Ok, see if you can tell me who said that in what movie. Marnie, it's a tough one.
So, it seems everyone must be busy. We are too. All of our neighbors are moving out and all the kids use our house as the play place because all their toys and bikes are packed up. Oh fun. It'll be our turn soon. There is a huge amount of people moving out of Sasebo this summer. I am sure they will be replaced though. It is just strange because most people that we know well are leaving this summer. Navy life!
CT was clear. Symptoms disappeared, who knows....
If this deck thing doesn't teach us anything else, it is to get everything in detail before any decisions are made. Don't just assume the other party knows what they are doing or if they are honest people. 50% of the time or less, they fail at one of those traits.
Anne, I am going to miss seeing your chowing down at the table. I guess I'll just have to scroll now.
I had my last "regular" day of work yesterday. It's all downhill from here. #1 on the list is selling our van within the next 2 weeks. The difficult part about that is that we need the van until we leave. It'll be interesting.
Morgan has merged into this princess-ballerina character. She now thinks that she dances and spins like a professional dancer. I don't know where it came from, because none of us are really dancers (except for my Napoleon-ish moves). She must just have those innate girl innards. Funny to watch amidst the monster screams and bum rushing her father.
Parker has started losing teeth and feels it is a very important stage in his life. And of course, Morgan now says her teeth are falling out so that she feels 'older'.
He still loves riding his bike and is a brute. He just got up at 0730 and asked to watch Frosty the Snowman, go figure. Christmas never ends in this house.
Taylor is our quietest and most inquisitive child. He inspects and evaluates all kinds of things. He would rather sit and play a game, pick flowers, or draw than go play with all the neighborhood kids. Still trying to figure him out.
Isaac seems so old. He is becoming more responsible and more helpful without as much coaxing lately. He had his days, but absolutely loves to read. He has this crate of books in his room and he has read nearly every one. He won a book at school last Friday and finished it by Monday. Every free minute, he was reading. I think it's great, just like his mother. He has that splash-n-dash tomorrow, so we'll try to get some pics to post...if we remember the camera.
Adina continues to amaze me with her forethought of the move. I just have the attitude, "we'll deal with it when it comes", but she wants everything figured out in advance. We compliment each other to reach middle ground. However, it is nice to have someone that plans well. Without her, I'd be lost, eventually.
Well, off to my day off (Friday). We are detailing the van to sell, Adina has a Dr.'s appt, the japanese kids are coming over to play, we have to take the van for an oil change, we are looking at some family pictures we took last month, then to a branch going away party for us. I'll be a full day. Then tommorrow: race, beach for work going away picnic (if it doesn't rain), Taylor goes to a B-day party, and then some time to ourselves.
We miss you all and will see you soon!
Dave

Since I have been asked for several for the story of the 4 feet, I will give the story to all. On Monday afternoon, we were aghast when they framed the back of the deck to find it was significantly shorter than we had anticipated. When we asked the workers about it they said that the drawing had a problem. One side indicated it was 32 ft from the back of the house and the other side said 28 feet. They had checked the contract which said 28 feet...so had reduced their original work. (They had already killed the lawn out to 32 feet) Well, I was a bit upset since I had never measured it but had had several discussion about the maximum distance from the back garden.

After researching it, I found that their first drawing was 35 feet deep. The price was way beyond it so I asked him to quote us with it 3 feet less in depth and 4 feet less in width. That quote was still too high...about $5000 more than he had estimated before we went to Japan. He then went back and reduced it about $3000 which we agreed upon. However, I reconfirmed with him at that time that he had not reduced the size beyond what we agreed. They did not leave a drawing with us. I went into their office to sign the contract and saw that it was 28 feet. I had not paid too much attention to the measurements at that point. I told the owner (with whom I was negotiating) that I wasn't sure about the measurements but was this 3 feet from the back garden...which he said it was.

Anyhow, after a sleepless night worrying about it on Monday night and concocting all sorts of punishments if they didn't expand it, I told the workers when they arrived on Tuesday not to do any work before I spoke to the owner. I called and found out that he had been out with the flu and explained it all to his assistant. He said that they would take care of it...They both came over in the afternoon to look at it. The owners first response was that I had forgotten that we had reduced it. I then walked him through all of the above at which point he agreed to go to the 32 feet. It will probably take them a day more but at least we will get what we want.

The hot tub was delivered on Tuesday night but has not been hooked up yet...so near and yet so far!!! Gramma left with Konrad and April on Wednesday morning. It was great having her. I really never thought that we'd be able to get her up again since she does not fly. Her memory is suffering a bit...and she has a hard time getting around, especially with our stairs but it was very nice visiting with her and being able to see the real situation. It sometimes gets a bit inflated by those down there...She is almost 95 and it shouldn't be shocking that her memory is failing! I just hope she can remain independent as she really places great value on being in her own home. We were looking into an apartment for her but there is a 2 1/2 year waiting list!!!

Anyway, after they left, I went down to the temple and ran into LeAnn Bennett (Brooke's mom) We went through a session together which was really great. We live so close but see eachother so seldom. I'm sure when Brooke and Mike are here it will be considerably more often!!!

Well, I need to get the wedding invitations out today.

Love you all,

Mom

Hey Brooke,

Our Utah address is:

1965 N 40 W #102
Provo, UT 84604

Don't worry about sending it for a week or two, we don't get our apartment back until the 22nd of this month. Thanks again for letting us stay. We love you guys!

-Anne

Well since I am sick of having the picture of me eating dinner the first thing I see when I open this page, I decided I must write more. 1 more week left and then it is off to home sweet home. Let me tell you that I am not really complaining anymore about Utah since it is 1000 times better than here in Vicksburg. We love you all and can't wait to see you soon.

Love, Anne

The Dining Room 

The Lovely Kitchen 

Our Family Room 

Our Bedroom 

My New Haircut 

Let me just say that I had a wonderful time hanging out with Brooke and the Girls...and Mike every once in a while. I definitly needed the excitement because Vicksburg is getting just a little too boring for me. Sorry ya'll but I don't think anything will keep me from having kids, no matter how tiring it is. I had lots of fun listening to Sadie's singing and phrases, to Jane and Savannah in sync asking Brooke for more and more, and Ellyn's random gibberish that hopefully soon will turn into real words. My goal was to get Ellyn to walk while I was there but every time I would have her hold my fingers to help her walk, she would just tuck up her feet wanting me to play with her. They definitly are a cute bunch and I will miss seeing them.

Two more weeks left in Vicksburg and believe me I cannot wait to get out of here. Utah is looking wonderful now. I guess just because I really don't feel like I am at home here. Well hopefully soon we will know where our home will be for the next 5 years or so. I cannot wait for a change and to start our family.

I cannot wait to see you all in August and I love you all! Back to resting...Woke up way too early and I have to go donate blood at 3:45 today.

Love, Anne

South Quarter 

Crew's Locker 

Crew's Quarters NW quarter 

Crew'w quarters North quarter 

lawn dead under tarp..the lost 4 feet 

more 

Shorted 4 feet by contractor 

looks small 

6-6-5 

Status 6-6-5 

GrandMa Stinchfield doing what she does best. 

Well here I am sitting at my new desk, enjoying my pita chips and hummus (delicious snack! probably not all too good for you though!), listening to the soundtrack from Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets, and reading the blog.. What a life! I am definitely enjoying it. I like the "me" time.

I just got off work about an hour ago. I am still enjoying it. Today was pretty busy. They are constantly giving me little projects to do. A big one that I have right now is getting one of the major workbooks revised and digitized. It is nice that they trust me to do it but it is a little nerve-racking sometimes. One nice thing that happened today, my boss got 4 tickets to the Padres game tomorrow night and can't use them so she gave them to me! So that is what I am doing tomorrow night with Kelly, Derek and my old roomie Sandy. Should be fun.

