Mom sitting and reading on a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Saikai Park 

Figured I should add something since it seems to be moving slow (the blogging I mean). I think the "blog suckers" comment by Martha is totally appropriate here.
Mom and dad left this morning and they are still in the air I am sure, it is about a 24 hour trip. They are probably looking down on Alaska right now. Anyway, we had a really fun time when they were here. Going back to work was really hard because we are preparing for an Inspector General and JCAHO (hospital/healthcare facility) inspection. A big deal, but I have a hard time getting really 'into' it when I am at the 8 week mark from leaving here. My motivation is lacking, yet I have to go to all these meetings. Not too fun, can't wait to be my own boss.
There are a million other pics that dad took but I will let him post them, he always adds some good comments to them.
One of my earliest memories of WaWa. It was at that reunion in California somewhere. I remember being amazed at his 'floatability'. That man could float with 10 kids on top of him. His buoyancy was unmatched. I remember being in that pool with him swimming around. He was that island in the middle of the ocean that saved me time and time again from drowning. Though a simple memory, it is extremely vivid in my mind and I can close my eyes and picture it as if I were there. It is amazing how the mind works.
Looking forward to seeing all of you, and miss you all.
Dave

I wish I could reread everyone's blogs while I was posting because I always forget something I was going to comment on until I publish and then I think "Oh yeah, I was going to ask about that," as I read the blog right below mine. So Buffy your dog story was very scary. More and more I'm thinking there are just some breeds that should be against the law to own in the United States. I don't care if they say they can be trained right or it's infringing on their freedoms blah blah blah. You are infringing on our freedoms when we go out running or walking etc... and worry about some stupid dog attacking. Okay, there's my little tangent. Things are going well here. The weather is absolutely gorgeous. We have been spending as much time as possible outside. Mike had 16 guys over on Friday for a BBQ lunch and then they did their briefings in the backyard. It was alot of fun and they brought me a huge flower arrangement of lilies for letting them use the house. If they do that they can come once a week. My house smells divine. We had our second soccer game yesterday and we tied. We have another one tomorrow night. These kids are so fun to watch. The girls are doing great. Sadie is really into playing with friends all of the sudden. She has become very close with the little girl that shares our house. They were so cute yesterday, Mike bought them both pink drumsticks from the icecream truck and the two little blondies sat side by side on the back hill eating icecream. This was after they had admired each others dresses and underwear (Sadie was wearing Barbie and Brayden was sporting Elmo). Jane is still flying through the Little House books and is finally fully recovered from her surgery. She only has a month and a half left of school and she's getting very excited about spending time at the pool. Ellyn will now actually walk with you holding her hands. Her two top teeth are so close to popping through her little gums are gleaming white. She is such a sweet baby.

So that is what is going on here. We are biding our time, waiting for our house to re-rent, our car to sell, Mike's orders to come through and trying our best not to worry but just to have faith and enjoy our time together. Kenn and Barb your trip looked fabulous. Some day we'll get over there. We should have done it when Mike was doing Degree Completion. Well we love you all. Love, Brooke

sorry i just had to get that out

--
Marnie

Very serious discussion with Dave 

Oooooh.....the color.......... 

Three kids almost in a fountain..... 

Peaceful day at Suizenji Park, Kumamoto, Japan 

Ok, Dad, lets get up and over the bridge. 

Kintai Bridge circa 1600's, in Iwakuni, Japan 

Ok, one more supersize...for the boys 

"Morgan, DO NOT lean over the rail" 

We promise to stop the supersizing....it dwarfs our guards. 

Mom in the Springtime, Cherry blossom festival, Japan 

Two authoritative individuals 

"In My LIfe........ 

Fairlady Z 

Ground Zero, Nagasaki 

Gooood Fooood, Ummmmmm 

Dave and Adina at Ground Zero (Nagasaki) 

