Alas, my last spring break ever is over! Sad and glad. I had a lot of fun with Nicole when she came down. We pretty much just sat on the beach and cruised around downtown and on Coronado. It was great to see her. Hopefully this summer we will be meeting her in Utah to go camping or something. I would like to try to make it up to Utah and Matt loves Utah. Hopefully we will go to Bryce Canyon or something because I have never been there. I am getting back into school. Can't wait till it is over. I have about a month left because all of my classes end pretty early! I have been starting to get all of the graduation info from the school. Exciting! I continue to look for jobs. I have some leads but we will see what is best. I am also on the search for a place to live. Fun fun. Well I hope you are all well. It is birthday week here with my roommates bday today and my friend Kristy Gill's tomorrow. Very exciting. Keep blogging!

Marnie

"Superhero" as she likes to be called, NOT Supergirl..... 

This is what happens if you have 3 older brothers that play rough.

That's right I am back on line with xbox live so if any of you boys(yes I said "boys") want to play games I am on. Work is doing great. I had the #4 dollar increase of all store in my district for March $117,000 up over budget. Conference was great really enjoyed it. Buffy is doing an internship at the huspital about 1 mile from my store. I am so excited to be able to see everyone for Kim's wedding. I will be taking a week off to come up and spend some time with you guys. Love you all and we love to hear all about your lives. KEEP THE BLOG ALIVE!!!

Love Ya
Brent

Sorry, don't like to use that dang word too much, but this is Frickin' awesome.
Go to
http://maps.google.com/
And click on "satellite" in the upper right corner.
Put in an address, you can zoom down to street level. I could see your house on the court, dad.
Dave

Isaac works feverishly on his science project. 

Hey folks, what's with all the binge-blogging? Let's try to keep a steady flow. It seems like a waste to click on my "Sundry Seven" bookmark 15 times a day and see no new blogs.
Things are going ok over here. Counting down the days as usual. Everybody is busy with baseball, PTO, scouts, work, school, church, etc.. It all adds up very quickly and seems overbearing at times. But, it really isn't too bad.
Well, we haven't had conference here yet, we will have it this weekend. The day delay makes us have to postpone it one week. But, we just watch it on lds.org so we can watch it anytime after Tuesday/Wednesday (it takes them 48 hours to post the video). So you either watch it live or watch it a few days later.
Isaac has been working on his science project like a madman, you can see him in the pic above doing so. Taylor is his own individual, very inquisitive and sometimes we wonder where his ideas come from. Parker was getting his hair cut on Saturday and while this japanese lady was cutting his hair, he blurts out in his boisterous voice, "I DO DA CHA CHA LIKE A SISSY GIRL". (For those of you who have seen Bruce Almighty more than 10 times, you will remember the news man saying this when Jim Carey was speaking for him). Needless to say, the lady didn't know what he said, because she doesn't speak english very well. I think he just had the idea for some reason as he was daydreaming and decided to share it with her. No idea, again, we don't know where his thoughts come from either. That same day while we were walking through the store he asked me, "How long have you and mommy been married?". This one blows me away because I thought his concept of time was nonexistent, and I think it still is, but where did that question come from?? He has shaken the his difficulty with R's. He says them perfectly now. I guess he just figured it out himself. Morgan is very expressive with her hands, head, and facial expressions. Very funny to watch. And she picked up Parker's loud voice.
Adina continues to take care of damage control, always staying a step ahead of the kids and me. We would be lost without her.
Dave

Enjjoying Depoe Bay between Conference Sessions on Sunday

Early Saturday Morning - Lincoln City - 4-2-05

I read over the blogs a few minutes ago and mom and I sit back in amazement at the accomplishments of all of you. I could go on and on and list one after another of our children, their husbands and wives, fiance and boy friend and take note that we are proud (unlawful word) of all our family members and their friends. Little did we know when we first dated years ago 1966-69, discussing how many children we would have and how we would raise them..that you would all far exceed our wildest dreams. There isn't a day goes by that we don't read of the successes of each of you and realize how blessed we are. If mom and I were to pass on today, we'd feel like we've already lived in heaven and wonder what could possibly surpass what has happened so far. We read over and over about the love our children have for their spouses, children, friends and fiance and then read again how much love the second group of individuals have for our children. What more could we ask? Conference today has tended to put life into a more tender spot in our hearts and minds. After listening to and crying with Elder Nelson, it makes one ponder the real purpose of our lives.

There is a lot we dream of seeing and doing with each of you. The pedestal in our family is tall and very wide. It has to be wide because we place all of you on that pedestal; everyone standing side by side, no one above the other. Our love for each of you is equal. The future is bright. Keep up the promotions, slam dunking, studying long in to the night, raising great children, being safe, building stronger testimonies, being successful in your chosen professions, mothering, fathering and being great leaders. Whatever it is that you do, we watch in total amazement. We feel so fortunate...for all of you being a BIG part of our BIG family. Love, Mom and Dad

I just have to say that this family has the most incredible women! Adina, I don't know the first thing about how to play halo (let alone halo 2!) you are a cool mom! And Brooke, you have the best sense of humor, I always love your posts. Anne, you are the stud athlete that I never dreamed I'd be. In fact, I am equally impressed by every Stinchfield girl. You all have amazing talents and I feel so lucky to be part of the fam.
Ok, sorry for gloating over you all but I do mean it.
This week I get to do a one week internship at an outpatient orthopaedic clinic. Hopefully I can put my newly acquired manual skills to work and learn a ton as well... wish me luck! Nothing else is new around here. Brent just survived inventory this week and I can't wait for him to not feel so exhausted with the altered sleep schedule.
Well, I'll be thinking of you when we watch conference.
Buffy

Let me just tell you about my wife and something she did yesterday. I think the score was 27 to 23 and the University of Utah is beating the rough and tough UVSC volleyball team. Jessica Anders steps up to serve for UVSC and goes on a 6 point run before losing a point making it 29 to 28 UVSC. That's when my wife steps up to the plate as the outside hitter and knocks one to the floor through one of the toughest blocking teams I've ever seen. Ya, that's right, Anne took it to the University of Utah and they split one game to one yesterday in one of their four matches. The other three matches they won both of the games. The only game they lost all day was to a top 20 division I volleyball team. I'de say that's pretty sweet.

I'm pretty proud of Anne if you can't tell. She's been working hard during spring ball. She has a new jump serve that is more consistent then those big hitters at the bigger school up on the hill. I hate to talk bad about my own school, but when it comes to Womens volleyball I'm all green and yellow.

Well, I'm pretty impressed Adina that you finished Halo 2. I woke up this morning motivated by your accomplishment and put in some hard work at Halo 2 seeing as I don't think I'm even close to finishing yet.

I hope everyone can enjoy conference this weekend as I'm sure we will. We're both looking forward to our adventure to the South in another month. I just finished getting an apartment for us to stay in for the two months which makes me feel good to know that is taken care of. It really will be an adventure. We're leaving all of our stuff here in our Wyview apartment and looking to buy a card table and using picnic chairs and other similar furniture items to last us for two months. I can't wait to be there and listen to the Southern accent. Every time I would get off the phone with the apartment people I couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at the slow southern drawl that they have. I am a little afraid that I'll need a translator at times to understand some of the words. Well, 'till next time,

Peter

Okay, Mike has assured me that my last posting disaster was due to a few bugs left in Firefox. Sooo.... I am using Safari and if this doesn't post I will rent my clothing and smear ashes from birthday candles on my head. First of all, much too late I want to share my opinion on the Easter giving dilema. I think the cards are great, no candy. Mom eats it all while children are playing or sleeping or at school or crying and screaming "MOM, you are eating all my chocolate!" If you feel you must send something besides cards, stickers or something else small and seasonal-seeds. I think you should send to your three daughters. Having been the first married it kind of hurt my feelings when -at first, until I told my dad in no uncertain terms that I was still his daughter- my sisters were given cute little things and I was left out. When your young and poor or a mom with a busy schedule it is nice to have mom and dad send a little pampering your way, even if it just some chocolate. moms freak out. Jane was reading this and added that last sentence.