So that is about it from me. I am planning to go to FHE tonight and then over to Matt's brothers house to do my laundry! (they take pity on poor me! Laundrymats are scary!) Love hearing all of your stories. I can't wait to see all the nieces and nephews in August. It feels like it has been a really long time.

Well I had better get back to reformatting my iPod, very important. (haha)

Love you,

Marnie

Not that we're counting or anything. Actually - there is so much left to do, I wonder if we don't need more than 19 days to accomplish it all. To top it all, there is a lady in the branch returning this week from the states. She just adopted a daughter and I need to throw a baby shower together in the coming week! Fortunately, I will have a lot of help.

Brooke - you have inspired me to get more closets and rooms cleaned out. The last thing I want is to be cleaning stuff out the day before the movers get here. We love the Sadie-isms! We're mostly just glad to hear that someone else's child uses the lovely word, "freaking". Thanks, Napoleon.

Dave sold his car here, so we are down to the van and hope to have the same good luck in selling it. This is his last week of "normal" work, although he has Friday off. Next week he will mostly be helping the other doc become familiar with the clinic - and the next week we pack out! He had a CT scan on Monday for his headaches - which have since subsided. We ruled out migraine - symptoms didn't match up - and we just want to rule out anything else. No results yet, though.

Kids are all signed up for swim lessons at the Kids Club Fitness near Kenn & Barb. It cost a small fortune (which was expected - there's no beating MWR prices), but the good news is we get a Family Pass to the facility because we signed up for three classes! So - while some kids are in the pool, the other kids can be playing in the Jungle gym. Can't wait! Isaac is doing a Spash'N Dash this Saturday - a 75m swim and then a 1 or 2 K run. He lives for that stuff!

The walls in the bonus room look great! I have to admit, we were surprised to see paint of any color on the walls - but pleasantly surprised. I think it looks great and we're excited to see the finished product!

Finally found The Devil in the White City here at the Exchange and picked it up. I'm finishing up another book first, then plan to delve in. We sure enjoy hearing all the recommendations!

Enough rambling...I'm off to tackle a closet or a desk! Hope you are all well!
Adina

Now that Annie is gone I can finally blog. She was just so demanding of my time. Play this with me, color this with me, watch me do this. Wait, that was my kids and their demands on Anne. I think we cured Anne of any desire to have children (I know, not possible)or a dog. It was so fun to have her all week and Peter this weekend. I just wish it had been better weather.

Barb and Adina, your birthday presents have been priceless. Here we are on another rainy day and Sadie and Jane are happily playing with the Dr. Suess lace up cards. We had better get some sunshine soon or we really will go crazy.

Funny Sadie story-again. The other day Sadie asks "Where's daddy? Oh, yeah. Eating chips and his green drink (he was upstairs on the computer)." Mtn. Dew and chips, a staple for dad around here.

Not much is happening today. I'm trying to get the house clean after neglecting the deep cleaning all last week. Mike tried to mow the lawn before it started to rain again but he bent a blade on a tree root and so we have 1/4 of the back yard mowed. That is one bad thing about having huge trees all over your back yard. I got another shelf cleaned out in my linen closet. I just keep clearing out random areas throughout the house. I don't want to move anything extra. We won't have the room.
Well I need to go fold some laundry (Buffy, you thought your life was unexciting) and mop the floors. Less than two months now, amazing. Brooke
p.s. Kenn, good luck with your plan. I'm sure it will work.

Using my age-old Stinchfield approach, I figured that if I were to consent to the colors in the room, that going from white to color would show that I could go from white cars to red ones (red corvettes). So, now that Barb knows that I like more than white, the timing is right, Father's Day is right around the corner and I am going to ask her to buy me a Red Corvette.

You don't have to have something funny, amazing etc in order to write. I enjoyed your blog and appreciated an end to the drought!!!

Gramma Stinchfield arrived on Friday with Konrad. Kon was on his way up to the Puget Sound area to go to his daughter, April's high school graduation. He took the opportunity to bring Gramma up here to see us since she won't fly up. It's been good having her. The stairs are pretty hard on her but she is a good sport with them. Her memory is failing a bit...and she realizes it...but no more than you would expect for a 94 year old. We are discussing having her sell the house and move into some retirement apartments. Rick, her friend across the street that watched over her, has moved to a new house with property and Edith next door is worse off than Gramma. She seems open to the idea so we are hoping we can pull it off...It would ease everyone's minds. I just don't think she will be able to take care of the house and all the complications involved much longer...and I think she would enjoy the company of the other people in the apartments. She gets pretty lonely sometimes in spite of all the people who reach out from the ward and family.

The furniture is being delivered for the bonus room tomorrow. We'll take some pictures when it is all done. I think our hot tub will be delivered tomorrow too...but we won't be able to use it until the electric is done and the deck is complete. Probably a week and a half to two weeks...especially since it has been really pouring here this last week. We've just had one rain free day. I refinished the coffee table and end tables in the living room. If you don't examine the underside they look just great!!! I think I'll do the one in the family room in the next few week with a little break for my hands. The sanding, scraping and brushing really worked out the muscles in my hands!!!

We love you all...

Mom

Ok like you, I have checked the blog numerous times this weekend with no new blogs so I guess I'll contribute. The problem however, is that I don't really have anything new or funny to post. So here it goes; I just finished my first week at my internship without a hitch. I kind of wish my clinical instructor acted more like an instructor by quizing me and testing my knowledge and skills but she is nice either way. I had my first evaluation of a patient on Friday that was anything but a typical diagnosis but that is reality. It made me feel better when after we had evaluated the patient's foot, my CI took me out of the patient's room and went straight for the books to figure our patient out(which was still no help). The take home lesson I learned was that no one is psychic no matter how much knowledge we amass in our brains!
By the way, I am in love with the new colors in the bonus room at the Stinchfield abode. I was truthfully shocked that anything but white would ever go up on the walls of a Kenn Stinchfield house. I don't know who picked the colors but they are fabulous!!!
Oh, that shadeclothing thing is really huge because so many LDS women down here already know about it (or it's the Utah connections). I also have a friend that is starting a modest clothing line down here and even hopes to make modest prom dresses as well.
Well, Brent and I are going to eat our gourmet lunch of chicken corn dogs this nice Sunday afternoon so I will finish now.
Love you all,
Buffy

I HAVE THE INTERNET!!!!

I am so happy! I guess that guy only had to turn on the cable outside and it worked. So my friend Derek has hooked up my internet so I can use it now. I will post pictures later but I am going to hang out with my friends now.

Oh yeah and Kelly got me a house-warming gift...a beta fish!!! His name is Ruby!! Like from the Fifth Element! I will post a picture of him too.

Love you all!

