MS 

Lodges at Mt. Springs 

MS Lodge in background 

Mountain Springs 

Mountain Springs Lodge 

I just read over Brian's blog about Paige getting excited about going to Leavenworth next December. It'll be fun to see their family up there. It is a great place all year round. Mom and I are looking into it as a venue for a family reunion.

About 15 miles into the mountains near Leavenworth is a Lodge called Mountain Springs Lodge. Check www.plainlodging.com/Lodges.htm.
It has activities all year long. Some of the photos from my previous blog were pics of the cabins up there. www.plainlodging.com.

Anyway, nice to see that the disease is spreading outside the Stinchfield Family and on to other extended family.

Again, looking forward to seeing Schicks of Selah there next year. Dad

Marnie, you know that is a copy of a british sitcom which in my opinion was much funnier. Maybe the American one just feels like a ripoff since I saw the Brit one first. Anyway, if you haven't seen it, it can be had at any DVD place, also called The Office. There were 2 seasons and a special, don't know why it ended?

Cheerio,

Mike

Hello all. Well here it is. The first Wednesday of the six. The six consecutive weeks that ABC has decided to torture us LOST fans. Totally ridiculous in my opinion but it is how it is so I suppose I must deal.

We are still having a get-together tonight with the usual Losties. We are just going to watch Christmas movies instead and last night's episode of "The Office" (which is the funniest show on TV right now I might add). Should be fun.

This weekend I am going to go see The Chronicles of Narnia up at the El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood and Highland then going to the big D-land (that's Disneyland to common folk). I am pretty excited about it. It is our annual Christmas Disneyland trip so we get to have snow and such. Lots of fun.

Anyway, just an update of the going-on's down here. I am off now so I must go. Love you all!

--
The Marn

I just realized that it had been quite a while since I blogged...although as the rest of you, I read it several times a day, waiting for a new entry. Dad and I did have a marvelous time up in Leavenworth. It is just good to be able to get away from the routine.

Things are going well with Gramma but it is a continuing responsibility and I am never alone. It was that way with all you kids and when I first found myself all alone it was weird. However, I am finding that I was getting used to it so , oh well. As those who come over can appreciate, her lack of memory does take a bit of patience. She is being very pleasant though and is very appreciative.

I think most of you know that I have been called as an ordinance worker in the temple. I will be doing that on Fridays from 6 am to noon starting this Friday. Gramma will be asleep during most of that time and for the first 4 weeks or so will have someone here to help her get up and get her breakfast. After that, I'll need to assess whether she can do it on her own or have Brooke or Adina...or someone...come by to do it. (would take about a half an hour).

Have to go get my reading done for my scripture study group at 10---talk about cramming.

Love you all,

Mom

(ps Brooke, can you copy that post over to our blog about the Santa discussion? I'd like to have it for posterity.)

Well, I have to say I thought more of you would react to mom's apparent drug use. Maybe that is saying that captions really are unecessary. (see first picture from Mom and Dad's trip)

No real news from here. Really, I am not kidding, no news. I am on a night shift this week so I am actually a little more on your schedule.

I am very excited to hear the news of 12-12, so make sure you post that. Hope you are all enjoying this holiday season. It snowed here the other day and I got my little tree Brooke bought for me and some lights strung around the room so I have a little of that holiday ambience going on.

I love and miss everyone!

Mike

So the big day is 12/12 at 12:00 noon. Yes, it does feel very odd to know this in advance but it also has its advantages! After talking to my doctor regarding our little angel still being breech it was just a matter of scheduling with the hospital. My doctor is on at the hospital on the 12th and 19th so if I want him to do it, which I really do, then I had to pick one of those days. I worry a little about doing it as early as the 12th but if I have to go through a c-section there is no point in going through labor as well! The odds are fairly high that I would go into labor before the 19th and then everything would be such a rush, I’d go through contractions and I wouldn’t be able to have my doctor do the surgery. So, here we are with our plan, I think that having a birthday on 12/12 will be kind of fun for her. And that is only a week early so they are sure the baby will be fine. Wow, it’s so exciting to think that it is actually just less than a week away!!! It will be nice to have her birthday separated from Hayden’s a little bit, and from our anniversary on the 16th and of course Christmas. So now we begin the countdown!! And I have to try to make sure I have everything ready!!