Well Jane is sitting here beside me with an ice collar wrapped around her neck. We were up in Atlanta yesterday getting her tonsils and adenoids removed. "We" being me and the girls and my friend April. I waited half a year for Mike's schedule to free up so we could do this and then they schedule Infantry branch to come and discuss future duty stations the day of Jane's surgery. Then... they reschedule it the day of. Oh how I love the Army sometimes. So for Sadie's surgery we were in pre-op for twenty minutes, surgery for half an hour and then in our own private recovery room until we were taken to another private room for her stay. With Jane, not so. We drove up to Atlanta the day before for her pre-op eval and registration. We stayed overnight and got up at 5:30 to be in on time. So they call us back and have Jane change and I'm thinking 20 minutes-an hour and a half later I ask them how much longer. They tell me her surgery will be around 11:00. Meanwhile we have all three girls in a little curtained off 6x8 cell. You can only imagine the fun. So after a few minutes of stewing I ask the nurses, quite nicely, what is the rational for having us come in four hours prior to surgery. They said the doctor was late, but fifteen minutes later they came to tell me they were ready for her. I could take the credit for being assertive but I actually think it had more to do with Sadie singing Ariel "AAH AAH AAH" around the whole pre-op area. So we had her surgery, waited 4 more hours in the curtained off cell and drove 2 hours home and got lost on the way there (Jane's addition). She did so well. I thought she would be drama, drama, drama, but she has been quite stoic. Her daddy got her roses and a card saying he's not happy when she feels crappy. Yes, and we say shut up at our house too. But only if we're kidding.

It is already so weird not to hear our girls snoring at night. You used to be able to tell from the next room whether or not they were asleep but now it is peace and quiet. It will take some getting used to, I'm so glad it's done. The girls are too. Jane just wishes it was more done. So far I think Ellyn will escape the Stinchfield curse.

So Adina, my husband thinks you rock. He sat here exclaiming over and over how cool you are. He just couldn't believe it. I am amazed as well. He hasn't finished it yet by the way. Waaay too many games to play to actually finish one. Well time to publish. Wish me luck. Brooke

Just Kidding! Happy April Fools Day!! Just wanted to drop a note and let you all know that I am having a blast on my Spring Break with Nicole visiting from Utah. We went to the beach yesterday and today. It has been really nice weather. We have seen lots of friends that I haven't seen in a while and we still have lots to do. I am so jealous that mom and dad are going to Japan next week. Wish I could go again! It is so fun! Well hope you are all well! Love you!

-Marnie

It is Saturday morning and our house is teeming with 9-year old Japanese boys. We had four of them stay the night - ate some pizza, saw a movie, played some X-box, etc. Oh - and I finally beat Halo 2 this morning. I know what you gamers are thinking - "You JUST beat it? I beat it months ago!" But I rarely play these days, so it was quite the accomplishment. Isaac and Taylor were watching and when the credits came up, Isaac looked up at me and said, "Mom - you are so awesome." It was a great mother-son moment.

Things are picking up here. Boys started baseball this week. Dave is coaching Isaac and Taylor's team. I have to peel Parker's uniform off of him - he wants to wear it every day. Cleats, too. Isaac and Tay also started art classes - a sketching class for Tay, a computer photography for Isaac, and a Sumi-E Japanese painting class for both. And Book Fair is this week, so things are hectic.

At the Book Fair yesterday, I had a mother come up to me and tell me something really funny. She said her daughter came up to her and asked, "If my Daddy doesn't come home, can the dentist daddy be my daddy? He all ready has lots of kids!" Dave is earning quite the reputation around here. I guess he is a father-figure to some of these kids - coaching them, pulling their teeth, etc. Anyway - I thought that was so great. Ships are coming in this week after a very long deployment - about 8 months - so kids are anxious to see their Dads. We are so fortunate to have Dave here all the time - I try to remind myself of how lucky we are every day.

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Kenn & Barb next week. It is Spring Break, so the kids are off and we have a lot planned: Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Miyajima, Huis Ten Bosch, Fukuoka, and a lot of eating out at our favorite Japanese restaurants. We are so excited! And Taylor will have his 7th birthday party while they are here...Incredibles theme!

Anyway - love to everyone. Love the blogs - keep it up. Take care!
Adina

Well at least until August when it all starts back up again. Well School is going well. I have tests in every single one of my 5 classes in the next week and a half. It seems like teachers like to do that sorta thing. I think it is a conspiracy against the students. Just kidding. I recieved a Degree of Resident Engineer, P.H.T. (Putting Husband Through) from BYU this last week. So I am now known as Anne Olsen, P.H.T. Funny people over at BYU!

Voleyball is going great. I am banging balls and Peter even says he's never seen me play the way I am right now. We had a tourney last weekend at the U which we ended up playing very well. Today we have a tourney at BYU where we play Dixie, Westminster, SLCC, and the U. So it should be a fun day today. We are done after next weekend and then it will be time to start on the summer workout program. I am so excited.

Other than that, not too much stuff that is exciting around here. It still doesn't feel like spring since it has snowed 3-4 times in the last week. I mean come on, the two winters I live in Utah, the weather decides to be the worst and the coldest. I think I am just cursed.

I love you all!

Love, Anne

St Martin from the ship

Mom...enjoying the warm water!

Dad...the driver on the miniboats!

Well, I have some time in the study since Dad has the Young Men here tonight downstairs. So I thought it would be a good opportunity to write something in the blog. I am recovering from the heart attack I had today when I opened up our taxes from Rex Bosen. Net what we have to pay is minimal but we owe a lot to federal and get back a little bit less from Oregon. Dad and I decided that it will pay us to get some good tax planning so we will be going back to our CPA up here to work with us on general financial planning.

I haven't told all of you my exciting news that I will be going to France and Holland with Martha in September for about 3 weeks. I've decided to go ahead and plan my life as if I will not be getting a job. I am only really applying to things that look interesting in Vancouver since one conclusion that I have come to is that I don't want to spend a lot of time commuting...and nothing looks very promising here. I am enjoying staying home more than I did initially and it does leave me free to do some of the fun stuff!!!

Monday, Dad met with Dr. Wong, the other oral surgeon that just opened up his practice by us. They were discussing possibilities of Dad going into associateship, partnership or something with him. There seems to be interest on both sides so they are planning on a dinner sometime to discuss. Right now, he is worried about just being busy enough himself but we think it will pick up fast. He built out seven operatories so there is definitely room to grow. We'll see. In the meantime, Williamette is going well. Dad is going to break his monthly record this month!

Well, back to telling about the cruise. I think I left off when we left San Juan at midnight on Monday, Feb 28. We arrived early in the morning in St Thomas. I got up at about 4 am to go to the bathroom and looked out the window as we approached the hilly island. It was really pretty with all the lights. We were set up for an afternoon excursion so in the morning we took a taxi into town and went to all the tourist shops. I bought a runner for the dining room table and a roll cloth at a linen shop and some perfume..my favorite Oscar de la Rente.. Dad even got some aftershave. We weren't into big shopping so we went back to the ship for lunch and then met the excusion at 1 pm. We were going out on some miniboats to go snorkeling. They were two person boats...inflatable type ones...I'm sure there is a technical term for it. Glenn and Jaydee McKay went with us (Ginger's son and his daughter)There were about twelve boats. We went out with a guide across the beautiful blue water to a small island off shore. We then got in the water and snorkeled. It is the first time I've done that and I really enjoyed it. It was the right temperature and calm water...warm outside...just great!!! We got back to the boat just in time to leave again for St. Martin at 5 pm. We cruised overnight and arrived in St Martin in the morning. For those who aren't familiar with it, there is a Dutch side and a French side of the island. The French side has by far the better beaches. This time we went for a full day tour in large 4 X 4's. If we were to do it again we would take the 4 person ones. We stopped at two beaches and in between stopped in a little town to have lunch. We basically just circuited the island. They took us on one patch of rough road to give us the 4 X 4 thrill...but it was pretty lame!! Otherwise, it was just on regular roads but was a good tour of the island. On Orient Beach on the French side Dad finally went into the water with me. It was a bit of a shock when I went in the water and realized that tops on the women were optional and there were quite a few without them!! I guess the other end of the beach had a totally nude section. There were a few young women but the preponderance of the topless women were in their 50's and 60's...not too attractive in my view.