Marnie

Greetings from Cleveland! It’s starting to feel like summer time here, hooray!! We’ve been having a lot of fun lately, in spite of Tom’s finger. We got season passes to the amusement park nearby (we had them last summer too) so we went there on Monday and had a lot of fun. The rest of the week has been occupied with Tom’s softball stuff and trips to the “fish store” to get a Nemo fish and then some snails, crabs and shrimp to help with the excess algae problem. I have taken Hayden to the park several times this week, yesterday we went to the Botanical Gardens and then had lunch with Tom on campus and today we went to Chuck E Cheese just because I felt like going somewhere and it was to dreary and muggy out for the park. Lots of fun! Thanks for the reports on the fun movies and books and all the great events in everyone’s life. Marnie hopefully that internet will get set up soon so we can see those pictures! We are enjoying having our house to ourselves for a while because the old upstairs neighbors moved out and new ones don’t come until the end of the month. However, we have found a few snags, for instance apparently their utilities control the hot water and the power for the washer and dryer… no wonder our utilities are so low! But in the meantime, I have no power to my washer and dryer so I can’t do any laundry until we get this sorted out. Hayden has been cracking us up lately with the things he is saying. I think he and Sadie are going to be quite the pair! Anyway, here are a few of the things he has come up with recently:

1. Hayden and I were eating dinner and Tom was getting ready for softball. Tom came in the dining room and started to sing and dance to make Hayden laugh. So Hayden said “Daddy wants to be a Wiggle!”
2. At the park Hayden wanted to play imagination games. First he wanted to pretend we were watching Aladdin and eating popcorn, he got a stick and acted like he was putting into a DVD player (which was the side of a slide) and then sat down and jumped back up again because he forgot to push play. Then, he found two leaves and brought one to me and said “Here’s your controller, we’re playing Halo on the x-box!”
3. Last night at Tom’s softball game I was holding a little baby and Hayden wanted to hold him. So I let him think he was holding him and he sang him the whole song of “Rock-a-bye-baby.” I didn’t even know Hayden knew that song!
4. When Hayden doesn’t want to take a nap he lays in bed and calls to me by saying “I miss you mommy!” If I do happen to go in to tell him to go to sleep he tries to hug me and just says “I love you mommy.” He’s so manipulative but he’s so cute it works great!

Well that’s just a few of the funny things he is doing lately. Tonight we are going to a concert for the Utah Children’s Choir that is performing here in Kirtland. We are one of the host families for some of the children so we will be bringing them back here afterward to spend the night. Tomorrow we get to go with Hayden to a birthday party at the fire station, I think he’ll like it!

I think I’ve written more than my quota for one day, I’ll write again soon! Take care!
P.S. Barb, if you could email me with the exact info for what we owe on those airline tickets and such that would be great! Thanks! My email is tracey@dankus.com... Which reminds me, Tom is usually the only one who gets emails of pictures and other stuff, I would love to be added to your address books, that goes for everyone! Thanks!

Lexi, I am intrigued by the baseball coaching idea. Send me the info at tom@dankus.com. Thanks.

The movie is approved by Sadie, and Jane. (Madagascar for us non-Sadie speakers) Another funny Sadie-ism: the other day she went up to Brooke and said "Mom, you are sunshine, you are freaking sunshine." Anne is enjoying the entertainment value of it all. Thanks so much for the gifts for Sadie! She had a wonderful birthday and Adina, your gift arrived promptly the day prior to her birthday shaming my wife forever more.

Tonight I am busy finishing up a long paper on a battle at Guadalcanal. The research has been fascinating, the writing much less so. We are under a deluge right now; we received more rain in the last 24 hours than the entiure average for May. So Anne is loving being cooped up with 3 crazy girls and a grumpy Mike frustrated that I am 35 and still doing homework. And the rain does not look as if it is going to let up.

By the way, some of you know about the Dubious Quality blog that actually clued me into doing the Sundry Seven. Well, the guy who does it writes some pretty interesting stuff, not just games stuff, and it is well worth visiting while you are waiting for the next person to post on this blog. His name is Bill Harris and his blog is www.dubiousquality.blogspot.com.

Dave, I hope your head feels better and Tom your finger...ouch.

Love you all,

Mike

Hey Everyone,

Sorry it has been so long. I don't have the internet yet at my new apartment. Very annoying! I am ridiculously attached to the internet. And it is especially bad because I don't have cable tv either. So all I have is movies which actually suits me pretty well. I have started Netflix so that I can at least get movies that I haven't seen and not be watching the same movies over and over.

I am adjusting pretty well to living alone. I really like not having roommates but I do get lonely every once and a while. But it is definitely worth it to be lonely a bit and not have roommates. I am all moved in now. I went and got some furniture at IKEA on Monday so it pretty much looks like a real apartment! I just have to get the boxes out of the living room! I will post pictures as soon as I have the internet at home. My stupid cable system isn't working. I am afraid it is the wiring which means I will have to pay for them to fix it. They are coming over on Friday so hopefully after that I will have a functioning home. Parking is getting better everyday, I shouldn't say that, I will jinx myself. But it is. It started off pretty bad with having to park about 2 blocks away. But the last couple of days I have been right in front.

Work is still good. I am there right now and probably should be doing something other than blogging but I am taking a break. I designed a new cover for one of the books we sell today and I organized some old paperwork and files (not the greatest). But I was busy mostly all day so I can't complain. I am over the hump of the week and really looking forward to the weekend, not for anything in particular just to be off!

So I will post pictures when I can. You all sound like you are doing well. It is June! Dave and Adina the light is drawing nearer! I bet you can't wait. I can't wait to see you all, that goes for everyone, in August. It will be great. I love you all and miss you a lot.

Marnie

David and I were discussing this book when we were in Japan and I just remembered to search on line. The book is actually called "The Great Green Turkey Creek Monster" and it is not being printed anymore. However, there were some used ones available (ex-library books) so I ordered one for old time sake!!!

I think most of you would probably remember the book...some seeds are sent in error and the town almost gets destroyed by the great green hooligan vine!!!

Love you all,

Mom

Morgan on the Carousel - she could have stayed on there all day. 

Parker & Taylor at Huis Ten Bosch - local Dutch Theme Park here in Sasebo. Go figure. 

Dave and Isaac running the 3K on Memorial Day. Isaac came in Third with a time of 13:10. Not too shabby.  

We have been having so much fun with Anne and Peter here. It is great finally getting a chance to get to know Peter. They are both so cute with the girls. Of course the girls all adore them in return, even Saran Wrap-Ellyn. We spent Saturday at the lake with some friends jet skiing and boating. They had a tube that you drag behind that had a bull on it. Yes, it was quite fun, I think that is as close to real bull riding as I'll ever get. Peter and Anne took a spin on the jet ski and then Mike took me out and did his best to try to get us to biff, but I held on and he failed. Then it was my turn to drive and I came around the one side while he leaned to the other and I was almost in place before we tipped over. Then we couldn't get back on to save our lives. One of us would make it and then we would tip while the other one was attmepting to climb up. We were laughing so hard our attempts just became more and more ridiculous. Finally our friend Todd came by with Jane and Savannah and picked Mike up and I stayed out on the jet ski for awhile. It was great. Sadie and her little friend Addyson played on the lawn at the house the whole time. There were two baby pools and a slip and slide and they just loved it. Ellyn just played with anyone who wasn't on the boat. It was beautiful. We brought cupcakes out with us and sang happy birthday to Sadie. A wonderful way to spend a Saturday. Every night we start a movie and I poop out and take the babies to bed. I guess that means I'm getting old- or that my kids are exhausting me.

Jane realized at field day that she could not jump rope worth beans with a normal jump rope (she always jump roped with her hoola hoop) so we bought her a jump rope (Bailey had eaten her last two) and she has spent the past week mastering this skill. I am proud of her perseverance (sp?). She has it down and is now obsessed. She and her friends have been jump roping non stop all week. That should keep her in shape.

Ellyn has been doing some more balancing and has actually taken two steps, twice. Progress.

Sadie had a great birthday. I can't believe it has already been three years. She has been singing for us quite a bit this weekend. Songs she has written herself. Quite a treat. American Idol really inspired her. Our favorite rendition starts out with "I is," way too much time in the South.