That means good evening Sapporo Ichiban (best ramen sold in USA). Anyway, mom and I are here at David and Adina's home in Sasebo, Japan near Nagasaki. We have made a whirlwind tour of about everything of importance up to 5 hours from here. We've walked bridges, castles, samauri homes and floating Torii Gate of Miyajima. My back is in contortions but that doesn't make any difference when Dave and your mother want to hike up 156 steps to the top of a 5 story castle. The visit is more than exciting. We made our way down to one of my old inport areas, Sasebo Naval Station...visited last by me in 1973-76. Some of it is the same; some has changed. The food is out of this world. Funny food on a stick to dim sum-like meat-filled white doughy cakes. Gas is a mere $4.00/gallon so don't sweat the small increases in the U.S. Staying with the Stinchy's of Nippon has been very nice. The whole family has been more than accomodating when it comes to sharing their home, cars and food. Today is Friday so we have 2 more full days with this group, then back to Vancouver. Hate to leave the beauty of the area...however, I understand we hit the temperature and beauty at its best. Dave says the humidity can really knock you out when July and August roll around. Do you remember those days, Mike? I haven't yet had Gyoza (sp). What is it? Let us know so we can try the original before we leave. Had we gone in to our private practice option, this would all have been in a dream. We're glad we changed our minds and agreed to stick with Willamette. We look forward to getting all the clan together in August. Hope you all have that on your calendars. I know this is choppy and short, but hey, I wrote. Photos to follow. Dad and Mom..........

Ok, so now that I can type using my injured hand, I will tell you the story of a not so pleasant recent incident. Monday night, after a long day at school, rushing to Kinkos to prepare material for a presentation, and late night grocery shopping, I walked out to my car to retrieve my groceries and came upon a dog. Nothing special about this dog except the fact that it was stray, barking agressively, and running straight for me. My reaction was to let adrenaline take over and dash for the front door. That's when things got a little umm, clumsy. Instead of successfully reaching the door, I was suddenly propelled through the air and straight to the ground for a fabulous crash and burn... I have no idea what happened to the dog after that except maybe my fall scared it? Anyway, I managed to gather myself and stumble inside and fell to the ground thinking... ouch this hurts and boy does this stink. Naturally Brent was at an overnighter at work so I was able to call our neighbors who are good friends to help me with my groceries and help fend off the dog if it was still around. So I scratched & bruised both knees and the bones (ouch), tore my favorite jeans, and took a chunk out of my right hand but I guess I am still laughing about it. Who says dancers aren't clumsy too??
Buffy

We drove up to this area yesterday to go to a shrine on an island, It was built in the 5th century initially and, of course, rebuilt in the 12th century. I am sure Dad will send some pictures out on Ofoto. The kids enjoyed the deer which were freely roaming around but really weren't terribly obnoxious except for right around the deer food stand. They had little maple cakes all over filled with custard or chocolate...very good. This is about 4 hours away from David and we wanted to stay up here but the Navy Lodge was full. We looked into off base hotels but they charge for the person...like 10000 yen ($100) per person which is a little pricey when you have eight people. After we were done sightseeing, we came back to Iwakuni Marine Base and tried one more time. Dad was able to get us two rooms in the BOQ..both 2 room suites. Boy, were we relieved...especially Dave and Adina who would have had to be the drivers on the way home. This was all for a total of $80 for the night. The Lord was really blessing us!!! We are going to go and have breakfast and then go to a castle on the way back to David's. We have had some great dinners with David and Adina. On Monday, we went out to a restarant that specialized in shiskebobs...not the middle eastern variety but you ordered everything that was cooked and served on sticks and then had rice, cabbage and soybeans with it. On Tuesday, we went to a tempura place...yummy!!! They had a babysitter for both nights since neither restaurant would fit well with children.

Dad and I were talking about how much fun it would be to bring Mike and Brooke over here when the girls are old enough to leave at home with someone. I'd love Mike to show us around the Nagoya area.

By the way, Martha wrote a wonderful summary of our dinners when we were growing up with Wa-wa and Kay-kay on the superschick.blogspot.com site. The only memory that I would add is that I remember working with Kay-kay at about 5:30 to straighten up the house, and dust the piano. We had a big baby grand piano in the living room which must have accumulated dust easily because I remember dusting it daily...I also remember being so irritated at Kay-kay who insisted that nothing come to the table in its original container..no milk cartons, ketchup bottles, mayonnaise bottles, jam bottles. I remember being sent back to put whatever into a dish and being so mad about it that I tripped and spilled it on the way back. In retrospect, it contributed to always making dinner time an occasion that we all looked forward to. We didn't have regular family home evenings but those dinners every night accomplished much of the same purpose for our family.

Love this blog!!!! and all of you!!!!

Mom

Ok really annoyed right now...i just wrote a long blog and "there were errors"!!