On Thursday we are having a birthday party for Hayden, he has picked pirates as the theme and it should be a lot of fun. Most of his friends leave town this weekend so we wanted to do it while they are still here (and before the baby comes of course.) He is very excited; we just got back from shopping for all the fun party supplies. Tom is stressed with finals and has spent much of his time just studying and playing x-box. He will finish with his finals on the morning of the 12th and then meet me at the hospital to prep for the surgery. (There’s nothing like cutting it close!) I’m really nervous for the c-section but plan to spend this week studying more about it and talking to other women who have had them so I won’t be nervous come Monday. I just hope things go smoothly because I can’t stand being in the hospital and the thought of staying up to four days is miserable! If things go well I will only have to stay for 3. I got so lucky with Hayden and only stayed for 1 night!
Well, as you can imagine I have a million things to do this week so I will cut this off. Good luck with the nausea Anne. Try sipping ginger ale or sucking on peppermint life savers. I’m glad the rest of you seem to be doing well and enjoying the fun holiday time! We’ll keep you posted!

Tracey

Leasable for reunions

After the lighting.

Nine couples from our ward.

Mom after sleigh ride

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Day sledding. Bavarian lodge in background.

Up on the mountain

No glasses...fog up too much

Stopping for a break

Dad on left side of photo

Just some follow up photos from the day. Found some great places for reunions. Anyway, enjoy the photos. 14 degrees on the way home tonight. Later, Dad and Mom

Well, I'm sure I'll look back on these busy school days with fond memories some day but for now I just get to enjoy the stress. I've stayed on top of the many projects and presentations so at least I've kept the nervous breakdown feeling at bay.
That Bavarian town looks sooo festive and fun for this time of year. I would say sign us up for next year but the extra cash is not in our budget. Maybe we can go two years from now if anyone is still going.
Anne and Peter: I'm really excited that we get to have you here in a few weeks. Get ready for some games, movies, and some tours of our area's many decked out houses (seriously, its at least 3X's more lights than on Ellingham!).
Good luck to anyone looking ahead to final exams. I know I will need it!
Take care everyone
Buffy

www.bavarianlodge.com
Dave

kids at night. Many more lights light up the town tomorrow night. More to follow tomorrow.

at night

Kids on slopes

Bavarian Lodge in background behind gazebo

Pretzel Tree

main street

Women in new hats

Hats from the hat shop

shops

Down the street

Across from the Lodge

Mom warm in Leavenworth

Cold day in Leavenworth

Mom takes a massive hit from a joint in front of the lodge. She says it "keeps her warm"

We are in Leavenworth, Washington in the small Bavarian village here. We arrived this afternoon and are staying two nights. We go to church here on Sunday, then leave for Vancouver. We reserved our room here last December and have reserved the same room for next December 2006. In order to get room in this town for this particular weekend, you have to reserve them 1 year in advance. If any of you desire to come up here with us next year at this time, you have to get your request in this weekend. Our Lodge, the Bavarian Lodge is at 1-888-717-7878. A standard room like ours, very nice, is 150/night. When you reserve your room for the next year, you have to pay for the first night at the time of the reservation. The second 150 is collected at the next year's check-in. It is a marvelous place for couples and families. Just passing on the news to all interested. We are here with 10 couples from the church. Many of them have been coming here for years. Tomorrow, snow-mobiling, horse-drawn sleigh, the play, It's A Wonderful Life, and the lighting ceremony will make for a long day. We'd love to have any of you join with us next year. If you can, please reserve your room now. If not, well, we'll get the chance later in life.

Hello everyone,

Things have been well but I have constantly had nausea bouts, but never to the point where I need to throw up. Hopefully, I won't have to ever throw up, but I am sure it is on its way. Pregnancy should be fun...hehehe! Anyways, Peter and I are going full force at school. Our last day of class is a week from today and Finals are finished on the 16th. We will then probably begin the packing process since Peter doesn't think it should take too long. Peter and I will take off from here the morning of the 20th to drop of our couches to Kim and Treven's apartment in Rexburg and then on to Boise to drop the rest of our stuff into storage and to sign the papers for the house since we will not be in town when the house closes on the 30th. We decided last night on a change of plans for the holidays. We bought tickets to fly from Boise on the night of the 20th to Burbank, CA to spend th 20th to around the 24th or 25th with Brent and Buffy. It will be exciting to see them and we can't wait. Peter's mom decided to rent a beach house in Newport Beach from the 25th to 30th(I believe). We will then fly on the morning of 30th to Portland to see Mamma Mia and spend New Year's with Mom and Dad and all who are up there. Then the morning of the 2nd, we will finally fly back home and finally move into our new house! Things should be getting busy fairly soon.