Dave, I hope you are feeling better. Tom your finger looks like it either came from the undead OR like it could go into orbit at any moment. Hayden's pictures are way too cute. Does the voice changer really work? Adina, I know what you mean about smooth transition. Mike and I keep going back and forth on what would be best for Jane for the next couple of years. Should he try for a command sponser and all go to Korea, should I stay here and have him get an assignment here after Korea, our current plan, and about two other options as well. I just want this to impact the girls as little as possible. Decisions, decisions. I just don't want my impatience to be the deciding factor.

Okay, as far as camis. Old Navy on line has layering camis on sale two for $10.00 as of a couple of days ago. They said tiny fit so I got the large and they go down to the top of my thigh. Plenty long, plus they are the thin material they are using for their "layering" line right now. Probably not as nice as the shade ones, but cheap and lots of colors. I'm sure it won't last forever. My sister in law has the shade ones and loves them.
Enough babbling. I love you all, you know I do. Brooke

P.S. Barb, checked out the Schick blog and really enjoyed the stories Martha has been posting. What a treasure.

DSCF0013
Originally uploaded by dankus.

Finger, originally uploaded by dankus.

Front side.

DSCF0012, originally uploaded by dankus.

He goes around with the voice changer saying, "Luke, I am your father" and "You don't know the power of the darkside" It looks pretty funny.

DSCF0001, originally uploaded by dankus.

Well, this is a back side view, 3 of the pins viewable. That green one goes right down through 3/4 of the finger, no bendy.

Dad is out home teaching and I have just gotten off the phone with Martha. She sent me the packet on the trip in September and I am so excited!!!! Also, those of you who do not regularly look at the Schickie blog...I recommend you look into it soon. Martha has put some great family stuff about my grandmother and grandfather...and stories of Sterling etc. Several stories that Kay-kay told us throughout our childhood as well as some great pictures.

David and Adina, I agree with Buffy that it does sound like a migraine...although it could be a tooth also. The one sided aspect is very typical of my migraines. Hope it gets better soon or that you can get medication for it. My Zomig is great in being able to nip it in the bud!

Dad's home and we are going to go for a ride. I'll write later.

(Sadie, hope you had fun on your birthday...Congratulations on your achievements, Jane...and Taylor, your picture is extraordinary!!)

I love and appreciate all of you,

Mom

Sorry to hear about the headache Dave. It sounds like it is a migraine with what Adina described... one side of head, pulsating nature, and can last up to 72 hours. It is almost definitely a migraine if there is also nausea or increased pain with noise or light. Over the counter migraine medication with caffeine often helps people. Hope this helps (I did consult the textbooks).
Buffy

as stake yw president - therefore, the gestapo at stake dances - i was THRILLED to find this website...check it out http://www.shadeclothing.com/Shade_Under_Shirts.html

hopefully that link will work - it is the one buffy was talking about - there was a great article written about the founder of it in the christian science monitor.

tom and tracey - would love to see you guys sometime in the next couple of weeks! give us a call -

love-
lexi

Just want to wish Sadie a Happy Birthday! Wow - to be 3 again! What a life! We sure hope you have a great day!

On the homefront, Dave is ailing. He developed a "headache" at work on Friday, one that pain relievers aren't touching. But it is only on one side of his head, and "pulses". When it is not "pulsing", there is no pain. The pain began on the side of his head, the right side, above his ear. Now it is down directly in front of his ear. He says it worsens when he swallows sometimes. Anyway - we are going on Day Three of discomfort. I suspect a possible dental cause. He is skeptical, but he is the dental doc on duty, so a lot of good that does us. Anyway - any advice from you clinicians and otherwise experienced people would be appreciated.

We are headed to Huis Ten Bosch tomorrow - the replica Dutch Village theme park right next to us. We figure we should go since we have lived next door to it for three years. The pool opened this weekend and the kids want to spend every waking hour there.

Buffy - I tried to access that ShadeClothing site, but can't from here for some reason. Any one else having difficulty getting to it? I'm very interested in looking at it.
Brooke - I would love to have a house by the time school starts, but realistically speaking, I don't know if we will. For one thing, our household goods probably won't arrive until September. Our goal is to be in our own place by Thanksgiving at the latest. I would love to have the kids settled before school starts - it weighs on me because I want this transition to be smooth for them - but they will likely have to switch schools in October or so. We'll just wait and see what happens!

More later!
Adina

Ok so that didn't work the last time...
http://www.shadeclothing.com/Shirts_in_Action.html

This blog is for the female Stinches...
My sister told me of a small clothing company started by an LDS girl in Utah. She started it because there just aren't good undergarments out there to cover garments and such so that you can wear the current "styles". So she started making camisoles and cap sleeve tees that are high enough on the neck line and long enough on the bottom to wear with low cut jeans etc. My sister knows this girl's sister in WA and has bought several camisoles and tees and loves them. If you were interested, here is the link.

Buffy

Wow! We have such a smart little niece! Jane, I am very proud of you for being such a good student (getting A's takes a lot of work). Have a great summer off of school. K, now I'm jealous that you are all gonna be up in Washington and get to hang out so much. Of course it won't be the same without Mike there as well but the rest of you need to save some fun for Brent and I when we move up.
Take care,
Buffy

Tracey, I don't know if you should mention those games on here. I could just see Mike suggesting a road trip once Anne and Peter get here. Then you would really have a crowd! I am so glad you are feeling better. I know what you mean about the worrying, with Jane any time I didn't feel sick I would start obsessing. As much as I hated being sick, it was reassuring as well. Buffy, I can only imagine your relief right now. Sounds like you had alot of fun at the beach. It was not good to read that while I was starving. Adina, I forgot to say it, but I too am very excited for the time together. Washougal isn't too far away either. I still haven't heard how long you are staying w/Kenn and Barb. I would imagine you want to find the house before school starts. I want to do game nights again. Having Mike gone is not a good thing and we will miss him ALOT, but I am getting very excited to be up near our families. There has to be some good in all this mess.

Well Jane's last day of school was today. They had an honor's assemby this morning and Jane was recognized for all A's all year and for outstanding artist for her third grade fine arts class. We aren't proud of her or anything. We are really going to miss this school. Okay, Sadie just woke up from her nap and she is as grumpy as can be so I had better go. I love you all (okay the other day I posted I love you all, you know I do. It was what I had posted on my other blog based on the story of a friend of ours that said "You know I do" instead of "I do" at his wedding. Funny story, I had to share. Plus I didn't want you all thinking I was that cheesey).

So I am happy to say that I finished the last of the fun filled exams this week and am pretty sure I survived quite well. A few minutes after I walked out of the exam it finally hit me that we were done for the year.. what a great feeling! So after that I picked up Brent at work and we drove about 45 minutes up to Ventura where a classmate invited the whole class for some beach volleyball and football (which Brent was definitely a part of) and some truly great food at his parent's home. His family is a bit obsessed with fishing and travel all over (even Canada) to catch fish to bring back home. So they served sushi, sashimi, and grilled salmon and chicken, and fresh world famous Ventura strawberries for desert(yum!). Brent and I had a blast because 1)we haven't seen the beach in over a year since we live so far inland and 2)we aren't big on cooking unless you consider hamburger helper gourmet. We feel totally spoiled with going to Donovan's last week as well.
So now I get to have a nice four day weekend before my internship starts and not study!
By the way Taylor, we really love your talented art work too!
And Tracy, I'm glad you are starting to feel better. :)
Have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone.
Buffy

The next post was clearly written by me but I should have signed my name, sorry!
Tracey

Wow! What a great picture Taylor! I can't wait to see some of you artwork in person! I know this is a random thought but if we lived back in earlier times we could set up an entire village with just the Stinchfield's because there are so many different talents and skills that we would have everything covered! Our village would definately thrive! You are all simply amazing! We even have our own resident Frankenstien... Tom got the cast off his hand and now just simply has a small ace bandage wrapped around his pinky to keep it covered. He can wash it with soap and put neosporin on it and such. But, I will have to post a picture because it is really freaky looking because he has long jagged scars down both sides and 4 pins sticking out of it! He is happy to have the bulky cast off though. Right now they are waiting for the bone to heal, unfortunately some of the bone was completely shattered so when they put the other pieces back together it left a big whole in the x-ray. (The thing that amazes me is that he has never done this before because he is the king of diving for balls...) Anyway, the doctor is still hopeful it will only be another 3 weeks or so. Tom is hopefull too because he misses softball and is really bored at the clinic despite his efforts to stay really busy. Today he was hoping he could get an XL glove over his hand to give him more options. We'll see...

