available and there weren't any rooms left.
• 1701 Friday - Decided to just drive home today.
• 2100 Friday - Arrived in Sasebo.
• 0400 Saturday - Kids all awake bright eyed and bushy tailed again. Dave wakes, Adina sleeps.
• And now it is 0900 Saturday.

So, it was a long trip, but the flight only cost $13 per person. We'll take a little of inconvenience for several thousand dollars in savings. It may take the kids a while longer to get adjusted to the time change again.

So, the trip was successful. We accomplished what we wanted to do and have found a practice. It is in Washougal, WA. It is 21 miles from mom and dads front door. It is a small town right on the Columbia River down East of Camas. It is the same place where Buffy's mom moved to recently. It has a small town, rural feeling to it, yet it is 15 mile from downtown Portland. The best of both worlds. It is growing well though with a lot of houses being built. I have signed the letter of intent to purchase the practice from Dr. Howard Davis who has been practicing there for 25 years and has a very loyal patient pool. He does just the kind of dentistry I am interested in and is very supportive in making me successful. The practice has a view out of the treatment rooms that is very relaxing, looks right out into the woods, nice big windows. The equipment is brand new and the practice has a very homey feel to it. It really is just what I have been looking for. I will be starting to work there in August and will purchase it 1 year from that date. We've got an excellent CPA/Lawyer team going through all the details and they agree it is an excellent opportunity.

Good to be home.

Dave

Awesome stuff here...
Beats any other online mapper.

http://maps.google.com/

Hey everyone!

I realized nobody knows my address... so I thought I would just post it!
440 S 2nd W #411
Rexburg, ID 83440

Just got home from a trip home to see Dave and Adina and the kids. Had a blast at home! Especially playing pounce! haha anyways! Just the same old same old. Just studying and hanging out with friends. I am trying to look for a job so I can save up money. There are new restaurants and stores opening so I am going to apply there.
It snowed a little this weekend. Wish it would snow more so that when I go snowboarding it won't be so icy.
Also all of those with Verizon phones I have a Verizon phone now so it is free. The number is (360)635-2864. I still do have my Cingular one. It is just one to be able to talk free to Treven.
Mom and Dad... I also need an oil change soon on the Durango. I am guessing about the beginning of March. I just talked to you Mom, but I forgot to tell you that.
I love you all and miss you! I will post more pictures soon just have to download them onto my computer.

Hey Everyone,

I thought I would let you know that Peter had accepted an internship for the summer(May and June) at the Army Corps of Engineers in Vicksburg, Mississippi. We will be there for two month and then will be back in Provo until December. This is a possible permanent job opportunity for Peter when he is done in December but we will not know anything about permanent stuff until next fall. I am excited to experience the South and actually somewhat know what Mike and Brooke are talking about. We will hopefully be able to visit both Mike and Brooke and Tom and Tracey sometime while we are there. We will see!

We are both doing great and hope to see you all soon.

Love you!

Anne and Peter

Well, this time has seemed longer than it actually was. That is a good vacation. I have been able to accomplish a lot on the dental practice side of things. I have discovered that the practice I was looking at initially is nothing close to what I wanted, so it has been left in the dust. However, there is an excellent opportunity that I am pursuing right now in Washougal, WA, about 30 mins from Mom and Dad's. Good practice, well equipped/staffed, with much potential for growth.
We fly back to Sasebo tomorrow morning, but won't actually be back to our home for 2 or 3 days. It is a long trip. We wish we could have seen more of you all, but we did get to see B&B and Kim while we were here. Great trip overall. Makes us really want to get back in August. Well, hope to hear from all of you soon. Blog away!
Dave

After discussion, we have not totally given up on the idea of a practice. Our CPA had the great suggestion for a middle road solution. We will give up our bid for this space that we have been working toward and I will exert stronger efforts to get employment. As soon as I get a steady permanent job, we will proceed forward. In speaking to both lenders, if I had employment, it would go through without something in writing from Willamette and without a 2nd on our house. We would then look for what spaces might be available at that time. We both feel very peaceful about that solution....except that it is sort of up to me to get the job...so I can definitely use your prayers and fasting to help me in that endeavor.