I will try to duplicate.

Just wanted to update you all. My back is back to normal. No more pain. I just had a rough weekend so I think that all of the stress went to my back. But I am fine now.

So I have decided where I am going to live after I graduate. I am going to rent out a room from my friend Kelly's dad at his house on Coronado. I think it will be really great. It is an awesome location. Coronado, hello? Plus it will be fun to live with Kelly. I will have my own room still and it will be a nice transition to living on my own finances. I am planning on being there at least till the end of the year. Hopefully by then I will be more settled. Growing up is just peachy, isn't it?!

My eyes are still wide open on the job front. I continue to work at my internship and at Sport Chalet. They have offered be a part time position at my internship and Sport Chalet says I can go full time so that is my backup plan in case I don't find a better job by the time I have to move. But I contine to look and send out resumes.

School is great. I am trying to last. Less than a month!! I am trying to remember to take my tests when I am supposed to, turn in papers when I am supposed to,...oh yeah, and go to class! :) I bought my cap and gown yesterday. Exciting!! I get six tickets for graduation. Three are reserved for Mom, Dad and Matt but there are three left. Any takers?

I have decided to get a computer and a Schwinn beach cruiser for graduation. I will be financing the computer mostly myself (don't freak out guys I am getting just as much as you did). The beach cruiser is pretty sweet, I am totally jazzed about it. It is red and white. Kelly is getting one too so you can just picture the two of us riding cruisers around on Coronado and downtown this summer! It'll be awesome. As regards the computer, I have talked with Mike a little about it and thanks for the advice Mike, but for the rest of you that like Apples, should I get an iBook or an iMac? I can't decide between a laptop or desktop, same price, desktop more power and memory. Let me know of your thoughts.

Well I love you all, I think that was all I wrote. Hopefully this will work.

love, Marnie

Even though I already had one blog erase it seemed inconceivable that it would happen again, and yet...

So this was the jist. Dave, somehow I missed your blog where you talked about what age you would be. I had to laugh because both of our reasons were the same. We're 30 and we're broke. Well, you are soon to be 31. We can compare walker styles at Kim's wedding. Taylor, your aunt is so lame. I saw the blog from grandma about your party and I went to look at my calendar and find your b-day and it has already passed. I am so sorry. I didn't even look at the calendar last weekend with Jane being sick and I missed it. I love you very much and hope you had a great birthday.

The other thing that I wrote about was reading about Taylor getting a blessing at Disneyland. It brought tears to my eyes. I gave a lesson about the priesthood on Sunday. It said to invite one of the girls' fathers to come in and speak. Out of 12 girls only one has a dad that is active and living with her. He is on the high council so Mike came in. Some of my girls don't even think temple marriage is an acheivable goal. It is so sad. We have many, many single mothers in our ward. I shared the experience of being sick in Michigan and all of the Stinchfield boys and father walking in to give me a blessing. It still leaves me in awe to think of that. Not only my blessing but being able to stand together for Sadie's baby blessing. It is amazing with all the wickedness in this world that all of you could walk into a room as righteous bearers of our Heavenly Father's Priesthood and be ready to do what was needed. Kenn and Barb, you have raised wonderful men and women. I feel very blessed to be a part of this family. I only hope we can all carry on the legacy. Okay, that was more or less what I wrote, Ellyn standing behind me on my pillow and using my hair to keep her balance has left me somewhat distracted. Trevin, cograts! Annie-any time and for as long as you want.

That has been my life lately. Combat orders development. I have to say, however, that this course is one of those experiences that is so demanding that it pushes you past your comfort zone. One of those deals where you look back over a few weeks and realize how much you have learned from day 1. This has been at least as beneficial as Ranger school in my career skills development. I just spent 24 hours, straight, preparing for an Operations Order that I briefed today. During my recovery nap this afternooon, I was dreaming decision making trees. I guess that is what the Army wants, maybe I am being brainwashed? It is pretty bad when you drive down the road and start identifying favorable terrain to put your Bradley IFV in an overwatch.

Other than school I try to spend time with my girls. They are an incredible trio. Ellyn is really starting to show her personality. She is going to need it if she never learns to walk! Sadie is a card. Yesterday Jane was trying to get her to do something that Brooke had asked Sadie to do, and Sadie was refusing. Jane said " I am going to tell Mom.." Then I overhear Sadie say "Whatever Jane" as she walks out of the kitchen and sees me in the next room, with a look of surprise that Daddy had heard his Sadie be such a punk. Funny event, don't know if I described it right. Jane is our rock, a very dependable young lady.