So for the moving plans, we enjoyed using ABF and for us it was substantially cheaper but we only needed like 9 feet of truck. You pack everything so high that it doesn't take up much space (plus we don't have very much.) I think our total cost with tax, ramp rental, etc. was close to $1300. U-Haul without the gas and toll roads and such was quoting us near $1500 if I remember right. But again, I am sure things change. Some friends of ours just moved last weekend and they used ABF but I don't know what they paid. Good luck with all of that! One thing I do remember about ABF is that sometimes it depended on when I got the quote. I would get a really low quote one day and I higher one the next. Eventually it went back down but never to as low as that first quote I got... weird.

We are going to the Indians vs. A's game tonight and again tomorrow. Tom is torn about who to cheer for, but Hayden and I are definate Indians fans. Tomorrow night is Travis Haffner Bobblehead night, he's Hayden's favorite so we're excited. Another of Hayden's favorites is Star Wars. We just got him the Darth Vader mask and light saber at Costco, he loves them! I'll have to take a picture of that too, it's pretty funny. He walk around saying "Luke, I am your father!" and "You don't know the power of the Dark side!" Funny kid.

I am starting to feel a whole lot better these days with just intermitten sickness and a lot more energy. If I can just make it two more weeks I will be really happy about feeling better instead of a little bit nervous about it! I am sure things are fine but it's always hard not to worry. Hayden has decided to name the new baby Jack Jack. But sometimes he tells me that baby Jack Jack is in his tummy so I know he doesn't quite get it yet! :) Oh well, there is plenty of time! Well, despite feeling better I still know that I need a nap to make it happily through the Indians game because I was up late last night so I must go while my kids are still sleeping. Talk to you later!

Taylor,

I printed out your painting and posted it above my desk at work. People walk by and are amazed when I tell them that my 7 year old grandson painted it. Wow. I guess we know where your talent is. Papa....

For everybody that cares,

Coldplay will be having a concert at the Clark County Amphitheatre near Mom and Dad.... those of you who were at my graduation, that is where it is at. It is on August 17th! Treven and I are hoping to go after we get back from our honeymoon and before we leave to move out to idaho! I love you all! And I am soo impressed by the painting, Taylor! Wow! keep it up! 3 1/2 weeks left of school! WOO HOO! Treven is driving out right now with our friend Clayton to come here for Memorial weekend... It is nice a sunny and hot here finally so it will be a great one! I will take many pictures and post!

Kim

Taylor, your uncle Mike and I are amazed. That is a beautiful painting. I would love it if you would show Jane how you did that. She loves art too. I can't wait to see you in just 2 months. YEAH!!!
Love, aunt Brooke

Taylor's painting hanging on the wall at school. Quite the budding artist at 7 yo, he can't get enough of it. That is his little custom "T" stamp that he made on it too. 

I will call to make sure. I feel like I am missing something. I did two different quotes. One with less square footage. That was still $4,500. We are waiting to get Mike's actual orders to pursue it any further. I'll write more later.
Brooke

I can't believe that quote from U-pack! When we used it (twice), we did it soley for the money it saved us. The fact that we could travel together as a family and at our leisure was just a bonus. I remember looking into both U-haul and ABF, only to find out that ABF saved us tons. So - I'm sorry to hear that you were quoted so high, although with the increase in gas prices, I suppose it can happen. I would call to make sure - it can't hurt. Also - they quoted us as using a certain footage in the truck (that is how they figure out your quote) and we ended up using much less. We just didn't have that much, and we were efficient packers. So - consider that, too. Maybe Tom & Tracey can shed some light on the situation - they were the most recent to use them.

Also - the combined party sounds great. I will run it by Isaac to be sure and would love to help in the planning! Can't wait to be able to spend so much time with you this summer!

Well - gotta go. Housing is coming by this morning...
Take care everyone!
Adina

So now that I have a chance to write for a little bit as everyone is the office is out today, done for the day, or out at lunch and I have nothing left to do but answer the phone (that doesn't really ring much!), I guess I have time to write a proper blog.

So I am slowly but surely moving into my new place. I like it more and more everytime that I go over there. The parking is horendous but oh well just something to deal with. I got the keys on Sunday but with working everyday and not having had anything packed before Monday, I haven't been able to take more than a few boxes over everyday. Tonight I am going to take a break from the moving process. My roommate Kim leaves tomorrow morning, :(. This weekend I will be moving my big stuff and I think I am going to wait until I have everything over there and am out of my old apartment to start decorating. My wonderful friends with trucks will be helping me, except too bad that Derek (one of the friends) bruised his heel really bad rock climbing on Monday. Hopefully he will feel a little better by this weekend.

I am getting used to the routine of work. It is nice to have it be pretty much the same everyday. I REALLY like having nights off to do whatever I want. I am a night person so that is when I get stuff done anyway. Work has been good. I really like the people here. Today is my first day by myself. Before this the old admin asst, Kate, was training me. This week is going to be kind of slow because the president, Linda, is on vacation in Peru, and the vice president, Michelle, is dealing with personal problems so won't be in the office all week. And since I am mostly their assistant, if they aren't here, they aren't sending me anything to do. SO I have to be creative and find things to fill my time so I don't go crazy. Hey, at least they are paying me for it, right?

The other thing I am getting used to is the ridiculous price of utilities if you are living by yourself. I am so used to sharing utilities with other people and the price doesn't go down when you are by yourself, it costs just the same! So I have decided to skip on the cable tv. I don't really watch tv anyways because I don't have time or when I do it is crap. So I figured that if I am dying from boredom and need the tv on for company I will probably just end up getting netflix at like only 15 bucks a month (about half of cable tv) and then I can get movies I haven't seen and if I really want to see tv I can get the seasons of a show that I already know is good. Oh and I am cutting back to just the cell phone too. There really is no need for a home phone.

So Mike, Brooke, Dave, Adina...I feel really bad for you. I hate moving and I am only moving like 4 miles! I can't imagine moving across the country or the world and with a family! No thanks. Good luck, I will be praying for you!!

Anne, are you still coming out for Tiffany's wedding? If so, you are welcome to stay at my place. Have fun in Georgia with that one Stinchfield family! I know you will love it!

Brent and Buffy, thanks again for coming down to celebrate my graduation with me! Tom, Tracey and Hayden, thanks for the card! I loved the drawing! Thanks everyone for the congrats!

So things are great, life is good. I promise I will post those pictures soon but I can't promise too soon, I will be busy this week. I love you all and miss you a lot. I can't wait to see you all in August.

--
Marnie

Yeah it was the guy who did it for free. He called me the other day to let me know that he had finally finished.

-Anne

Hey,

I am at work so I have to be quick. I will write more later.

I am busy packing and moving. I promise I will post pics of the apt and my bike (currently at Kelly's house on Coronado) soon. I just am not supposed to do personal stuff at work (cheating right now!) So I only have a few hours before I become an old lady and go to sleep at 10! Anyway, enough of my excuses. Things are great, everything is falling into routine, I will write more later!