We then pulled out again that evening and headed for Miami. Thursday and Friday were just relaxing on the ship...then Saturday morning we pulled into Miami. Since our flight did not leave until late afternoon, we took a tour to the Everglades. We went out on an airboat and saw some very sleepy alligators. I think what was more interesting were the birds around there. Very beautiful! The tour then took us directly to the airport so we only paid about $15 each for the Everglades tour itself since we would have had to pay for transportation to the airport anyway.

Okay, I've finally finished it. I've been printing this out to keep as a family journal so I thought it would be a good idea to get it in here.

I just finished reading Sarah and Rebekkah by Orson Scott Card. Interesting books that give a more full view of the Abraham and Isaac era but a little too modern day for me in the dialogue. I then have been reading Abraham by Bruce Feiler ( a non-LDS book). It really has made me appreciative of modern revelation and the information that we have on Abraham that the other religions are just grasping at. He is jewish and takes a very secular view of what religions are all about. I also purchased two books of the Strong Women.... series. I got Strong Women Stay Young and Strong Women Stay Slim. At this point, I'm just reading them but plan on adding some strength training and diet to my Curves workouts after we get back from Japan.

This weekend we got a room over in Lincoln City on the coast. We made sure we could get conference in the room..so we'll watch conference and then play around over there. Dad's been wanting to get over to the coast for a long time and we've never been to Lincoln City at all.

Well, you are probably all really tired of reading this so I'll stop. Martha put her Easter talk on the Superschick blog...very good talk. There are also some good pictures of Lexi's and Brian's families.

Love,

Mom

Hey everyone!

I just got moved up to the third floor for the rest of the time that I will be here. More room in the top floor apartment. So my address changed to apartment 431 instead of 411. The apartment has vaulted ceilings and there are only 2 of us in here until the summer and then my friend Alli is going to move in. It is perfect because all three of us are leaving after first block of the summer.
Mom, my contract did get sold, but we get the money when the girl pays. I am heading down to conference tomorrow night and staying at Martha's house for the weekend. Very excited.
Everything else is going well. Counting down the days until I can go home for the break! April 21st!
Love you all but that is all that is going on with me right now. Mom, I will call you to talk about the dress!

Kim

Kelly cut her hair too. All the guys at work keep calling us twins and asking if we did it together. But they are totally different haircuts just maybe the same length.

Here are the pics of the new haircut. I like it. I will maybe get it highlighted in the next couple months.

I just wrote a very long, detailed, thrilling, tintillating post and in the middle of publishing it said there was an error. So someday when I can overcome my sorrow I will post again but that time is not now.

Brooke

I choose #6. Including everyone + inlaws, fiances, and boyfriends. But in order to keep the costs down just send a card with a bit of candy. Not a lot. Just enough to show you care. You can of course send above mentioned cards to the couple instead of having a card for each person. That way no one feels left out and the Easter Bunny is still kept alive.

So my Easter was really great but somewhat exhausting. I woke up to find that the Sandy Bunny had visited us out on the dining room table with candy and a set of scriptures open to the Easter story. Then I got ready for church so that I could go straight there after my home teachers were done feeding us french toast and bacon. Yummy! Great idea. We told them that would work for every visit! After breakfast I went off to church which was good then on to the Butler's abode for Easter dinner. Most of the fam was there minus 2 brothers and 1 sister (John in Mexico and Jamie and Carole in Alaska). But almost all the neices and nephews that live in San Diego were there. It was really fun. I really like Matt's family. They are all very kind and easy to get along with. There was a little bit of drama with the dogs. Coltrane snapped at one of the little dogs Spike when Spike wouldn't leave him alone. But I would probably have done the same thing if a little wiry dog was all up in my face! Anyway so that was fun but it was a long day. Let's just say I fell asleep pretty easily that night! I worked all day today and I am thinking about taking a nap now so I can go out with my friends Matthew and Michelle later. Oh yeah, I am cutting my hair off tomorrow so I will post a picture tomorrow! Happy Easter!

Marnie

Hey, I choose an option that you have failed to provide. 'Send a card or just say Happy Easter'. Do they really need the candy? You buy the candy, then you must buy a mailing device, then you must saturate the USPS with candy, the recipient must go pick it up, they must tear it open, they must eat it, they must buy much toothpaste to counteract its effects, then finally, they must do something to remove the calories it has added.
So much easier to say 'Happy Easter', and nobody feels left out.....
(hehe)

Dave

Bunny OB 1 KBarbie

As I looked and beheld my Barbie Bunny with two bags for mailings, I inquired, "to whom do they go?". She retorted, "they go to our single daughters". Oh my gosh! This brings up some serious inquiry and polling of the rest of clan.

Please choose from the following:

1. Bunny Barbie should continue and just send Easter treats to the single girls.

2. Bunny Barbie should feel badly that she did not include her married daughter.

3. Father Bunny says you should give only to the girls because they are girls. The boys wouldn't care about getting Easter treats.

4. Bologna..all seven of us should get treats.

5. Holy smozola..all seven and inlaws should get treats.

6. Unfair, Unfair...fiances and boyfriends should be rewarded too.

Where will it go? When will it ever subside? Must we feed this sucrose addiction?

Please select your choice and report with return blogs.

We spent a fabulous Easter over at the Debaltzo's house. There was as much food as Thanksgiving, it was delicious!!! Hayden had a fabulous time playing with the kids, they love to make him laugh. He enjoyed having the Easter bunny come and was very excited to get The Incredibles movie. He is over there laying on the couch watching it right now. Whenever a new character comes on he shouts out their name, and if he sees Jack Jack he starts laughing and saying "Jack Jack funny!" over and over again...he is as entertaining as the movie! On Saturday we gave him a new shirt with a picture of Dash on it. He ended up wearing it to bed because he wouldn't take it off and then he cried all Sunday morning because we made him take it off to take a bath and put on his church clothes- needless to say he's very attached! We stupidly forgot to take pictures of him on Easter morning because we had the video camera rolling... we need to remember to do a little of both. Dave and Adina you're pictures looked great! We think Parker really looks a lot like Dave in a few of those pictures! Kim your wedding colors sound great, keep us posted on things because it is so much fun to hear about everything!
We had a great weekend, we went out on a date Friday night and Hayden went to his babysitting group. He loves to go play with his friends and always cries when we make him come home. On Saturday I had a great girls day out with 3 of my friends, we went shopping and out to lunch. In the afternoon Tom went to the driving range and then we all went to a friends house to play games. This week I am finishing up on decorating some parts of the house that I have ignored. I am making some curtains and looking for table runners and picture frames and such, it's kind of fun and hopefully will turn out looking nice. Maybe I'll have it all finished by the time we move in two years!
Hayden has decided that he is nine years old. When I ask him how old he is he says he's nine and when I try to tell him he is two he says "I not two, I nine!!" I'll keep working on him. He's getting even better at using the computer and can get on and go to his log in and then select the game he wants to play and start it and play it all my himself. We are going to start potty training this Saturday because Hayden seems really interested and ready. If any of you have advice for me I'd love to hear it. I am going to follow the plan set out in the book from the 70's called "Toilet Training in Less that a Day." Dr. Phil suggests to get an anatomically correct doll and have the child teach the doll to use the potty. I'll let you know if it works because we bought a little boy doll and are ready to try it out. I'm so excited to get this milestone over with before all the summer traveling! Talk to you later!

For those of you who don't read the Superschick blog...Lexi put this quote in this morning. Since I really liked it...and it is so appropriate for Easter, I thought I would share it with all of you...

Chieko Okasaki (a former counselor in the General Relief Society presidency) "We know that on some level Jesus experienced the totality of mortal existence in Gethsemane. It's our faith that he experienced everything - absolutely everything. Sometimes we don't think about the implication of that belief. We talk in great generalities about the suffering of the entire human family. But we don't experience pain in generalities. We experience it individually. That means Jesus knows what it felt like when your mother died of cancer - how it was for your mother, how it still is for you. He knows what it felt like to lose the student body election. He knows that moment when the brakes locked and the car started to skid. He experienced the slave ship sailing from Ghana toward Virginia. He experienced the gas chambers at Dachau. He experienced napalm in Vietnam. He knows about drug addiction and alcoholism.