Thanks for all your support,

Mom

Our adventures in Santa Clarita continue with the filming of CSI Las Vegas in our little apartment complex. Yep, that's right, a whole crew of well over 100 people, five semi's, trailers, security guards, fake cop cars, fake prostitutes, a fake villain, cameras, lots of lights, and a few of the stars were all chilling in our tiny parking lot last night. They used our friend's apartment that they had just moved out of to film a stake out of a criminal living in a white trash apartment. I'll admit that our apartments aren't the most stylish but they made it even more ghetto by shining neon blue spot lights on the sides of the buildings (very Vegas I guess). I also got a peak at the inside after the "art department" was done with our (Mormon) friend's old apartment. It looked exactly like a trashy crack dealer's place complete with alcohol bottles and cigarette butts everywhere, multiple phones, little mirrors with razor blades and all the cheasy 70's furniture you can imagine as well as clutter and trash. I hope to get copies of the pictures I took with the apt manager soon.
So last night instead of watching TV or reading for entertainment, I went up to my friend's apt and watched the filming from her bedroom window while eating pizza. I think it will air next month but I'm not sure what date. All I can say is it was VERY surreal!
Brent just got back in town last night from Mammoth for work meetings and snow boarding. Unfortunately the film crew was completely packed up and gone by the time he got home at around 10:30pm (sorry Brent). He is still in one piece but I don't think he feels like it. It was his first time and apparently everything hurts.
Barb and Kenn, we will pray for you as well and hope you are at peace with the decision you make.
Buffy

Actually, Brent...I may NOT be getting Dad a practice for his birthday and he may thank me for it.

Just to keep you all in the current loop, both financing companies have asked for some conditions that we may not want to do....such as a 2nd on our house, and a written contract with Willamette for the phase out. We don't want to do the first and Dad thinks we would be killing ourself by asking for the second item with Willamette.

We haven't made our final, final decision but are leaning on giving up the idea of the practice and enjoying our later years with a guaranteed income...and a lot fewer worries. I am sure Dad would be successful at the practice but it takes time...and if the financing isn't there, you can't do it. We definitely do not want a repeat of Poulsbo.

We have been praying fervently for a clear answer as to the direction we need to go and this may be our answer. We will be fasting this Sunday for the right thing to happen and invite any of you who would desire to join us in that fast. We need to make the final decision by Monday.

We love you all and the most important blessing we have in our life are each of you!!!

Mom

We would love to wish you an excellent Birthday and hope that Mom can buy you a practice for your Birthday. Have a nice one. We love you.

Brent and Buffy

Have the most wonderful birthday ever!! I wish I could be up there with all of you to celebrate! I love you!

Marnie

Hey everyone,

I have found out a majority of the dates for my games next fall. It will be my Senior season and I would absolutly love it if you all could make it to a game or two. I know that it is hard for all of you but I thought I would just let you know way ahead of time so if you wanted to you could make plans now instead of right before the game is.

September:
3-4 UVSC invite
6 @ Boise (still not confirmed)
9-10 Weber Tournament
16-17 UVSC invitational
27 Weber @ UVSC
30 @ North Dakota State

October:
1 @ South Dakota State
7 Minnesota State - Billings @ UVSC
8 University of Texas - Pan American @ UVSC
10 Utah State University @ UVSC
14 @ Wyoming
15 @ University of Northern Colorado
21 University of Northern Colorado @ UVSC
25 University of Utah @ UVSC (still not confirmed)
28 @ University of Texas - Pan American
29 @ Texas A&M - Corpus Christi

November:
3 North Dakota State @ UVSC
4 South Dakota State @ UVSC
10-12 Independent Tournament @ University of Northern Colorado

These dates are mostly set in stone, although some could change around still. The last date in November (Independent Tournament) will be my last games and I would really like it if you could try to make it to that one.

I love you all and can't wait to see you all again.

Love, Anne

Hey everybody!