I also am trying to get in some of my hobby of gaming. More important things seem to encroach more and more into this part of my life. That should be a good thing. We signed up to GameFly, which is like Netflix, but with console games. It has been the best thing since it forces you to finish a game before you get the next. And, you can get a game the same day it comes out in stores. Right now I am working on the new Splinter Cell. The new multiplayer mode is so improved over the last one that we played a few times. It also has a coop mode with 4 or 5 missions against the computer. If you are all wondering how I fit it into my busy life without neglecting the important things (since people tend to be critical of this aspect of gaming), all I have to say it is two things: I don't watch TV, which I think is the greater waste of time, and I get a little less sleep than most. Other than that, I just try to find time here and there to improve my stage times in my Subaru STi in Richard Burns Rally or my lap times at Monza in my Murcielago in GTR. Yes, I am a simulation racing fanatic. The nice thing is you can get a lot of enjoyment out of 15-20 minutes in a racing game, whether it be a few laps on Gran Turismo or a 8 km rally stage. Fits my current lifestyle well. Brothers, we need to play some Generals or AoM at some point. I really miss those days getting whipped by Dave and Tom throwing the towel in.

As Brooke has been saying, I will most likely be overseas for at least 12 months starting this fall. I do not know if it will be Korea or Iraq. In order to get the family up to the Seattle area, I have requested the unit from Fort Lewis which will be deploying end of the year. We'll see what happens. It is a Brigade of the new Stryker vehicle. I would really like to command a Stryker company, which has pretty much cutting edge technology; big time 21st century equipment. Although it means leaving to Iraq for that mess, It is really what I want to do next in my career. And, as an added bonus, the guys in my class that came from Stryker units in Iraq swear by its lethality and protective assets.

What else...my leg is slowly healing. My current exercise regimen, which includes M, W, F 25 mile bike rides and T, Th, Sat 2500-3000 meters in the pool is keeping me in better shape than I ever felt running. As Dave has seen, consistent long runs can beat the crap out of you after a while. By the way, did anyone see that female Ultrarunner on TV? Google "Pam Reed" if you have not. She ran 301 miles...straight! For 79 hours and 57 minutes! Holy crap! That is a hard woman. She said "but at 2 each morning I got really tired"....You think?!! She makes me feel like a real wimp.

Well, I love you guys. Be safe.

The early Dave gets the worm! 

We were so excited to see the news that you got into BYU-Idaho! That took a lot less time than the 2 weeks we expected after the petition. Now we need to all pray that both you and Kim can find work there for the Fall...housing doesn't seem to be an issue with all the new apartments going in.

When Kenn got accepted to BYU it was a huge step in his life and made all the difference in the world to his future. I'm sure that this will be your experience too.

(Kim, I sent you an e-mail about the invitations....)

Love,

Mom

hey everybody!
Just heard the great news for today! Treven got into the Winter/Summer track at BYU Idaho which is perfect! I know all of you were waiting for that so there it is! So I have to start job hunting and apartment hunting! Love you all! Mom did you look at the invitations?
Always,
Kim

Hey Anne, I emailed my mom to find out the name of the specialist my sister used to see, hopefully she'll have some good info for you. I took Hayden to the zoo this morning and he had a blast! The monkeys were going crazy and he loved it! He kept trying to talk monkey talk to them! If I can ever remember to take my camera with me somewhere I'll post some pictures!
Tracey

Well Family,

Another sickie weekend for me. I haven't been able to sleep a straight through night since last thursday. This is the second sickness in the last 2 weeks. Stupid Daylight savings makes me tired and weakens the immune system. I am thinking that this has something to do with my adenoids(inflammed pharyngeal tonsils in case anyone wanted to know, even though I know the half of you do know that). I know I had them removed but I think mom was saying that I had lots of tissue up there and I am thinking maybe just maybe they missed some of the tissue and it now is getting inflammed constantly. Here are the symptoms for anyone who thinks they can diagnosis it:

Extremely Stuffy nose
Having to clear my throat constantly of yucky mucous
Not too much coughing
I feel lots of pressure near my frontal sinuses and the maxillary sinuses

I think I am going to call a doctor today and go in for a check up. The thing is I don't really know who I can trust here in Utah cuz I don't really go to doctors here. Maybe Tracey, You or your parents would know of a good ear nose and throat doctor some where here.