There is nothing you have experienced as a woman that he does not also know and recognize. On a profound level, he understands about pregnancy and giving birth. He knows about PMS and cramps and menopause. He understands about rape and infertility and abortion.

His last recorded words to his disciples were, "And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." (Matt 28:20) What does that mean? It means he understands your mother-pain when a bully picks on your fifth-grader, when your daughter calls to say that the new baby has Down's Syndrome. He knows your mother-rage when a trusted babysitter sexually abuses your two-year old, when someone gives your 13-year old drugs, when someone seduces your seventeen-year old. He knows the pain when you come home to a quiet apartment where the only children who ever comes are visitors, when you hear that your former husband and his new wife were sealed in the temple last week, when your fiftieth anniversary rolls around and your husband has been dead for two years. He knows all that. He's been there. He's been lower than all that.

...The door to Him is always open, but the door to you can be closed and stay closed if you choose to close it. If one great constant in the universe is the unfailing love of the Savior, the other great constant is his unfailing respect for human agency. He will not override your will, even for your own good. He will not compel you to accept his help. He will not force you to accept his companionship. He leaves you free to choose."

I really enjoyed the pictures of our Japan branch in their Sunday best. It is always weird to think that they are a day ahead and are already finished with Easter. Well, we have been reminded by both Kim and Marnie that we have failed in our Easter Bunny duties!!! I guess we'll have to go for redemption tomorrow!!!

Anyway, it is fast Sunday here because of general conference next week. The choir is singing one song right after the sacrament and the closing song so I need to be at church early. We're having a couple of families from the ward over for Easter dinner tonight...the Dunfords and the Packers. Figured that it would be pretty lonely with just the two of us!! We're looking forward to next year when David's family is here.

Tomorrow, Dad is going to talk to Dr. Wong (the oral surgeon who just opened up his clinic up here) at possibilities working for him. Then in the afternoon we have two deck companies coming to give estimates for our new deck.

We love all of you and hope that you have a happy day today. When you think of Christ's sacrifice for us and His resurrection, it can't help but make us each thankful for our opportunity to repent...and be a forever family.

Love,

Mom

The spoils 

Searching....... 

The boys 

Morgan on Easter morning 

Easter morning 

The rice buckets we bought at the bazaar. 

Had to add a picture of the cream cheese brownies that I made from scratch the other day. Only 1000 calories per square. Dave 

Small streets, eh? The church building is up there past the intersection. 

Daizaifu shrine in Fukuoka 

Bridge at shrine 

Antique bazaar 

Adina at the shrine/bazaar 

Some cherry blossoms 

Adina and me at the Shrine 

Last night (Friday) we had a bunch of friends over for a game night. It was alot of fun, basically the whole branch (three families, including ours). Stayed up too late and paid for it this morning when Adina and I went out on our 'day' date.
We got a babysitter and drove up to Fukuoka, Daizaifu district, where they were having a antique bazaar near a shrine. It was a very sunny day and it was a busy place. We had a lot of fun looking at all the japanese antiques. There were many things that we wanted to get, however, thanks to the fact that we only can get yen (easily) back on the base, we had a set limit that we could not overshoot or else we wouldn't have the $30 for the tolls on the way home. We did end up buying a couple of cool wood antique rice buckets. Dad, we saw a couple of antique phonographs that we thought you would have bought, but didn't have that much dough on us. The cherry blossoms are starting to bloom, I think they will be full force when mom and dad are here. I will attach some pics of our day on the blog.
We then went out to mainbase this afternoon for Adina's football practice (which she thoroughly enjoyed) and my long Saturday run. By the time we got home, it was baths, die eggs, bed. Very long day and the kids are beat...as are we.
We miss you all and love to hear about your lives.
Dave

Is that how you even spell magenta? I'll have to do spell check at the end. Well today was a beautiful day, 76 degrees. We had play group over here so the yard was filled with about 8 kids under the age of four. They were all running around, jumping on the trampoline, drawing on the sidewalk with chalk. It was wonderful. We ate lunch and then I brought the girls in for naps. I love how hard they sleep when they are physically exhausted and warm from the sunshine.

So, as for the title. I'm Jane's soccer coach this spring and our team was assigned the hot pink jerseys. I picked them up a few days ago and I have been dreading telling the boys. I was actually worried about some of the dads. We've only had practice for a week and you never know if you'll get some macho army guy. So... we are the Thunder Sharks in hot pink. All the dads were good about it and I let the boys have the final say on the team name. They were a bit upset, but very polite.

We had Mike's Hail and Farewell tonight for the Battalion. It was really nice. What else? Oh, we received the cards from grandma Barb and some smiley face and the package of Bunnies from Brent and Buffy. Thank you all so much. The girls loved them. They love you all so much and they are always so pleased when mail comes for them. I hope you all have a wonderful Easter. Barb, I think your life sounds very fulfilling right now, actually.

Love, Brooke

Well, Dad came home last night and looked at the car and the garage door and said that actually I did almost no damage. I only broke off the windshield washer thing. What I thought were dents by the hinges is the way the car is made!!! So I called up USAA this morning and cancelled the claim. Actually quite good news...how was I supposed to know that there were wells by the hinges!

Mom

Since we have all talked about writing about the everyday happenings of our days...I thought I would share my day today. First, I went to exercise at Curves..about a 40 minute workout, Yeah!!!! Then I came home and put together an orientation packet for our new Enrichment teach. I was a little late when I was leaving, opened up the garage door...and didn't notice that it did not go ALL the way up...almost...oh for an inch of two. I heard a crunch as I started to backup. There was nothing in my rearview mirror..it just it the very top of the door hinges on the roof...Oh, well, our USAA payment was getting too small now.....The garage door doesn't look like it was affected..but Dad hasn't looked at it yet.

After that joyful beginning to my day, I went to do the orientation, went to someone's house to help clean their old house, then came home for my visiting teachers. After they left, I showered and called USAA.

This afternoon, I went to the bank to discuss the refinance and went to read to Betty Ronayne (she is in a retirement home and is about 85. We're reading "The Hearts of the Children" series). I then came home and wrote up the presidency message and enrichment announcement for our RS newsletter...developed a survey about midweeks and e-mailed all out. Then wrote this up...

Now all of you will look at the variety of your own lives with new appreciation!!!!

I love you all....

Mom

So we live in LA but could swear we were in the northwest.... I don't remember it every raining so often and for so long each time. Yesterday it rained nonstop including one tremendously loud boom of thunder. Oh well, no flooding so yah.
Though I am happily on spring break, I still have to do some homework and research. Unfortunately, the CSUN library is not the best so I get to drive to UCLA (in the middle of Beverly Hills and Bell Air), manage my way through traffic, pay $8 to park just to make photo copies of journal articles. The alternative is to pay $20 each to get them online. Fun.
Kim, I think your colors for your wedding are great. I'm sure studying is no problem with all you have on your mind!
Oh, I'm giving Brent a hard time for golfing tomorrow since it's his only day off during my spring break. I know it's selfish of me since he hasn't golfed in a while... just keeping up with my role as the nagging wife hehe.
Happy Wednesday everyone.