First of all Happy Birthday to Parker! Hope your day was great! I love you and see you on February 4th!
By the way, took my first test on Thursday and I got a 90% on it. It was my biology test... going good so far this semester! Also I got a calling today.. Family History Teacher.. it will be interesting but I think I will learn a lot.
Sorry I have to go finish homework! but I love and miss you all!

Kim

wah, wah , wah, Utah this, Utah that, this is one night and you can bet that it is cold.

This is his bad boy look for happy birthday, yeah, here's looking at you kid.

Hayden would like to issue to Parker Stinchfield a congratulations on another year of life. Happy Fifth! Uncle Tom and Aunt Tracey do the same.

We want to wish you a happy 5th birthday Parker. We wish that we could come and see you and your family. Happy Birthday and we hope that you have the funnest birthday ever!

Love, Auntie Anne and Uncle Peter

We hope you have a happy birthday and we will see you next week. And Marnie, don't you know that we are not allowed to have fun at Sport Chalet, you might get asked for your resignation, hehe. Love you guys. Go Falcons.

Love Brent and Buffy

Happy Birthday Parker!!! I can't believe you are, what, 5 years old!!! Ridiculous! I hope you have so much fun!

Love, Aunt Marnie

Happy Birthday Parker!! Your Uncle Mike and Aunt Brooke and Jane, Sadie, and Ellyn love you and hope you have a great day. How cool that you have Grandma and Papa to celebrate with you. Hope you have a fun trip. We can't wait to see you this summer. Love, all of us

Here's Kelly and I having fun on a slow night with some products that have been up at the front.

Well, we arrived here yesterday at about noon. The trip went well and we got on all the flights easily, everyone got on the flights. This time of year is great to travel space available because not many others are doing it. It cost us $150 to fly the whole family over. Can't beat that!! We are glad to be here though and are ready to find some place to practice and start looking for possible areas to settle down in. I went to look at one practice yesterday afternoon. It is a possibility, but I am going to continue looking. This visit should be a productive one.
The kids love the big house, I think they just kind of went crazy after being couped up in small hotel rooms, cars, and airplanes for the last two days.
I think Isaac is dying to play Halo 2 with someone online, so if there are any takers, I am sure he would love to get in on the action, as would I.
Anyway, we are here with Mom and Dad until 8 Feb at which time we will head back to Japan. We will be in and out going to Fremont in the middle.
Take care,
Dave

Hello everyone,

Utah is great but cold. We haven't gotten anymore snow since the last big storm like 2 weeks ago. I wish it would snow just so we would have a reason for it being this cold.

Anyways, School is going great and we are finally getting back into the swing of things. Peter and I attended the wedding of Peter's cousin this last weekend in L.A. It was a nice break from Utah and school and we were able to hang out with Brent and Buffy alot more that we have before. It was fun. We got to see mom and dad and marnie and the new beau. It all was a great trip especially when I heard that all of Marnie's roommates thought I was like 25 or so. HAHA!

Volleyball starts back up on monday with practices and conditioning. It should be nice to have a scheduled time to go workout but I am definitly not looking forward to the running part of conditioning. But I will be glad to see all of the girls again and get back into it. These last two weeks we've been having to workout with partners to get ourselves into "perfect shape". Yeah I'd like to see that happen in 2 weeks.

Peter is enjoying the master's program and is beginning his research for his thesis. We both can't wait to be finished here in Utah and be able to go elsewhere. Where that is, we don't exactly know at the moment but it could be anywhere.

Not much else is going on. We wish we could come home for a visit when Dave and Adina are there but we just need a break from traveling right now and plus we don't have the money. Tracey, our birthdays are Peter: February 28th Anne: March 9th . We love you all and can't wait to see any of you again.

Love, Anne and Peter

So the rains have stopped and the sun has come out. I just went on a walk and, man, was I sweatin' when I got done. It is hot out there! But I am enjoying the 80 degree weather in mid-January. I love San Diego.