Anyways, Our last tournament for the spring was this last saturday and it turned out pretty well. We played each team 2 games to 30 points. We split with Salt Lake Community College, We lost both to BYU( however, BYU had to start putting up 3 blockers on me to try and stop me :) ), We beat College of Eastern Utah(I didn't play in that game because I had an anatomy lab test to take), and We beat Weber State. Overall, this Spring Season was really good and I can't wait to see all of the new girls that are going to be coming in the fall.

School is almost over! Only 2 more weeks of classes and then Finals. Then we are off to Mississippi for 7 weeks. Brooke and Mike, I do plan on coming out for a week or so while we are there (sans Peter he has to work) as long as it is ok with you guys. I still haven't figured out when but if there is a better time for you guys that I come just let me know.

I was thinking about WaWa and Kay Kay lately and thinking just how much they really did for me personally. I do miss them and can't wait to see them again in the hereafter. Ever since Wa Wa past away and since Kay Kay past away, I always look to the sky and think that they are watching me everyday as they are watching everyone else. Sometimes it keeps me in check because I know they would want me to do my best at everything.

Well I need to get off to school, only 2 classes and a volleyball meeting today then I get to go home and study for a test I must take tomorrow. We love you all and miss you tons.

Love, Anne & Peter

Dad and the Giant Squid at dinner tonight. 

Hi Stinchfields - just wanted to remind your family that today would be Wa Wa's 88th birthday and it seems like a good day to think about him and how much fun he was to have here. I still miss him so much. He would be so proud of all the great grandchildren and all the things that you are all doing in your lives. I know that he and KayKay are closer than we think in our lives. Their deaths have made the veil seem very thin to me. I had the opportunity to go on a youth temple trip to Columbus on Saturday - we must have been there at the same time, Tracey! We had a horrendous drive down there, there was a state trooper who was shot when someone resisted arrest and they closed the entire highway down - it took us 4 1/2 hours to reach the temple (usually a 2 hour drive) - We had 12 youth with us and 10 leaders including 2 beehives going for their first time and an adult who was going for his first time as well - and I even had family file names that mom had sent me for the first time. It was so disappointing as we passed our appointment and beyond, we were sure we would have to turn around and just have lunch and go back. However, the temple was unbelieveably accomodating and we were able to have all the youth do 5 names at least - So 35 women and 25 men in our ancestry were baptized and confirmed on Saturday. It was such a spiritual high - and I know Max and Sam really enjoyed hearing the names...van Heemskerck, Schickedanz, Cooley and Burton in addition to many others as they were baptized. The spirit we felt was so strong - so much stronger than the adversary who tried so hard to keep us away that day. Another reminder to me of why we need to go to the temple. It makes us so much stronger in our personal testimony. Love to all of you - have a wonderful day! Lexi

Well, Dad and I arrived here last night and are having a great time with the Japan crowd. We went over to the main base today so that Dad could get a haircut then we went to Coco Curry for a delicious lunch. Right now we are getting ready for Taylor's birthday party this afternoon at 4 pm.

Yes, we are able to check our e-mail...so all non emergencies can go through there. In an emergency David and Adina's phone is 011-81-956-50-8279.

We love all of you...loved your blog, Tracey...and Marnie, I hope your back is doing better!

Mom

Hey Marnie- Ice your back 3-4 times a day (10-20 min each) and if it doesn't start to get better in a couple days then we'll talk.
I'm not looking forward to the next few weeks since #1 I've been in a clinic the past week and fell out of the swing of classes #2 Because the upcoming projects due and exams are not so fun. Oh well, like Marnie was saying, just a few more weeks! That will mean I have one school year left and two summer internships... yah!
Have a great week everyone.
Buffy