Love you all!

Marnie

Ok, so maybe I do have a final tomorrow that I have not started to study for and I happen to be blogging instead. But at least it is the last exam yah!
To reply to Dave: I'm almost 100% and I actually am back at the gym. Yesterday I had to use the rowing machine since all the treadmills were taken (I went at a busy time) and boy are my hip flexors tight!
To Kenn: This got me thinking about you using your rowing machine. I see why it might be hurting your back more since it really works the hip flexors. (sorry for the following nerdy comments) The psoas major muscles (major hip flexors) attach directly to the lower lumbar spine and by over-working these, you can actually be pulling the unstable vertebrae even more forward. But don't throw out the rowing machine just yet (or you can give it to Brent and I).... you can use it still but you need to balance it out with exercises that strengthen your back extensors and stretch your hip flexors. I plan to put together a series of custom exercises (with cool pictures) at my summer internship for you so you'll get that this summer or August at the latest. By the way, studies show that the pain can definitely be reduced with proper exercises.
Okay, now that you all know how nerdy I am I will finish my blog.
Now I get to study nerve conduction velocity testing and wound and burn care. So I think I'll eat lunch before I delve into those graphic pictures... yuck.
Buffy

Well everyone, I know it has been 1.5 yrs since our wedding, but we have FINALLY received our wedding video that guy told us he would get to us before our 1 yr anniversary. Anyways, Peter and I are going to watch it tonite. I am excited. We will bring it to Mike and Brooke's to show them and then we will bring it to Washington for Kim's Wedding. Mom and Dad: We have a copy for you to have. We love you all and hope to see you soon!

Love, Anne and Peter

I'm sure we will have recovered!!!! The party idea sounds like a ball...

Mom

Okay, Dave, I just did a detailed investigation of both my options. U-pack quoted me at $5003.00. U-haul, including my gasoline calculations put me at $2,591. I'm going to have Mike look at everything I looked at and check my math (not my strong point) but I'm afraid that U-haul is much cheaper. I could justify it if I had kids that were rotten travellers but I don't. They are angels. Now I don't know about Bailey. Maybe she'll get to ride with Mike! We've always travelled seperately in the past because of the dual car deal and it hasn't been bad. We use walkie talkies and actually now we have our cell phones. If you have any further thoughts on the subject I would love to hear them.

Besides that, it was good to hear your plans as far as travel and house buying. Are you staying with Kenn and Barb until you buy your own or will you rent in Washougal?

Jane wants a pioneer birthday. So...this is what I thought of. I thought we could do a big party with both families either at the Stinchfields' if you've recovered or at my mom and dad's on the 13th, 14th, or 15th. We could do kick the can ice cream and relay races (three legged, tug o' war, and wheelbarrow etc...) and a pie eating contest and do a combined Isaac and Jane party (I thought Isaac would be a fan of all the games). We could cook out as well. Does that sound fun to anyone else? Let me know.

Okay, Mike's home for lunch so I'm off. Anne and Peter, only 2 more days!

After a gorgeous (if hot) weekend in San Diego, we now have bright sunny skies in Vancouver. There is nothing more beautiful in my estimation than the combination of the vibrant greens, blue water, blue skies and snow capped peaks. Although I have to admit that Dad and I commented as we arrived in San Diego that we never appreciated enough the beauty that we lived in there. We have been very lucky...and in listening to all of you...we are all blessed to live in such a beautiful world. I sometimes think that the Lord could have created a cement jungle to just give us a place to live but instead created such exceptional beauty everywhere. It is one of many indications of how much He loves us.

The job hunt is active enough that I apply for jobs every week. I have gotten a little pickier however in what I apply for since some of them are just a waste of my time and the reviewer's time. I am too overqualified for the plethora of admin assistant, medical office receptionist etc jobs...plus the money I would earn would not be worth giving up my freedom. I remember throwing away many "overqualified" resumes when I was reviewing for those type of jobs. I'd do a bang up job of it but I couldn't get to the interview stage!!! The other category is the jobs that would put me in a different field..which I would be more interested in such as medical administration or banking. Those don't look at me because I don't have the necessary experience in those fields. So that sort of leaves customer service management... Those jobs are pretty few and far between. Two came up this week, one for a truck parts company and one for Nautilus. The Nautilus one is right here in Vancouver but they ignored my resume a few months ago when I applied for the Director position. This is now a manager position so it will be interesting to see if they call. If they did...and offered me the job, I would have the dilemma of trying to get them to let me off for three weeks in September for the Europe trip with Martha. It is all paid for plus I really want to go!!! I won't cross that bridge however until they are interested enough to offer me the job!!!

The job hunt is not absorbing me though. I am enjoying the slower pace of life. I do exercise four days a week at Curves and do the "strong women" weight lifting two times a week. Dad and I only really do the walking on the weekends...it is hard for Dad to get out after his 10 hour days...plus we have a lot of things interfering in the evenings.

Today, I am going to go to Curves and then go down to the temple for a session. I try to go at least once a week to the temple. I'm hoping that they have the CD for conference in at the bookstore. I like to listen to that in the car.

We really enjoyed the time with Marnie. On Dad's blog, the machine did something with his last paragraph about Sunday. We went with Marnie to sign the papers on the apartment and then went to her singles ward (her roommate spoke). We then went up to PQ and tried to see a few people but only succeeded with the Alsups prior to Matt calling to let us know he was off work. We went to dinner with Marnie and him at Tio Rio's. Monday, Marnie was at work so we spent the time getting some things for her apartment...and then just killing time. The killing time resulted in Dad getting a new video camera...a new toy!!!

Well, I'd better get going to Curves....love you all...

Mom

...but, I'll start writing and see if anything develops.
Nice weather lately, really comfortable. I am glad we are leaving before the June/July rain-everyday with 85-90 degree weather garbage. I know, I know, it is worse in Georgia, and I don't refute that fact. However, I doubt I will live in a place like that where it is so uncomfortable that I can't go outside. That would drive me crazy...
As of today, we are at the 1 month mark from leaving.
Adina is slowly going through the house, room by room, during the days clearing out the unneccesary stuff that we don't want to take with us and just doing general cleaning of the house. Three years in one place is a pretty long time for us. What is it going to be like when we finally get into our own house later this year? Are we going to have the itch to move in 3 to 4 years? Mom and Dad, are you experiencing that after a lifetime of relocation? Who knows. Speaking of buying houses, I notice in some CNN Money article today that the highest median house price was in San Francisco at around $689,000 (Holy Cow Sean, how do you live there?) and the lowest was in good ol' Youngstown, Ohio at $82,000. For those of you that don't know where Youngstown is, it is near the border of Pennsylvania. Quite the difference in home prices. I am glad that Clark County is reasonably in between those two.
Looking forward to private practice life. Actually I don't know what it'll be like to have everything available to me, including timely supplies and specialists that I can actually refer to. However, I doubt that it will be very difficult to get used to. We have been looking at a couple of houses in Washougal. Some that we have looked at, that are the newer ones, have seemed remarkably similar to Brian and Paige's. Who knows, maybe the same people making them. Adina and I have this constant discussion about buying a newer house or an old house that has been well taken care of. There are a handful of houses that are reasonably priced with 4 bedrooms (which is what we are looking for) that were built in the 1940's. It is located in the older part of town, but has nice little neighborhoods. We continue to look though and hope to be in a house before Thanksgiving time.
Our plan is to arrive back from Hawaii on about the 29 or 30 of June (can't remember which day) and I then have to do my final checkout for the Navy. Not sure how long that will take. Unfortunately if happens over the 4th of July weekend, which, for those of you associated with government stuff, slows everything down to a grinding halt. And it seems to take a day or two to get up and going again. Anyway, we hope to have that essentially done within a week. We then plan to take a road trip down to the bay area to visit the Archuleta's for a week or so. We then drive back up to WA. I will start working on the 18th of July. So, if just in case you actually want to know, that is it.
It is great to hear from all of you, even if it comes in the "feast-or-famine" style. We love hearing what is happening in all of your lives.
How's the finger Tom?
How's the body Buffy, all cleared up and going 100% again?
Any final work yet Mike? (I know, it isn't final until you are somewhere)
Brooke/Mike, what did upack moving look like? You think it'll work better? We were very happy with both of our experiences. Don't know how Tom and Tracey liked it....
Brent, working hard? Found those 1090's yet? I am down to foam...
Marnie, pics of your new place? Your bike?
Peter and Anne, wish we could be there with all of you there at Mike and Brooke's, that'll be fun!
Mom, any luck on the job search, or is it in holding pattern?
Kim, you must be getting really excited about the wedding, it is coming fast!
Dad, are you alive? Must be busy with work and all. Are you and mom keeping up with the riding/walking daily? BTW, the bunkbed puchases sound awesome, that'll make many visitors so much more comfortable.
So, I guess sitting here rambling ended up creating a long blog. Hope everyone is doing great, would love to hear from y'all!