So it is Wednesday, and I thought I should add something to the blog.
Things are going ok here. The weather in Sasebo is finally warming up. A lot of rain but warmer, the cherry blossoms should be here soon. I just finalized our pack out and housing check out. We will be packing out the week of the 20th of June and leaving on the 25th. 4 days in Hawaii, then I have to out-process in Bremerton for "10" days. I then will likely go to the WSDA Dental Conference in Seattle with dad on the 14/15 of July. I then begin work likely the 18 of July at the new practice. Very exciting! There is finally a light at the end of the tunnel.
The kids start baseball in 1 week and then it is all craziness until we leave...with mom and dad coming, etc..
Other than that nothing real exciting except that I have found a new punishment for my kids.....make them swallow teeth. I was taking a tooth out on Isaac the other day and OOPS!, there it went. The tooth fairy won't be happy about getting a hold of that tooth! There's a first (and last) time for everything! Stupid, stupid. Oh well, we move on.....
We are anxious to be able to see everyone at Kim's wedding. Oh, and for those of you that don't follow the Schickie blog, Sean is engaged to be married.
We have a 12 yo japanese boy over tonight for dinner. I guess he is going to be attending an all english school and his mother wanted him to be immersed in an english speaking environment. So, she knew a japanese member....and the story goes from there. We ended up opening our house for him. Very nice kid. And the boys love having visitors.
Well, that's all from Japanland.
Dave

Anne I will be in Salt Lake this weekend so give me details about your tournament so I can come and watch for a little bit.
Mom came down last weekend and it was tons of fun! We went to a bunch of things together and she was able to come to two of my classes. I will be home in 4 sundays! sooo excited! Not a lot is going on with me here. We are going back to normal without the moms here. I am moving up to the third floor apartment this weekend with a friend from another apartment cause we need more room for my friend Alli to move in this summer. I will be only going to half of the summer so it will be going by pretty fast then I get to go home for final until the wedding.
My friends and I will be going to conference in two weeks. It will be pretty exciting since I have never gone before.
Oh yeah, I decided on my wedding colors everybody. White, Mint green and yellow. Anne and Marnie are going to be my bridesmaids. We are just going to have green knee length dresses with white cardigans. That is what I am thinking right now. The reception is just going to be in the backyard and oh yeah flower will just be white and yellow flowers.
That is what going on with me right now! I don't know what else to put in. Love you all!

Kim

Hey family clan,

The Incredibles is a great movie! We just watched it for the 2nd time tonight. Tom and Tracey I will have to let you know that I think of Hayden everytime I see a commercial for the movie or watch the movie. He is such a cutie! "Where's Jack Jack"

Anyways, My life is going well here in good ol' Provo/Orem. I am getting baby crazy right now. I have a baby shower for an old team manager on Friday evening and then one of the girls from the team this last year that is pregnant is due on Saturday. I can't believe that she will finally have their first kid and they haven't even celebrated their 1 year anniversary. I can't wait until it is me having the kid. Believe me I am counting down the days until I can get pregnant! HAHA!

Volleyball is better than last week. Except that today at practice, I got hit in the back of the head by another girl's knee. Let me tell you I had to lay there for a second to really realize what had happened. Now I have a headache and I was feeling a little nauseas(?) at practice. But I am fine and will be back at practice at 9am tomorrow on my first day of Spring Break. Believe me, It is not much of a spring break with having practice, athletic auction, and a vball tourney at the U on saturday.

School is going well, The PE degree finally got approved at our school. I will finally be able to get into the degree I want, even though I won't even be graduating from UVSC. I am glad because now with eligibility in school, I will be able to not have to worry about stupid Biology classes.

Anyways, I am getting a little sick and need as much rest as I need for this weekend. I love you all and miss you!

Love, Anne

I just want Mike to know how much Dad and I laughed last night and how much I have enjoyed your response!!! I also thank you for deleting the two extra that I put in...how do you do that?

Isn't it amazing what the years do? I was trying to guess how old Mike was when he wrote this. It must have been in Seattle since he doesn't mention sisters. The handwriting also jives with him being between 8 and 10. Writing personal histories does bring up some pretty interesting things. We also found a card that I wrote to Dad in one of my more depressed hours in Poulsbo right before we went to Michigan. It made me realize what a blessing in disguise that takeover by John Dugan was.

Mom

You know this all still applies.
And...I have yet to receive your protection payments.
So big, stronger brother may have to take action.

Guess who wrote this!!!!

Dad and I were working on our personal histories tonight for Family Home Evening and we came across the paper above...can anyone guess who might have wrote this????

Mom

Adina, I am so excited for you and so jealous! Dave, you have to post some pictures from the games! I am now thinking that maybe we should try to get stationed there just so I can play women's flag football- does the team take walk ons? :) The snow finally melted here and although I am sure it will snow again (it did for a while today) I am hoping it won't stick for long so that maybe I can get out there and get running again. It has been extremely hard to find a time when Tom is home while it's light outside, and the ground isn't covered in ice. I've had plenty of excuses not to go but as the spring time comes they will go away. I went to an all day scrapbooking event put on by Lexi yesterday. She's been so great to help me out by inviting me to all sorts of classes and activities at discounted prices. I am finally starting 2004 in my scrapbook, I'll get caught up here soon. Tom and Hayden had a fun day together going to a Kidzfest at the mall and then to McDonalds for lunch.
Last night when Tom put Hayden to bed, Hayden kept laying there pretending to be asleep by snoring loudly. It was hilarious! He's also picking up on social cues, his friends Aana sneezed on Friday and he said "Bless You." Well, he is over here now begging to play his Mickey game on the computer so I'll quit boring you with our mundane...I'll write more when I think of something to say! Happy First Day of Spring!
Tracey

Hello from San Diego! Update on Marnie's life as follows...

Things are going well. I had my two big midterms this last week and I aced them both! Very exciting. I will graduate! So now I have pretty much a two week break from school because next week I don't have my above classes and then it is Spring Break. My friend Nicole is visiting for Spring Break and I probably already said that on here but I am really excited. I haven't seen her since July.

I can't believe it is almost April already! Ahh! I am getting on the job search more diligently this week as I finish polishing my resume for my internship class. Hopefully that will be fruitful. Inventory at Sport Chalet is this weekend. Joy of joys! I just love working from 9pm to 3 or 4 am. I shouldn't be complaining, poor Brent, he has to be in charge of it at his store!

Last night me and a couple of friends went downtown to check out the St. Patrick's Day spirit. It was pretty crazy! We were only there for maybe two hours if that. We mostly just went down to see Matt on the pedicab. He is doing well on that and will be doing it tonight and tomorrow night after he is done working at Sport Chalet each day. Crazy guy. We are both looking forward to seeing you all this August for Kimmy's wedding. It will be fun to have everyone together. Kim you need to send me a picture of the bridesmaid dress and stuff! That is very exciting that Dave and Adina will be back in the states. I don't like us all being quite so spread out.

So today I am closing at Sport Chalet. I just got back from a jog around the neighborhood (i am trying to do better at that). I have to go down to Cingulair before work too because my phone broke. Hopefully they can fix it. I really have a problem without my cellphone.

So that is the update. Hope you weren't too bored. Love you all!

Marnie

Well, as Kim is working on some assignments for school today, I thought that I would update all of you on my activities. Back in Washington, on Tuesday night, we had our RS Enrichment "Birthday Party". We did a service auction and it turned out well...not outstanding but well enough. I think everyone enjoyed themselves and we are getting more of the younger sisters out each time which is good progress!!!

On Wednesday morning, Dad took me to the airport to go up to SLC. I was actually making the trip to come to "Mother's weekend" at BYU-Idaho but could get a better airfare by leaving on Wednesday morning. So, Martha picked me up and we spent some time in the Family History Center by Temple Square. Martha is really rolling on trying to get our ancestors taken care of and it sounds interesting to me so we spent time to get me up to date and rolling on it. I am woefully ignorant though so I need to spend some time playing around with the computer in order to get to the point where we can find someone...We are specifically looking for the parents of my great-great-grandfather who was born in 1792 somewhere in eastern NY or southern Connecticut...his name is Hezekiah Sanford. Kay-Kay was searching before she passed away and Martha and I have resumed the search. She is going back to Lexi's in late April and will be going to the cemetary where he is buried to see if we can come by any further information. One thing that makes this difficult is that Sanford is a VERY popular name in that area.

Thursday afternoon, I caught the shuttle to Rexburg from Temple Square. Kim picked me up here in Rexburg and we tried to take her to the urgent care center but it had just closed! She has been sick this week and thought that she had strep. We decided to wait until this morning to take her...and sure enough she does have strep. He gave her a penicillin shot..Ouch!!!...hopefully it will help her feel better faster! I just hope I don't pick it up!