Okay, I’m writing this in Word, I hope it goes smoothly. It’s fun to hear from everyone; hopefully I can do better at keeping up on the info of us! We spent an enjoyable Sunday out in our backyard loving the weather and eating BBQ hamburgers with some friends, it was great! I love just lounging in the backyard and we have a little slide and playhouse and stuff for Hayden. We have already spent countless hours playing baseball out there! We really have an awesome little apartment here and a killer deal so I’m grateful for the decision we made to stay here for the entire 4 years (especially since it looks like we don’t really know when we’ll need another bedroom anyway!) It would be nice to have more space when we have visitors but things have worked out okay so far so hopefully we’ll keep getting visitors!
The big news around here is the fact that Hayden is potty trained now. I hadn’t exactly planned to train him so young but he was really interested so I didn’t want to pass up my chance. Plus, let’s be honest, at this point in my life I actually have the time and energy to focus on the potty 24/7, I actually have the luxury (if you call it that) to literally not leave the house for 5 days straight! I figured Conference weekend was a good time since we would be home anyway and we were expecting bad weather. Plus, I wanted him to be a pro before our traveling and such this summer. It worked out great and he’s doing really well, he just runs up and says “potty mommy!” He’s been accident free for an entire week now! He thinks it’s great and now walks around saying “I’m a big boy!”
Hayden really is a big boy these days. He’s talking in small sentences (if you can understand him). He just came up to me and handed me a tissue and said “mommy, put it in the garbage.” I spend so much time with him I generally know exactly what he is saying but everyone else is always saying “what?” so I have to translate it. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is his favorite song and he can sing the whole thing, except that several of the words he says aren’t actually words at all- they’re just syllables similar to the real words. Same thing with Itsy Bitsy Spider, he loves the actions! He still says things like “Hayden wants one” or “Hayden’s turn” and when I try to tell him to say “My turn” he just gets mad and says “not mommy’s turn, Hayden’s turn!” We’re working on it!
He thinks he can count to 10 but he frequently skips a few numbers. I have finally talked him out of saying he is nine years old. He’ll say he is two but then he has to say that I’m two also. In fact, we have to (I mean get to) do everything together these days. I have to go down every slide at the park, swing on the swings, drink water when he does, etc. In fact, right now he is playing golf with Tom and he keeps running over and saying “Mommy, play golf too!” and handing me a club. It can get tiring but it’s also a lot of fun, he cracks me up. He’s mastered his colors and shapes and is working on letters but only knows W, O, S, A and H… I don’t know why he picked those but he did.

So enough about Hayden, Dave asked what I do with my time… for me typical day goes something like this… I get up a little before 7 and I go rollerblading or running, I come home just in time for Tom to leave for school. I shower, straighten the house, etc and then Sophie arrives. I feed Hayden and Sophie breakfast and get Hayden ready and they generally play nicely for a while so I can eat breakfast and read the Book of Mormon. Then we usually go somewhere around 10:00, like the Children’s Museum, the Library, the Park, the Zoo, play dates, or errands. During the winter I had the kids in a music class on Fridays (a co-op with other moms) and we’ve done a few different sessions of story times. Then we go home for lunch and naps. During their naps I like to do email, surf the internet, read, scrapbook, etc. Lately I have been into making different flashcards and file folder games and such for Hayden. And of course I spend a lot of time keeping the house clean, doing laundry, paying bills, etc. After the nap we just play for a while, Sophie goes home, Tom comes home and he plays with Hayden while I make dinner, we eat and then we just hang out, watch our favorite TV shows, or I go grocery shopping or run other errands.
For a while I was playing soccer which was great. I was also in a book club for a while and then got distracted with Harry Potter and Anita Shreeve but I’ll get back to it. I was also in a Bunko group (12 girls get together and play a game with dice) but after President Hinckley’s talk that is on hold because no one can decide if it is gambling…you have to pay $10 a month to play in the group which buys the treats and the prizes. Everyone goes home with a prize but the winner gets to pick their prize first, second place picks second, and so on. The prizes range in value from $5-$20 so clearly the winner has a chance to get a better prize if they that is what they pick. The last Bunko night the prizes were board games and some people got games like Cranium and other’s got Rook cards… oddly enough the two winners didn’t pick the most expensive prizes because that’s not what they wanted. Anyway, it seems to border too closely to gambling so we’re trying to decide what to do.