Things are great here. I just had a really fun weekend with Mom and Dad visiting. Dad probably could have used less travelling but I think they had fun. They met the boyfriend...dun, dun, DUN! But I got the impression that they liked Matt but who knows if they were lying, J/K! We had a nice drive up to Santa Clarita to have dinner with Brent, Buffy, Anne, and Peter on Saturday. (Anne and Peter were in LA for a wedding) Sunday we went to ole PQ3 and Mom was very happy to see all of her old friends. The Golden Globes took up Sunday night and Monday we had a nice day of breakfast and lunch before ma and pa had to catch the plane. It was fun and I am very glad that they could come down and see what my life is like down here.

I had an interview for an internship on Monday morning and I got it! I will be interning with a small (very small) company called CDF Media Inc. As I understand I will mostly be learning web design and writing some ad copy as well as recording radio commercials. It should be a great learning experience. I am really excited about it. And I only have to do it 10 hours a week. I will be busy this semester but it won't be too bad. I actually think it will be easier than last semester. I start on Monday at the internship and Tuesday classes begin. My last semester as an undergrad...weep, weep, not really. Hey everyone my graduation will be Saturday May 21st. Not that I expect you all to come but if you can that would be awesome! Who could resist a trip to sunny San Diego in May? Now you have an excuse!

Dave, I would do the marathon with you but I am already doing the Breast Cancer 3-day Walk in October and I don't think I could do both. I am trying to convince Matt to run it with you but he says he doesn't have much interest in running a whole marathon, "A half marathon is long enough to run, I need some variety". I guess he goes for the half marathon or triathlon. He is going to be doing an Olympic triathlon in July, pretty cool.

So guess what? I get to go to a taping of Will&Grace in February! I am very excited aobut it. And I might be going to a film festival up in Utah next weekend for a showing of "Ringers", a documentary about Lord of the Rings fans, and a bunch of people from the cast are going to be there! If I can find a cheap flight I am totally there.

So that is what is going on in my neck of the woods. It is good to hear from all of you. I am glad you are all doing well. Oh, and Tracey, my birthday is October 10th.

Marnie

You might think we live on Ft. Benning, but really we live in Walnut Grove. I'm Ma, Mike's Pa, Sadie is Mary (we understand this is a deviation from the original story but Jane has to be Laura), and Ellyn is Carrie. Oh yeah, Bailey is our good old bulldog Jack. Welcome to the Ingalls family. Actually Jane is much more obedient as Laura, everything is "Yes, Ma" instead of "why" or "can I do it later" so I'm game. Every meal is met with the question "Is this something pioneers ate? Is this something pioneers would wear? Can we do something pioneers used to do?" To say that Little House on the Prairie is an obsession around here is an understatement. But there are far worse things for your kids to be obsessed with. Jane and Sadie got bonnets from one of my friends for Christmas and my mom sent another so that is what they wear any chance they get. Savannah, Jane's little friend gets the extra but on Sundays it goes to Ellyn. The theme music to the series is blaring through the house after school and the book is read at bedtime. It is truly a funny situation around here. Sadie even calls me Ma now.

Ellyn had a cough this weekend which kept the two of us up to all hours. She is finally getting over it and there was no school today so we all slept in. It was fabulous. i was released as a Primary teacher and put in as the Young Women's secretary. I've never done YW before, it should be fun, and now I get to go to Mike's Sunday School class.

We are doing well here. Mike has a month left as of today. We are becoming more and more anxious to find out where we will be stationed. We are trying not to get our hopes up for Lewis but all of our planning for the future involves being there. I especially realized it just now when I was reading Dave's post and thinking "yeah, Mike and I can both do the October marathon. Mom will watch the kids, will Meagan be recovered enough from the baby to join us..." And then it suddenly occured to me that we could be in El Paso Texas, heaven forbid. My brother Adam and his wife just called tonight to tell us that they have decided to move to the area and should be moving around late March. Oh, the fun we could all have! We'll keep praying that that is what Heavenly Father wants for us. We know that's what we want for us.

Dave, as for your challenge. Mike said he would love to. I'm techinically not supposed to be running but I could walk it really quickly (for the first hour) and if this pain EVER goes away I might get the okay to run again. Sisters, I need a walking buddy. Kim, I am so happy you are having such a good time. Your pictures were great. I was at the winter clearance sale at Old Navy the other day and was thinking of you. Well we love and miss you all very much. Dave and Adina we can't wait to have you back. I'm going to try to find a way to send Mike your direction before you come home. I need to find out about MAC flights. Any guidance in that direction? Didn't you do that on your last trip over? Please let me know.