I am staying in her apartment along with three other mothers. So that means 10 people in this apartment. It is a little snug but has been fun so far. It's nice to be able to spend time with Kim and see her life up here. She certainly has a lot of friends! I'll be going back down on the shuttle and flying back to Dad on Sunday afternoon/evening.

Adina...I sympathize but I may say I do enjoy having the latest in technology available to me!!! I'll finish my travelogue on the trip when I get back to Washington.

Love you all,

Mom

This past week has been very busy, but I guess no more than usual. Twice a week after school all three girls accompany me to my physical therapy appointments. They love it. We go in the late afternoon when there are only one or two other patients. The PTs love the girls, or so they claim. They told me it was no problem to bring them. So as we pull in Sadie starts screaming "Oh my goodness, Gumballs!" Yep, the first thing we do is head for the gumball machine where you get two for a quarter. Each of the two oldest gets their little bribery for the session. Then Jane begins her session at the gym. They have taught her how to use all the machines and she gets a timer and starts her work out. Sadie climbs the stairs in the corner or gets a pillow and lays down or gets out the marbles and transfers them from one container to the other, or grabs one of the stretchy bands attached to the pole and stretches it as far as she can and then lets it drag her full speed back to the pole. That is when she is not busy talking to someone about her curls or her big blue eyes. As we walked in Wednesday one of the patients said "There's our girls, I was hoping they would be here." That made me feel better because I always worry that I'm bugging someone. But...the girls really do behave and it is so much easier than trying to find a babysitter everytime. Ellyn just crawls all over me and adds resistance to my exersizes. Usually on Wednesdays we go straight from there to Sam's Club for free samples and pizza and lemonade and then over to the church for Young Women's and Activity Days. If I don't have a Presidency meeting before YW then I get to bring some of the girls home to dad-who is now home! This week I had lunch with a bunch of friends and we spent the whole time wondering where the Army is going to send us. A topic that never loses its ability to captivate the minds of women who are trying to plan their lives and the lives of their children. All of the Stinchfield girls have some variation of a cold this week. Jane has a nasty cough that starts up when she goes to bed or when she's playing soccer. Soccer started on Tuesday and of course this week it has been in the upper 40s and low 50s and drizzling. I just received a phone call last night telling me that our renters have orders to Ft. Polk and so they will be leaving before the end of their contract. So I am a little stressed about that. I've been told that they kept it in really good condition so hopefully there will be minimal turn around time and no expenses. I'm praying. We have had repairs every month for the past 6 months. My plan is to sell it while Mike is gone and we have the extra income to handle it being empty for a while. I guess I'm glad we learned our lesson on a $50,000 dollar home instead of a much more expensive one. I will NEVER do this again. But enough of that. Buffy, I'm with you. I will be sticking with capris. Knee length shorts have never been my favorite. In style or not. Okay, now that I have covered several random topics I will sign off. Kim, August 6th is great.

Brooke

Now,

I must say that I don't feel there is any sort of 'Stinchfield-Male-Technology-Virus'. It is not an indication of infirmity, it is a sign of vitality and strength to continue on in the pursuit of the simplification of our daily task and communication systems. Some may say, "SIMPLIFICATION!!". Yes, simplification in my eyes. I don't think there has ever been a time in history where a large family like ours has been able to stay so informed of each others lives so easily. Yes, it comes at a cost, but, we reach our goal.

And, yes, we 'needed' one.

Now that I have that out (no, we haven't been arguing about that, I just felt like laying down some thoughts on the BLOG), I will continue with an entry.

I just finished my Transition Assistance Program class that we need to take before we separate from the Navy. Good to have that done. Really getting short-timers syndrome here. Very anxious for the next few months to pass. And very excited for Mom and Dad to come visit in a few weeks. We are going to show them a lot of southern Japan and take them to all the best japanese restaurants. Anyone else that wants to come along is welcome.

As mom and dad said, they have been eyeballing houses for us in the Washougal area. It is great because there is a lot of growth going on in that area. We haven't yet decided on buying a new house or an existing one, but whichever it is, we plan to get really serious with it in July when we arrive. You don't know how excited we are to get back there. Just the thought of being able to go down to the grocery store and find exactly what you want, or having something easily shipped for you, or being able to go to Best Buy (see disclaimer above) and find what you need is so exciting. You wouldn't understand unless you were stationed in a place like this. It's been fun, and 3 years is just perfect.

Adina continues to amaze me with her talents. She now plans to put a hurt on the other women of Sasebo by rolling them over in flag football. And get this (yes I am a proud husband), she was recruited by one of the MWR higher-ups who knew her abilities. Same guy also tried to recruit her to be a swimming coach, but she couldn't find the time with her busy life combined with mine. Anne, just add a few little ones and it might get tougher. However, when I think about how I worked at The Underground 40 hours a week, BYU full time, and playing garbage/vacuum boy 20 hours a week at 0330 in the morning, I wonder how I did it. Who knows. Our energy capacities are different at different times in our lives.

I am also looking forward to everyone being together in August, should be a riot. And the family reunion next year. Wow, what an eventful year it will be.

Later,
Dave

Well, we are back online! Not that it's earth-shattering news or anything, but we recently purchased a new HP Media Center computer, and one week after the store warranty ended, it crashed or something. Nice, huh? Anyway - we had to talk to Customer Support for a long time before they agreed that they needed to send us a Recovery Disc - something that should get it back for us. In the meantime, we have been relying on public computers to obtain e-mails and other information - it hasn't been pleasant...especially for Dave. So - since he just couldn't wait the week and a half or so for the disc to arrive, he purchased this laptop - an HP Pavilion Notebook. His rationale - we "needed" one anyway. Aaaaah - the life of a Stinchfield wife....my only hope is that it doesn't come to bed with us EVERY night.

Anyway - all is well in Japan. We are out of here on June 25th! It's official! We should be in the states by the 4th of July - after a 4-day stop in Hawaii! Needless to say, we are so excited! And we are so glad we will be back for Kim's wedding. Congratulations, Kim!

Dave continues to run his brains out, meanwhile, I am playing flag football - a women's league. Kids are great - everyone is healthy. We have a silent auction/spaghetti dinner tonight that I am doing with the PTO - every person's dream of how to spend your Friday night. We love you all and LOVE your blogs!

Adina

Hey everyone,

Well on to the mudane life of Anne. Today I woke up, went to work for 1/2 and hour, then to class, then onto work and then onto Student Athlete Advisory Commitee, and then onto vball practice. Today my head coach had to leave early to fly to Denver to recruit at a Club vball tourney which required that our assitant and volunteer coaches run practices. It did not run all to smoothly. All of the girls were very upset at the way the coaches handled practice today. Anyways, it is over and I have a break from vball until Monday. I have been going non stop with vball every weekday, 4 hours a day for the past 3 weeks and we haven't even had a tourney or game to play in to really see how we are doing. It will be nice to have a break and be able to give my shoulder and my ankle tendonitis a chance to rest and not have to be constantly jumping on it. Other than that, VOLLEYBALL IS GREAT!!! HAHA!
School is going well. We had grade checks and I have 4 A's and 3 B's right now and I am happy. I just can't wait for the summer when we will be in Mississippi for 7 weeks and I won't be doing anything but relaxing and working out. By the way, Mike and Brooke I was hoping to come out and visit for a week or so while we are there since I am sure I will be getting bored easily while Peter is working 10 hrs a day. Being busy sucks sometimes because you just get drained beyond belief. But I know it won't get any easier as we begin our family.
I love you all and can't wait to be all together in August for Kim's wedding.