Dave

Well everything is going well here. Just hanging out by the pool tons now. Hopefully I will have a tan by the time you all see me next. I can't wait for Friday when we head out to Mike and Brooke's . I am so looking forward to spending a week there. It should be grrrreat!

53 Days until Harry Potter: The Half-Blood Prince!!! I am so excited! I already have it ordered and am scheduled to received it on the 16th of July when it is released!

Anyways, Love you all!!

Anne

We had the elders over for dinner tonight and since they rarely get an American meal, we had a good ol' fashion BBQ: hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, the works. And root beer, which is like gold to the missionaries since you can't find it anywhere in a Japanese store. Anyway - I was out of produce, namely celery, and refused to make the 30 minute drive to the main base commissary (ours is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays). So I opted for Japanese produce - usually great stuff, but a bit more costly. Case in point: I finally found celery at the second store I went to. Tough to locate because I was looking for a "bunch" of celery, only to find that it was sold individually wrapped by the "stalk". Yes, one stalk of celery in a bag. And all for a mere 128 yen per piece - basically $1.20 for one stalk of celery. Insane. If I weren't desperate for it, I would have walked away. But there was some sick joy in buying a stalk of celery for that much.

Dave is off at a softball game. Kids are in bed. We are reading "The Adventures of Huckelberry Finn". Isaac took a big spill on his rollerblades tonight, but will recover. Parker has taken off his training wheels and feels like the king of the world. Morgan wants to grow up to be Princess Leia. And Taylor is currently fascinated with food coloring and it's many wonders. Not a good thing.

Marnie - congratulations! Would love to see pics of the new place! Kim - all I can say is "ouch". Brooke - it's not cheating. I sometimes do the same thing with my family. There are only so many hours in the day! You've got to be resourceful!

Love you all...
Adina

Ok, so here we are on Sunday night (22 May 05). Winding down from our trip to San Diego, running up and down I-8, 163 and I-15. I think we've criss-crossed the town at least 6 times in the last 3 days. Got here on Friday morning (up at 3am to get on a 7am flight to San Diego). Got our car and out to Naval Base 32nd St. for some light snack and a little trip to the store. Met Hector Caballero there, now a commander and just checking off a carrier for the OMS program at Naval Medical Center, San Diego. He used to work for me at MCRD as a LCDR, with big hopes of getting into the OMS program. Finally made it. Anyway, met Marnie about noon and out to check out her new apartment, ate a real lunch at a "hole in the wall", checked into our Holiday Inn Express in La Mesa (way out I-8E). Bad place. We did stay there one night but checked out on Saturday am. Anyway, on Friday pm, went to IKEA to check out some things for Marnie for her apt. Did dinner at Paneros deli and then the wait in line in the sun for Star Wars III. First hour of the movie was a sleeper for me. I was really spaced out from the long day. Then, I kicked in and got into the movie. Very well done. Found our way home and enjoyed the rest. Up in the am on Saturday and out to breakfast with Marnie to a Cocos. Rushed up the hill to the school, SDSU, and to her main ceremony in the Cox Arena. Right after that at 3:00pm, out into the 97 degree heat for two hours to watch her college graduation in a outdoor pit theatre with a no-wind condition. I think we about fried and died. Most of the grads walked across the stage, got their diplomas and went out of the pit and left. Didn't even wait around for the next line of students to go up onto the stage to get there diplomas. It was way too hot and they were dying in those black robes. I was steaming and they must have been sweltering. Bad day from a comfort standpoint.
Saturday evening, met Brent and Buffy for a great evening with Marnie to Donovans Steak house. Extremely good dinner. We then took Marnie to her apt and drove up to RPQ to our hotel. B and B left for their home as they had to teach primary and do sharing time on Sunday.
%

So...yesterday I decided to get rid of some stuff at our post wide garage sale. First, let me interrupt myself and let you all know that this is going to be just short of a novel. Possibly a novella. Anyway, I have never before had a garage sale. We just don't buy enough junk and normally what we do have I just give away or Mike sells on ebay to support his gaming habit. But...postwide means there are a bunch of people out looking and you don't have to have tons of stuff because they are just walking from one house to the next. Plus, I did have five birthday gifts to get before one o'clock. So after the first hour I had sold one pair of baby shoes for a dollar. Mike thought it was hillarious. I ended up making $75.00. Which was just fine with me, I kept alot of the stuff to give to good will because so many of the offers were absolutely ridiculous. I'll give you a dollar for that blow dryer. I'll give you a dollar for that iron. I'll give you two dollars for that lamp. Sorry, I'll get more use out of this than your lousy dollar. These people drive onto post in their huge vans, with trailers hooked to the back to gather as much crap as possible- for a dollar. Don't get me wrong, I love a good garage sale and I love a good bargain- but please!

So, a million dollars later we have our five birthday gifts and we're off to the various parties (they last through Wednesday). Mike taking Jane to her friend's party and me and the girls to the back yard. My neighbor did a Peter Pan theme for her two year old and five year old. It was amazing, she must have put in so much time and money. There was a teepee and a mermaid lagoon. Their wood playground/swing set was built up into a pirate ship. There were inflatable crocs and palm trees, fog machines, hand painted bean bag toss boards. The woman went all out. The highlight was a giant dragon moon bouncer. So while Sadie bounced happily away I was over at the craft table beading her headband that she had lost interest in two seconds after we started. Suddenly the sounds of laughter turned into screams and crying, The whole dragon had deflated on the kids. My neighbor and I were the first ones to the entrance and we start dragging kids out- there were like ten of them. The whole time I can hear Sadie crying and I'm trying to talk to her and reassure her. Yes, she was the youngest in there and the last one out. I wasn't worried about getting her out, okay, yes I was, toward the end when there weren't bigger kids holding it up. I was worried about the bigger kids freaking out and kicking or jumping on/over her in their efforts to get out. It was quite the drama. The hose in the back had just wriggled itself loose and the dragon was up and at em again in moments. However, Sadie stayed clear for the rest of the party. She could very easily be traumatized for life. After that was all over we were home for a much needed nap. When we woke up Ellyn was running a fever and spent the night being a high maintenance baby. I think they are just teething fevers but she gets them like every other weekend. It is always on the weekend too. I'm afraid she just doesn't want to go to church so she's holding her thermometer to the light bulb when I'm not looking.