Tracey here are our birthdays Mike-Nov 28, Brooke-Aug 13, Jane-Aug 14, Sadie-May 28, Ellyn-Feb 14. For Christmas my sister in law made me a birthday folder with everyone's birthdays and anniversaries in it for both sides of my family (thank you Barb) and I love it. Hopefully I will be better at recognizing everyone's birthday (maybe even cards but let's remember who is writing this). Okay, this is really the end now. love, the Ingalls family

Hey everybody!
I am having a blast up here. I haven't been able to go snowboarding yet but that will be soon! I made my first snow angels last night! SOOO COLD! I couldn't feel my hands. I have slipped and fallen twice on the ice. One time I hit my elbow first.. and that was 2 weeks ago and it still is killing me. I always went sledding for FHE on the fields on campus... SO MUCH FUN!
My classes are great. I love my Biology class the most. My teacher is such an awesome guy. Mom will see when she comes for Mother's weekend. Treven comes up this weekend... very excited about that! There is a Rexburg Snowfest on Saturday that we are going to that has sledding, sleigh rides, snowmobile races, ice skating, snow maze... and much more. Our apartment is pretty excited for it.
Well my roommates are great! We all are the babies of our families. We have three extra "roommates" who are always over. So basically it feels like there are 8 of us in the apartment at all times. Gets kinda chaotic. I have 4 roommates, Michelle, Krystal, Anne, and Megan. We all get along great... The apartment is perfect for all of us cause we have our own room. Like I said I will take more pictures later. We all have nicknames... and mine is Mom... haha. Because I have the Durango and drive them to church and we say its like the station wagon. Explain later..I have to go cook breakfast with them and then go play volleyball. Hope everyone is doing great!
BTW, Tracey, February 18th for me!
Love you all,
Kimberly

loser is okay dad! we are taking care of him! he is loving it! 

my room... i will take more of my apartment later! 

My apartments 

Left to Right, Laura, Michelle, Megan, Me, and Alli... Michelle and Megan are two of my roommates the other ones are just always over at our house. 

Alli and I after making snow angels! 

Tracey/everyone,
These are the birthdays for our family:
Dave 23 April
Adina 28 September
Isaac 15 August, 1995
Taylor 03 April, 1998
Parker 23 January, 2000
Morgan 23 December, 2001

Hope that helps! Our trip is still on so we will be in Vancouver hopefully by this weekend!
Any takers for running a marathon in October, 2005 in Portland? Or the Cleveland Marathon in April, 2006? And no excuses like, "I don't run", "I am not fast enough", or "I'm too fat". You 'train' for it. It takes about 6-10 mos. (schedule provided) depending on whether you don't run at all or run regularly. Oh yeah, and two other excuses are "I don't have time for it" and "I am too old for it". If you have ever watched a marathon before, there are fast people, slow people, skinny people, fat people, wheelchair-bound people, people with missing limbs, old people, young people, and people with busy schedules. So, if you want to be able to say you ran a marathon, strengthened your heart, increased your stamina, and lost some weight at the same time, let me know. I will do it with you. Again, you don't have to try to run it in 3 hrs. and qualify for the Boston Marathon, you just need to finish. Some take three hours, many take more. I may not be right there next to you in the race, because you will be strides ahead of me, but I will run it at the same time with you. It's a personal goal of mine, and would welcome anyone else that has the desire to do it also. Think about it.
Dave