We have a reception of one of my teammates to go to on Saturday night up in Logan. It should be fun. Peter can hardly wait to drive in the expected weather. We have our volleyball banquet next wednesday, our dinner is at Tucanos(!!! For all who don't know what it is, it is a brazilian barbeque place, expensive around 20 bucks a person) and then going onto our coaches house for the rest of the banquet. It should be great and I can't wait for everything to start soon.

We love you all and hope you all have good holidays. Tom and Tracey, good luck and we will be thinking of you!

Love,
Anne

Well the bad news is that the version didn't work and the baby is still breech, the good news it didn't hurt very much and we were only there for 3 hours. So at this point we will schedule a c-section for sometime after the 12th. If the baby is big enough we may just opt for the 13th (when I'm 39 weeks) in order to seperate her birthday from our anniversary, Hayden's birthday and Christmas as much as possible, but I'll know more once I talk to my doctor again about how big she is. We could wait all the way until the 19th and I would still be out of the hospital by Hayden's birthday but then the odds are pretty high I will just go into labor and I kind of think that if I have to have a c-section why go through labor too?! But we'll have to see what's best for the baby. So, we'll let you know when we have a plan! Either way it's all coming up really soon!! Hooray!!! If any of you have any experience or advice on the subject we would love to hear it. (You can spare me the horrow stories of the friend who couldn't get out of bed for 4 days after a c-section, but anything else is welcomed!)

Now for a few questions: Brooke, are there any particlur kinds of books that Jane is liking these days? Anne and Peter, where will you be for Christmas?

Have a great weekend everyone!

Tracey

Wow, who is that hot red sox player?! I’d really like his number if he’s available!
We’re glad to hear that grandma is doing so well and hope it continues to be a positive, though challenging experience. Just a really quick update on us because I’m short on time and have a lot to do. It seems our little baby is already taking after her older brother and has quite a mind of her own. She’s gone from being transverse, to breech, to vertex (which is normal), and now has gone back to breech again! Unfortunately she is getting so big that it’s not very likely that she will move herself back down into the right position. I’m 37 weeks now and she’s considered full term. So, I was given two options: schedule a c-section for 2 weeks from now and in the meantime just hope she actually turns so we can cancel the c-section. Or option two which is to try an external version which means the doctor will try to turn her externally by pushing on her and trying to make her rotate. I’m a good candidate for the version to hopefully work (odds are about 40% success rate) so tomorrow I am going into the hospital to give it a try. It has to be done at the hospital because they closely monitor both me and baby for any signs of stress and there is a risk that something will happen causing the baby to need to be delivered immediately. So needless to say I have been busy this week getting the baby stuff together that I have been putting off. The odds that she’ll be born tomorrow are really low; if she is getting stressed we will just stop the procedure. But I figure I should be prepared just in case. Tom is excited because he got to cancel his patients for the day and is going to just study for finals while he sits around with me. Our neighbor is going to come watch Hayden so he is excited because he loves to play with her. I've heard it's fairly painful but I just try not think about that part. It takes between 4-6 hours because they have to monitor me and baby for a few hours afterwards. Overall hopefully it will go smoothly and if it works we’ll be happy and if it doesn’t we’ll just go ahead and schedule the c-section. Although it’s kind of weird to pick your child’s birthday, I can’t decide what day to do. Any suggestions?
Well, I better get back to the laundry and other fun stuff just in case I don’t come home tomorrow! We’ll post again tomorrow and let you know how it went!

Tracey

In the latest development, a 95 year old mother of four has taken over at the K & B, Bed and Breakfast Resort. "She ain't got to the hot tub, yet, but I kin see it acomin", states owner-operator Kenn Stinchfield. "She's like a swarm of bees takin' over the hive", exclaims Barb Stinchfield, "we're just unable to keep up with her up and down the stairs".