So today I taught my first Sunday School lesson and it went really well. I had two classes so it was the 14-18 year olds. Luckily, I'm still young enough that I'm "cool." As far as teachers go. Ad, Meags, and possibly Geof. I have a girl in there that looks and acts exactly like Megan did when she was in middle school, which happens to be far worse than the way she acted in high school. So you can imagine. I have had her in Young Women's for months with not even a smile, but today she finally cracked. I guess that is why I think today went so well. Her mom is so worried about her and with good cause. But today she was smiling and laughing and giving answers and even said the closing prayer. Yeah!!

Okay, I am almost done. Today Jane let us cut the bangs she has been growing out all school year. They were almost long enough to tuck behing her ear but they made Mike and me crazy, She just looks better with bangs and tonight her dad cleverly found a way to convince her that bangs were the way to go and before she could reconsider we were out on the lawn trimming away. She loves them by the way, so don't be too critical of our manipulation.

That is it. That is the end of the novella. Ellyn is climbing all over me and I am ready for bed. I will proof read this in the morning. I hope you all had a good weekend. I love you all, you know I do. Blog out. Brooke

My great looking toe! 

Loser loves it too! 

Hey everyone,

Sorry, it has been so long. Someone in my apartment complex got a virus onto everybody’s computer so the internet was down for like a week. It is finally back to normal. I have been running my virus scan everyday. The first day that I heard about the virus, I ran it and there were 97 files that I had to delete with viruses. The next day 15 and then the next 2…. After that there has been none thank goodness!
Congratulations, Marnie! You are a lucky girl to be in San Diego and done with school. Congrats on the apartment too!
Treven is driving out here with our friend Clayton on Thursday or Friday for the weekend because it is his birthday on Friday. It is going to be great seeing him!!! :) After Memorial day, I only have like 25 days left till I am done with this semester. WOO HOO! I can go home and relax!(hopefully)
I just had my first test in Women’s health and I got a 95% on it. I am very glad! Classes are going very well. My knee is acting up again though…. Not good at all! To add to the Stinchfield injury list… Well we have a dinning room table in our apartment and there is a long bench on one side. We live on the top floor so we have vaulted ceilings… so we have a huge map. One night I got on the table to point at something on the map. When I was stepping down I stepped on the bench and had my left foot on the ground. When I was bringing my right foot down, the bench lost balance and fell on my left foot. Only my big toe got smashed. (I will post picture) I went the next day and got it x-rayed. Luckily it wasn’t broken since I am in Advanced Volleyball and Aerobics. They said I just bruised the bone and I am lucky I didn’t break it.
ALSO! My new discovery that I love! My roommate and I were walking in Wal-mart and earlier that day we were in Women’s health and our teacher said for us to try soy milk. We tried soy milk from a friend who had some… We didn’t like it much… but when we were in Wal-mart we saw Chocolate Soy Milk. I LOVE IT! It is my new chocolate milk! Anyways I had to add that!
Also I was looking online on how to make a sock monkey and I found this website… I think Dad would enjoy it… www.supersockmonkey.com. It has the kits to make one and all different season sock monkeys. It is pretty great!
Well Love you all! See you in August. And I will post a picture of the wedding dress once I get a picture of it today!
Love,
Kim

Hello everyone! Just writing in to report how everything went today.

Well yesterday mom and dad arrived in San Diego around 10am and wandered around doing goodness knows what until I got off work at noon. Then we went to lunch at this really great hole-in-the-wall place called the Longhorn Cafe on Mission Gorge where they have excellent burgers and just about everything for a fan of John Wayne. Pretty cool. Then we went and checked out my new apartment. Yes, I found an apartment, well, I sign the papers tomorrow morning. It is in University Heights. Just northeast of Hillcrest. Pretty nice area and a bigger place than the La Jolla one for less money. I am pretty excited about it. And I should be able to move in next weekend which will be nice since June 1st is on a Weds. That would suck with work.

So then we checked into mom and dad's first hotel that they have since moved out of because it was too ghetto for them. They went up to the new hotel off of Mercy Rd. for familiar territory. After checking in we went to Ikea and checked out some stuff for my new place. Then we headed up to Mira Mesa to see Star Wars. AWESOME!! I really liked it. Definitely the best of the first three. And the music is fantastic. Mom and Dad liked it too. Then to bed.

Today we went to a late breakfast then to graduation. One word...HOT!!!!! I was cooking in my black gown with a black cap. It was probably record heat today. We started in a huge parking lot, baking for about an hour, then the first part at least was in the Cox Arena, indoors. But then we had to go over to the Open Air Theatre for the read-the-names part. It was SO hot there. I was really cooking, I thought I was going to have heat stroke or something. I just kept thinking how miserable Dad must have been! You know how he loves heat!! ha ha. So after they read the names and just about everyone had left, me and a few of my friends stayed to the end to be nice and finish it out for the faculty and others being recognized. I am sure Dad has sent pictures, it was great. I had a lot of fun with my friends and was really glad that Mom and Dad and my friend Kelly would come and sit in the heat for me. Thanks again!!

Then I went home, got cool and we met Brent and Buffy for dinner. We went to Donovan's. Holy good steak!! It was amazing! Thanks again Mom and Dad! And now the day is over. It was a long one but one I will remember. Thanks for all of your congrats and support. It means a lot. Now on to the future!! Starting with signing some papers tomorrow morning, so I need some sleep. Love you all and can't wait to see you in august!

Marnie

First of all, Congratulations Marnie on graduating today!

Well, I went for a run this last week after work. I got lost trying to find a new running path and it was way hot. It was probably only 80 degrees or so, but with the humidity it felt a lot more like a 100 degrees.

We are just about half way through our time here in Mississippi. We've had some fun this last week hanging out with some of the members in the ward here. We played volleyball on Thursday on a beach court at a nearby apartment complex. Anne seems to keep busy every day fixing the car, hanging out with the other ladies in the ward and now the pool is open for her to work on her tan.

I am enjoying the work I'm doing for the Army Corps but am realizing that this part of engineering is not something I would like to do for the rest of my career. I guess that's what internships are for, so that I can figure out what I do and don't want to do in civil engineering.

I went on visits with one of the two missionary companionships on Tuesday. It was a totally awesome experience. I felt like I actually contributed in helping a certain investigator to understand the importance of Joseph Smith and the restoration. It's been a while since I've had a missionary experience like that so it really felt good. The missionaries are going to call us if they have an opportunity for me and Anne to help on a visit before we leave.

For any of you who have not seen Star Wars yet, it's awesome! We went with some friends here to Jackson where the nearest theater is and went to dinner along with the movie. On the way home from Jackson we saw a really cool thunderstorm and the lightning storm off in the distance. It had passed over while we were in the movie. I don't think I've ever seen that much lightning. It was striking one after another all the way home. We were a little disappointed that we didn't get to see the storm. When we walked out of the theater my glasses fogged up like I was walking into the bathroom after a hot shower.

We are anxious to see the Georgia clan next week and everyone else in August. I am applying for a job in Utah because it is exactly the type of work I would really enjoy and Anne would be able to finish her degree at UVSC that way. But it does depend on them allowing me to finish my degree while I work. The job is for the state's department of natural resources.

O.k. it's taken me like an hour to write this blog cause we're watching SNL and I'm not that great at writing or deciding what to write. I enjoy everyone's blogs. Oh, for all the book readers I second the recommendation for "The devil in the white city". I think that was the name at least. Mike said he read it. One of my teachers suggested it to me as a cool book. He liked it for the main story of the serial killer, but as an engineer he also liked the story about the ferris wheel since that world fair was where the first ferris wheel was built.

Peter