Hmmm… so I am sort of in limbo as to what I do for fun right now. I am throwing a baby shower for one of the sisters I visit teach so the plans for that will keep me busy for a while. Overall, even though I don’t have a lot of exciting things to write about I feel tremendously blessed in my life right now. I have made some good friends here, I couldn’t ask for a better extended family. Tom and Hayden are amazing. Who would have thought I could spend all my time with my two best friends? I just finished saying family prayers with them and Hayden said his first prayer from start to finish. You couldn’t always understand the things he was saying as he repeated me but he stuck with it all the way through to amen. It’s moments like that when I can’t help but realize how blessed I truly am. We’ve wanted to be pregnant for about 9 months now and we really hope that we are able to have another child soon but we can’t deny the hand of the Lord in our lives. We know that he is mindful of us and our desires. It’s hard to be sad when there are so many blessings bombarding us every day. Brooke I can only imagine how you felt all those years after Jane, and how you might feel now with your new realization. But as you once said to me (at Dave’s CWRU graduation) Its hard to be sad for those things we want and don’t have when we already have so many wonderful things!

We have tickets to three Indians games this week so that will be fun. Yesterday we went to the temple in Columbus. We went down Friday night and split a hotel room with another couple with a two year old and then took turns babysitting so we each did a session. Next weekend, Hayden and I are going to drive out to my brother’s house in Pennsylvania (about a 6 hour drive) to spend the weekend with them. They have a little boy who is 7 months old so it should be fun; Tom is going to stay here to study. As for my favorite Disneyland memory I am still waiting for a Stinchfield Disney memory. Hayden is so obsessed with Mickey Mouse and friends I think he would faint if we took him to Disneyland! However, my earliest childhood memory of anything is actually of Disneyland. It’s when I was two years old and we were riding on the It’s a Small World ride and some water splashed my eyes.
So there you have it, I think I hold the record for the longest blog ever, however, I do believe that if you added up all Dave’s blog for one week it would be much longer than this one. I suppose I just have to write more often so I don’t get these hugely long ones! Take care, I'll try to keep in touch!

Hey everyone. Mom and Dad, how can I get a hold of you if it is not an emergency other than the blog? Email? can you get yours in Japan? let me know.

I hurt my back last night I guess. I must have slept on it in a wrong way because I didn't do anything physically demanding yesterday. Anyway it is really not so great. My back really hurt but mostly under my right rhomboid. It is not so fun. Buffy let me know if there is a way you know to fix that.

Everything else is good. I am chug-chug-chuggin' along. I enjoy the memories! Love you all!

Marnie

Had to scan this one from Isaac's memory book...before digital. 

Marnie, I would be 28, but with all my kids. At 28 you are old enough to be taken somewhat seriously but you aren't into your 30's so you can still get away with acting somewhat crazy
sometimes without being viewed as immature. That was also the year that I was running every day and I felt very healthy. You aren't thinking "Hmmm, I wonder if the wrinkles and the gray hair will show up next year or the year after."

Also, my favorite Disneyland memory is also the one after my wedding, imagine that. I was a little worried that the Stinchfield family would think that I was insane but better let them know right away. I also liked the time that Brent, Buffy, Anne, Jane, and Isaac and I went when I was pregnant with Sadie. Kim were you there too? It's hard to keep trips straight, but Jane and Isaac were so good to each other all day. It was a great time.

Brooke

Well, Disneyland I would have to talk about two memorable times. Not necessarily fun, but memorable. One was when we went with the family, can't remember when it was, but Isaac was in the backpack carrier so it must have been 1996-ish. When we went there, it turned out to rain all day. We all had those yellow mickey mouse ponchos on. But, we didn't care about the rain and kept on going on rides. I remember the lines being almost non-existent because everyone left. That was a lot of fun. The other time would be when we went with the Lever's (our good friends from Cleveland, dental school, he now has a practice in SLC). It was when we were living in SD, which would be 2001-2. We had gone out the night before, and Marnie had babysat the kids. We got up early in the morning and headed up to Disneyland. On the way there, Taylor was throwing up occasionally and very lethargic. We thought he might be carsick. We arrived at Disneyland and got him out of the car. We felt a lump on the back of his head. We asked Isaac what had happened, and if Taylor had fallen the night before. He said he had fallen off the back of the sofa on to the kitchen floor and hit the back of his head. We went into the park and as the day continued, Taylor kept throwing up. We figured he had a mild concussion from hitting the ground. So, we went and huddled in some little tunnel/bridge area near the haunted house thing and Keith and I gave him a blessing. We ended up leaving the park a little earlier, but Taylor steadily got better from that point on. It is at those times that I am especially glad that I was raised in the Church and have been able to hold the priesthood and bless my family when needed. It brings me much comfort and happiness.
As far as the aging thing, I would say 1 year ago. I felt like I could accomplish any physical feat and now I feel like crap. So, if I could have stopped it then, and not played flag football, I would be a happy person.
Driving up to Fukuoka (2 hr drive each way) to pick up mom and dad in about nine hours, they are now likely over the Pacific, trying to find that position that will allow them to sleep comfortably (from experience, that position does not exist) for a few minutes.
Blog away!
Dave