Mom is here to stay. She could no longer stay alone in her home in West Sacramento, so, we gave her the options of having someone move in and stay with her 24hrs/day; assisted living; or coming to Vancouver to stay with us. This was her choice and we are flattered with her decision.

It is a lot of work for Barb who devotes hours per day to taking care of Gramma S's needs. I think she works harder here at home than anytime she spent working out of the home. She's a trooper.

Kim's old bedroom is now Gramma's. We have transformed it into her own room, with her own things. She spends a lot of time with us downstairs, but still takes a lot of time in her room, crocheting and reading through old memoirs.

So, bear with us. We are taking care of another, seems like a 17 year old, however, she is 95.

We'll give occaisonal up-to-date reports on her status. Stay tuned.

Wolverines Nearly Sweep 2005 Division All-Independent Honors
2005 Division I All-Independent TeamNovember 28, 2005
OREM, Utah – It was a magical year for the Utah Valley State volleyball team in 2005, and the magic didn't stop when the Division I All-Independent Teams were announced on Monday. The Wolverines went home with four of the five major awards, and ended up with five players on the All-Independent Teams, and four being named to the first team. Head Coach Sam Atoa was named Division I Independent “Coach of the Year,” Lacee Koelliker was named “Setter of the Year,” Camie Manwill was named “Newcomer of the Year,” and Maegan Hoyt was named “Co-Defensive Player of the Year.” Koelliker, Hoyt, Anne Olsen, and Jessica Endres were named to the All-Independent first team, and Manwill was named to the second team. “I'm ecstatic for the girls,” said Atoa. “It's nice for our players to be recognized by other schools for their hard work. Individuals get honored, but this was a team effort from top to bottom.” The Wolverines en route to the Division I Independent Championship Title won 10 of their last 11 matches, including a 5-0 record in the Independent tournament. “We did something pretty remarkable ending the season the way we did, and I'm glad they were recognized for their efforts,” said Atoa. Below is a recap of all five All-Independent honorees: Olsen finished seventh among all Division I Independent players in kills (370), and kills per game average (3.27), and ninth in total attacks (999). Olsen was second among UV players in service aces (37) and third on the team with five double doubles. She was also third on the team in digs with 201. She averaged 12.7 kills and 6.9 digs per match for the season. Olsen set a career-high, and season-high when she blasted 24 kills against Idaho State (9-16-05). She tallied double digit kills in 21 of 29 matches this season.

See if you can name this great American Baseball Star. Hint: he played for the Red Sox. Can you name the position he played? Where was this photo taken? Was he ever involved in one of those team brawls out on the mound? What say ye? Dad

Thanks for the birthday wishes. I can't say it was the best birthday, but at least I am in a new old man category for the Army PT test! WhooHoo! Time to get fat again! Just kidding.

Tom ( and any other lucky owners I may not know about), a few notes about the 360 you may already know that I have gathered from reading the internet forums: If it is crashing, it is because of your powerbrick overheating; the best idea is to suspend it in midair with something or over the edges of an open box to get max ventilation to it. Also, make sure you are keeping the console horizontal as there are reports of scratched disks from putting it vertical. Hope it is still as fun as ever. I have been playing Need for Speed : Most Wanted (PC version) and I have to say that game is blast once you get about 3 hours into it so I would highly recommend it, it is a lot more than just a racing game, you just have to get past the stupid idiotic Fast and Furious dialogue and crap, I just make fun of that part and enjoy the game.

I love you all. I can't wait until February to see everyone.

Mike

Oh I am a jerk and Adina is better than me!! I forgot! Happy Birthday Mike! and Mom, but I already celebrated yours with you up in WA and it isn't your birthday anymore. So Mike, hope you enjoy your day and know that you are missed!

-
M

Happy Birthday to Barb and Mike! It's such a crazy time of year, but we have not forgotten! Mike - we are so glad to hear that you get to come home in February and we look forward to seeing you! Also - your Christmas gift is en route so watch out for it. Congrats to Anne and Peter - on so many levels! We look forward to seeing you when you come through on the way to your new home. It was good seeing you guys and Marnie this last week! Tom & Tracey - hope you are hanging in there, Tracey. We are excitedfor you both and hope all goes smoothly. Brent & Buffy - let us know when you will be up here in January.