Hi this is Tracey. I want to make a list of everyone's birthday and could really use your help. Next time you post a blog please tell me the birthday of you and everyone in your family, or if someone already has a compiled list they just want to email to me that would be great as well. My email is tracey@dankus.com. Thank you!
By the way, we are doing well here in Cleveland and enjoying all the snow. It started to snow sometime yesterday and just hasn't stopped yet! The biggest excitement around here is that we moved Hayden out of his crib and into a twin bed. We bought sport motif bedding and he loves it! So far he is doing really well at sleeping in it so hopefully it won't be a hard transition! Now we just have to get rid of that binky!!
Hayden's current obsession is Mickey Mouse. I don't know how he fell in love with him but he just can't get enough Mickey! During one of the recent football games Mickey came on at half time and waved at the camera and Hayden started jumping up and down, waving and yelling "Mickey"- he got so excited that he didn't know what to do so he fell on the ground and did a somersault! It was hilarious!!!! I got him a CD-rom and some DVD's at the library with Mickey and he is in heaven. One of the greatest things about Hayden is his determination. When he decides to do something or that he wants something he goes all out. There is no "like" with Hayden- he either LOVES it and wants it all the time or he doesn't care about it. He's very "passionate" and "intense" about a lot of things in his life, which is great (mostly...) :)
Well we hope to hear more from all of you soon! Take care!

Hayden really is smiling and having fun, he loves the snow!!!! We went sledding up and down the sidewalk in front of the house!

Well, the holidays are officially over now that Brent and I have returned home from WA. We had a great time visiting with my mother and Ron and Kenn and Barb. My mom's home which they purchased in the summer is a dreamy vacation home complete with beautiful decor, treehouse with a jacuzzi inside, Washougal river in the backyard, wood burning stove, and a gourmet chef (that would be Ron). Brent and I loved sitting in the jacuzzi while snow covered the surroundings.
It is always nice to come back to Kenn and Barb's home to visit and look forward to the day when we will be up there for good.... thanks for letting us stay for a few nights! We also got to meet Treven who is a very nice young man. Last Thursday we drove up to Seattle and stay overnight and play tourists (my first time). It rained the whole time and was very cold (big surprize) but we had a great time nonetheless.
As for homelife: I am happy to say that Brent just got promoted to a larger store (yes, he's only been at the current one for 4 months) . I am very proud of how well he has done at every challenge that the company has given him.
As for our weather dramas: It hit close to home early this morning as we slept, we were awoken by a thunderous electrical boom and the brightest flash I've ever seen followed by a blackout. Brent and I got dressed and we went outside to see that a large electrical poll had fallen over (from all the rain) accross the street. We feel very blessed that we did go out because there was no one to stop early morning commuters from driving right into it in the pitch black. So with our flash lights we played traffic officers flagging cars down and telling them to turn around as to not drive directly into the very live electrical wires. One man almost didn't slow down in time and came within 5 feet of it. Soon the emergency vehicles came and almost ran into it themselves. Needless to say, it was a very exciting and lucky morning for many. No one was hurt. Oh, and we also have water damage in our living room carpet which should be resolved by the time family arrives on Thursday night.
As for me, I am still on vacation from school which doesn't start for a few more weeks (that's right, a 7 week break!!). So I get to relax awhile longer, read non-scholastic books or whatever strikes my fancy. Happy Tuesday!

In front of Terry and Ron's after snow 

So it does not rain in So Cal huh 

For any of you that were basing any traveling plans on our visit, put 'em on hold. They likely (50/50) will be deploying a fleet hospital from Japan to the Tsunami Zone within the next 2 weeks. That means they will take two dentists of our 4 and will cancel all leave. Hope it doesn't happen, but just wanted to give you all a heads up.

Dave

It is good to see some pictures from family. Expanding your comfort zone, that's what it's all about. Keep 'em coming! I didn't realize the girls were getting so big. Wouldn't have recognized them if I had seen them out in town.

We are doing fine over here. All the ships are gone, so it is very quiet around here. The are all either in Iraq or Tsunami Land. We were just talking last month about how nice it would be to take a trip as a family to Phuket, Thailand because it is so inexpensive. Sounds like that won't be happening anytime soon.

We miss you all,
Dave

Family,

Got around to posting some of the better pictures from recent days. I finally got around to reinstalling "Hello!" after my hard drive crashed a few months ago. We love you guys!

Mike

The Princess Fairy and Strawberry Shortcake at Halloween

Nativity Actresses

Crazy Girls

Note lonely dog in the background, that's Bailey on the sun porch.

Happy Christmas Sadie