Love, Anne

Ok Stinchfield girls.... it's official. Knee length "bermuda" shorts are officially in style. I agree, I never thought I'd see the day when they would ever be in vogue. I think however, I will stick to my favorite capri alternative but thought it was my duty to spread the good news. hehe
Buffy

Hey everyone,
Okay, finally got the date for the wedding planned after I heard that Mike and Brooke couldn't come... August 6th now in the Portland Temple at 11 am. The reception will be later that night in the backyard at our house.
Mom, I think I am just going to have Marnie and Anne just be my bridesmaids. Also I want to have Treven take me through the temple and I was thinking of just waiting till the week before to receive my endowments. Just call me about it!
Love you all! Thanks for everything!
And Dad you scared me sooo bad! Love ya!
Kim

A new book has been released about Operation Anaconda, "Not a Good Day to Die" by Sean Naylor. If anyone was interested in the combat action I was a part of, this book handles it very well.
I just attended a lecture by Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Atkinson ('In the Company of Soldiers", "An Army at Dawn", "The Long Gray Line") which was fantastic. It was about combat leadership in his view but mostly about the mission of embed journalists. He is one of the big writers for the Washington Post. It is always amazing to listen to truly intelligent and successful people. He received massive applause (an audience of only army leaders) for his response to a question about US end-objectives in Iraq, "All you have to do is study 5000 years of Mesopotamian history to know that this isn't going to end well". Depressing and accurate at the same time.
Dad,- although your "segway" into your posting was eye opening, it was mostly the surprise of you actually posting that had me in shock.

Mike

Mom and I have found a position in Denver, Colorado and will be moving in about 4 months, or after we have sold the house. It is too good to pass up and the benefits from the clinic are awesome. My personal income will increase by 2x and the opportunities for mom to be employed increase greatly. Actually, she has a lead on an offer to allow her to do what she does best, customer service. If you have read through the last five lines in astonishment, you shoule. I just felt like Raymond's father on Everybody Loves Raymond and thought I'd stir the pot a bit. We are quite settled in our current lifestyle and working situation. I know mom would love to have employment, but I can tell you that the benefits of having her at home and doing what she likes to do, including temple work, really overpowers the idea of working and slaving for someone else. I do feel those old desires to get into my own clinic, especially everytime I pass the building near our home where I was negotiating a lease. It is tough, but, we know we are very well employed and have to be thankful that we have what we have. We are working now on getting a refinance on our home which may allow us to complete our deck and hot tub dream for our back yard. Still waiting for the final date for Kim and Treven as I have to put in my leave papers, just like in the military. So, Kim, what's up? 6 Aug, for sure???
Mom is at the temple all day today and loving every minute of it. We spent the first half of yesterday looking around Washougal for homes for the Japan Stinchys and sent out pictures and such to them. Kinda exciting seeing our extended family working its way to our area. The cruise was sublime. Aside from work we do in the church, there are few rewards as nice as sitting out on your private balcony with the ocean 80 ft below you as you travel the tourquoise blue waves enroute to the islands of the carribean. We had a ball and we plan to take the 7+7 of you on a trip in 07 or 08, whenever it is available for all of you to go. It is 100% on this one...so, we'll wait until we can get you all out there. Anyway, I am at work and have to get on to my next assignment. So, if you liked this input, enjoy it and there will be more. Love, Dad

By the way the picks MUST be done by Wednesday night

Thanks
Brent

Hey Guys,
The website you want to go to is the following:

http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/

Go to create or join group
Then select join an existing group
Then select join a private group

Group ID# is 26991
Password is chalet

fill out the info and make your picks
IT IS FREE

Just for fun. Men, Women and Kids can do it.

Thanks
Brent

Kim, We just wanted to say congrats on your "official" engagement! Now I know we get to visit good 'ol WA this summer and for a great reason too. :)
Brent & Buffy

Today I got home from work at 4. I had a 2 day weekend. This is revolutionary. Today I biked 25 miles, spent 6 hours in the classroom, read 3 chapters of a book, mowed the lawn, walked the dog (with the bike, foot still hurts) and Brooke got the tires for the Probe which I will put on tomorrow. Should be able to get it tuned up by the end of the week and on the lot for sale. It is just amazing how good it feels to have a life back.

Brent, I need the name and password again for the march madness thing

Anyway, my mundane life is just fine with me. It is just nice to start eating away the honey-do list finally. I actually feel like I am contributing to the housework! I am sure Brooke will be pleased.

Tom, sorry about not playing this weekend. I could not find my cell phone which is the only place I had your number. I can play any night this week!

Mike

Not to complain but I had to laugh when reading your blog Marnie because we still have a solid 6-8 inches of snow and we're happy when it hits the 30's! Mike called yesterday to talk to Tom and I told him it would take me a minute to get him because he was out scraping the snow off the car and Mike just laughed and said it was 80 at his house! I suppose we'll just have to wait until we are enjoying the mild 70's in July to have our turn to laugh. (Atleast that is what I keep telling myself to help get through this cold!) :) So August 6th works out great for us, with Tom being in school year round nothing is perfect so he'll just come for whatever he can and I am really flexible. I'm so excited! Congratulations Kim! You're ring looks so pretty! I can't wait to see it in person!

Things here are great, in spite the weather. In fact, the weather really isn't bothering me as much as it did last year. I am sure it has a lot to do with the fact that Hayden is older and it's easier to get out and we aren't sick all the time. But I do look forward to the coming of spring, although that wasn't until May last year. Hayden is starting to talk so much that I can't even keep track of all the funny things he says. They are really only funny because I am so shocked that he has the capacity to say them! For instance: at the grocery store they have a Cookie Club where Hayden can get a free cookie every time we go to the store. So we went to the bakery for his cookie and she was extra nice and gave him two. After eating them both he asked me for more. I told him he was so lucky he already had two cookies which was enough. So he got really quiet and thought for a while and said "I want three cookies!" We practice counting but I had no idea he was really understanding it so well, I thought he was just repeating me all the time. I was shocked and said "You want three cookies?" and he said "Ummm...no four cookies!" What a clever little guy! Another funny thing he learned came from Sesame Street, they had a clip where the kids are jumping and saying "salta" which is jump in Spanish. If you tell Hayden to salta he will start jumping! But his biggest obsession of all is Toy Story (this will probably last until Tuesday when the Incredibles comes out), anyway, he takes his Woody doll and puts it in Buzz's face and shouts "Buzz, you are a toy!!!" His favorite line from the movie. He has also entered the "I'm a big boy" stage which is really quite nice because we can convince him to do things because he is a "big boy," like putting on his coat and such. We went to the indoor waterpark and he loved it!!! He loves to swim and enjoyed the slides a lot!

As for the mundane, I still babysit three days a week and it's going well. Our car has had a few strange problems like the mirror continually moving on it's own, but the fabulous warranty is covering it all. We still love our Hyundai! I had my last indoor soccer game yesterday, I suppose I never even mentioned that I was playing on a team. It only lasted 6 weeks. It was just a group of other dental students wives, we were the only team in the league who had children and the only team that wasn't an actual club team that played several other games during the week. So needless to say we lost every game but had a good time and all our kids thought it was great fun to run around on the field after game. I've also started to play in a Bunko group, have any of you heard of that? And lastly, I just finished reading Harry Potter 5 today which is relief because I have been ignoring everything else in my life while I've been reading it! I am looking forward to the chance to start in on some of the other books that you have all recommended lately.

Well I suppose I have written enough for today, I'll work on writing more often...oh wait one more thing on the non-mundane side: Friday night Tom left the door to hamster cage slightly ajar (we have a black teddy bear hamster named Little Jerry after thr rooster on Seinfeld.) Don't ask me how he forgot to close it! Anyway, when we woke up Saturday morning it was gone. Pessimist me said he was gone forever, our house it too old with too many weird holes. But, optimist Tom said we could find him and after only 20 minutes of searching and placing piles of sunflower seeds everywhere, Tom heard it down in the heater vent! But it was apparently unable to climb back out of the vent because the walls were too steep and slick. So, we had to unscrew the vent off the wall and drop a towel down the vent for traction and he climbed right up and we returned him to the cage! It doesn't seem like much now, but it was a big thing at the time! I was so certain we were going to live with a hamster lose in the house! But atleast for now it's safely locked up again!

Here it is!  