My family has all returned to the Bay Area - it was great seeing them. I have hopefully convinced them that it is easy to come up and visit me. We had a great Thanskgiving - as I hope everyone did. Now on to Christmas...

FYI - Dave decided on the compass rose logo. Huge decision. After staring at the two logos for hours on end, he knew he just needed to make a decision. Should have a new sign at the beginning of the new year. Anyway - lots to do and Isaac is home sick today with a headache. Hope you are all well.

Adina

I have returned safely to my beloved San Diego and am back at work on this beautiful Monday morning. It is so nice to not freeze to death when leaving the house! I had a fun time in WA this last weekend. Thank you to all who made it fun. I am glad that I got a few more of you addicted to Lost. Although I have heard some sad news that there will be a 6 week break till a new episode after this week's new episode. So sad! What will I do?!

I had a somewhat unmomentous flight. A man fainted and the nurse next to me had to go help...and Marisa (my friend who came to pick me up) got a flat tire at the airport and broke her cell phone so her husband, Grant, had to come and pick us up so I didn't get home till about 1am. Then I thought that I had killed my fish (still not quite sure) because he was looking a little sickly and not moving but no floating on the top or anything. So I gave him some food and he had moved this morning when I checked before I left. So I think he is probably just really pissed at me but not dead.

So I am back at work. My bosses are both out today. Linda's (the prez) birthday is tomorrow so she and her boyfriend are going to Disneyland today and tomorrow. And Michelle (vp) has a suitor in town so she took the day off. So I think it will be a pretty chill day of getting back into the swing of things.

I will be back up to WA in about 3 weeks. Can't wait to see you all again (well those that I will see)! Love you all!

-
M

Anne and Peter,
Wow, so much good news coming from you guys... championship volleyball, new house, new job, a baby. We are very excited for you guys and wish you the best in the coming months with everything! Happy Thanksgiving Everyone.
Buffy and Brent

Dave

Dave and Adina,

Don't think I held it back from you but I didn't even completely know until last night after we had been to your place. I had been suspecting it for a little bit but didn't know until last night. We love you guys and wouldn't keep stuff from you. Thanks to all for the congratulations, we are so happy to have a family like you all.

Love,

Anne

Yes, very slick announcement there folks. I read the blog last night but apparently sped read past that one. Didn't even know until Tom called me this morning. Thanks Tom. I had to depend on my brother 1000 miles away to tell my when you two were sitting right in my LIVING ROOM without telling us! You stinkballs. I figured that little smirk on you face the whole time you were here, Anne, was for a reason. Congratulations to you both, we are very happy that you are starting your family, it all sounds so exciting. And Anne, this is what Peter wants for Christmas:
Happy Thanksgiving to all! I hope that you enjoy it. Mike, we are all thinking of you and wish you were here with us, we love you and miss you. Everybody travel SAFELY.
Love,
Dave

Well, I am just writing a note to congratulate Anne and Peter for the pregnancy. Now there is nothing but 9 months of joy. I am even more proud that you used the design of delivery of the news. Tracey was skeptical, but I am telling, it is the way to do it. totally caught me off guard. Anyway, we are all excited here. Tom

Well, I thought I would put in my two cents about the new house. I am very excited like Anne. I don't think we could have asked for a better situation for our first home. Last night we drove around and checked out the neighborhood in the dense fog. There are a couple of nice shopping centers in the area and some nice restaurants for a dinner out every once in a while. As far as the new job, I'm really excited to start and jump into it all. I just have to keep reminding myself that that I have two classes to finish this semester and a thesis to finish. We are real excited for the holidays, including this weekend here in Vancouver. We will be moving into the house if all goes well the day or two after New Year's Day. Anne is pregnant. I will start working at the same time. The office, by google earth is only five miles away and within scooter riding distance. A motorcycle upgrade will have to wait a little while until things settle down and all. We dropped by Dave and Adina's house this afternoon on our way into town and had fun visiting and playing with the kids. Tom, I'm excited for you and the whole xbox 360 situation. Me and Anne chuckled trying to picture the adults being treated as kindergarteners. My question is, did you guys have to hold hands as you crossed the street? Well, Brook et al are here so I better go.