Well, as you all know I have been to Disneyland a ridiculous amount of times so to pick just one time that was my favorite would be rather difficult. They all have had their own special moment depending on who I was going with. So I am going to split it into two memories.

Family trip: Probably would have to be the same as Mom. The Christmas Day with the Bennett’s after Mike and Brooke got married. That was so fun! I remember that year we went to Disneyland instead of getting any presents from Santa but it was still great fun and I don’t even remember getting upset about not having presents. The line problems were pretty funny but it was really nice then because their weren’t any small children or babies (not that I don’t love small children and babies, it is just a “different” experience with them there at Disneyland).

Friend’s trip: The first time I went on July 15, 2000 with all of my buddies from high school. There were about 15 of us and it was a blast. It started a tradition so it had to be good.

My new Disneyland memory is going to be in about a month. I am so excited. It is the 50^th Anniversary of Disneyland and the celebration begins on May 5^th. Me and a few friends are going to go for that Thursday and Friday to celebrate! So fun! The only not-so-fun thing is that I have a final on Thursday morning so I won’t be able to get up there until the afternoon. It is going to be really fun though because my friends Matthew and Michelle and I bought one of those commemorative bricks in the front patio between the two parks. It says “The Chanklas Family San Diego, CA” (Chanklas is Spanish for sandals, spelling probably wrong, but we call ourselves the 3M (matt, marnie, michelle) chanklas). It will be cool to see that.

In answer to your question David as of now I am planning on staying in San Diego for quite a while. Someone has to be down here so you all have an excuse to visit San Diego and surrounding areas! I guess I will sacrifice myself for that.

Things continue to go well. I am getting back into routine. Baseball season has started so Matt is busy with Pedi-cabs downtown. Hopefully I will get him out of the Pedi-cab for at least one time to actually go see a game. I really like the new ballpark, very cool. Job and apartment hunting continues…I am sure it will all turn out well. I am totally jealous that mom and dad are going to Japan. That was so fun when I visited 2 years ago (wow has it been that long?). I totally wanted to go back again but, alas, graduating takes precedence. Kimmy that invitation looks cute. I like it. Does it fit in a regular envelope? Custom envelopes are expensive that is the only reason I ask. It sounds like planning is going well though. Let me know if you need help with anything.

It is so great to hear from all of you. I love hearing the stories and the memories. I was actually talking to some people at work the other day about a memory. I was recalling when we would be at dinner and Annie would get upset and storm off to her room screaming “I’m having a bad day!” It got to the point where we would pre-empt her saying it and that would just make her all the more mad. That was funny.

So I have a book that I was reading with Kelly last night that is full of questions so I will pose one for you guys:

If you could have stopped aging at any point in your life up to the present, how old would you want to remain and why?

I would have to say probably right now, 23. It is a good age. Not too young but not old either. So far that would be my answer. I hope you are all well. Have a great time in Japan Mom and Dad!!! I love you all!

Marnie

Hey Mom I found some invitations I really like. I like the first one on the left. I love you and have fun in Japan!
http://www.nextcontacting.com/LDS_Wedding_Invitations_custom.htm

Love you,
Kim

http://superschick.blogspot.com/
Enjoy!
Dave

Remember that really long blog that I complained about erasing just a bit ago. Well one of my questions was how do you all read the Schick blog? What is the sight? Why am I the only one that does not know these things?
Also, Dave, may I suggest the free advice from Buffy. I have seen the costs for each of my visits and it would give you heart failure. Okay, maybe not you. You are a dentist going into private practice. I hope you feel better. I swear by PTs now.

Painting I did over the last couple of days! 

Girls at the Conference Center 

Matt and I from my birthday! Sorry just got the picture! My yummy coldstone cake! 

Mom and I at Mother's Weekend 

Alli and I at Red Robin!