Well everybody... Treven surprised me this morning and proposed! I guess he flew in last night to Salt Lake City. He dressed up in one of my friend Matt's clothes and so I thought it was him. Matt told me he was going to come over to get some things. And he came in. Then he took off his hoodie and it was Treven! Then he proposed and I said yes! So it's official! I am going to post a picture of the ring so don't worry about that!
August 6th or July 30th??? Mom has gotten me confused with things... haha anyways! Love you all!
Love, Kim

Ok, so in between all this studying so I can remain a grad student at CSUN (that is, not get kicked out for getting below a 75 on Monday's exam) I agreed to judge a dance/drill/colorguard competition. Let me tell you, I have never judged any competition though I have loads of experience. I said I would cuz hey, how can I say no to a 100 bucks! Basically, it's a fundraiser for the colorguard I'm helping but those mostly junior high kids competing and parents take it VERY seriously. I kinda felt like I was a pretend judge though I had to make audio comentary tapes while watching the shows and give written feedback with itemized scores... VERY nerve racking! Once I was done judging an afternoon full of dance solos, totally 80's style drill teams, prop teams and a couple iffy colorguards, I took my money and left before awards were handed out.... who wants to hear the response to the scores you gave them? Anyway, it was very wierd to judge but I can't complain about the money. Oh, well, I guess it's study time again!
Buffy

One of our activities that I forgot from the first day....a safety drill! Silly picture!

Kim called me after she read your posting, Brooke, to reassure her that you were kidding. I did figure that you were since it was so extreme! Although I'm sure you would like to do a few of those things!!! I guess I'm not as gullable or gullible as some of my progeny!!!

Well, Dad and I just got up on Saturday morning. He is getting frustrated with his laptop since it won't hook up with Tom for the webcam. We need to go to a Stake Humanitarian Day today at 9 so I have a little time to write about our trip.

Well, our trip....We left on Friday, Feb 25 and flew to Miami. We didn't get in until about 11 pm. We had a great suite in the hotel...kind of a waste for just midnight to 9 am but it was all that was left in the hotel when we made the reservations. We wanted to stay in that one because Ginger and John and family were staying there. We had breakfast with them and then went in a van with a trailer behind with our luggage with their group. There were about 16 of us. Our van crunched together with all the other vans and trailers and buses by the dock. It is really quite a sight. There were at least 4 large cruise ships loading up. This happens at least every Saturday..not sure about the other days of the week...The ships come in in the morning, unload, and then load in the afternoon and leave. They never stay overnight in a port because of the port costs. It means a lot of traffic on the dock.

When we got on, we gathered at the back of the boat by the pizza place since we couldn't get into our rooms until 1:30..they are madly trying to clean them from the last group. John's kids had surprised him by inviting a large group of his family...sisters, cousins etc. This was a total surprise so it was fun to observe. Most of them are from Minnesota. When we finally got into our room it was great...a king bed...couch...nice size bathroom and a deck on the side. Very, very nice! It took until evening to get our luggage which was a bit inconvenient, especially since some new pants that I had purchased for the trip ripped as we were getting our luggage out of the van. Fortunately, my top covered the rip but it still made it uncomfortable (as an aside, I was able to return them). We had our first dinner that night in the dining room. They assign you a table...the group was all together in four tables. Each night they have the same set-up although on two nights you have to dress formally. They do have another buffet option upstairs but the food is much better in the dining room. They have the full silverware lineup, 2 knives, 2 spoons to the right, 3 forks to the left and 2 spoons and a fork on top. There is a full menu every night, starter (appetizer), salad, main dish, and dessert. You can get as many of each as you want...but there are limits to the human body!!! One night, Dad asked the waiter to pick dessert for him...and he brought him all four desserts!!!! The food and service was very good!

We did some exploring of the ship. It had three pools and four hot tubs on the level our room was on. It also had a multitude of deck chairs on different levels. That level also had the buffet dining area, a 24 hour pizza place and unlimited ice cream cones, a grill...and two bars (not that we frequented those) We spent a lot of time on the ship on that deck sitting with family and just visiting. Above that deck they had a great gymnasium where I'm proud to say that I exercised at least four times during the week. They also had a spa there but we passed on the massages. It would have been nice but Dad found a Blue Angels watch in the gift shop that was a great deal...but took the money that we might have spent on massages!!!! More lasting satisfaction! He volunteered to work an additional Monday to pay for it!! They also have a large theatre where they have shows every night. They had an amazing Magic Show that left Dad and I scratching our heads. We bought a CD for David showing the tricks since he is into magic tricks. They also have a casino, gift shops and many, many bars everywhere. There was an internet cafe but it didn't work for most of the time on the ship.

On Tuesday, we came into San Juan, those are the pictures coming around by the fort. We docked at about 5 pm and pulled out by midnight so it was pretty short. We went off the boat with Ginger and John who have limited stamina for walking. After walking toward town, we left them on a bench and went to look for the shopping area. Dad was looking for a new bathing suit (which by the way we never found...until we got home). We were specifically looking for Del Sol. When we walked into the store, this clean cut guy says to us..."How was Utah?" We were a bit confused but finally figured out he had noticed my garment line underneath my white shirt. A bit disconcerting. Anyway, this guy was a student at BYU down there doing an internship with his wife and working in this store. I didn't know that the store is run out of Utah. They have shirts that are black and white but turn into colors when you go out in the sun.

Most of the other stores were closed...the activity in town was primarily the bar scene so we went back and picked up Ginger and John and went back onto the ship...

I need to stop here to get ready for the Humanitarian activity....I'll write about the rest of the trip later today or tomorrow.

Mom

I know it's long overdue, but I can't use the excuse that I don't know how to use a computer 'cause it seems like I spend the good part of my day in front of a computer with school and work. Since everyone is interested in the mundane stuff here it goes. Today me and Anne had another couple over and we watched a movie tonight. They are in our ward and he is in the civil engineering program so we can make fun of eachother and our nerdiness. Speaking of nerdiness, I enjoyed teaching the students in the soils mechanics lab today about how to run a consolidation test on a soil sample. Who knew playing in the sand box as a kid could lead to a profession later on in life. I really am enjoying being a grad student and the opportunity to work closely with my advisor on our research. It's a great experience. I'm looking forward to our adventure to Mississippi and experiencing a bit of the South I've heard so much about. Anne is looking forward to long sunny days lying next to the pool and taking a break from school and volleyball. I am also one of these wierd marathoners. I am training for the Salt Lake Marathon which is on April 23. I'm running 16 miles tomorrow. Provo is really a great place to be a runner with all the trails in such a close proximity. If I can make it through the Salt Lake marathon and still think about running again I'll run the Portland marathon in October with Brent and Dave. I think that will be totally cool to run it with you two. Well, time to get to bed and rest up for a long run in the morning.

Peter

Hey Guys,

So you got me Brooke. I thought you where serious. Anyways I created a yahoo tournament pool for the NCAA tournament. Peter is the only member of the family to sign up. If you want an invite and did not get it too bad. Just Kidding. Let me know and I will email you the info. And yes it is just for fun. I know Adina used to do this at the Y. I just came back from playing in a church basketball game. We are in the playoffs. We won 55-53 and I had 28 pts. Yes they keep track. I feel like I am single because Buffy is studying so much. As for work, it is busy and we are coming into inventory at the end of the month. Plus the store I took over had some past issues and when we were audited the other day the store failed. Bad news we failed, good news it does not reflect me. My score that counts was from the Palmdale store which pasted with flying colors. Any how congrats Kim and please let us know if he (Treven) gets in. Does he know about the initiation to the family? Right Peter? Everyone have a great week and good luck on everything you are doing. Love you guys
Brent

That's a question for you, Brooke. Either that or you need to get one of those Carbon Monoxide detectors in your house.....you seem a bit tipsy. Maybe you are just in that joking kind of mood. You had me going though, you know, we gullable Stinchfield's.
That title won't mean anything unless you enjoy watching Dumb and Dumber. As far as the dates go, we are hoping to be back before the 1st of August or earlier, however that is still up in the air, it all depends on what the Navy will let us do. We should know in a couple of weeks. The 6th should be fine for us.
Dave

Brent, maybe you should find a new job. Retail??? Doesn't that ruin all of the holidays? Okay, I was totally kidding. I didn't think anyone would take me seriously. August 6th works out just Georgia peachy for us. Congratulations Kimmy. I want all the girly details. Colors? Dress, food, flowers, as they're decided. We love you.

P.S. He wants just your hand in marriage?