Peter

I feel very blessed to be the sole stinchfield, boy or girl, with possesion of the 360. I woke up at 5:30 and went to Costco to wait until its opening at 10. I stayed in my car and slept until everybody got out of their cars to wait at 7 so I really only had to wait outside for an hour or so because they let us in the first door. It was a wierd feeling because the Costco employees came out ot tell us that we needed to walk in a single file line and that if there was any running that he would throw us out of the store and we would go home 360less. So, here we were, all men and women, none under the age of 20, mostly in their early thirtees, being treated like Kindergardeners. And for good reason, there were some serious stress cases there but it was just funny. It really made you feel younger. Then they opened the door and they walked us through a roped area. On our left the games sat there, other electronics were also there until we got to the bins where they handed us the boxes. I was brought back to our childhood walking out on Christmas day to see what we had received. It was just really funny.
Anyway, onto the actual 360. I tell you what, it is everything I wanted and more. This is because of my understanding that there will be many games in the future that utilize all that the system can do, but, for now, they are doing fine. project Gotham 3 is amazing and so is Call of duty 2. I have not played Perfect Dark zero yet but it is receiving great reviews. The box itself is great because of its functionality as far as hooking to computers, streaming music to the box from the a computer or an xbox. In that way it can act as a good cd player that goes great with your home theatre. When you put the disk in it automatically has the names of the songs and the album, which is an upgrade. the last box did not do that so you had to put the names in manually. The interface is great, the dashboard is smooth, the customized soundtracks are great, and the wireless controllers work with no glitches. I was worried that the controllers would not be as responsive but, it is not so. It makes for very quick cleanup and it is a great DVD player. It utilizes the HD capabilities of Tv's very well. I do not agree with the critics that say that it is good, not great. It is a great system and can only get better. I hope this is good enough. It should make for a merry Christmas since we will be inside a lot in this weather out here and with the baby we will not likely be getting out a ton.
Tom

Looks like an awesome place Annie and Peter! If only houses down here weren't 3x as expensive I could maybe buy one someday! I guess I will just have to win the lottery. Anyway, can't wait to see everyone that will be up in WA this weekend. I am leaving right after I get off of work. Not really looking forward to what the airport is going to be lookin' like tonight but oh well, it is always an adventure!

See ya'll soon!
Marnie

Come on man..give us some poop on the 360. You are the sole Stinchfield owner of the newest gadget. Played any PGR3 or Perfect Dark? What do you think?

Mike

I was sitting here trying to figure out whose house that was, and then I saw mom's blog, so it must be Anne and Peter's place. Didn't know you were that close to closing on a house.
Dave

Well everyone,

We have officially written an offer and had it accepted today all within 2 1/2 horus of each other. This house is located in the city of Boise but it is a lip of Boise right between Meridian and Eagle. It is a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom house, 1100 square feet. We get to put new carpet in with the allowance in the offer. I loved this house from the first moment I saw pictures of it. I knew this was the one, we were just not sure if we could get it, but as of today it is pretty much ours, we just have to deal with the closing of it which will be December 30th. Pretty exciting to think that on our 2 year anniversary, we will be closing on our first home. We are very excited and our Realtor and Mortgage ladies have been wonderful and we couldn't have asked for more helpful people. We will most likely be moving in around the 2nd of January and finally be able to settle it, get new painting done on the interior and just basically start our new lives. Sorry you all have to look thru all the pics but Peter tooks lots and I thought it would be good to just put them all on here.

We love you all and will be in Vancouver tomorrow around 2 or 3pm depending on the fog and weather. We are very excited to see you all for the holidays and hope to see the rest of you soon.

For google earthers, our address in Boise will be 13542 W. Meadowdale Dr, Boise, ID 83713. Feel free to check it out.

Love,

Anne and Peter

The house looks great! I can hardly wait to see you to talk about it. I have a nail appointment tomorrow between 1:15 and 3:15....Grandma will be here. Just let yourselves in through the garage.

Love you all....Marnie, that dog was really gross!!!

Mom

Family room from entry, dining room over where highchair and computer are 

more garage 

more garage 

more garage 

garage